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Siskiyou County supervisors, hoping to spark another attempt to create the state of Jefferson in southern Oregon and northernmost California, voted Tuesday to begin the process of seceding from California.

The board voted 4-1 to pursue secession at a meeting packed with local residents who say they are fed up with California state government. "Many proposed laws are unconstitutional and deny us our God-given rights," said Happy Camp resident Gabe Garrison, according to the

. "We need our own state so we can make laws that fit our way of life."

The paper said officials in neighboring Humboldt County expressed interest in joining the effort, which gathered steam after the state

on rural residents.

The idea of carving a new state out of California and Oregon -- which would be exceedingly hard to do, both politically and legally -- has been discussed several times through the years. The most

when leaders from four Northern California counties and Oregon's Curry County met to consider secession. The effort lost steam following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that led the U.S. into World War II.

--Jeff Mapes