Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 1962)
HEPPNEB GAZETTE-TIMES. ThuradaY. rabtuorr 22. IK Text Reviewed Of Pane! Speech Given By Judge The following Is he text of u tuMT presented ty County JuiJk' Owar litfron when he ll-arc-i on the program of thtf r i.i lima j AxMHiaiion of County t'uiruiM in rmx-nix, Arizona, re ccnily. Juilt? jvtcrscn wai one or a paiu-l on the Manning Ala niinery worhMiup. I lils is (lie first part of a papt- nrnieci -ivvi'iopmerit of a Six County '.Space Ax' Industrial In ik a Case UiMory." The italanif of the article will be continued at a later date. The ti-M read an follow: vvnen i m first asked to take pail In this panel at thin i oininurmy Development Work- Miop of tlie national Association of fount y Officials meeting here in rnoenix, i (nought that thin will be easy at least so far ai (lie subject matter waa concern eel. Hut then I soon learned thai I here were other panelist who were taking part in the dlscu sions and that my part would need to be quite specific. This i nave endeavored to do. The Mid-Columbia area is in tlie rortn (entral part of Ore gon stretching alone the Colum bia River for a distance of some U) miles. I he counties, involvud are Umatilla, Morrow, Gilliam. Sherman, Wasco, and Hood River. The Cascade range forms the western boundary of the region. I he area for the most part is strictly rural havlnt? a total population of 88,338. There are tlie cities of Pendleton, The Iiallcs, Hood River, ileppner, and some others but, as said, the area involved Is mostly unde veloM'd and agricultural. It has u climate that can hardly be equaled so far as temperature and humidity is concerned. The rainfall is generally less than 15" annually. The soli is mostly coarse textured. Much of the area has available ground water or underlaid with water. The original idea of regional planning and development in the area was stimulated by the po tential for the development of the Boardman Bombing range and the possibilities that this development could have regional effects. The Boardman Bombing range, located in Morrow county, is a !tii,(JOO acre site owned by the iNuvy. It had been held by the government since the early days ol Wor'd War II. It is a rel atively level site cut by streams and gulches. A good deal of the land surrounding the site is used lor grazing of sheep or, as to uie soma, wneat growing. Where water is available, a variety ol crops are grown. In a rather complicated land exchange, which I will discuss a little later. the Boeing Company has leased a part ol the range and some adjacent land and expects to use tlie site for missile testing anu omer researcn. v For many years, I had recog nized the tremendous potential we had here In our North Morrow county. After becoming County Hinge, a June over four years ago, 1 Jumped at the opportunity f doing my part in getting the Boardman Bombing Range into private nanus, to bolster our ag ncuuurui economy as wen as making space for Industrial De velopment. At least I thought it could be done. Much of the area both east and west of the tange was available, but here sat tlie Bombing Range, 96,000 acre j ol it, right in the midst of this economically very valuable part of Alorrow county. Just why is this so valuable in addition to the agricultural potential? As said, 32 miles of Morrow county borders the great Columbia River. The other coun ties also have shorelines on th river. The Boardman Bombing nange in tlie Heart ol Worth Mor row county also almost borders the Columbia Kiver. In the Col unibia Kiver Basin we have more than 40 of the hydro electrical energy of the United States, nine times more wat Hows down this stream than Hows down the Colorado River, five times more than flows down ine Missouri, two times more than flows down the Ohio writ. re so much Industrial Development lias taken place in recent years in audition, siacK water, even for ocean-going vessels, will soon be available all the way to i'asco, Wn., some 250 miles in land from the Pacific Ocean. The great multi-purpose dams of Bonneville, The Dalles, and Me Nary are complete and the John Day Dam will be completed by JU07. In addition, other large pro jects are completed farther up the River from Pasco, including the Grand Coulee Dam. Four ad ditional dams are scneduled for completion on the Snake River, a tributary of the Columbia within the next few years which will make slack water as far inland as Lewiston, Idaho. Of these. Ice Harbor Dam, is now completed and three others, Iiwer Monumental. Little Goose, nnrf Lower Granite are on the neenda. Truly, the Columbia River with its tremendous hydro .iirii potential and the possl bilities of its use in industrial .iflvinomnt. can bolster our nericultural and industrial econ omv. Tremendously large areas of level land and a sparse: v settled area cannot help but be an asset. Other assets of tne xviia Columbia area include the main line of the Union Pacific Rail road as well as U. S. Highway 30 which will soon be a four lane freeway, both along the liver in North Morrow county. Manv of us have long recog nized the great poenJlaL, "25 four years ago. I took ahold thU. ai aaid, In all earncidnest. I contacted our Senator and Rrprenentatlvei In Congreaa, our Ileppner-Morrow County Cham liir vt ('ommw. The Mrrow County Pomona Grange, the In land h'mplre Waterway Assoc lation. (he Public Land Commit tee of our association f Oregon rnunt v officials, an win as for rest K. Cooper, attorney for the Association of County Officials. I had the very finest of cooper ation from mt of the groups. I'm nure both Congressman Lll- man and Senator Morse ran sure you of what a pest I made out of myself by continually bombarding them with letters, both from the groups which J represented, and myself about petting this Boardman Range ie laud Into private hands. It was not until November, IWiO, at the annual meeting of the Inland Km Dire Waterway Association meeting In Lewiston Idaho, that i really met contacts that ap peared to be going to be help ful In getting actual results. Mr. Robert Tarr, who was then the Director of the State Department 1 of Planning and Development and Mr. Warne Nunn, uunl to Governor Hatfield were at the meeting, contacted me. and Uitlfexted I get the Governor and the State Department of Planning and Development i work on (he problem They Haled thrtl there was a demand. Im mediate demand ft a large area of land. povibly 2Wi a re for industrial development. To me It sounded fantastic but with the additional cooperation, could l a possibility. Immediately 1 wrote Governor Hatfield. Also our Congressmen ami Senator In Washington, and sent copies to the Governor and the Slate Department of Planning and le. velopment. From this time on. Governor Hatfield and the Department of Planning and Development car ried the ball. It turned out to be difficult for them as well. To pet something back from the Federal government into private hands or state hands apeared to be sometning like trying to dip the ocean dry. Although much of the land was taken over from private citizens in Morrow county at prices from S1.C3 to $8.00 per acre, as a war emergency. It wai purjorted to 1 even more valu;Me lo the .Navy under a peacetime econ oiny, and iii,.s;,iii.e p get a release, J.,vit-er, the IkiVeftior and the uci . ! to Mr. Tarr, Mr. S. II. At4lli-ot. of the State tfc-partnient of Phiiihing and De velopment, through i-t-mrt, uixveded n yetting joiiie trades and adjustment made where by the West one half of (he bombing range wun made avail able (n the Mate and the east ne half wa retained by the Navy for ImpiuMih' tange pur-imis.-h. a sort of &o fid ifnM.iiiuii. Oj t ion fur mjii).' additional 5.'.0 acres Wei.- m cured and Incorporated into lie IHOod acre retained b the state, making something In em-ess of Kxi.UiO acres Into what has be come the Space A'e Industrial Park. The original request lor the 25,i xi acres for some space age defense Industry that was looking tills way. This first feeler did not materialize but It wat not long until other In quiries were made. Even the workshop Saturn turned out to show some Interest. Indeed with the tremendous potential for space age development, includ ing guided missile I would say, there Is nothing equal to tlil aiea iii where in the United States and It Is U log recog tiie-l. llie ..lng people, from Seattle, have taken a lease on the IdO.tmu sue Industrial paik mid Me are looking forward lo m.i i..- yia-at th.iit's to happen here In the very nesr future. Now utter the problem had somewhat gotten out of local hands, other prboh-nu became paramount The rrea In que, lion, now known m the Space A;e liwtiistri.il Park, has many features attractive to a space are Industry. No company had as vet made a final decisiun to oii-e into the area, but tin feeliiii was that a numtwr of .satellite indusirieo. Including in n bine shop and electronic firms would also lie coming In. There undoubtedly, would be in Influx of txipuiation. Exis tence of active community planum-: agencie is alwavs a fac tor which Is attractive to In dustry. Ken Tollenaar, executive secretary of the Association of Oregon Counties, asked. "Why don't you look into the imissI- lity of forming a Regional Planning Commission board with the counties along the Colum bia?" Till eemed ti have merit. hi immediately we railed to gel her member of the county ixiirts of Umatilla, Morrow, (ill turn Sherman, Vito. and Hood River counties. The rikiie wa phenominal. A regional organl ration was art up: myself a chairman. Meeting were held at Ilepp ner. Pendleton, The Dalle and Arlington. In (he apring and summer of l'.w. There wa a unanlmou feeling (here wa a mill for regional planning. It was also agreed thai local gov. eminent other thin routine be I m hided as part of the regional planning commission. A a re sult, representative of IVrt Dis trict and citle were asked to tie present and nia.'iy Indicated that thev would be interested In participating In the venture. It wa a creed, however, that the regional commission t-hould serve the local planning in an ad visory capacity. The matter of financing came up. Here again, Mr. Tollenaar cave valuable assistance. He dis cussed procedures with us and illustrate the type of expend!, lure which might h required. Thl budget was based on the assumption that a federal grant would be obtained under the pro vision of llou-liS Act of ISM i7ul Program i to finance jo of the planning protec t. The sev eral countie would make avail able "ti.e of the funds but pH distric t and citle vould be ask ed to participate. All counties Indicated willingness to partici pate, a well a several of the i-ort district. I must nay, we have hal wonderful response from the State Department of Planning and Development. Alc e were assured of receiving SVi from them. , , Continued nevt week I Going to Texas Mr. and Mr. George E. Miller of Cicll plan to leave soon for MeAIIen. Texas, where they will attend the show of the Texas l-Vderatlon of MineralogUal So cieties. Mrs. Miller Is president of the Morrow County Gem and Mineral Socletv and her husband ThN will le tneir distributed a sample budget for collect lade. This will te the regional planning agency to first trip to Texas wm iHiiii HERE'S HELP: Below you'll see a gen-u-ine, artist-drawn, jim-dandy, authentic Clear Conscience Calendar for 1962, with inappropriate notes in the margins. Cut it out and paste it in your phone book. It'll keep you from forgetting to remember. (As your folks will tell you, a long distance call is still the best way to keep in touch. It's easier than a letter, more personal than a present.) Call them long distance-soon. New Year's greetings are in order. (But don't call too early or while' the bowl games are on.) Alexander Or ah am Bell1 birthday. (You don't care but we do.) Use his little inven tion to brighten Dad's life. The Seattle World's Fair tarts April SI, one month from today. Invite your folks to the Northwest to take in the Fair, heigh-ho. Mother's Day. Call early (Xlite xne aay oeiorej ana avoia bjw. the rush. She'll remember t13 that you didn't forget. Only a "punk" would fisale out on his folks today. (Your Pop will get a bang out of a oall.) 8t. Swithin's Day. Or maybe ,J5 it's tneir weaaing anniversary. Have you ever thanked them properly? labor Day. Dad's probably got the day off, too. Cement the family ties with a oheerful, newsy phone oall. Thanksgiving. A long distanoe oall is still the next best thing to being there. (You don't have to eat as muoh either ) S M T W T F S 5 M T W T F S jl I 2 3 4 1 5 1 6 I 1 I ill - 7" 8 9 10 11 12 13 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 11 12 13 1405 16 17 Ijlj&l. ji.ilil.il.il is i9 20 in 22 23 24 28 1 29 1 30 I 31 1 I 25 1 26 1 27 1 28 1 I 111 I 1 L3 gj 3 1 4 1 5 1 6 11 -71 5 8 riTT 10 8N TT-ra H rg-TT" 14 I 111 12 1 13v 14 15 16 17 15 16 J7 18 19 .20 21 ptF-"ilT:::?ur 22 23 24 2pffT 24. 25 26 27 28 t 25 1 26 127128 29 I 30 I 31 29 1 30 I Llj2i3jjUJ I 1 2 II I 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 trrf 15 f 16 tljis! 19 llFnnF ifuhfuni -, ....., . . -r, T-;-r i r I 20 21 22 I 23 24 25 2ti l'Hrla lv Zu Zl I j 27 28 29" 3Q 31 24 gtrf-jI I 28 294JR I JTJI.Y AITG-ITST i 1 ( 2 I 3T4 1 5 I 6 1 7 I 1 1 I 1 I 2 I 3 irTrsTToTirnrr 14 5 e 7 s 9 1 10 1 h ii jltTTlfTirp 20 211 12 13 14 15 lfctl? 18 L 22 23 24 25 26 Zl IM zv Zi zz zs 24 29 30 31 j j 28 j 27 28 j 29 j 30 31 L J 1 1 1 i 1 1 I 2 1 3 1 4 1 5 1 G ?F 4 5 6 7 8 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 9 10 JJ 12J3J4JJL 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 tie 17 18 19 20 21 22j 21 22 2? 24 2ojj.21 j "33o 24 "25126 1 27 ls29" 28 29 j 30 3 1 1 2 3 " 1 I 1 1 J 5 6j 7 8 9 'JO 2 J 4 5 G 7 8 j "tXliU i (TT HT'10 ' 11 1 12 13" 14 j 15 "j LisJ Jiniitt2 232 II 11 Flzi-TaO "21't I 25 Totiyllin 30 25"! 26 ' 27 j 28 j 29 . PACIFIC NORTHWEST BELL I Ground Hog Day. Shadow or not, call Horn. Zt may be a long winter. Valentine's Day. Candy is dandy, but long distance is quioker. April Fool's. No joke, happi ness is oatohing. Surprise her with a gueaa-who oall. Easter. Have a family reunion by phone you don't have to cook or olean-up afterwards. King Kamahameha Day. Or maybe it's Mom's birthday. Call anyway she'll love you for it. Aloha! Father's Day. Betoha' he'd muoh rather talk to his grandchildren than unwrap another polka-dot necktie. Bennington Battle Day. Very big in Vermont and about the only thing that happens in August anyway. Vaoation by phone. Halloween. Don't be the skeleton, in your family oloaet. Call your Mother you'll both get a thrill out of it. ?re-Christmas. Call two or three days ahead they'll appreciate your thoughtfulness. (Send a present though they ' re human. ) Rsjomomr; ffflOOHDfiDU Surf th'-y love you. Ujt children arc busy nowadays. If xhey haven'' Uvn in t.cch liuly, s.r.d 'em this Cltar Conience Cawndir. Circl your birthday and a fe other tvrtirwnt datrs. Thy'U p-t the messjt.v (If you have 10 cV.iidrea, call us and well aend you 9 mere calendars.;
