Sheriff Glenn Palmer is taking a stand for sheriffs and local rights.

CANYON CITY Sheriff Glenn Palmer took his stand against the Forest Service to the airwaves last week, speaking out on the conservative radio show, The Power Hour.

He talked with host Joyce Riley for about an hour Tuesday, April 26, and took questions from callers from as far away as Texas and Missouri.

On the program, Palmer discussed his views on Forest Service policy, the Constitution and the powers of elected county sheriffs. 

It is the sheriff who has the duty and authority of upholding the Constitution as well as carrying out enforcement of our laws and determining if theyre constitutional or not, he said. 

The impetus for the interview was Palmers recent refusal to sign a cooperative agreement to have deputies patrol campgrounds on the Malheur National Forest during the camping season. In an arrangement dating back several years, deputies have conducted the patrols and the Forest Service pays the Sheriffs Office for the work.

The proposed 2011 county budget projects $13,000 in revenue from that agreement.

However, Palmer, in a March 31 letter to Forest Supervisor Teresa Raaf, said he would no longer sign the agreement. He blamed the agency for illegal road closures; problems with grazing, logging, and wood permits; unemployment and other economic ills facing the county. He also questioned the Forest Services authority to have law enforcement in Grant County, saying its jurisdiction is limited to the Federal Building in John Day.

  Riley saluted Palmer for telling the federal government not no, but heck no.

Palmer focused on concerns over the Forest Services travel management plan, an ongoing shift in road policies for forests across the nation. The proposed plan for the Malheur has angered local residents because it closes all roads unless specifically mapped as open and also bars cross-country vehicle travel. 

Riley asked Palmer about the Forest Services agenda, noting that the original story seemed to be to protect the forests for the publics benefit. Then we get stories that theyre training foreign troops in the forest, and we dont know whats going on. It doesnt matter why theyre doing it, its wrong, she said.

Palmer said the agency has been closing roads gradually over the years, but no one saw the new travel management plan coming.

The publics been duped, he said. Quite a few roads closed over the last 10-15 years, and they had no legal authority to do it.

The cross-country travel ban is a particular concern, he said. We asked them to show us, wheres the damage? he said. 

Palmer said that while he doesnt claim 100 percent support of the citizens, he feels there are a lot more supporting him than against him.

Ive got some people who are upset with me for taking a stand, and they call it another one of my distractions, he said.

However, he vowed to stand up to the federal government for the people of the county. He urged people to read the Declaration of Independence, and recognize that the writers were oppressed.

I think thats where were at now, he said.

Callers and the host referred to a United Nations takeover of national parks, and also referred to the writings of Richard Mack. 

A former Arizona sheriff noted for challenging the Brady Bill and crusading for states rights, Mack espouses the power of county sheriffs against big brother government.

Mack launched a campaign dubbed No Sheriff Left Behind, encouraging supporters to provide copies of his book, The County Sheriff: Americas Last Hope, to sheriffs across the nation.

We must educate ourselves, and then we can know what action to take, Mack says on his website. One of the best and easiest solutions is to depend on local officials, especially the sheriff, to stand against federal intervention and federal criminality.