The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current, October 07, 2019, Page 2, Image 2

2A — THE OBSERVER
MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2019
LOCAL
D aily
P lanner
Missing man found
dead in Wallowas
TODAY
Today is Monday, Oct. 7,
the 280th day of 2019. There
are 85 days left in the year.
EO Media Group
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On Oct. 7, 2001, the war in
Afghanistan started as the
United States and Britain
launched air attacks against
military targets and Osama
bin Laden’s training camps
in the wake of the Septem-
ber 11 attacks.
ON THIS DATE
In 1960, Democratic
presidential candidate John
F. Kennedy and Republican
opponent Richard Nixon
held their second televised
debate, this one in Washing-
ton, D.C.
In 1979, Pope John Paul
II concluded his week-long
tour of the United States
with a Mass on the Wash-
ington Mall.
In 1985, Palestinian gun-
men hijacked the Italian
cruise ship Achille Lauro in
the Mediterranean.
In 1992, trade representa-
tives of the United States,
Canada and Mexico initialed
the North American Free
Trade Agreement during a
ceremony in San Antonio,
Texas, in the presence of
President George H.W.
Bush, Canadian Prime Min-
ister Brian Mulroney and
Mexican President Carlos
Salinas de Gortari.
In 1996, Fox News Chan-
nel made its debut.
In 2003, California vot-
ers recalled Gov. Gray
Davis and elected Arnold
Schwarzenegger their new
governor.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Being right half the time
beats being half-right all the
time.”
— Malcolm Forbes,
American publisher
Sheriff’s Office, said a drone
operated by the Umatilla
County Sheriff’s Office search
and rescue team located Den-
nis’ body.
McClay said searchers
later found his body in what
they described as a “waterfall,
crevice area” on a steep slope
above the East Eagle trail.
Baker County Sheriff Tra-
vis Ash described the location
as a chute.
McClay said it appears
that Dennis fell on Sept.
28, the day he arrived in
the area to hunt for deer.
“We believe that he died
the day he went hunting,”
McClay said.
Sturm said Barney was
reunited with Dennis’ wife,
Patty, and that the dog,
although he has lost some
weight, is doing well.
On her Facebook page
Sturm, who traveled from
her home at Ridgefield,
Washington, to partici-
pate in the search, posted:
“I watched as men and
women came down that
mountain after searching
from sun up to sun down,
some strangers, a lot of
friends and family and Un-
cle Andy’s brothers along
with SAR members. Sit-
ting by the fire to warm up
with tears in their eye they
wouldn’t give up. Thank
you to each and everyone
of you that searched.”
Jayson Jacoby
USFWS photo
A mere greater sage grouse, rear, struts for a female at a lek, or mating ground. A
environmental lawsuit aims to restore grazing prohibitions on 22,000 acres across 13
sites in Eastern Oregon.
ENVIRONMENTALISTS
SUE TO BRING BACK
■ ■ Environmental groups seek to reinstate grazing prohibitions
By Mateusz Perkowski
EO Media Group
PORTLAND — Environmentalists want to
reinstate grazing prohibitions on 22,000 acres
across 13 sites in Eastern Oregon to improve
studies of sage grouse habitat.
The Oregon Natural Desert Association,
Audubon Society of Portland and Defenders of
Wildlife have filed a lawsuit seeking to over-
turn a federal plan that re-opened the “research
natural areas” to cattle earlier this year.
Banning grazing from the 13 sites is neces-
sary for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management
to understand how cattle affect “sage brush
plant communities,” since there are “almost
no ungrazed areas on public lands” within the
bird’s range in Eastern Oregon, the complaint
said.
“If implemented as approved, BLM through
this plan amendment will abandon science, se-
verely limiting the agency’s ability to contribute
to conservation of the sage grouse,” according to
the environmental plaintiffs.
A representative of the BLM said the agency
doesn’t comment on pending litigation as a
matter of policy.
Jerome Rosa, executive director of the Ore-
gon Cattlemen’s Association, said the organiza-
tion is concerned by the lawsuit because it took
a lot of work to persuade the Interior Depart-
ment and BLM to restore grazing within the
“research natural areas.”
“Grazing is compatible with sage grouse
habitat,” while research can still occur in areas
that are grazed, Rosa said.
“They’re really important to the ranchers
who make their living on those areas,” he said.
Controversies over the bird’s status under
the Endangered Species Act are deep-rooted
in the West, where its population has substan-
tially declined in the past two centuries.
Environmentalists long pushed for the
sage grouse to be protected as a threatened or
endangered species, but the federal govern-
ment ultimately decided such a listing wasn’t
warranted in 2015 after finding that resource
management plans and conservation agree-
ments would sufficiently protect the bird.
Under the resource management plans for
Oregon, the Obama administration eliminated
grazing from nearly 22,000 acres within the 13
“research natural areas” that would serve as a
control baseline in scientific studies.
In 2019, however, the Trump administration
updated Oregon’s RMPs to once again permit
cattle within those areas due to “economic
impacts to certain livestock operators.”
The environmental plaintiffs claim this
change violates the National Environmental
Policy Act because the BLM “failed to give good
reasons for its reversal of policy” and didn’t take
the required “hard look” at the policy’s environ-
mental impacts.
The policy shift also violates the Federal
Land Policy and Management Act due to the
range degradation and impairment from graz-
ing, which is “a destructive and inconsistent
use of these specially-protected areas,” the
complaint said.
The Oregon Cattlemen’s Association believes
the “massive” amount of acreage within the 13
sites is excessive, since research can occur on
smaller plots, said Rosa, the group’s executive
director. “They can have control areas within
those allotments without it being such a large
size and scale.”
Searchers found the body
of Andrew Dean Dennis of
Haines late Sunday morning
in a nearly sheer rock chute
in the Wallowa Mountains,
eight days after the 60-year-
old Haines man failed to re-
turn from a planned one-day
deer-hunting trip.
It appears that Den-
nis died from a fall in the
steep terrain near East
Eagle Creek, his niece, Candy
Sturm, said Sunday.
Sturm said her uncle’s
body was found near
where searchers trapped
Dennis’ dog, Barney, on
Saturday evening. The
site is near where Curtis
Creek crosses the East
Eagle trail, about 2 miles
from the trailhead where
Dennis parked his vehicle
on Sept. 28.
Dennis’ body was ini-
tially spotted by a drone,
according to a post Sturm
made on her Facebook
page.
Searchers found Dennis
about 11:30 a.m. Sunday,
according to a press release
from the Baker County Sher-
iff’s Office.
“His death appears to be
a tragic accident,” according
to the press release. “No foul
play is suspected.”
Ashley McClay, the public
information officer for the
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CARING
staff help your FALL be
HAPPY & FESTIVE!
FAMILY
OWNED
P ublic S afety r ePort
UNION COUNTY SHERIFF
Arrested:฀Taera฀Lyn฀Harris,฀22,฀
unknown address, was arrested
on a Umatilla County warrant
charging failure to appear in court.
The warrant was connected to an
original charge of possession of a
controlled substance-meth.
Arrested:฀Luke฀Allen฀Sauer,฀31,฀
unknown address, was arrested
on a Baker County warrant charg-
ing a probation violation. The
alleged probation violation was
connected to an original charge of
weapon offense.
Arrested:฀Dustin฀John฀Mathis,฀
28, unknown address, was arrest-
ed on charges of second-degree
burglary and second-degree theft.
Arrested:฀Salvador฀Ramos฀
Barriga, 38, unknown address,
was arrested by the Grant
County Sheriff’s Office in Ephrata,
Washington on a Union County
warrant charging unlawful deliv-
ery of methamphetamine and
unlawful possession of metham-
phetamine.
Arrested:฀Jeffrey฀Glenn฀Wise-
man, 56, unknown address, was
arrested on charges of hit and
run, driving under the influence
of intoxicants with accident, and
reckless driving.
Arrested:฀Carmon฀Deon฀
Hendricksen, 31, unknown ad-
dress, was arrested on charges of
second-theft, and conspiracy to
commit second-degree theft.
Arrested:฀Joseph฀William฀Dial,฀
28, unknown address, was arrested
on charges of second-degree theft,
conspiracy to commit second-
degree theft and possession of a
controlled substance-methamphet-
amine.
Accident:฀At฀least฀one฀person฀
was injured in a traffic accident
Wednesday on Owsley Canyon
Road. The accident was reported
at฀9:19฀p.m.
Cited:฀A฀Union฀County฀juvenile฀
was cited on a charge of minor in
possession, vape.
Arrested:฀Daniel฀Sean฀McGrane฀
Newton 32, La Grande, was ar-
rested on charges of third-degree
theft and conspiracy to commit
first-degree theft.
Arrested:฀Jeremy฀Kyle฀Matte,฀
31, La Grande, was arrested on
charges of second-degree theft
and conspiracy to commit first-
degree theft.
LA GRANDE POLICE
DEPARTMENT
Arrested:฀Zia฀Areal฀Hernandez,฀
23, unknown address, was ar-
rested by the Moses Lake Police
Department on a Union County
secret indictment warrant charging
unlawful possession and unlawful
delivery of methamphetamine.
Arrested:฀Jesse฀Joe฀Shodin,฀45,฀
unknown address, was arrested
while lodged in the Union County
Jail on a parole and probation
detainer.
Arrested:฀Robert฀Allen฀Fox,฀57,฀
unknown address, was arrested
on charges of first-degree rob-
bery, menacing and third-degree
theft.
Arrested:฀Todd฀Kevin฀McCoy,฀
58, a transient, as arrested on a
Union County warrant charging
possession of methamphet-
amine.
Arrested:฀Joseph฀William฀Dial,฀
28, unknown address, was ar-
rested while in the Union County
Jail on a Lake County warrant
charging a probation violation.
The warrant was connected to
an original charge of dangerous
drugs.
Arrested:฀A฀Union฀County฀
juvenile was cited on a charge of
minor in possession-vape.
Arrested; Chad La Vern Profitt,
46, unknown address, was
arrested by the Baker County
Sheriff’s Office on two Union
County warrants. One warrant
charged supplying contraband,
unlawful manufacturing/deliv-
ery of a schedule IV controlled
substance and an order to show
cause. A second warrant charged
failure to report as a sex offender,
two counts.
Arrested:฀William฀Troy฀Mitchell,฀
38, unknown address was ar-
rested on a Union County warrant
charging a probation violation.
The warrant was connected to an
original charge of possession of
methamphetamine.
LA GRANDE FIRE
DEPARTMENT
Firefighters responded to five
calls for medical assistance on
last Thursday, 14 on Wednesday,
nine on Tuesday and nine on
Monday.
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