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NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Green
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He proposed a number of inno-
vative ideas aimed at upgrad-
ing public facilities, reinvigo-
rating the local economy and
rebuilding the population by
making John Day attractive to
outsiders.
Among the initiatives Green
has taken a leading role in as
city manager are these:
• A new wastewater treat-
ment plant with a large-scale
solar array and a system for
reclaiming treated wastewa-
ter for agricultural and indus-
trial use.
• Hydroponic greenhouses
for growing produce.
• An urban renewal area to
provide financial incentives for
new home construction.
• The John Day Innova-
tion Gateway, a project aimed
at redeveloping roughly 100
acres of former industrial land
on both sides of the John Day
River for industrial, commer-
cial and public use, with ame-
nities such as hotels, restau-
rants, greenspace and a
community gathering area.
• An integrated park system
with a trail network connecting
residential neighborhoods with
the riverfront and downtown.
• A plan to expand broad-
band internet access in John
Day and extend it to smaller
communities throughout Grant
County.
• Plans for a new aquatic
center at the Seventh Street
Sports Complex to replace the
aging Gleason Pool.
• A marketing campaign
aimed at making John Day
attractive to tourism and new
residents.
Wednesday, January 26, 2022
Bennett Hall/Blue Mountain Eagle
Nick Green works in his office on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. Green,
who has championed a number of innovative policies since be-
coming John Day city manager in 2016, has become a polarizing
figure in local politics.
Target for criticism
While Green’s proposals
have generally enjoyed solid
support from the City Council
and praise from outside agen-
cies, many have also attracted
vocal criticism from individu-
als both within and outside the
city limits.
Perhaps the most contro-
versial issue Green has been
involved with was the decision
to suspend operations of the
John Day Police Department.
That decision – which was
Plan
Stewardship
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According to command-
ing officer Bailey Frasch,
the Guard members assist
with non-critical duties such
as sanitation and cleaning at
both the hospital and Blue
Mountain Care Center in
Prairie City.
Frasch told the Eagle that
Guard members would be in
the county until April 1.
Frasch said before any of
the medical staff comes in for
the day, guardsmen sanitize
both the hospital and the care
center in Prairie City.
Meanwhile, Lori Lane,
the hospital’s public infor-
mation officer, said Straw-
berry Wilderness Clinic now
separates sick visits from
wellness appointments and
has increased telehealth vis-
its. The clinic is associated
with a COVID-19 outbreak
that has infected 15 employ-
ees, members of their house-
hold or other close contacts,
according to Oregon Health
Authority data.
According to Lane, the
hospital currently has five
beds in its COVID unit and,
if needed, it can add more. As
of last week, the hospital had
one COVID-19 patient. The
John Day hospital is licensed
for 25 beds but is currently
staffed for 16.
Overall, the Oregon
Health Authority reported
94 hospitalizations on Mon-
day in region seven, which
Grant County shares with
Deschutes, Harney, Klamath,
Jefferson, Klamath, Lake and
Wheeler counties.
According to Lane, the
hospital takes other steps to
get in front of the surge. She
said that includes increas-
ing the frequency of the
county’s COVID-19 meet-
ings to watch for the current
state and national trends and
monitor the county’s sup-
ply of personal protective
equipment.
In 2013, faced with the
imminent closure of Malheur
Lumber, Grant County’s lone
sawmill, due to an inconsis-
tent and unreliable supply of
timber, Malheur National For-
est officials decided to award
a long-term stewardship con-
tract to a single operator in a
bid to stabilize the situation.
The 10-year, $69 million
contract went to Iron Trian-
gle, the winner in a competi-
tive bidding process.
The contract, which was
significantly more long-term
and broader in scope than most
stewardship deals, accelerated
timber sales and increased the
pace of restoration work on the
Malheur.
Universally regarded as a
success in stabilizing the local
economy, the unusual contract
has won praise at the national
level. Its overarching goals
unanimously approved by the
City Council in October – came
after years of budget shortfalls
and the failure of a ballot mea-
sure for an operating levy.
He has also brought in $26
million in grant funding for the
city, but that, too, has been con-
troversial, in part because his
contract with the city allows
him to keep 1% of the dollar
value of many of those grants.
And his personal style,
which Green has publicly
were to promote ecological
restoration and reduce wild-
fire risk on 180,000 to 500,000
acres of forest land while
improving economic vitality
in Grant and Harney counties.
Locally, however, some
people have criticized the deal.
By awarding a single long-
term contract rather than mul-
tiple shorter-terms stewardship
deals, critics say, the Forest
Service in effect is picking
economic winners and losers.
Current contract
The Iron Triangle con-
tract expires in March 2023,
and, just like last time, any
new contract will be awarded
through a competitive bidding
process open to all qualified
operators.
But even though a deci-
sion is still a year out, Mal-
heur National Forest Super-
visor Craig Trulock said he’s
already contemplating some
changes in the next steward-
ship deal.
acknowledged can be abra-
sive, has sometimes strained
relationships with county gov-
ernment, business owners and
others.
“I don’t mind that as much. I
think conflict is sometimes nec-
essary on issues that matter, so
politics are not so much a con-
cern,” he said.
“But how to separate your
public life and your private
life in a small town – it’s just
impossible.”
While he is leaning toward
awarding another long-term
contract, there will be less
timber to go around this time.
The agency expects a lower
annual timber harvest tar-
get — down from 75 million
board feet to between 50 and
55 million board feet per year.
Trulock said the next stew-
ardship contract will likely
have a lower percentage of
the Malheur National Forest’s
commercial timber volume.
Instead of the current guar-
anteed 70%, he expects to
decrease the share to between
30 and 50%, allowing annual
adjustments.
One thing that Trulock said
he appreciated about the sena-
tors’ letter to Casamassa was
that they are not asking the
Forest Service to simply roll
over the contract to the same
operator with the same terms.
“I appreciated that,” Tru-
lock said, “because if we do
another 10-year contract, we
will definitely be wanting to
Cattle
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compared with those listed
with the Oregon Department
of Agriculture.
Stein and Birkmaier agreed
that they and other ranchers
have been willing to help out.
“In Wallowa County, every-
body needs to get along,” Stein
said. “It looks bad for ranch-
ers. People from the cities
think, ‘Why are those cows out
there?’ ”
Stein and Birkmaier said
some of the cattle caught in the
deep snows had recently calved
and were trying to keep their
calves alive.
“The nutritional require-
ments of a lactating cow with
a 1-2-month-old calf are quite
high,” Birkmaier said. “The
protein and energy require-
ments are two times that of a
cow that is not producing milk.
This whole incident was made
worse by that fact. The cows
Adam Stein/Contributed Photo
This Sno-Cat with a trailer on skis was used to transport live-
stock back to where they could be transported by vehicle to
safety in recent weeks.
just had no fat reserves to draw
from and with available forage
covered in snow, they literally
‘milked themselves to death,’ in
an attempt to provide for their
calves. … Those cows starved to
death trying to feed their calves
milk,” he said, adding that they
got too weak to survive them-
selves. “They were putting all
their nutrition into their milk.”
While a number of the lac-
tating mother cows were lost,
Birkmaier said, “fortunately,
many of the 1-2-month-old
calves were saved.”
From the ranch
On Jan. 18, Warnock said
by email that he put in his two-
weeks’ notice Jan. 12.
Wallowa County Sheriff
Green said he understands
why some longtime John Day
residents might see some of his
ideas as a threat to the com-
munity’s established culture
and way of life. But given the
city’s declining population and
depressed economy, he thinks
such steps are necessary if
the city is to have any kind of
future.
Ultimately, he said, the
community needs to make a
decision about the best course
of action and come together to
make it happen.
“Things were wonderful
back then – we had 300 more
residents and five operating
lumber mills,” he said of the
city’s heyday.
“But I don’t think you can
re-create that (level of pros-
perity) unless you do what I’ve
been advocating for: rebuild the
economy, attract new residents
and promote tourism.”
“There’s no going back,”
he added. “If it’s not the vision
I’ve been pushing for, some-
one else needs to come up with
another one.”
Green, 42, said he and his
family hope to stay in John
Day, but he wasn’t sure what
his next career move might be.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I
haven’t decided, to be honest
with you. I’m kind of just tak-
ing it one step at a time.”
look at those lessons learned
and figure out what we can do
better.”
Trulock said it is not a
foregone conclusion that the
new contract would go to
Iron Triangle or that the con-
tract would be awarded for an
additional 10 years.
Hank Stern, Wyden’s
press secretary, said regard-
ing the perception of a
monopoly that, unlike tradi-
tional timber sales, the stew-
ardship contract ensured a
steady, stable supply of tim-
ber for the local mill while
also requiring restoration and
fire reduction treatments on
the Malheur.
With 70% of the total vol-
ume of timber sales off the
Malheur going to the steward-
ship program, that provides
a high level of predictability
for the contractor while also
guaranteeing a steady supply
of logs for Malheur Lumber’s
John Day sawmill.
But it could also create a
problem for Malheur officials.
With so much of their discre-
tionary timber revenue com-
mitted to the stewardship con-
tract, Trulock said, they could
find themselves strapped for
funds if unexpected circum-
stances arose, such as congres-
sional budget cuts.
Stern said the economic
health and well-being of rural
communities is a top priority
for Wyden.
“He has fought tirelessly
to secure additional resources
for the Forest Service to help
reduce wildfire risks, end fire
borrowing, and successfully
included an additional $6 bil-
lion for fire and healthy for-
est initiatives in the bipartisan
infrastructure law,” Stern said.
“(Wyden) and his staff
will continue their hard work
to ensure that these resources
are used to their full capac-
ity to help rural communities
in Oregon and innovative for-
estry solutions like steward-
ship contracting.”
Joel Fish, whose department is
investigating for possible ani-
mal neglect, said the Deans
brought in a new ranch man-
ager, Katie Romero.
When contacted Jan. 24,
Romero said she is from “out
of state” and her boss, Bob
Dean’s wife, Karen Dean, had
instructed her to not answer
questions from the press.
In a phone call right after
that, Karen Dean also declined
to comment, saying, “I don’t
have anything to say to you,”
before hanging up.
Fish referred questions
to the Deans’ legal counsel,
Joseph Law Firm of La Grande,
but no comment was received
after numerous emails and
voicemails were left over the
past two weeks.
Fish said his investiga-
tion is continuing and has not
determined if charges will be
brought.
area where the Dean cattle
were and saw signs of wolf
predation. He said Jan. 20 that
what he saw so far were signs
that wolves had dug up cat-
tle that had been buried in the
snow and were likely dead.
“I’m sure they were dead
before” the wolves came, he
said.
He did not see any evi-
dence of wolves attacking live
cattle. However, he and Birk-
maier agreed giving wolves a
taste of beef under such cir-
cumstances can whet their
appetite for live cattle.
“I think it will have an
impact,” Stein said. “Typ-
ically, when wolves start
working cows over, (ranch-
ers) will try to get rid of the
wolves that are eating beef. …
Typically, when wolves start
working on cattle, they won’t
quit.”
Birkmaier agreed, saying
adding beef to wolves’ diet
indeed makes it more likely
they’ll attack cattle.
Green acknowledged that
the drumbeat of criticism has
been wearing on both him and
his family. He said the personal
attacks has sometimes gone to
extremes, including more than
one instance of doxxing, where
his home address and other per-
sonal information have been
publicized online as an intimi-
dation tactic.
“That happens to a lot of
public officials, so I’m not
unique in that regard,” he said.
“But I think it’s the lowest of
lowbrow responses to policies
you disagree with.”
He also said he’s been
threatened several times.
“If you disagree with some-
one, figure out what the issues
are you disagree with and
address those,” he said. “Don’t
target, threaten, say you’re
going to run me out of the
county.”
Looking to the future
Wolves in the mix
Stein again overflew the