2B
Saturday, June 20, 2020
RECREATION
REPORT
Hunter
education
classes resume
SALEM —Hunter
education classes
have resumed in
Oregon, with safety
measures in place to
protect both students
and volunteer instruc-
tors.
To see the latest
classes and fi eld days
available, visit https://
myodfw.com/articles/
hunter-education-
classes-fi eld-days and
register. Students can
choose to take a con-
ventional class, or fi n-
ish most of the class
independently by
workbook or online
and just take a fi eld
day. More classes
and fi eld days will be
added so check back
if you don’t see one in
your area.
Among the fi eld
days scheduled in
Northeastern Oregon:
• July 18: 9 a.m. to
3 p.m. at the Powder
River Sportsmen’s
Club’s Virtue Flat
range 6 miles east of
Baker City. Students
must complete an on-
line course or work-
book and bring proof
of completion. There
will be a 60-ques-
tion written exam.
Students must wear
a mask during COVID
restrictions, and are
asked to bring their
own. Instructor is
Richard Haines.
• Aug. 15: 8 a.m. to
3 p.m., Ladd Marsh
Wildlife Area, 59116
Pierce Road. Stu-
dents must complete
an online course or
workbook and bring
proof of comple-
tion. There will be a
60-question written
exam. Students must
wear a mask during
COVID restrictions,
and are asked to
bring their own.
Instructor is Darren
Hendrickson.
• Aug. 29: 9 a.m. to
3 p.m. at the Powder
River Sportsmen’s
Club’s Virtue Flat
range 6 miles east of
Baker City. Students
must complete an on-
line course or work-
book and bring proof
of completion. There
will be a 60-ques-
tion written exam.
Students must wear
a mask during COVID
restrictions, and are
asked to bring their
own. Instructor is
Richard Haines.
All ODFW outdoor
education classes
have been canceled
since March due to
the pandemic, includ-
ing hunter education,
which is required to
hunt in Oregon for
ages 17 and under.
ODFW is taking a
number of steps to
protect both students
and teachers par-
ticipating in classes/
fi eld days. Class size
will be restricted to
25 students/parents,
and instructors will be
encouraged to break
the class into even
smaller groups where
possible. Social
distance will be main-
tained except during
those brief moments
when closer distance
is needed to safely
handle fi rearms.
The Observer & Baker City Herald
Visitors Center
at John Day
Fossil Beds
stays closed
■ Current target for reopening is
mid-July but that could be pushed back,
National Monument superintendent says
due to COVID-19, is not
expected to re-open its doors
Day-trippers and tourists
until mid-July at the earliest
wanting to visit Oregon’s best said Patrick Gamman, su-
paleontology collection will
perintendent for the national
need to wait a little longer to monument. While mid-July
get their fi ll of fossilized bones. is the target, that date could
The Thomas Condon Pale- be pushed back, Gamman
ontology and Visitors Center added.
at the John Day National
Gamman said he is acting
Monument, currently closed
out of an abundance of cau-
By Michael Kohn
The (Bend) Bulletin
Terry Richard / The Oregonian fi le photo
The Sheep Rock Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument north of Day-
ville is home of the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center and Visitor Center.
tion and wants at all costs to
avoid the spread of COVID-19
in the small communities
that lie near the national
monument.
While the museum is
closed, all walking trails and
lookout points in the park are
open to the public. Visitors
are advised that water is not
available in the park.
The John Day National
Monument is spread across
two main areas. The Painted
Hills unit on the western side
tends to get the most visitors
due to its proximity to Or-
egon’s cities. The paleontology
museum is located a 1-hour
drive east of the Painted Hills,
in the Sheep Rock unit.
ROADS
Continued from Page 1B
That list of roads includes
a section of another of the
Wallowa-Whitman’s scenic
byways — Hells Canyon.
The Wallowa Mountain
Loop Road, also known as
Forest Road 39, crosses high
ground between Highway 86
on the south end, in Baker
County, and the highway
leading from Joseph to Im-
naha, in Wallowa County.
Story said travelers were
getting through as early as
May 14, and the 39 Road was
offi cially open May 18.
Some years the route isn’t
open until June, but the
snowpack this winter was
below average in the eastern
part of the Wallowa Moun-
tains.
That was decidedly not the
case on the western side of
the great range, however.
The automated snow-
measuring station at Moss
Springs, above Cove, recorded
the second-highest snowpack
in its 39-year history this
year.
The snow-water equivalent
— a measure of how much
water the snow will yield
when it melts, a statistic that
predicts water supply more
accurately than snow depth
does — reached a maxi-
mum of 36.6 inches at Moss
Springs on April 5.
That’s the most since 1982,
when the Moss Springs sta-
tion measured its all-time
record of 38.8 inches on April
14.
Story said a Forest Service
employee couldn’t drive all
the way to Moss Springs ear-
lier this week due to lingering
Lisa Britton / For the EO Media Group
Gunsight Butte, left, and Van Patten Butte from the Elkhorn Drive Scenic Byway near Anthony Lakes.
snow. He expects that road
will be open soon.
Most if not all roads along
the southern Wallowas, from
the Medical Springs Highway
east to Hells Canyon, are
open — and in some cases
smoother than usual.
Story said he hired a
contractor this spring to grade
sections of several popular
roads in that section of the
Wallowa-Whitman, including
about 33 miles of Road 77, the
Eagle Creek Road.
That road has been graded
from the Halfway Summit,
along Highway 86 between
Halfway and Richland about
48 miles east of Baker City,
to the junction with Road 67
The Velveteen ... Elk
near Tamarack Campground.
The contractor has also
graded the Empire Gulch
Road between 5 Corners
and Eagle Creek, Forest
Road 70 from 5 Corners to
Goose Creek, and the Fish
Lake Road, No. 66, north of
Halfway.
Story said the Wallowa-
Whitman largely avoided the
fl ood damage that affl icted
the neighboring Umatilla Na-
tional Forest when heavy rain
fell on rapidly melting snow in
February.
“The La Grande District
had a little, but we still had
pretty good snowpack when
that fl ooding hit,” he said.
Rain and melting snow
did dislodge more rocks than
normal, especially along sec-
tions of the 39 Road between
Halfway and Joseph.
Story said he had to hire
heavy equipment to move
some of the multi-ton boul-
ders that landed in the road.
North side
Brandon Barnett, who is
Story’s counterpart at the
Wallowa Mountains offi ce in
Enterprise, said although he
hasn’t traveled as much this
spring as usual due to the
coronavirus pandemic, some
popular routes on the north
side of the Wallowa-Whitman
are open.
That includes the 46 Road
in the Chesnimnus and
Zumwalt Prairie areas, and
the Whiskey Creek Road from
Wallowa to Highway 3 north
of Enterprise.
Barnett said he hasn’t had
a report about the road to
Buckhorn Lookout.
A contractor has been grad-
ing the Hat Point Road, and
Barnett said the crew planned
to plow through the remain-
ing snowdrifts leading to the
popular viewpoint of Hells
Canyon by this weekend.
Barnett said he hasn’t
had recent reports about the
Lostine River Road leading
to Two Pan Campground, or
the Big Canyon Road south of
Highway 82.
To Our Fans & Supporters:
We are deeply sorry to have to cancel the
75 th Annual
Chief Joseph Days
Due to Covid-19
We look forward to seeing you next summer
Follow us on facebook for news & updates
Photo and caption by Jim Ward
Elk and deer are growing
antlers. The blood-fi lled
antlers have a velvet like
covering. Antler tissue is
one of the fastest grow-
ing tissues known to sci-
ence. All this in prepara-
tion for the fall rut, when
the antler tissue hardens
and becomes a lethal
weapon.
The Board of Directors
Chief Joseph Days Rodeo Committee
If you have already purchased rodeo tickets, and you
would like a refund, please mail the tickets to
CJD Ticket Refund
PO Box 13, Joseph, OR 97846.
Thank you.