The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current, October 21, 2019, Page 2, Image 2

2A — THE OBSERVER
D AILY
P LANNER
MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2019
LOCAL
An early taste of winter
USFS
seeks
public
comments
TODAY
Today is Monday, Oct. 21,
the 294th day of 2019. There
are 71 days left in the year.
■ Forest Service
wants comments
on tree thinning
project near Troy
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
Observer staff
On Oct. 21,1960, Demo-
crat John F. Kennedy and
Republican Richard M.
Nixon clashed in their fourth
and fi nal presidential debate
in New York.
ON THIS DATE
In 1797, the U.S. Navy
frigate Constitution, also
known as “Old Ironsides,”
was christened in Boston’s
harbor.
In 1917, members of the
1st Division of the U.S.
Army training in Luneville,
France, became the fi rst
Americans to see action
on the front lines of World
War I.
In 1966, 144 people, 116
of them children, were killed
when a coal waste land-
slide engulfed a school and
some 20 houses in Aberfan,
Wales.
In 1967, the Israeli
destroyer INS Eilat was
sunk by Egyptian missile
boats near Port Said; 47
Israeli crew members were
lost.
In 1985, former San
Francisco Supervisor Dan
White — who’d served fi ve
years in prison for killing
Mayor George Moscone
and Supervisor Harvey Milk,
a gay-rights advocate —
was found dead in a garage,
a suicide.
In 1996, President
Clinton’s “don’t ask, don’t
tell” policy on gays in the
military survived its fi rst
Supreme Court test.
Jayson Jacoby/EO Media Group
A storm
that moved
through
Northeast
Oregon on
Saturday
dumped
close to a
foot of snow
at Anthony
Lakes, eleva-
tion 7,100 feet
in the Elkhorn
Mountains
about 35 miles
northwest of
Baker City.
Jayson Jacoby/EO Media Group
WALLOWA COUNTY
Planning underway to replace dam
By Katy Nesbitt
LOTTERY
For EO Media Group
Megabucks: $4.6 million
JOSEPH — A fi x for the
aging Wallowa Lake Dam is
on the horizon with $14 mil-
lion from the state of Oregon
and a series of stakeholder
meetings on the calendar.
Gov. Kate Brown included
$16 million in her proposed
2020-21 biennium budget
to rehabilitate the 103-year-
old dam. Earlier this year,
the Legislature approved
the project, whittling the
amount down to $14 million
and requiring the stakehold-
ers to create a memoran-
dum of agreement spelling
out the terms on which the
four parties agree.
The dam, owned and
managed by the Wallowa
Lake Irrigation District,
provides water to upper
Wallowa Valley farms. As
the district’s board has
sought funding it has also
discussed state-required fi sh
passage options with the
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife, the Nez Perce
Tribe and the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla.
“The funding for a new
dam cures a fi sh problem
and a farm problem,” Dan
Butterfi eld, the irrigation
district’s president, said.
With the current fund-
ing, the dam reconstruc-
tion project manager, Mort
McMillen of McMillen,
Jacob and Associates, said
fi sh passage would likely
be “trap and haul” — trap-
ping adult, returning
sockeye and moving them
4-13-25-32-33-39
Mega Millions: $82 million
18-58-60-65-67-20-x3
Powerball: $120 million
14-27-29-59-65-12-x2
Win for Life: Oct. 19
10-22-33-64
Pick 4: Oct. 20
•฀1฀p.m.:฀9-2-5-0
•฀4฀p.m.:฀3-1-1-9
•฀7฀p.m.:฀0-8-5-8
•฀10฀p.m.:฀5-2-4-5
Pick 4: Oct. 19
•฀1฀p.m.:฀4-5-0-8
•฀4฀p.m.:฀4-4-0-7
•฀7฀p.m.:฀8-7-5-5
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Pick 4: Oct. 18
•฀1฀p.m.:฀8-1-4-6
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•฀7฀p.m.:฀9-8-3-9
•฀10฀p.m.:฀6-8-1-0
NEWSPAPER LATE?
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Your paper will be delivered
the next business day.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Silence is sometimes
the severest criticism.”
— Charles Buxton,
English writer
More information
Katy Nesbitt/For EO Media Group
The Wallowa Lake Dam will be rebuilt with $14 million from the Oregon Legislature.
around the dam and into
the lake. A future option
might be a “Swoosh!” or
salmon cannon — a facil-
ity into which fi sh swim
and are propelled over a
dam.
“We ended up with trap-
and-haul system, but could
upgrade ... at some point,”
McMillen said. “That was
the compromise — multiple
benefi ts that fi t within the
budget.”
Another compromise
proposed in the fi nal hours
of the legislative session
was a request for allocat-
ing some stored water for
fi sh and wildlife benefi t.
McMillen said the district
made an agreement to do
so.
Anticipating funding
would one day become
available, the district hired
McMillen to draw plans for
a new dam. Because of the
risk of a failure, he said the
dam has been running at
72% of capacity since 1994.
The rehabilitated dam
would provide more water
to irrigators and allow for
more water to be released,
increasing stream fl ows for
fi sh.
“With rehabilitation the
district will be able to run
the dam for another 100
years and continue to restrict
the lake’s release for safer
operation,” McMillen said.
The grant may not be
available until 2021, but
Butterfi eld said the board
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is eager to get the fi nal
engineering design drafted
and permitting underway, so
its members are exploring
loan options.
“Once we get the MOA
signed, that’s as good as gold
to go to a bank and get a
loan,” Butterfi eld said. “We
put feelers out to a couple
different banks.”
PROJECT INFO
For additional
information about the
Elbow Project, contact
Joseph Sciarrino at
509-522- 6283 or visit
the฀project฀website฀at:฀
https://www.fs.usda.gov/
project/?project=57017.
FOREST INFO
Additional information
about the Umatilla
National Forest is
available at www.
fs.usda.gov/umatilla.
Enjoy what matters!
CARING STAFF
“People Who Care”
WALLA WALLA, Wash-
ington — The Walla Walla
Ranger District of the Uma-
tilla National Forest seeks
public comment on a plan
to remove swaths of insect-
infested trees.
The purpose of the Elbow
Insect and Disease Project is
to reduce the risk and extent
of the ongoing insect infesta-
tion approximately 9 miles
west of Troy. The project
proposes to remove trees in
several ways, including burn-
ing, from as much as 2,600
acres within a 15,600-acre
project boundary.
“There is a need to reduce
stand densities to increase
the vitality of the leave trees,
in particular, large overstory
early seral tree species,” ac-
cording to the announcement
from the Forest Service.
“The reduced stand densities
would decrease competi-
tion for moisture, light and
nutrients.”
The Forest Service will ac-
cept written comments on this
categorically excluded action
until Nov. 18 to help refi ne the
plan and identify ways to im-
prove project design. The com-
ment period is an opportunity
for the public to be involved in
the process and offer thoughts
on alternative ways the Forest
Service can accomplish the
project’s purpose and need.
The Walla Walla Ranger
District also will host two
collaboration opportunities
during the scoping period,
including an open house from
3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 28, at the
Walla Walla Ranger District,
1415 W. Rose St., Walla
Walla, and a public fi eld trip
to the project area on Oct. 29.
For those interested in at-
tending the fi eld trip, contact
the Walla Walla Ranger
District at 509-522-6290 by
Oct. 25.
GRANDE 1809 Gekeler Ln.
215 Elm Street La Grande (541) 963-5440
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Retirement & Assisted Living
La Grande
541-963-4700