THE TEA PARTYER
 February 27, 2012
 
At the last County Board of Commissioners meeting, the commissioners failed to pass the resolution to stop The Bandon Marsh Expansion.  There were only two commissioners present, Main and Messerle.  Commissioner Main stated the resolution was not restrictive enough on the non-governmental organizations involved in the expansion, and therefore, he could not vote for it.  
 
They decided to rewrite the Resolution to be more specific to the situation and palatable enough to pass the Board.  The commissioners will bring up the expansion at the next regularly scheduled BOC meeting on March 6th.  Let us hope Commissioner Main keeps his word and is not playing politics with this very important subject.  
 
Here is some History of “The Bandon Marsh”
 It was the American Indian who had the first pleasure of enjoying the beauty and bounty of one of America’s natural treasures known as the Bandon Marsh.  The ancestors of the Coquille Indian Tribe subsisted for centuries on the marsh's riches for survival.  
  
The first homestead was established when Thompson Lowe took up a donation land claim of one square mile on the south side of the Coquille River in 1853.  By 1890 the City of Bandon had a population of 219, according to the census.  There was a large mill built after the first major fire of 1914 by The Dollar Steamship Company on the south bank of the river, just east of the bridge on highway 101.   
 
In 1983, Congress established The Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge with the acquisition of 304 acres of salt marsh, mudflats, and tidal sloughs. The Bandon Marsh Unit, as it is now known, is located near the mouth of the Coquille River, with approximately 75 percent of the Unit within the city limits of Bandon, Oregon. 
  
Congress in 1999 approved expanding the refuge by 577 acres. The next year, The US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) used federal funds to buy the 408-acre Dave Philpott Ranch, among other parcels of property. 
  
The (USFWS) purchased the ranch from the Bussmann family.  It was renamed the Ni-les'tun Unit and added to the refuge in order to protect and restore the intertidal marsh.  People can see  this area from Bullard’s Bridge looking east of Highway 101 on the north bank of the Coquille River.
 
The total land mass of The Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge consists of 889 acres, and in September of 2011 the largest salt marsh restoration project in Oregon History was finally completed.
 
The purpose for establishing the marsh as a National Wildlife Refuge was for the preservation and enhancement of the highly significant wildlife habitat.  Unfortunately, The Service closed off The Ni-les’tun Unit soon after it
was established. There is no public access allowed in the area’s fertile hunting ground, with few notable exceptions.
 
What is a Comprehensive Conservation Plan?
 In 1997, the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act amended The National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966.  These changes required that (USFWS) develop a Comprehensive Conservation
Plan (CCP) for each national wildlife refuge. 
 
The reason for developing a (CCP) is to provide refuge managers with a 15-year plan for achieving refuge purposes and contributing toward the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System, consistent with sound principles of fish and wildlife management, conservation, legal mandates, and policies.
 
Subsequently, The (USFWS) has to implement an environmental assessment (EA) to evaluate the potential effects of various (CCP) alternatives.   These studies can lead to new rules and regulations for the area that can have adverse and costly effects to adjacent property owners.  
  
Expanding The Marsh  
January of 2011, The Dept of Interior under Secretary Ken Salazar sent out a press release explaining their plans to give more than $19 million in our tax dollars to the National Coastal Wetlands Grant Program to fund 24 conservation projects covering over 5900 acres of coastal habitat in 12 different states.  The (USFWS) administers this grant program, and there is another $21 million in matching funds in partner contributions from state and local governments, private landowners and conservation groups. 
  
In March of 2011, The Service proposed designating 30,497 acres of critical habitat in 68 units in Washington, Oregon and California.  And, as recently as Jan. 17th of this year, U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-LA secured more than $34.5 million for the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund.   
 
Currently, the (USFWS) is expecting to get congressional approval sometime in the late part of 2012 to add up to 4500 acres to the Bandon Marsh Refuge.  The Service plans on achieving this goal by acquiring more land from willing sellers along the banks of The Coquille River. This expansion will go up North Bank Lane almost to the 11th mile marker continuing further southeast into the Coquille Valley.   Subsequently, there is another 3000 acres under consideration for acquisition, which was not detailed in The Bandon Marsh Expansion, but comes from the Coquille Valley Wetland Conservation and Restoration Proposal dated June of 2010. 
  
There were three preliminary drafts to come out of the (CCP) for The Bandon Marsh Refuge and the (USFWS) is propagating Preliminary Draft Land Protection Alternative C, which coincidently is the largest in land mass of all the drafts.  
  
There are 154 distinct parcels covering over 4500 acres of land included in Alternative C. The Total Real Market Value would be around $24,524,243, with a total Assessed Value of $9,729,043.  Besides the listed properties in the perspective area, the (USFWS) has been working with The Nature Conservancy to obtain even more property in other areas of Coos County and the state.  
 
The Consequences of Allowing This Federal Land Grab
If the (USFWS) acquires all the property it is requesting, then Coos County stands to lose $101,508 in gross property taxes per year, and that amount increases with every piece of land The Service takes off the tax roll.  
  
There is an estimated 20 children living within the area that attend school in the Bandon School District.  Each child is worth $6000 to the district, which will equate to a loss of $120,000 to the Bandon school system.  The county also loses future generations of farmers and ranchers that produce the meats and vegetables for locals and many others throughout the country.  Developing a working farm and/or ranch takes generations of learning the soil conditions, weather and growth patterns of the local environment and we stand to lose that experience and wisdom.      
 
The families who live in the proposed expansion area will not be here to go shopping in the community, or to eat in the restaurants, or go the local theater.  They will not be buying gas, tools, food, shoes, medicine and all the
amenities needed to live.  The businesses lost in the expansion area will not be generating income, which means there will be less money rebounding in the local economy. There will be an increase in unemployment due to the loss of the jobs in the agricultural industry. 
 
The purchases of these properties could cause serious aberrations in the local real estate market.  
  
Properties adjacent to The Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge could see a devaluation in their worth, while properties a little further away from the Refuge could have the prices of their properties become  artificially inflated.  The land will never be able to be bought or sold again once purchased by The Service and this
eliminates even more money from flowing back and forth, through the financial system.  All of this, in total, will cause a more restrictive real estate market to be created. 
  
Then take into consideration the amount of Federal money that it will take to restore these properties back into a natural intertidal marsh.  The first two units of the Bandon Marsh were only going to consume $4,000,000 of public money, but that project has increased to about $14,000,000.   Up to $50,000,000 is what the estimated cost will be to restore the desired expansion area. 
  
Nationally, these expenditures will all contribute to the Federal Debt, which is about $15 trillion and climbing.  Feeling a little insignificant?
 
What  can The Citizens of Coos County Do?  
First we have to stay informed and keep others informed, because knowledge is power.  
 
Then you have to contact your representatives in the government, and tell them that you will not stand for the intrusive nature of the US Fish & Wildlife Service or any other federal agency with the intentions of taking more property from public domain.  
  
We have to organize an opposition, band together and fight against this invasion of our county.  There are people organizing now and you can be a part of the effort by going to www.CoosCountyWatchdog.com . 
Sign up for the newsletter and lets us know if you are willing to volunteer.
 
We need people to monitor the different organizations that capitulate and work with the US Fish & Wildlife Service.  We need people to monitor the (USFWS) itself.  We need people who can help maintain the social websites that are being set up to stop the Bandon Marsh Expansion, such as on the one on Facebook.   We need people who are willing to travel to Salem and Washington to meet with representatives and lobby against
the expansion.  We need people to write letters to the representatives on the Public Lands committees in both
houses of the US government and Letters to the Editors of every publication in the state.  We need people to hand out flyers and possibly get petition signatures.   We need people to PROTEST.

A Place to Start
Please show up a little early to the next BOC meeting with a “No Bandon Marsh Expansion” sign and an American flag, so we can demonstrate to the commissioners that we are very serious about this issue.  
  
Also, there is another meeting on this issueto be held Saturday, March 3rd, at the Owens Building in Coquille. 
The meeting will begin at 11:00 am.

And, if all of this is not enough, then maybe it is time to OCCUPY the Bandon Marsh and reclaim
that which is already ours.

“Rob Taylor was the original organizer of the TEA Parties in Coos County and is currently an independent activist working to promote the rights of the individual.”

Here is a critique of the Jim Bice show today
http://mgx.com/blogs/2012/02/27/real-reason-for-county-administrator-revealed-today/ 

To Bob Main:
Sorry to say that you and a lot of others just don't get it! This O&C Trust is just more of the take over by the Federal Government and the UN "Agenda 21". Not only does this document not make me feel better
about anything the government wishes to do, but it demonstrates the outright disregard of the Constitution and what the government is supposed to be doing. 

We don't need the Federal Government to regulate what we can or can't do! We don't need the State to regulate what we can or can't do! We the People need them to get the hell out of the way and leave us alone! I have to tell you now that with the Federal Government and the Trillions of dollars of debit that is being laid upon the people things are not going to be good. You can not tell me that these Federal Grants and Monies don't have attachments and strict instructions as to how, when and where they will be used.

I will not encourage Senators Merkley and Wyden to pass this BILL! Fact is I will be writing them to ask them not to support such a bill.
Thanks
Chris  
 
On Tue, Feb 21, 2012 at 3:38 PM, Bob Main <bmain@co.coos.or.us> wrote:
Christopher 
 Maybe the above attachment will make you feel better!  Look at pgs 55 thru 58.  Please thank Reps Walden, DeFazio and Schrader for their hard work.  Also, please encourage Senators Merkley and Wyden to push hard in the Senate for passage of this bill.

Thank
you for the letter and good to hear from you.  Please don’t hesitate to call or email.  
Bob


541-396-3121 
770

541-404-5382 
c

Good morning,


             Attached you
will find the proposed O&C Trust, Conservation and Jobs Act.  Below you will
find the announcement of the bill and a press conference scheduled for 11:00 am
PST this morning.  Please review the proposed bill and join the conference this
morning.  The conference line is 800-857-9756 and enter the
passcode 54439.  If you have questions
feel free to contact me.  Thanks,


 



Rocky


541-412-1624


Fourth Congressional District, Oregon                                                  
         February 15, 2012
Contact:
Jen Gilbreath (DeFazio)--(202)
225-6416

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 Cody Tucker (Schrader)- (202)
225-5711
Andrew Whelan (Walden)- (202)
225-6730
 ** MEDIA ADVISORY **
 DEFAZIO, WALDEN, SCHRADER TO RELEASE DRAFT OF
BIPARTISAN O&C JOBS AGREEMENT

WASHINGTON, DC- Representatives Peter DeFazio
(D-Springfield), Greg Walden (R-Hood River), and Kurt Schrader (D-Canby) will
release a discussion draft of their bipartisan O&C Trust proposal for public
comment tomorrow afternoon. DeFazio and Schrader will also hold a media
availability in the afternoon to provide an update on the status of the
bipartisan effort.


Last fall, DeFazio, Walden, and Schrader worked with
stakeholders to reach a bipartisan agreement on a long-term plan for the O&C
counties. Since then, they’ve been working with the House Resources Committee to
integrate the provisions of their proposal into committee legislation. The
discussion draft will be posted to the member’s websites, where constituents can
send feedback and suggest changes to the draft.


“Time is running short for our rural counties, and they
deserve a long-term solution. We have finalized a discussion draft of our unique
plan for the O&C lands and intend to release it tomorrow. The plan is
separate from HR 4019, which will be marked up in the Natural Resources
Committee tomorrow. We still have outstanding issues that we are working out
with committee and will continue to work with them as we move through the
legislative process,” DeFazio, Walden, and Schrader said.


 


WHO:                  
Reps. Peter DeFazio and Kurt Schrader


WHAT:                
Press conference on OCTCJA


DATE:                   
Thursday, February 16


TIME:                   
11:00 am Pacific time


WHERE:              
Satellite feed and conference call from Washington, D.C.





TV STATIONS:


Satellite coordinates


Galaxy
19


C-band
analog @ 97 degrees west


Transponder
8


Downlink
@ 3860 Horizontal


Audio
@ 6.2 or 6.8
*To ask questions, stations must dial into the
conference line at 800-857-9756 and enter the passcode
54439.

 NEWSPAPER:*To patch into the conference call, dial 800-857-9756 and enter the
passcode 54439 to listen and ask questions of the
Congressmen.

THE TEA PARTYER
February 12, 2012
It was a little before 3:00 am on Saturday when I received the Power Point Presentation, which was going to be shown at an important meeting that day concerning the Bandon Marsh Expansion.

Everyone in the group worked diligently to get all of the information and material compiled.We had to present the immense amount of material in a way that could be coherent to the public.It is a very detailed subject, which encompasses several issues.The information has to be linked together with verifiable data, using many different sources.

All of this would be fruitless if it were not for those unsung heroes, many of whom we call neighbors.They work with no reward, nor a thank you, but act on a keen sense of principle.Bonnie, the talented lady who has
put together the map we use to identify property owners, has been absolutely professional in organizing our meetings. She designed our signs and bumper stickers with the highest of quality.

The good people at The Farm Bureau have gotten the word out all over the county.Beau Allen and Kevin Westfall have used their expertise and wealth of contacts to further tell the story.Their work has helped
propel this issue into the public eye.They have been trying to get our representatives to take notice, but it is a daunting task that takes the skill of diplomacy and the patience of steel to deal with the political arrogance.

Sharon Waterman has become a citizen lobbyist over the last couple of years, proving that fighting for ones property rights is an equal opportunity battle.She found the report published by the Oregon Watershed
Enhancement Board titled Coquille Valley Wetland Conservation and Restoration Proposal dated June of 2010.

This article links The Bandon Marsh Expansion and The Winter Lake Project, plus it exposes another 3000 acres that is under consideration for possible acquisition.The Bandon Marsh Expansion combined with this proposal would eliminate 7500 acres of prime real-estate right off the books.It seems Coos County is under attack by government bureaucrats.

One rancher, Ken Hershey, has been able to give us a direct history of the place.He tracked down the parcels as we toured the expansion area.We went out last week to see the marsh with local biologist, Daniel Varoujean, who was able to build the scientific case against this ecological and environmental disaster, which will come in handy when we have to face off against the experts on the other side.

These people are the real treasure of Coos County and it shows there is more than just the dollar value of the property. They represent an intrinsic value, the wisdom, talent and experience we have cultivated in our little
community. We may never be able to replace these folks once we lose them and that could be the real tragedy here and it is one of the most important reasons to stop this federal land grab.

The meeting in The Barn was a success. There were over 150 people in attendance, with the majority opposed to the marsh expansion.We had two county commissioners, the Mayor of Bandon, two city councilors and several candidates in attendance.If the US Fish &Wildlife Service did not know there was an opposition to this expansion, they do now.

We are still asking for people to contact Senator Wyden and Merkley and Congressman DeFazio.It is important to keep up the pressure with relentless determination.Keep writing those letters to The Public Lands
Committees in both houses, because we have to keep fighting the good fight.

On Friday we are having a Potluck and a forum on Property Rights will be presented by The Coos County Tea Party with keynote speaker, Randal O’Toole, a Senior Fellow from the CATO Institute.He will be in Coos Bay at the ESD Building, 1350 Teakwood Ave, starting at 5:00 PM and everyone is welcome.Please bring your favorite dish, whoever that might be.Big Daddy Steve Noorlander will be serving his world famous tacos.

Then on the 20th of February we are going to have a protest for Senator Merkley’s Town Hall Meeting at Marshfield High school on Ingersoll.This will start at 1:00 PM and we should show up a little early with some, “NO Bandon Marsh Expansion” signs.VIVA LA FIRST AMENDMENT.

To find out more information go to www.CoosCountyWatchdog.com. 
 
“RobTaylor was the original organizer of the TEA Parties in Coos County and is currently an independent activist working to promote the rights of the individual.”

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Board of Commissioners Meeting
 Date: Tuesday, March 6th, 2012 

At  the last meeting, The BOC did not pass a resolution on the O&C Lands/Wagon Train Road and the commissioners did not pass the resolution against The Bandon Marsh Expansion.
 
There were only two commissioners present, Main and Messerle, and Main said the resolution was not restrictive enough and it will have to be brought up as an Agenda Item at the next meeting.  
 
Everyone is requested to show up with the “No Bandon Marsh Expansion” signs, or your own
protest sign and an American Flag.
 
Board of Commissioners Meeting
Date: Tuesday, March 6th, 2012
9:00 AM for the Protest 
9:30 AM for the regular BOC Meeting
 The Owen Building
 201  N Adams St,
Coquille, OR 97423

Google Map
Give them a call:
 BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
 Phone: 541-396-3121
  ext. 225 

Commissioner Bob Main
bmain@co.coos.or.us  
Phone: 541-396-3121
  ext 770

Commissioner Fred Messerle
 fmesserle@co.coos.or.us  
Phone: 541-396-3121
  ext 247

 Commissioner Cam Parry
 cparry@co.coos.or.us  
Phone: 541-396-3121
  ext 281