FROM PAGE ONE
THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021
THE OBSERVER — A5
PROJECT
MASKS
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The project also will add
22 large wood structures to
the creek in order to create
habitat for fi sh that would
protect them from preda-
tors, help with sediments
sorting and off er shade
from the sun. The introduc-
tion of these wood struc-
tures, according to Old, will
help restore the creek to its
original state.
“Streams have evolved
with heavy woodloads
in them, and historically
humans have taken them
out, but these fi sh have
evolved to use the shade
and cover,” Old said. “A
creek like Indian Creek is
especially important for
spawning and rearing of
ocean-going fi sh and resi-
dent trout species. And as
we’re starting to feel the
eff ects of a changing cli-
mate, there is still cold
water in places like Indian
Creek.”
Returning the wood
structures to the creek
would do a lot toward
making the creek a
more habitable environ-
ment for the fi sh. While
removing debris from a
creek improves the effi -
ciency of water fl ow it dam-
ages the waterway’s nat-
ural state, with far-reaching
consequences.
“If you take out all the
wood, you turn a creek into
a ditch. All the fi ne sed-
iments and small gravels
which salmon and trout use
to require masks indoors
in public spaces, but
only Multnomah County,
which includes Portland,
did so.
Mutnomah County’s
infection rate was reported
at 5.3% in the latest OHA
weekly report. That
is nearly half the state
average of 9.5%, which is
twice the maximum 5%
that epidemiologists says
will keep spread of the
virus under control.
Despite calls from the
governor and OHA about
the critical hospital situa-
tion in their areas, coun-
ties with high infection
rates, low vaccination
numbers and swamped
health care centers were
not budging.
“I felt strongly that
local elected offi cials
needed to step up and
take action and preserve
hospital bed capacity
and protect their vulner-
able constituents,” Brown
said. “Clearly, that is
not happening, and I’m
needing to take action at
this point in time.”
OHA and OHSU offi -
cials have pointed to sev-
eral counties where no
action was taking place
despite having infec-
tion rates double the state
average.
Statistics show the
highest rates are con-
centrated in two areas:
Umatilla, Baker, Union,
Levi Old/Trout Unlimited
Water fl ows over a diversion dam on Indian Creek near Elgin. Trout
Unlimited, in partnership with Hancock Natural Resource Group,
is planning to remove two outdated diversion dams on the creek,
along with removing a culvert in an eff ort to restore spawning and
rearing grounds for juvenile fi sh, including Lower Snake River steel-
head, chinook salmon, bull trout and other fi sh.
to spawn are going to be
swept out of them. You’re
left with big boulders and
cobbles,” Old said. “A func-
tioning stream has a bunch
of wood in it, and it catches
sediments, builds pools and
changes the geomorphology
of the stream.”
The restoration work
will also include planting
of native riparian species
along the creek to further
bolster the resiliency of the
habitat.
According to the Oregon
Department of Fish and
Wildlife, there are more
than 470 small dams in
Northeastern Oregon sim-
RESTAURANTS
Continued from Page A1
of the restaurant than cut off the people who
have supported us through the pandemic.”
Employment shortage
While the demand for the RRF was
extensive, not all business owners are
completely in favor of continued govern-
ment-funded relief. Merlyn Baker, owner
of Merlyn’s Catering Co., believes the
biggest issue now is the lack of reliable
employees looking for work. With unem-
ployment available, restaurants are among
the many businesses struggling to bring in
new employees during diffi cult fi nancial
circumstances.
ilar to the ones being
removed by Trout Unlim-
ited and Hancock Natural
Resource Group. Barriers
like those prevent fi sh from
utilizing small creeks for
spawning and rearing pur-
poses, and limit the avail-
able space for the fi sh to
spawn. By opening up these
waterways, the ability of
fi sh to properly reproduce
— especially important for
those that are endangered
— is greatly increased.
“Anytime we can
open up more habitat for
spawning and rearing resi-
dent and ocean-going fi sh is
a big win,” Old said.
“There isn’t one problem that we have
economically right now in our nation
that can’t be fi lled by people going back
to work,” Baker said. “I’ve had to turn
away more business this year than ever
just simply because we don’t have enough
employees.”
The catering service is managing to stay
afl oat, but Baker has had to limit his restau-
rant hours at The Landing Hotel and per-
sonally works more than 20 hours per day.
He said he received more than 700 employ-
ment applications since the start of the pan-
demic, but only hired about 10 employees
after rejecting incomplete applications and
experiencing applicants not showing up for
the interview or quitting quickly.
“What hasn’t been addressed is adap-
tation,” Baker said. “We just keep getting
more money from the government.”
Come join us for this years
Grande
Ronde
Rodeo!
Malheur and Wallowa
counties in Eastern
Oregon, and Jackson,
Josephine, Douglas
and Curry counties in
Southwestern Oregon.
Crook County in Central
Oregon also has twice the
state rate.
Nearly all are in areas
that have been resistant
to masking mandates
and other restrictions
throughout the pandemic.
Since the uplifting
of statewide mandates,
Union County has seen a
rise in cases along with a
lull in vaccination eff orts,
with only 45.2% of
adults fully vaccinated,
according to the Oregon
Health Authority.
The county is vacci-
nating an average of 24
people per day. At this
rate, it would take 267
days for the county to
reach an 80% vaccina-
tion rate.
Events remain a go
Though Brown had
ceded daily control to the
counties, her emergency
order dating back to
March 2020, and renewed
by her several times
since, allowed the state to
take back control at any
point.
No ban on county
fairs, the Pendleton
Round-Up, the Oregon
State Fair in Marion
County, Oregon Ducks
and Oregon State Beavers
and other college football
games, concerts or other
Facing a potential second round
A major concern of restaurant owners
is the recent spike in COVID-19 cases.
Most restaurants are using funding like
the RRF to dig themselves out of a hole
that has been costing their business for
upward of 16 months. With restaurants
fi nally allowed to open again for indoor
dining last spring, some owners now are
preparing for the worst.
“We made the mistake of thinking
this was over,” Rogers said. “When
they opened everything back up, we put
everything back to normal.”
If indoor capacity limits or even indoor
major events in Oregon
was in the works “at this
time,” Brown said.
The Pendleton
Round-Up, the major
event of the year in
Eastern Oregon, held in
mid-September, had been
canceled in 2020 because
of the pandemic. Amid
months of declining
infection rates, Brown
earlier this summer said
“Let ‘er Buck,” a pop-
ular saying of fans of the
event, which draws more
than 50,000 to the region.
With the delta variant
hitting Umatilla County
especially hard, the pan-
demic was once again
raising questions about
the safety of holding
large-scale events.
In an Aug. 10 news-
letter for local offi cials,
Umatilla County Com-
missioner George Mur-
dock said that the rising
infection levels and low
county vaccination levels
were not going without
notice in Salem.
“Putting an event
in jeopardy that means
$60 million to the local
economy is dangerous
particularly knowing
that, for some of our busi-
nesses, it could be the
fi nal nail in their coffi n,”
Murdock wrote. “In the
coming weeks, we need
to dramatically increase
our vaccination rates
to demonstrate we are
serious and that we care.”
— The Observer
reporter Carlos Fuentes
contributed to this report.
dining closures are enacted again, some
businesses will face diffi cult decisions.
With many businesses left out in the fi rst
round of funding and the possibility of a
spike in the pandemic, the National Restau-
rant Association and others in the industry
are pushing for a second wave of the
Restaurant Revitalization Fund that would
include an additional $60 billion in relief
funds.
“We need that fund replenished and we
need to have a plan in place for if we start
seeing lockdowns again,” Astley said. “If
we start seeing the prohibitions on indoor
dining again, I think even more restaurants
won’t survive this round.”
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