WALLOWA LAKE — A Wallowa Lake man who said he was forcefully ejected from a meeting on the Greater Idaho initiative has erected a “Heart of Oregon” billboard near the home of the Greater Idaho founder in La Pine.

The Wallowa County Board of Commissioners holds its next public forum Feb. 26 to consider the county’s best interests in whether or not it should cut ties with Oregon and become a county of neighboring Idaho.

But David Arlint, who has lived near the head of Wallowa Lake for more than 12 years and in Oregon since 1987, said he is dead set against the proposed border shift. And he’s written several letters to the editor to the Chieftain to confirm his opinion.

He’s also gone so far as to fork out $4,800 for a billboard displaying the outline of Oregon with a heart in the middle of it. The sign is on Highway 97 near the home of Mike McCarter in La Pine. McCarter is the founder of the Greater Idaho movement. Arlint said he did so to “get in McCarter’s face.”

Greater Idaho/Move Oregon’s Border signs are in Wallowa County and elsewhere in Oregon, including a large one near Salem, Arlint said.

He said that during the commissioners’ February 2024 meeting on the issue, two Wallowa County Sheriff’s deputies escorted him from the courthouse conference room and threatened him with a citation for trespassing and jail if he returned.

“We have the right to peacefully protest the government and they took that right away from me,” he said.

The meeting was otherwise peaceful.

Background

The movement has the support of 13 Oregon counties that approved votes during the past five years requiring their county commissioners to host meetings to consider the if they decided to become a part of Idaho. The votes were not to actually move the border, just to consider whether it is something local residents wish to explore and what each county’s best interest is in pursuing the issue. There is no sunset clause on the ballot measures.

New States Clause in Article IV, Section 3, of the U.S. Constitution permits states to change borders with the approval of the state legislatures involved and the consent of Congress.

Such a move has happened in the past, most notably in 1861, when representatives of the western counties of Virginia refused to go along with the secessionist Richmond government. After it seceded from the Union, the Western Virginians fled to Wheeling and declared themselves the legitimate government of Virginia. But two years later were admitted to the Union as the state of West Virginia.

So far, the process has been fairly bogged down in Oregon.

Get voices heard

Arlint said since most of Eastern Oregon is Republican-dominated, residents here should focus their efforts on electing more like-minded lawmakers and break up the supermajority the Democrats hold in Salem. He said money donated to Greater Idaho could be better spent.

“How many Republicans out here are going to be starving for funds because Greater Idaho has sucked up all the money?” he said.

Arlint said he doesn’t dislike Idaho, but prefers to remain in Oregon.

“If they wish to move to Idaho, it is a lovely state, and they have the right to move there if they wish,” he said. “What they don’t have the right to do is drag the rest of us who still love and cherish the communities we continue to have our hearts in along with them.”

Arlint said many of the well-off residents near the head of Wallowa Lake have told him they would not invest in the area if it were to become part of Idaho.

Legislation

The Idaho House of Representatives passed a memorial in 2023 inviting Oregon to begin talks about relocating the state borders.

State Sen. Diane Linthicum, R-Klamath Falls, has sponsored Senate Joint Memorial 7, requesting a discussion between Oregon and Idaho governments regarding the relocation of the states’ border. And state Rep. Bobby Levy, R-Echo, co-sponsored House Bill 3488 to create a state task force to document the legal processes that must take place to relocate the border.

Both proposals are in their respective chambers’ Rules Committees where the top leaders of both parties look over issues regarding elections, ballot measures and others.

State Rep. Rob Nosse, D-Portland, a friend of Arlint’s, said he thinks both are not likely to pass.

“Since they’re both Republican-sponsored bills, probably not, but it’s early,” he said. “I don’t think they have great chance of passage, but they’re not saying we’re going to move border today, so I don’t know.”

Nosse said he probably is unwilling to support the House Bill but he has not given it a lot of thought.

“I’d hate to lose the Wallowas and Joseph,” he said.

Although Idaho Gov. Brad Little has said he is in favor of discussing the border move, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has not responded to inquiries from the Greater Idaho movement, but she has said she is aware of it.

Arlint said he wants the issue of Eastern Oregon voices being heard in Salem to be less contentious.

“What I don’t get is the ‘I’m right and you’re evil,’” he said. “Let’s figure out a way to make our community better.”