Senior center program seeks to aid those on unemployment

By Randy Parks
Burns Times-Herald

Harney County residents who are on unemployment insurance and having trouble making mortgage payments may find assistance through a program offered at the Harney County Senior and Community Services Center.

Community in Action (CinA) Executive Director Barb Higgenbotham told the county court at their meeting Wednesday, March 7, that the county has 80 available slots through the Oregon Homeownership Stabilization Initiative (OHSI).

Higgenbotham reported that 20 households in the county received mortgage payment assistance through the program initially, and now more funds are available for residents who are on unemployment insurance. “We need to get the word out as we’re looking for people to fill those 80 slots,” Higgenbotham said.

She added that residents will have to meet the criteria for assistance and are urged to apply at the senior center.

Higgenbotham also reviewed the low-income energy assistance and weatherization programs, and reported Kelly Everhart had been hired to fill the position previously held by Peggy Yarbor.

Howard Weathers met with the court to discuss the “Woodstove Change Out Program” offered through the senior center. Weathers said the program replaced 70 old wood stoves, pellet stoves or furnaces in the Burns-Hines area, with most replacements purchased locally and most of the work done by local contractors.
Weathers stated that the final inspections had been completed and the program had been officially closed-out.

•••
County Judge Steve Grasty and Commissioner Dan Nichols gave an update on their trip to Washington, D.C., to attend the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference March 3-6.

Grasty stated that they had been forewarned that with Oregon counties struggling financially, staff would probably be asking them how they could afford to attend. “My answer to them was, ‘How can we afford not to?’ It’s about what we keep them from doing to us by being there,” Grasty said.

As far as federal funding, Grasty said he got the feeling that the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) payments would be renewed for one more year and the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) would be funded as before.

Grasty pointed out that the SRS funding came about because of a loss of revenue to counties from the decline in the timber industry, but with better forest management, the jobs would be there and counties wouldn’t need the SRS funds.

•••
The court held a lengthy discussion regarding “roadless areas” in Harney County and the importance of starting a process to identify the entire road system.

As far as determining a “road,” Nichols said, “If it provides an access, we should consider it a road.”

The court agreed that there are a number of roads that provided access previously, but are now tough to point out. “That doesn’t mean that it’s no longer a road,” Grasty said. “The intent of this process is to recognize a system of roads so in later years people have records and can say, ‘There is a history of a road here.’ It’s about protecting the roads we have and their importance to ranching and logging.”

Because the task of identifying every road in the county could be daunting, the court agreed they would look to residents for input.

•••
In other business:

• Harney County Commission on Children and Families (CCF) Director Teri Cain gave a report on the changes coming because of House Bill 4165-B that passed on March 5. The bill abolishes the CCF as a state entity as of June 30, and transfers the duties from the commission to the Early Learning Council for children 0-6, and to the Youth Development Council for school-aged youth through age 20.

In her report, Cain also said that the county will need to determine the direction to take regarding a proposed structure for “hubs” or community-based coordinators of early learning services: to go it alone as a county and/or who to partner with for a “region” for service delivery.

The court felt if the county goes the “hub” route, the “hub” needs to be in Harney County;

• the court appointed Dr. Sharon King the official county health officer, replacing Dr. Scott Spence who will be leaving the community in the near future;

• the court approved an intergovernmental agreement between Harney and Grant counties for licensing inspection and enforcement of public facilities;

• the court reviewed the Jackson County Federal Coordination Policy Compact to see if it was something that Harney County might be interested in setting up. The court agreed to have legal counsel look it over and then make a recommendation;

• the court discussed the Integrated Water Resources Strategy released by the state last year and expressed their main concerns. The court decided to invite the Water Resource Council to attend a meeting and explain what the document would mean to residents.

The next county court meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 21, at the courthouse.

New designation will mean additional funding

By Randy Parks
Burns Times-Herald

After several months of research and discussions, the Harney District Hospital (HDH) board of directors has voted to purchase the High Desert Medical Clinic (HDMC).

HDH Chief Executive Officer Jim Bishop said that not only does the transaction make sense financially, it also supports the goal of providing quality health care to the community.

Bishop explained that the clinic has been operating under a fee schedule for reimbursement from Medicaid and Medicare at a time when the payments are shrinking and costs are rising. The doctors are currently not only performing their regular duties, but are also taking the risks of being business owners. The transaction will mean that the clinic will become a Provider-Based Rural Health Clinic.

According to one consultant, with the clinic receiving the new designation, the community will see an influx of more than $400,000 in additional money each year.

Bishop stressed the fact that the clinic will continue to operate pretty much as they always have and the community will probably not even notice any change. Clinic Manager Stacie Rothwell will also have a place on the administrative board of the hospital.

Rather than the doctors running their own business, HDH will pay the doctors a salary for their services and provide benefits. “It allows the doctors more time to be doctors,” Bishop said.

The change also comes at a time when more and more family practitioners are looking to be employed rather than run their own business, so the change should also improve recruitment and retention of doctors.

Other expected benefits include expansion of health care offerings to the community, improve workflows between HDH and HDMC, position HDH and HDMC to address new laws and mandates and maintain financial stability.

Bishop stated that even though politicians are looking at cutting Medicaid and Medicare costs, the medical facilities with a rural or critical access designation seem to be fairly safe from any cuts. “I’ve talked to many people, and they all seem assured that the government will maintain the financial end for rural clinics and hospitals with the designations such as ours,” Bishop said.

The application and approval of the Rural Health Clinic is expected to take about six months.

“We started talking about specifics with the clinic people last summer and continued working toward an agreement,” Bishop said. “We then presented the idea to the board and they agreed unanimously it was a good idea. Things are changing in the health care world and this will allow for stable funding while providing quality health care.”

Included in the motion was a patrol car and one-time payment

By Randy Parks
Burns Times-Herald

In a somewhat brief Hines Common Council meeting Monday, Feb. 27, it was stated that the City of Burns was ready to take over the police reserves program as had been previously discussed between the two cities.

Councilor Dick Baird made a motion to transfer the police reserves program to Burns, including the reserves patrol car that the city had received at no cost from a non-profit organization and a one-time payment of $3,000 for wages. The motion passed unanimously.

Also in the unapproved minutes from the meeting, a citizen had requested that the city check into the system development charges for the lines that go out to the Snow Mtn. Pine Industrial Area. City Administrator Joan Davies noted that she had researched all the records available at city hall and an attorney has been consulted on the matter. Davies has also worked with a company that specializes in studies for systems development.

After some discussion, the council voted to temporarily suspend collection of the system development charges until the research is completed.

In other business:

• the council approved a business license for Cascade Wireless;

• the council approved Ordinance 298, which amends Ordinance 294 by removing the exhibit outlining mitigation rates for fire services and allowing the rates to be set by resolution of the council;

• Councilor Baird reminded the council that he would still like to have a trailer for bottle and can donations to raise money for the park.

The next Hines Common Council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 13, at city hall.

With the decision to close processing centers in Bend, Eugene, Pendleton and Salem, all mail will now be sent to Portland

By Jennifer Jenks
Burns Times-Herald

Last December, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) agreed to delay the closing or consolidation of any post office or mail processing facility until May 15, in order to take the time to review the possible closures and collect input from public meetings.

Last Thursday, the USPS announced it would be moving all mail processing operations from the Bend Customer Service Mail Processing Center, among others, to the Portland Processing and Distribution Center.

Once the transfer is completed, the mail processing operation of the Bend Customer Service Mail Processing Center will cease.

The USPS has experienced a 25 percent decline in first-class mail volume since 2006 and receives no tax dollars for its operations, relying instead on the sale of postage, postal products and services.

“The decision to consolidate mail processing facilities recognizes the urgent need to reduce the size of the national mail processing network to eliminate costly underutilized infrastructure,” said Chief Operating Officer Megan Brennan. “Consolidating operations is necessary if the postal service is to remain viable to provide mail service to the nation.”

Specific dates have not been set for the transition. Until a specific date has been announced, residential and business mailers will continue to be served through the current facilities.

“The closure of the mail processing facilities in Bend, Pendleton, Eugene and Salem will not only add unnecessary delays to the delivery of mail and put a greater burden on hard-working postal employees throughout the state, it also threatens the integrity of Oregon’s vote-by-mail system,” said Oregon Senator Ron Wyden.

“These closures will make it unclear how long it will take mail ballots to travel from Central and Eastern Oregon and the Willamette Valley to Portland area for processing and then back to the appropriate local election officials. In Oregon, all ballots are cast by mail and in a presidential election year, where more vote-by-mail ballots are expected to be cast, not knowing how long it will take to process these ballots could disproportionately affect rural voters. Closing these facilities carries many unintended consequences. It is not a risk worth taking.”

A list of mail processing studies and their status is available at: usps.com/ourfuturenetwork

Specific information about individual studies, including public meeting summaries and summary briefs, is posted on the website: usps.com/areamailprocessing as it becomes available.

Town population decreases from 3,000 to 2,800

By Randy Parks
Burns Times-Herald

As state revenue continues to decline, the ripple effect is being felt in Oregon communities, including Burns and Hines.

At the Burns City Council meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 22, City Manager Don Munkers reported that the city would be looking at about $14,000 less in revenue sharing monies from liquor, tobacco and gas taxes.

He added that the population in Burns is also down from more than 3,000 residents to just over 2,800.

Munkers said that looking at the budget, the city is holding steady on the revenue side, but some expenses are exceeding the projected budget and they would keep an eye on that. He added that the city will take a look at the water and sewer programs and probably redo the formulas for the next budget year.

The city received an offer to remove the old playground equipment from Washington Park, and they are expecting the new equipment to arrive in April.

Munkers stated that an analysis had been completed on man-power in the Public Works Department and found that it would take about 5.5 crew members to handle the workload and that would mean hiring another worker.

The city’s street sweeper is still broken as the mechanic who was supposed to visit from out of town to offer an estimate didn’t show up. The city will explore other options to get the streets swept before the annual bird festival in April.

In other business, the council:

• voted to donate $125 to the Diamonds in a Glass fund raiser for the Kids Club of Harney County;

• passed a motion to change some language in the agreement for the Rural Fire Suppression Subscription Program as advised by legal counsel.

Commissioner says wolves damage more than just livestock industry

By Jennifer Jenks
Burns Times-Herald

Wolves were at the top of the agenda again at the meeting of the Harney County Court last week. Commissioner Dan Nichols told the court he was checking with Wallowa County, Representative Cliff Bentz and the state regarding the Wolf Compensation Policy. He is working on gathering background information, with the Feb. 15 deadline no longer being a concern.

“Everyone’s concerned about the cattle industry,” Nichols said, “so that’s good.” Wolves, he said, have been decimating the wildlife population in Idaho. In one bull elk herd in Idaho, he reported, the numbers had dropped from several thousand to less than 500, while the wolf population has climbed to about 1,800. “The wolf issue is much bigger and more damaging to every person in this state than just the livestock industry,” he argued.

The wolf advocate position on the local wolf compensation committee was also filled, he reported, which was a requirement of the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA).

The next priority is to have a meeting with some individuals who have expressed concern about having a compensation plan to see which direction might be in the best interests of the county.

•••
“Charlie Otley was appealed again,” Harney County Judge Steve Grasty announced at last week’s meeting. The appeal was filed by the Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA) Feb. 9 in the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA). He stated it would most likely be two to three months before the case would be heard, and the decision would come later still.  The decision regarding the non-farm dwelling on Steens Mountain was originally approved by the planning commission and was previously upheld by the county court.

Brandon McMullen, Harney County planning director, explained the appeal process and noted there were currently two appeals to the commission’s decisions, the other being a cell phone tower that was approved on Burns Butte. The project was approved one year ago, was appealed to and upheld by the county court and LUBA, and was then appealed to the Oregon Court of Appeals. A decision was made in December to uphold both decisions and was filed Jan. 24. There is a 30-day period in which an appeal can be filed to the Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court can choose which cases it wants to hear, unlike the county court and LUBA.
“We’ve gone 10 years without an appeal and now we’ve got two going at the same time,” Grasty commented. “I hope this isn’t a sign of the times.”

•••
The county received a reply this month from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) regarding the county’s request for DEQ to reconsider the permit requirement for landfill gas monitoring in Harney County. The request was sent to the DEQ April 2, 2010, almost two years ago. “I can’t believe it took them two years to review this request,” Judge Grasty stated.

The DEQ stated they would not require monitoring at most landfills, but would require it at Fields. This will require installing three 10-foot deep landfill gas monitoring probes at that landfill, as well as a shallow gas probe between the landfill and the school, which is less than 1,000 feet away from the landfill. The landfill must be monitored for gas annually. Judge Grasty stated he was going to file a petition requesting this site be exempt from the requirements as well. The sites that have been exempted are at Diamond, Drewsey, Fenchglen, Riley and Sodhouse.

•••
Quite a few concerns were brought up during the public comment session of the meeting. Herb Vloedman said he noticed Oregon highway signs reading “Welcome to … County” on a recent trip out of town and wanted to know why our signs coming in to Harney County weren’t phrased that way. Judge Grasty  advised the signs were the responsibility of the state, but that he would look into the matter. “If the state’s providing it, we’re getting short changed,” Vloedman responded.

Vloedman then inquired what the official Harney County population was, as he had heard there had been a noticeable decrease in the school population. Grasty advised the numbers were just estimates. He said he usually looks at the the grade school population, how many moving vans are being rented and leaving the area and how many electrical hookups there have been and this usually gives a pretty good idea of whether the population is increasing or decreasing. “None of these have shown signs of a downward trend,” he said.

Additionally, the employment department numbers don’t show much change, he said, and that was also a good indicator.

Mary Ausmus wondered how the county was saving money by having two directors at the health department and home health/hospice, since there would be two wage and benefit packages. Grasty explained that the staff number hasn’t increased, since one of the directors was already employed by home health/hospice. In addition, both positions are part time, with the directors working part time as administrators and part time in direct service to the public.

Ausmus also asked why the county medical examiner was not a doctor. Harney County doesn’t have a coroner, Grasty explained, and the county could never afford to send every deceased person out of town to be examined.

Dr. Tom Fitzpatrick is the chief medical examiner and the medical examiner, Julie Burri, performs the examination, which the chief medical examiner then reviews and signs. Officers are also trained to investigate deaths in car accidents. Grasty stated occasionally a body has to be sent out when there are suspicious circumstances, and it is very expensive.

Barbara Cannady inquired about the work Grasty and Tony Svejcar have been doing in regard to bio-mass/bio-fuel. Grasty said there was an investor interested, and he would be meeting with the investor this week.

•••
In other business:

• the court reviewed two bids for fuel, one from Ebar Oil and the other from Ed Staub and Sons Petroleum and Propane. This year, card locks were not included in the bids. Employees will carry card locks for both carriers in their vehicles instead and can go to whichever is more convenient or in a safer neighborhood. The bid was awarded unanimously to Ed Staub and Sons for furnace oil and to Ebar for kerosene and rural deliveries;

• the court reviewed a Right of Way Location Narrative from Kenny Delano, Harney County Surveyor, which was performed at the request of Judge Grasty to locate the existing right of way of a roadway located on Highway 78 and determine the area of the right of way. The area was found to be 3.38 acres, and the assessor will be advised of this finding;

• the court acknowledged the appointment of Commissioner Pete Runnels to the Bureau of Land Management’s Southeast Oregon Resource Advisory Council as the elected representative position;

• the court discussed what to do with the money that would be coming back to them from Joseph’s Juniper Inc., as 25 percent of the money awarded to them is a loan. A revolving economic development fund is thought to be an option. They also discussed the revolving loan account for Harney, Grant and Malheur counties. The court would like the money in that account to be loaned out equally between the counties. Commissioner Runnels advised he would find out what  the parameters for use are and report back to the court;

• the General Principles and Standards for Evaluating Impact and Mitigation in Sage Grouse Habitat in Harney County (the sage grouse mitigation plan) was accepted unanimously. The plan is not specifically about sage grouse, but about all wildlife in sage grouse habitat;

• Judge Grasty said he had been advised by Tony Rutherford, local watermaster, to start thinking about a drought declaration, in case one is needed. He  stated residents may be able to use groundwater for a water right for a one-year time period. Old wells can also be used for a period of time during a drought in an emergency situation.

The next Harney County Court meeting will be held Wednesday, March 7, in Judge Grasty’s office at the Harney County Courthouse, 420 N. Buena Vista in Burns.

Accountant, massage therapist and nail technician  located next door to post office in Hines

From left, Darci Wolfe of Trinity’s Touch, Lori Lohf of Lohf business Services and Jeanette Vinson of Nettie’s Nails are all currently open for business at 120 SW Circle Drive in Hines. (Photo by Jennifer Jenks)

By Jennifer Jenks
Burns Times-Herald

Tax season is just beginning to pick up, and for those who have not yet gotten around to filing their taxes, there is a new accountant in town. Lori Lohf of Lohf Business Services has opened her doors in the office building next to the post office in Hines.

Lohf is no stranger to Harney County. She was born here, in fact. She lived in Idaho for a time growing up and moved back in the early 1990s. Although she had gone to school for accounting, she worked as manager of the Truck Stop restaurant in Hines.

In the early 2000s, she and her husband moved to Colorado. In 2008, Lohf opened her own business and worked from home. At that time she was watching her granddaughter while her son was working. Taking care of her granddaughter, she said, was a good excuse to go back to accounting, but she didn’t want to be an accountant, so she decided to offer business services instead.  Because her work was, and still includes, being done online, she could have accounts from anywhere. Some of her current accounts are in places such as New York and North Carolina, and she even had an account in Italy once.

Last August, Lohf and her husband returned once again to Harney County. Lohf has a lot of family who still live in the area, and she and her husband like the outdoors, so they decided it was time to come back. “It’s definitely a calmer way of life,” she said.

Lohf offers tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services. She is an enrolled agent designated with the Internal Revenue Service to represent clients in front of them, just as a tax attorney would be able to do. She is also a licensed tax consultant with the State of Oregon.

Lohf opened her business at 120 SW Circle Drive in Hines along with two other established businesses, Trinity’s Touch and Nettie’s Nails.

Trinity’s Touch offers massage therapy by Darci Wolfe, LMT. She offers Swedish, deep tissue and hot stone massage for anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours.

Nail Technician Jeanette Vinson of Nettie’s Nails offers basic, express and spa manicures and pedicures, as well as full sets, fills, back fills and gel products.

For more information, contact Lohf at 541-573-1556, Wolfe at 541-589-1942 or Vinson at 541-589-1199.

As of Feb. 1, Harney Basin snowpack was 60 percent of average

By Jennifer Jenks
Burns Times-Herald

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) recently released the February Water Outlook Report.

According to the report, the water supply level continues to look bleak if dry conditions persist.

The mid-January storm brought much needed snow to the Harney Basin. The snow water equivalent more than doubled at many SNOTEL sites in the basin during this storm. Last month, the Harney Basin snowpack was only 32 percent of average. By Feb. 1, the basin snowpack had risen to 60 percent of average. While conditions improved during January, the snowpack remains well below normal for this time of year.

Precipitation for the month of January was 120 percent of average in the Harney Basin. Since the beginning of water year 2012, precipitation in the basin has been 71 percent of average. While still below normal, this is a significant improvement from last month’s report.

“We received above average precipitation in January,” said Zola Ryan, district conservationist for the NRCS Hines Field Office, “which certainly helped reduce our deficit for the water year. But we will need to see some good late winter snowstorms to boost the water supply to average levels.”

As of Feb. 1, streamflows in the Harney Basin are forecast to be well below normal for the summer of 2012. The April through September streamflow forecasts in the basin range from 41 percent of average for Trout Creek near Denio to 74 percent of average for the Silvies River near Burns. At this point in the season, water users in the basin can expect well below normal streamflows for this summer.

For more information, contact the NRCS Hines Field Office at 541-573-6446 or visit:
www.or.nrcs.usda.gov/snow/watersupply/

BLM and Forest Service announce $1.35 per unit 2012 grazing fee

The federal grazing fee for 2012 will be $1.35 per animal unit month (AUM) for public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and $1.35 per head month (HM) for lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

The 2012 fee is the same as last year’s.

An AUM or HM — treated as equivalent measures for fee purposes — is the occupancy and use of public lands by one cow and her calf, one horse, or five sheep or goats for a month. The newly calculated grazing fee, determined by a congressional formula and effective March 1, applies to nearly 18,000 grazing permits and leases administered by the BLM and more than 8,000 permits administered by the Forest Service.

The formula used for calculating the grazing fee, which was established by congress in the 1978 Public Rangelands Improvement Act, has continued under a presidential Executive Order issued in 1986. Under that order, the grazing fee cannot fall below $1.35 per AUM, and any increase or decrease cannot exceed 25 percent of the previous year’s level.

The annually determined grazing fee is computed by using a 1966 base value of $1.23 per AUM/HM for livestock grazing on public lands in Western states. The figure is then calculated according to three factors — current private grazing land lease rates, beef cattle prices, and the cost of livestock production. In effect, the fee rises, falls or stays the same based on market conditions, with livestock operators paying more when conditions are better and less when conditions have declined.

The 2012 grazing fee of $1.35 per AUM/HM applies to 16 Western states on public lands administered by the BLM and the Forest Service. The states are Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Permit holders and lessees may contact their local BLM or U.S. Forest Service office for additional information.

The BLM, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, manages more land — over 245 million surface acres — than any other federal agency. Most of this public land is located in 12 Western states, including Alaska.

The Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, manages approximately 193 million acres of federal lands in 44 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Company currently employees seven full-time workers

By Randy Parks
Burns Times-Herald

After a successful first year, Joseph Juniper Inc. was awarded $100,000 in Forest Health Grant Funds to continue operation, as well as expand the business. Of the money made available, 75 percent is grant funds and 25 percent is loaned.

At the Harney County Court meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 1, the court presented a letter from the committee appointed to review the two applications for the grant funds.

The letter stated that, “Both applicants had a sound plan of action, and while both would make excellent use of grant funds, the committee recommends the grant funds in their entirety be awarded to Joseph Juniper Inc. This established company has an operation in place that currently employs seven full-time workers, and award of the grant funds would give them the ability to increase production and to create six more full-time positions while adhering to the criteria set forth in the grant objectives.”

The court noted the success of the business and the owners, Gerard and Lori LaBrecque, who were in attendance, and thanked them for making it work.

•••
Commissioner Dan Nichols reported that the advisory committee formed to deal with wolf compensation had met Jan. 31. Nichols stated they had been led to believe that a compensation plan for wolf depredation needed to be in place by Feb. 15, but that isn’t the case.

Nichols said the compensation plan would be retroactive in the case of a producer losing livestock. “We’re not up against a Feb. 15 deadline, but we’re going ahead with the committee and continue to work on a plan,” Nichols said.

Nichols added that the committee must include two members who advocate wolf conservation and they are still looking for people who fit that requirement.

Harney County rancher Kenny Bentz asked the court, “Why do we need to accept wolves here? If we have a compensation plan in place, we’re saying we accept them. As a landowner, why am I forced to accept them? I don’t agree with that. I don’t let neighbors’ dogs on my land, so why do I have to allow ‘government dogs’ on my land?”

Wayne Smith of Riley told the court he had spent time in Wallowa County, where they have a compensation plan in place and, “It’s a wreck,” Smith said.

Smith stated that residents in Wallowa County have done everything the state and national fish and wildlife services have asked them to, including electric fences and range riders, and nothing has worked to prevent wolves from killing livestock. “There are four confirmed packs in the county,” Smith said, and then listed the number of dead or missing livestock in the past few years. “There is compensation on confirmed kills, but the overall economic impact is devastating,” Smith said. “The public thinks everybody’s getting paid, and they’re not. If we wait until they’re (wolves) here to make a stand, it’ll be too late.”

Ken Bentz Sr. said the county should not agree to a compensation plan, and his son, State Representative Cliff Bentz, is working on a bill that would allow ranchers to shoot wolves. “People need to get behind that bill because he needs help to get it passed,” Bentz Sr. said. “Don’t take away the defenses of the rancher. We need to put it out there that we don’t want wolves in Harney County.”

Bentz Sr. also pointed out that ranchers lose large portions of pasture land if a wolf is in the area, because the cattle won’t go back in.

Bentz told the court, “If we’re forced to do this, people should know we’re against it. These are Canadian gray wolves and are not a native species. They’re ‘introducing’ them to this area, not ‘re-introducing.’ ”

County Judge Steve Grasty said the court is somewhat obligated to work within the process or system while still representing the county’s residents’ feelings. “Maybe we should plan to start out by saying we don’t accept them (wolves) here,” Grasty said.

“It doesn’t hurt to take a stand and let people know,” Commissioner Pete Runnels said.

Nichols said the whole wolf issue had been thrown in the court’s face, and the court would be watching out for the best interests of county residents as the discussion continues.

•••
Regarding the vacant Justice of the Peace position, Judge Grasty said the governor would not be making an appointment because he had not been provided with enough information.

Grasty said the court can’t appoint anyone to the position, only the governor can do that, but they were working toward some solution. “We’re obligated to provide the service to the public,” Grasty said.

Sandy Richards, pro tempore, agreed to take on the work temporarily and will be compensated at the Justice of the Peace salary.

•••
Commissioner Runnels reported that the Library Advisory Board had sent out a survey last fall and was in the process of forming focus groups to discuss some of the key issues found in the surveys, including providing more service to the rural areas and possibly forming a taxing district.

Runnels added that there was a request to hold a wedding at the library and Library Director Cheryl Hancock had drawn up a contract for the event.

•••
In other business:

• County Treasurer Nellie Franklin discussed a proposal by the Association of Oregon Counties regarding the state’s Oregon Intermediate Term Fund (OITF), managed by the state treasury, and whether it could be a potential investment vehicle for counties that have large road reserves.
Franklin said she had concerns that the OITF had higher risks, and the funds would not be as liquid but the returns were higher.

The court agreed to get more details before making a decision;

• Road Supervisor Eric Drushella gave the court an update on road projects and stated the fuel bids had gone out;

• the court reviewed the General Principles and Standards for Evaluating Impacts and Mitigation in Sage Grouse Habitat in Harney County. The draft will be sent to legal counsel and then on to a committee for review. The county’s goal for a final plan is March 7;

• the court reviewed the BLM’s request for public input on the Alder Creek Restoration Environmental Assessment and the BLM’s Notice of Proposed Decision on Denying Grazing within Tombstone Pasture of South Steens Allotment for the 2012 Grazing Season.

The next county court meeting will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15, at the courthouse.