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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (March 7, 2020)
B Saturday, March 7, 2020 The Observer & Baker City Herald RECREATION REPORT FIVE DEER HUNTS CANCELED DUE TO DISEASE IN WHITE-TAILED DEER LAST YEAR SALEM — The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is canceling fi ve 600 Series deer hunts, meaning hunters will not be able to apply or draw the tag for them for the upcom- ing fall 2020 season. The cancellations are in an area of the Blue Mountains from Milton-Freewater to Pilot Rock where an outbreak of Epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) is estimated to have killed 2,000 white-tailed deer late last year. The hunt cancellations for these 227 tags are needed to protect does and allow the white-tailed deer population to rebound. The hunts can- celled are on private land, where antler- less deer hunting addresses damage to agriculture. The hunt numbers are 649A (N Ukiah), 654A (Rawhide), 655A (Or- chards), 655B1 and 655B2 (Walla Walla Valley No. 1 and No. 2). While some of the bag limits for these hunts allow an antlerless mule deer or white-tail to be harvested, most of the harvest is white- tailed deer in these hunts. These hunts will no longer be avail- able for application through ODFW’s licensing system. ODFW License Sales Service staff will be contacting hunters who have already applied for these hunts and asking them to adjust their application through their online account (applications can be edited online under Recreational Portfo- lio/Controlled Hunts; see how-to online). While EHD typi- cally does not have long-term impacts on white-tailed deer populations, cancel- lation of these hunts should help the population rebound faster. ODOT ALLOCATES MONEY TO PLOW SNO-PARKS The Oregon De- partment of Transpor- tation allocated an extra $11,910 recently to plow snow from three sno-parks — Catherine Creek, Clear Creek (north of Halfway) and Salt Creek Summit. ODOT initially bud- geted $34,500 for the three sno-parks, but higher-than-average snowfall necessi- tated the additional money. ODOT partners with the Wallowa- Whitman National Forest and local con- tractors to keep the sno-parks accessible. The money comes from the sale of sno- park passes, required to park at the sites. EARLY SEASON HIKING Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald A Wallowa Mountains vista from the Virtue Flat OHV Area east of Baker City includes Red Mountain (red arrow), the highest peak in Baker County at 9,555 feet. S CRATCHING A S PRING I TCH I was driving through the sage, hoping to fi nd a mild spring breeze and the early buttercup, when I glanced in the rear-view mirror and saw a cloud of dust roiling in my wake. In summer this would be a gritty, cornea-scratching annoyance. But on the cusp of spring, I take the dust as a promising omen — a sign that I might get in some miles without having to lug around a couple pounds of mud on each boot. This purgatorial period, with the snow receding and the temperature on some afternoons fl irting with 60, can frustrate hikers. We yearn to tromp around without having to lace up heavy winter boots and, like as not, snowshoes or skis. Yet the mountain trails, no matter how warmly the sun falls across the face, will remain snowbound for months. Hells Canyon, the lowest place around here, beckons with its promise of snow-free slopes. But the great canyon of the Snake River is too far from my home in Baker City for a quick jaunt. Not so with Virtue Flat. This 5,000-acre swath of public land is just a 10-min- ute drive from Baker City — maybe 15 if, as I typically do, you go to the eastern end of the area. Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald Expanses of sagebrush and grass predominate in the Virtue Flat OHV Area. It’s my favorite spot early in the season not only due ON THE TRAIL to its proximity, but also JAYSON JACOBY because I relish the scent of sun-warmed sage after Virtue Flat is best known months marked by frigid as a playground for off- winds and frequent snow highway vehicles. The area, fl urries. which is overseen by the The herbaceous harbingers BLM, has a network of more of spring — buttercups and than 30 miles of signed roads grass widows and desert and trails, ranging from parsley, among others — also relatively smooth two-tracks tend to blossom earlier at Vir- to narrow, boulder-strewn dry tue Flat than in most other washes where drivers like to places nearby. challenge their purpose-built rock-crawling rigs. But Virtue Flat is also open to hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders. But sometimes I’m overea- ger, lured into the sagelands by a particularly balmy day, only to fi nd the ground still squishy with the remnants of winter frost. Virtue Flat is no place for hiking during the thaw. The saturated desert soil makes a type of mud that clings with a tenacity that would impress the chemists who create powerful glues. This glutinous interlude, fortunately, tends to be brief, spanning perhaps a few weeks after the last snowdrift has surrendered its moisture to the ground. As I drove along Ruckles Creek Road on a recent morn- ing, the southern boundary of Virtue Flat, the dust cloud behind me suggested that the ground was likely to be dry enough for hiking. And generally speaking that was the case. See Hiking/Page 3B Chow Time Photo and caption by Jim Ward Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald Mountains rise in every direction from Virtue Flat. To the southeast the snowy slopes of Little Lookout Mountain, which tops out at 6,676 feet, dominate the view. Ron Coleman, with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, fi lls a deer feeder at the Elkhorn Wildlife Area west of Baker City. A specially formulated, high-protein pellet is offered to mule deer coming to the feeding sites. As with most areas of the West, mule deer numbers are down on the Wildlife Area, from over 1,000 animals in the mid-1980s to 250 animals currently.
