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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 2021)
FAMILY FUN DAY RETURNS| PAGE A3 Wednesday, June 23, 2021 153nd Year • No. 25 • 16 Pages • $1.50 MyEagleNews.com The Eagle/Sean Hart The South Fork John Day River south of Dayville. River Democracy Act facing headwinds in Grant County Contributed photo/Wallowa-Whitman National Forest The fi re lookout on the summit of Mount Ireland, 8,346 feet, is staff ed each summer. The lookout has a view that extends over parts of three national forests — Wallowa-Whitman, Umatilla and Malheur. The metal building replaced a wooden structure in 1957. High-level position Forest Service offi cials had to scramble to fi nd fi re lookout to work this summer on Mount Ireland By Jayson Jacoby EO Media Group oel McCraw needed to fi nd someone willing to spend the summer atop a mountain that has a three-state view but is far out of sight of any coff ee shop or grocery store. His task wasn’t as daunting as it might sound, thanks in part to Facebook. The job is fi re lookout on Mount Ireland. The 8,346-foot peak is the apex of a granitic shoulder that extends several miles west from the spine of the Elkhorn Mountains and forms the divide between the Powder River and North Fork John Day River basins as well as the boundary between Baker and Grant counties. Mount Ireland is one of more than a dozen prominences in Northeastern Oregon where the traditional method of fi nding wildfi res — a person working inside a tiny building on a high point, looking for the telltale tendril of smoke — persists. Several decades ago there were more than 50 lookouts in the region that were staff ed each summer. But over time, with surveillance by airplane more feasible, and a proliferation of roads J Locals express concerns about proposal to designate more Oregon rivers as wild or scenic By Steven Mitchell Blue Mountain Eagle A bill in the U.S. Senate mandating more local streams become designated as wild, scenic or recre- ational has been met with skepticism and outright opposition by some. The River Democracy Act of 2021, written and co-sponsored by Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, would add 4,700 miles of rivers and streams in Oregon to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers sys- tem, bringing the total “WE ARE length of protected riv- ers in Oregon to almost CONCERNED 6,900 miles, or 6.2% of the state’s 110,994 THAT ADDING miles of streams. Many concerns DESIGNATIONS were raised and ques- OF THIS SORT tions were asked during TO STREAMS, a meeting of the Grant Soil and Water Conser- RIVERS OR vation District June 3. In a letter from the LAND IN South Fork John Day GENERAL Watershed Council to the Eastern Oregon WILL ADD Association of Coun- ties, Joanne Keerins, RESTRICTIONS the council chair, wrote FOR that the bill leaves out who would create the MANAGING management plan. ENTITIES, Wyden spokesman Hank Stern said either the Bureau of Land PRIVATE LANDS Management or the For- INCLUDED.” est Service would and —Amy Stiner, South Fork that it would depend on John Day Watershed Council which agency manages coordinator the segment. He said the bill establishes a “fl exible” time frame to determine wildfi re risks. Additionally, he said, the bill requires the land manager to assess the risk of fi re and implement a plan to reduce risks. Contributed photo/Wallowa-Whitman National Forest See Lookout, Page A16 The lookout at Mount Ireland might see as many mountain goats as human visitors. See Act, Page A16 State Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale, faces potential recall Findley voted against gun legislation, but petition says he should have walked out By Steven Mitchell Blue Mountain Eagle State Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale, faces a potential recall eff ort. Chief petitioner Patrick A. Kop- ke-Hales of Mt. Vernon fi led a prospec- tive recall petition with the Oregon Sec- retary of State’s Offi ce on June 14. Kopke-Hales wrote in his justifi ca- tion that Findley had acted “against the values and principles of the constitu- ents he represents” for supporting Sen- ate Bill 865, and for not walking out to prevent the passage of Senate Bill 554 on gun control legislation. Findley — who represents Senate District 30 covering all of Baker, Grant, Harney, Jeff erson, Malheur and Wheeler counties and parts of Deschutes, Lake and Wasco counties Sen. Lynn — told the Eagle he Findley, was in the fi nal days R-Vale of the legislative ses- sion and that there is too much going on right now to be “distracted” by “some- thing else.” Kopke-Hales declined to comment. Kopke-Hales wrote in the prospec- tive petition that Findley betrayed the “will of the people” by introducing Sen- ate Bill 865. The proposed legislation would have prevented elected offi cials at the state level — including governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, labor commissioner, state lawmaker, supreme court judge or appeals court judge — from serving as an elected offi cer on the state central committee of a politi- cal party. Senate Republicans have since pulled back on the bill. Senate Bill 554 sets storage require- ments for fi rearms and bans holders of concealed handgun licenses from bring- ing them into the Oregon Capitol and Portland International Airport passen- ger terminal. Kopke-Hales wrote that Findley “facilitated the passing” of SB 554 by not walking out of the session to prevent Democrats from having the required quorum to approve the bill in the Sen- ate, where it passed 16-7. Findley voted against it. It was signed two weeks ago by Gov. Kate Brown. Findley said SB 865 was a bill con- stituents requested he introduce that has since been withdrawn. Findley said he had been questioned on SB 554 and that he chose to stay in session and fi ght the bill’s passage. “I chose to stand and fi ght and put stuff on the record,” he said, “and by staying in the session, I was able to work hard for the constituents. And that’s what I’m supposed to do.” Aaron Fiedler, press secretary with the Oregon Secretary of State’s Offi ce, said Kopke-Hales must collect and sub- mit at least 8,289 valid signatures from active electors in Senate District 30 no later than 5 p.m. Sept. 13. He said the recall becomes void if there are not enough signatures submitted by the deadline. If at least 8,289 signatures are sub- mitted, the Elections Division will have 10 days to complete the signature verifi - cation process. Fiedler said the petition is not approved to circulate yet. The Elections Division is waiting on Kopke-Hales to submit printed examples of cover and signature sheets and create a petition committee.