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Show hcl'ft VIII tvil III KM IXiwuvv Haiti hoi lctM By JOHN ENDERS AsM(cwil IVss nlvr JOHN com). hw.nh. Mmvlav MO June '1 Ore. -Removed from the hussle of urban life, residents' of this eastern Oregon ranch and timber region are a lot. Hard winters and a depressed economy have forged hardscrabble attitudes toward outsiders and "the government." Grant Count v voters have raised .eyebrows by passing two naiioi measures on May 21, Oregon's primary day. One bans the United Nations in Grant County; the other would let local residents cut trees on federal land, whether or not the ;U.S. Forest Service says it's legal or environmentally acceptable. The two measures passed by about a arise from margin and frustration felt by many residents who sense they no longer control their lives, their livelihoods or the land. "We intend to push the limit, push the envelope on this," said Dave Traylor, a stocky, bearded who helped write the measures. Home to about 7,500 people, Grant County is a place where cowboy hats, hay farms and horse trailers are ubiquitous, where the high ?;!.,' DAY, Sagebrush rebellion: Dove Ti.ivlor, loft, checks for 1 it siKlimont m a crock in the Miillieur National Torost near John self-relia- " h. hi r r CV'.' -- - " Oie., on Oiiv, ?3. May Traylor wns instrumental passing, h tocout ballot , ft I 'i a I ' v- i - .... i i. .Art'4, . .;-- nioatiiiro In Giant County that would allow residents .to cut hazardous .or lire lavaged timber on foilcial land. tlelow.Tlorh Urusnian. timvuund. and Tmyloi pose m?ar a tree that was Uamac.rHl in a lire and consequently died and fell to the ground. IJiusman and Traylor say that such trees .that would otherwise rot away, could provide valuable timber. X V-fi- yt.vfT-- 1 t in - -l ' school teams the are "Prospectors," and the two local radio stations play either Christian or, country music. The county covers an area about the size of Connecticut. More than 60 percent of that land is' managed by the federal government. The jobless rate, 13.5 percent, is the second-highe- st in Oregon. Backers of the two measures passed by voters on May 21 blame federal timber policies and environmental restrictions which they say are keeping them off public lands that had given them jobs as loggers, mill workers and ranchers. It is the latest conflict to arise in the West with federal authorities. I In San' Bernardino Counranchers chafing ty, Calif., at cattle graiing restric- tions imposed to protect the threatened desert tortoise were supported recently by Sheriff Gary Penrod, who canceled an agreement that gave Bureau of Land Management officers authority to enforce state laws on federal land. In the Klamath Basin, on the bor- Oregon-Californi- a der, farmers and others last year had tense confronta- tions with the Bureau of Reclamation over its decision to give irrigation water to endangered fish rather than farmers. Also last year, residents in northeast Nevada defied the Forest Service by "Wc Intend to push the limit, push the envelope on this." allowed to harvest timber on federal land passed Of the county's 1,512-74- 4,591 eligible voters, 53 per- cent cast ballots. Sherry Dress is a homeopath and midwife who also runs a natural food store in John Day, a town of 1,830 named for a member of the John Jacob Astor overland expedition of 1811-1Dress' view is fairly common in Grant County: The government is dominated by "ultra radical liberal peo- attempting to rebuild' a ple" who look down their t stretch of road noses at the concerns of Forest Service had ruled would threaten the bull trout. The confrontation lasted months. In Grant County, the degree of frustration was reflected in the votes. The measure banning the United Nations from ; Grant County passed the measure saying that local residents are 1,326-959- , '' local residents. , "They look at it as vigilante stuff. It's not. We're a morally committed, Christian society," Dress said. "We're not a bunch of right-win- g wackos," said Herb Brusman, another organizer of the measures. Supporters hope to push the Forest Service into allowing more logging. They say millions of board feet of tjmher could be salvaged simply by allowing people to cut those big ponderosa pines and firs that are haz- I In- AwiKMl.-rflV- . 7 .yXy & It !' ' 1 .' .. i 1 ft, his county. "1 wish the general public would just understand what these ' people are going through in terms of rules and regulations. It just never ends," Reynolds said. He said the county government likely will endorse a plan to allow residents to Siv KKIUXMON. (ft S it ihitSafilr (7 ::ru t I -- -i j rf - l- 1- ' infill" 'h j IP x ' t Open a Key Step Rate CO, and you're guaranteed a th rising rate every six months. 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To ' f i. ... t y e "If we could just address salvage on the dead, dying and blowdown, we could provide a lot of trees to the mills" said Traylor. Dennis Reynolds,- who as Grant County judge serves as its chief administrator, said something has to be done to help the people of Mil ' I'M ards. ( i Diive'ltiivTor washed-ou- in Elko County, work the i UK 11 imb ' Member FDIC 'IMeS A To Mohi Dorioit. m IHC IlUALTH I uf Moki HO A Sen us Mosim i PljNS Inltnniiunliiin llealthl 'iiw m s. Hi i i i h ( imiiiii, .n |