The Observer., April 02, 2020, Page 9, Image 9

BUSINESS & AG
THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2020
THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD — 3B
JUNIPERS
Continued from Page 1B
from the local offi ce, help in
the form of a much-needed
cost-share was never forth-
coming because Rocky
Mountain juniper had not
been proven to be invasive,
although the service had
funded removal of another
species, western juniper, in
the rest of Oregon for years.
She decided to take mat-
ters into her own hands.
“I bought draft horses,”
she said, “and thought I’d
use them to pull the trees to
the top of the slope, and just
start pecking away at it.”
But in 2017 help arrived
in the form of J. Johansen, a
new soil conservationist at
the Enterprise NRCS offi ce.
He started talking with sev-
eral landowners, including
McAlister, who wanted to
control the juniper that was
invading their rangeland.
But to provide cost-
sharing for landowners in
Wallowa County, Johansen
had to prove that Rocky
Mountain juniper was actu-
ally invasive here.
“We had an advantage in
showing that junipers were
a problem on the 6 Ranch
because we’ve owned this
land for 130-plus years,”
McAlister said. “I have an
oil painting that my great-
great-aunt did in 1902 of
this north-facing slope and
there’s hardly a juniper on it
then,” McAlister said.
Photo by Ellen Morris Bishop/EO Media Group
Wallowa County’s 6 Ranch owner Liza Jane McAlister
shows the painting her great-great-aunt made in 1902 de-
picting a grassy slope with a few pine trees. Today, juniper
trees cover the ridge. McAlister aims to restore the land to
the open space in the painting.
Photo by Ellen Morris Bishop/EO Media Group
Range conservationist J. Johansen with the Natural Resources Conservation Service
uses and increment borer to check the age of a juniper Monday on the 6 Ranch in Wal-
lowa County. The tree was about 36 years old. Most junipers in the stand are less than 60
years old, and have shaded out vegetation as well as produced an almost impenetrable
thicket of branches.
Johansen found old
USDA Soil Conservation
Service aerial photos of the
county from 1946, 1974 and
1992. They showed junipers
were invading and over-
whelming grasslands on the
6 Ranch and elsewhere.
With that clear evidence,
the NRCS approved the
conservation implementa-
tion strategy, allowing for
cost shares here. Johansen
mapped out the distribu-
tion of the problem trees,
and the 4,500-acre Ecolog-
ical Function Restoration
juniper treatment area was
born.
The 6 Ranch project
began this week. It is the
fi rst of nine projects in Wal-
lowa County.
Local foresters already
have contracted for some
of these projects. McAl-
ister contracted with C&H
Reforesters out of Salem.
They will hand-fell the juni-
pers and stack slash piles
at the top of the slope. The
pines, fi r and riparian trees
EOLS
GRAZING
Continued from Page 1B
Continued from Page 1B
carry on as best as pos-
sible with smaller tasks
at the EOLS ground in
preparation for the show
to go on as scheduled.
“We’ve got all kind of
little maintenance proj-
ects,” he said.
Two alterations will
have to be accounted
for, however, that are
tied into the already can-
celed kickoff dinner. Bill-
ings said the dinner is
when the members of the
queen’s court have their
speech competition, and
also marks the date the
candidates can begin to
sell tickets.
With social distancing
and stay-at-home stip-
ulations in place, Bill-
ings said, how to handle
the ticket sales and the
speech competition is
still being considered.
“There’s a lot of
unknowns right now.
Everyone is sitting
around waiting,” he said.
As for animals raised
by area youth that are
sold during the week of
the show, Billings said a
contingency plan is being
developed in case the
coronavirus does lead to
the show’s cancellation.
“If something hap-
pens and the show is can-
celed because of this, we
would work with the kids
to have sort of a sale that
the animals are dispersed
at,” he said. “They’re still
working on what that
could be.”
The board is eying
the beginning of May for
when it will make the call
on whether to have the
show.
“We’re all in hopes
we’re going to have it,”
Billings said. He noted
that everybody is on
board with the plan to
move forward and that
“none of us are running
in the other direction,”
of saying to cancel now.
“We’re going to go down
to the last minute.”
Further, the hope is
the 113th EOLS could
be one that marks the
region’s release from
the quarantine lifestyle
COVID-19 has put on the
country.
“We have high hopes
that we’re going to have a
lot of enthusiasm for the
show,” he said, “and a lot
of it because people are
tired of being cooped up.”
be consulting with his
attorney to “try to under-
stand how much more
complicated this process is
going to get.”
Hammond and his
father, Dwight, are well-
known in the ranching
community for their legal
battles with the federal
government and environ-
mental groups.
The two ranchers were
convicted of arson for set-
ting fi re to rangelands and
sent to prison in 2012.
After being released, they
were ordered back behind
bars when the 9th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals
determined they must both
serve mandatory 5-year
sentences.
Demonstrations against
the federal government
erupted when the Ham-
monds returned to prison
in early 2016, leading to
the occupation of the Mal-
heur National Wildlife
Refuge.
One protestor was killed
and multiple others were
arrested while on a trip
away from the facility.
President Donald
Trump fully pardoned the
father and son in 2018, and
the BLM restored their
access to federal grazing
allotments last year.
However, that decision
was overturned by a judge
due to a lawsuit in which
several environmental
groups opposed the res-
toration of their grazing
permits.
Because their grazing
permits were again can-
celed, it also effectively
re-started an administra-
tive appeal the Hammonds
had previously been pur-
suing to regain access
to the allotments. If the
Hammonds continue with
their administrative chal-
lenge, the BLM will wait
until it’s resolved before
making a decision on the
applications.
The Oregon Cattlemen’s
Association is “fully sup-
portive” of the Hammond
family and would prefer
that other cattlemen don’t
compete for the grazing
allotments, said Jerome
Rosa, the group’s executive
director.
“We really hope people
will allow the Hammonds
to get their permits back,”
Rosa said.
Only a limited number
of cattlemen would likely
qualify to graze that fed-
eral property, he said.
“Usually it’s only ranches
that have their base prop-
erty nearby.”
Jeff Maupin, former
president of the Harney
County Stock Growers
Association, said he
“wouldn’t be surprised” if
other cattlemen sought to
access the grazing allot-
ments but said, “It’s wrong
in my eyes.”
Access to federal
grazing allotments is sim-
ilar to having water rights,
since the value of the
ranch property is thereby
increased, Maupin said.
The BLM’s deci-
sion would seem like an
infringement of private
property rights, he said.
“You shouldn’t be able to
put it out for competitive
bid, or whatever they’re
calling it, without the land-
owner’s approval.”
The most valuable and respected source of
local news, advertising and information
for our communities.
eomediagroup.com
will remain.
What to do with all
the wood from larger
juniper trunks? The 6
Ranch bought a small saw-
mill, and plans to produce
some boards, posts, poles
and more, McAlister said.
“We’ll use a lot of it on the
ranch, but we might also
have some for sale,” she
said. “It’s like cedar. It’s a
gorgeous wood.”
In addition to reducing
fi re danger and producing
wood products, the 6 Ranch
FOOD
Continued from Page 1B
more people are cooking at
home and thinking about
how they can support local
businesses and producers.
CSA is unfamiliar to
many consumers, said Hut-
chason, but it’s also new to
many farms.
Before the virus out-
break, said Hutchason,
many small farms relied
heavily on restaurant sales.
With so many restaurants
now closed or limited to
takeout and delivery, Hut-
chason called the change a
“huge loss for farmers.”
Many of these farms,
she said, have been forced
project also aims to improve
wildlife habitat. Upland
birds and the grasshopper
sparrow, an increasingly
rare grassland resident,
should return. McAlister
also anticipates the springs
that once watered the slopes
above the river will reap-
pear when the junipers are
gone.
“I think sometimes the
unintended consequences of
our actions – like fi re sup-
pression — throws nature
out of balance,” McAlister
said. “This project will
give us the opportunity to
restore that balance.”
She and the Natural
Resources Conservation
Service hope others will
follow. For this year, the
NRCS has funded 900 acres
to adapt by expanding or
creating CSAs.
Laura Masterson,
owner of 47th Avenue
Farm in Portland, has run a
CSA for 24 years and also
sells to restaurants. Mas-
terson said the farm has
about twice as many CSA
signups now as this time
last year, and after restau-
rants shut down, over 50
current members signed up
for an extra weekly box of
vegetables.
Aaron Nichols,
co-owner of Stone-
boat Farm in Hillsboro,
said about 60% of sales
are typically to restau-
rants — including about
300 pounds per week of
salad greens. With restau-
of juniper cutting and has
12 applications for the next
round of cost-shares. The
signup deadline for inter-
ested landowners is April
17.
One of McAlister’s most
prized possessions is the
painting her great-great
aunt made of the ranch in
1902. It’s a scene looking
at the steep slopes above
the Wallowa River and
the snow-capped moun-
tains beyond. There is not a
juniper tree to be seen.
“I’d like to restore it to
what it was in her day,”
McAlister said. “It might
take us awhile to get used
to looking at a more open
slope. But that’s what the
landscape on this piece of
ground should look like.”
rants closed, Nichols plans
to double the number of
available CSA shares. He
predicts CSA crops won’t
be as profi table as restau-
rant crops, but said he’s
“incredibly grateful” for
the community support.
“Farms are responding
to this crisis really cre-
atively,” said Crane of
OSU. “It’s early enough
in the season that they’re
trying to shift their models
in advance of harvest.”
Crane said across the
state, numerous small
farms have set up online
ordering systems, such as
Barn2Door and Farmigo,
coordinated home and
curbside delivery options
and created pickup sites.