Brian Sather says his outdoor recreation background would serve him well as commissioner

LA GRANDE — Brian Sather sees outdoor recreation as an integral part of Union County.

Sather, a candidate for Position 3 on the Union County Board of Commissioners, is a professor of physical education and sport at Eastern Oregon University. The candidate believes his academic background, along with his administration and business management experience, would be beneficial to the role of commissioner should he be elected.

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“There was nothing that really prompted me other than I’m very confident I would do a great job as commissioner with my skill set,” he said. “So, just my love of the county more than anything.”

The candidate said that while his background is specific to recreation and sports, he believes the principles are “pretty applicable across the board.”

Sather believes there needs to be more of a focus on outdoor recreation given its importance to the county — both to the people who live here and from a tourism perspective.

“A lot of people live in the county because of the recreational experiences,” he said. “Since it’s such an integral part of the county, I feel like I have that perspective that it ties in really well with.”

His background has also given Sather a unique perspective on what he believes to be one of the biggest issues facing Union County — the impending travel management plan for the Blue Mountain region being considered by the U.S. Forest Service. This is a part of the upcoming Blue Mountain Forest Plan Revision.

He said that the decisions being made by the Forest Service will impact what the public can and cannot do in Union County because a large percentage of the land used for recreation in the county is Forest Service land.

“These changes that the Forest Service is planning are going to have a dramatic impact — depending on what’s decided with that travel management plan,” Sather said.

The candidate added that this is something the current commissioners have been dealing with recently. He said this will continue to be an important topic over the next few years.

According to Sather, a recent economic report produced by Eastern Oregon University for the forest plan notes that income from Forest Service lands has moved away from resource extraction, such as logging. He added that many communities around national forests have increased economic benefit from recreation tourism and there is a greater quality of living when there is access to the forest.

“I’ve lived here 22 years because of the recreation opportunities," he said. "I would like to do anything possible to promote that, maintain that and it’s a potential good income source for this county."

The candidate would like to see better systems in place to generate revenue from tourists who visit Union County for recreation. Sather said this would be an area of focus if he were elected commissioner.

Other issues

Outside of recreation, Sather sees affordable living as the biggest issue in the county. He said that there are a lot of factors that go into affordable living, everything from the price of housing to the impacts of inflation to average wages.

“I don’t have a magic answer for that one, but that would be something that would drive a lot of decision making,” he said. “I think that’s going to be the most influential thing across the board.”

If elected, Sather said that he would like to evaluate the budget and see if there is anything that could be done, such as potential kickers or some kind of tax relief.

He also believes that looking at zoning and potential zoning changes could be helpful. However, the candidate said that it would be a fine line to walk. Sather believes it is important to maintain the rural nature of Union County, balanced against giving people complete freedom to build and do what they want with the land.

“That’s a tough one because one reason we love the county is because of the rural look of it,” Sather said. “I wouldn’t want it to turn into a Boise, where there’s a house in every farm field now.”

As a former Idaho resident, Sather does not see the upside when it comes to Great Idaho. He said he has seen how much the state has changed over the last couple of decades.

The candidate added he doesn’t see changing the border as something that could happen quickly. If he were elected he would rather devote his time to things that would have an immediate impact on Union County.

“We have a lot of control over things that happen within our county as commissioners. So, I prefer to spend time on things within our border — Union County border — that we have control over,” he said.

That being the case, Sather said he would go “into any discussion with an open mind.” He added that he voted in favor of the commissioners discussing the Greater Idaho movement.

Sather is one of nine candidates for Position 3 on the Union County Board of Commissioners. The candidates are seeking to succeed Donna Beverage who is completing her eighth year as commissioner and cannot run for reelection because of term limits Union County voters approved several years ago.