Court receives update on Blue Mountain Forest Plan
By Randy Parks
Burns Times-Herald
Eastern Oregon forests and logging were once again topics of discussion at the Harney County Court meeting held on Wednesday, July 16.
Harney County Judge Steve Grasty updated the court on the Blue Mountain Forest Plan, which includes the Malheur, Wallowa-Whitman and Umatilla forests. Grasty said the plan was to be a collaborative effort between forest supervisors and nine counties to deal with environmental, social and economic impacts as they pertain to forest management.
Grasty handed out copies of the latest draft of the plan and said, “Everything done so far has been environmental. We need the social and economic impacts addressed as well.”
Commissioner Dan Nichols wondered if the nine counties that were on board had some kind of recourse. “This is hogwash that the counties have been circumvented in the process,” Nichols said. “We’ve been lied to and left out of the process for the past year.”
Grasty said the counties are still working to have the social and economic impacts addressed in the plan. “We are going to have a plan when we get done,” he said. “We’re not going to walk away from the table.”
“I’m not advocating leaving the table,” Nichols said. “I’m saying take a big stick in with you when you go.”
Grasty then talked about the forest management proposal brought forth by Sen. Ron Wyden. “According to Ron, it’s a middle-of-the-road proposal,” Grasty said. “But it prohibits all old-growth logging, the cutting of any trees over 20 inches in diameter, and I have other concerns, as well.”
Commissioner Jack Drinkwater said that sort of management really didn’t make much sense. “How are you going to maintain, whatever it is, by keeping the old and getting rid of the young?” he asked. “I mean if they kept all the old guys like me around and got rid of the young ones, pretty soon there isn’t going to be any population.”
Grasty said he believes the whole forest needs to be managed, not just one particular aspect. “The numbers show that old-growth on the east side of the state is dwindling, and it’s not because of logging.”
Harney County Economic Development Coordinator Mark Maliwauki was in attendance to give the court an update on projects he has been working on.
Maliwauki said they plan to have more micro-business trainings available to hopefully attract more young entrepreneurs.
There was some discussion on possible renewable energy projects, including wind, biomass, solar and geothermal. Maliwauki added that the juniper bundling demonstration went well, with the results exceeding expectations.
There is continued interest from out-of-state residents in locating a dairy in Harney County. Maliwauki said the interested party will be bringing a consultant to the area for a feasibility study, and they’ll see where it goes from there.
In other business:
• the court reviewed the single bid they received on July 2 for asphalt, and voted unanimously to reject the bid;
• the court discussed the roads that were temporarily closed after the Egley Complex fire last summer. The court agreed that the roads should be re-opened, and they will work on that;
• there was discussion on the county mileage rate, and the court decided to leave it at 50.5 cents per mile;
• Grasty suggested that the court look into possibly purchasing a camera and television to use for tele-conferencing. “If we could use it instead of driving to meetings around the state, it will save us money,” he said.
The next county court meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. Aug. 6 at the courthouse.
