REGION
TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2022
THE OBSERVER — A3
Grant will help ranchers develop nonlethal wolf deterrents
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
SALEM — The USDA has
awarded a $100,000 grant to the
nonprofi t Western Landowners
Alliance to test new nonlethal tools
ranchers can use to protect their
livestock from wolves.
Funding comes from the Nat-
ural Resources Conservation Ser-
vice through its Conservation
Innovation Grants program, which
supports the development of new
management strategies to improve
natural resource conservation on
private lands.
The alliance will work with
four ranchers and three county
wolf committees in Oregon, evalu-
ating diff erent approaches to min-
imize wolf-livestock confl icts —
including range riders, high-tech
cameras and composting dead
animal carcasses.
“My goal, or my biggest hope,
is that this project is going to help
working lands remain viable,”
said Ellie Gage, who is adminis-
tering the NRCS grant. “The deck
is already stacked against these
producers.”
Gage and her husband, Mark,
ranch in Central Oregon, where
they run a small herd of cattle near
Prineville and Powell Butte. She
is also chairwoman of the Crook
County wolf committee.
For the last several years, Gage
Wallowa County Chieftain, File
An Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist uses shears on the carcass of a
calf that was killed by a wolf. Using an NRCS grant, ranchers will be testing nonlethal
means of keeping wolves away from livestock.
said she has been involved in
the alliance, participating in the
group’s Women in Ranching pro-
gram. In May, she was asked to
do outreach for the NRCS grant
proposal, recruiting partners
interested in studying non-lethal
deterrents.
“The response was really over-
whelming,” she said.
Four livestock producers signed
up — two in Wallowa County, one
in Baker County and one in south-
west Oregon.
Wolf committees in Wallowa,
Baker and Grant counties agreed
to collaborate, as well as Prairie
City in Grant County, which has
a site for composting roadkill and
dead livestock.
The grant was awarded July
15, and will reimburse ranchers
for half their costs as they imple-
ment nonlethal methods aimed at
keeping wolves away from sheep
and cattle.
Gage said two producers will
experiment with high-frequency
radio ear tags on their cattle. The
idea is that will allow range riders
to locate herds more quickly and
effi ciently in large pastures, low-
ering costs and maintaining a more
consistent human presence among
herds to scare off wolves.
“Some of these allotments
might be several thousand acres,”
Gage said. “If you can spend less
time looking for your cows, and
locate them quickly with the help
of ear tags, then you can get to
them ... more effi ciently.”
Another piece of technology
that Gage said she is excited to try
is a new game camera being devel-
oped with artifi cial intelligence
that can be programmed to iden-
tify specifi c animals and notify
producers.
“There is a huge need for the
producer to have real-time infor-
mation on where the predators are,
and when they are there,” she said.
“They can go and incorporate their
non-lethal tools and human pres-
ence when they need to be there.
Hopefully, it will make non-lethal
tools that much more eff ective.”
In Prairie City, Gage said com-
posting dead livestock may prove
to be an eff ective technique for
ridding ranches of carcasses that
might otherwise attract wolves.
“If we can minimize those
attractants, everybody wins,” she
said.
The NRCS grant is meant to
build on similar livestock-predator
confl ict prevention work the alli-
ance is undertaking in other states,
including Washington, Idaho,
Montana, California, New Mexico
and Arizona.
By proving which tools are
most eff ective in diff erent areas
and terrain, Gage said it could lead
to a more permanent source of
funding to assist ranchers.
“The end goal of this project is
to provide durable funding for pro-
ducers who are facing the chal-
lenges of sharing working lands
with wildlife,” she said. “The work
that they’re putting into preventing
confl ict with their livestock is not
sustainable fi nancially.”
East-West All-Star Shrine Game back on schedule
Events begin Aug. 4
in Baker City with
barbecue
By LISA BRITTON
Baker City Herald
BAKER CITY — Events
for this year’s East-West
All-Star Shrine Game will
be back to normal — the
normal of 2019.
The football game was
canceled in 2020, and 2021
was hampered by restric-
tions that kept players from
visiting Baker City prior to
the game.
This year, for the 69th
edition, traditional events
are coming back.
The Shriners are encour-
aging the community to
take part in the festivities
— especially a barbecue on
the evening of Thursday,
Aug. 4, that brings players,
coaches, co-captains,
queens and cheerleaders to
Geiser-Pollman Park. Cost
for dinner is $25 a plate.
“We’re back with that
program,” said Randy
Guyer, a member of the
Baker City Shrine Club.
The community bar-
becue begins at 5 p.m. in
the park with speeches,
including a talk by Travis
Bloomer, who played in a
past Shrine game and whose
The Observer, File
Often lining up in the secondary, Heppner’s Jayden Wilson came in
to reprieve Mazama’s Tristan Lee for a few snaps, getting East on
the board fi rst with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Mazama’s Cole
Brosterhous en route to an East victory in the 68th Oregon East-West
Shrine Game on Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021.
son, Gauge, was selected for
this year’s game, along with
fellow Baker Bulldog and
2022 graduate Alex Ritter.
Another BHS grad, Alexis
Conant, will be a cheer-
leader for the East squad.
Both queens are from the
Baker City area. Hannah
Cartwright is the East
Queen, and Poppy Ann
Jones is the West Queen.
La Grande graduate Cole
Jorgensen was selected to
play for the East team, and
La Grande’s Brody Mac-
Millan was selected as an
alternate. Powder Valley’s
Reece Dixon also earned a
spot.
Background
This annual Shrine
Game is a fundraiser for the
Shriners Children’s Hospital
in Portland.
From its inception up to
2021, the game has raised
$2,910,218.
It moved to Baker City in
the mid-1970s.
In 2021, the game and
associated fundraisers raised
$47,000 for the hospital.
Guyer said the volun-
teer hours and commu-
nity support help make the
Baker City event one of the
most successful fundraising
games for the hospital.
“It’s the rural mentality
and all the supporters,”
Guyer said. “That’s what
makes the game successful.”
In addition to the fund-
raisers during Shrine
weekend, the Haines Stam-
pede Rodeo donates gate
sales to the hospital for the
fi rst night of the rodeo, on
July 3. This year that raised
$3,000.
“We had the biggest
crowd we’ve ever had,”
Guyer said.
The fi rst Shriners hospital
opened in Louisiana in 1922.
Now the system has 24
hospitals, plus two new
ones coming to Mexico and
Canada.
Guyer said the Portland
hospital is also expanding
to include a walk-in clinic
and outreach areas with
telemedicine.
“We have the top ortho-
pedic surgeons in the world,”
he said.
And the Shriners hospi-
tals provide care regardless
of ability to pay or insurance
status.
Player visits
On Thursday, Aug. 4, the
East and West teams arrive
in Baker City at 2 p.m. Half
will tour Baker Heritage
Museum while the others
wander around downtown
to see the player window
displays.
At 3:30 p.m., the two
groups will swap places.
Then, at 5 p.m., they’ll con-
verge at the park for the
barbecue.
Saturday, Aug. 6, events
The Baker County Live-
stock Association and Baker
County Cattlewomen get
Saturday, Aug. 6, started
at 7 a.m. with breakfast in
Geiser-Pollman Park.
This is part of the Grid-
iron Tailgate and Grill,
which raises money to pur-
chase a 4-H or FFA steer that
is auctioned during halftime
of the football game.
Breakfast is from 7 a.m.
to 10 a.m. Cost is $10 for
steak, eggs and pancakes,
or $7 for just eggs and
pancakes.
The annual Hoofi n’ It To
Beef Fit 5K/10K fun run and
walk starts at 8 a.m. Entry
is $25 for the 5K or $35 for
the 10K.
For more information,
contact Wendy Bingham at
208-850-3803.
The Gridiron Tailgate
includes vendors in the park
throughout the day and a
silent auction that runs from
8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
At 1 p.m., two signed
Shrine footballs will be auc-
tioned live.
Lunch will be served
from noon to 2:30 p.m. Ham-
burgers are $8 single or $10
double, and hot dogs are $7.
Parade
The parade, Guyer
emphasized, is a commu-
nity parade that includes
Shrine clubs.
Lineup is at 10 a.m. Sat-
urday, Aug. 6, by Baker
Middle School.
The parade starts at
11 a.m. The route goes east
on Broadway Street, then
south on Second Street to
Valley Avenue, where it
turns east to Main Street. It
then goes north on Main to
Baker Street.
To enter the parade,
contact Fred Warner at
fwarner6196@gmail.com or
541-519-8866.
The game
Pregame events begin at
6 p.m. at Bulldog Memorial
Field, and kickoff is at 7 p.m.
on Aug. 6.
Tickets are $15 for
reserved seating (on the cov-
ered side) or $12 for general
admission.
Purchase tickets online at
www.eastwestshrinefootball.
com, at the Aug. 4 barbecue,
on Aug. 6 at Geiser-Pollman
Park, or at the gate.
The game will be aired by
EO Alive TV and archived
on its website afterward.
The steer, donated by the
Baker County Cattlewomen,
will be auctioned at halftime,
along with several signed
footballs.
One year later, Pendleton suspects in Walla Walla group att ack still await trial
By JEREMY BURNHAM
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
WALLA WALLA —
It’s been a year since police
investigated an alleged
group attack involving
Pendleton residents in
Walla Walla that Deputy
Prosecuting Attorney Jen-
nine Christensen compared
to an “old western.”
Five adult suspects still
await trial in Walla Walla
County Superior Court.
Two minors also have been
charged, and a sixth adult
had his charges dismissed.
According to court doc-
uments, on July 5, 2021,
Charles Thompkins Jr.,
63, and a group of people,
including his sons, drove
from Pendleton to the 100
block of Prospect Avenue
and confronted a man he
claims stole a vehicle from
him.
The group then allegedly
beat the man and two other
men after intimidating them
with loaded guns, according
to the documents.
One of the alleged vic-
tims had to have surgery
for multiple breaks and
fractures on his face and
skull, documents noted.
Charles Thompkins, his
son Habukkuk Thomp-
kins, 21, Ira O. Toledo, 21,
Santiago R. Lara, 21, and
Carlos R. Johnson, 22, all
face charges of fi rst-de-
gree robbery, three counts
of fi rst-degree assault with
a deadly weapon, fi rst-de-
gree burglary with a deadly
weapon and criminal mis-
chief with a deadly weapon.
All those charges are
Class A felonies — with a
maximum penalty of life in
prison — except the crim-
inal mischief charge, which
is a Class C felony with a
maximum penalty of fi ve
years in prison.
In addition, Charles
Thompkins, who police
said was the leader of the
group, faces a charge of
harassment, which is a
gross misdemeanor.
Meanwhile, charges
against Jeremiah A.
Thompkins, 19, have been
dismissed.
A trial date of Oct. 18
has been set for Charles
Thompkins, who is rep-
resenting himself, and
Toledo, who is represented
by Jason R. Wargin of
Wenatchee.
This does not mean the
two trials will happen at
once though. Walla Walla
County Superior Court is
scheduling multiple trials
for the same day in case
one or more of the cases
gets postponed or settled.
The trial for Johnson,
who is represented by Julie
E. Karl of Waitsburg, is set
for Nov. 29.
Lara was the last of the
adults arrested in connec-
tion with the case. While
he had charges fi led against
him in August 2021, he was
just arrested this month and
had his fi rst appearance in
court on July 18. No trial
date has been set yet.
He’s also the only defen-
dant still in jail, as the
Summer
others have all posted
bail. Lara’s bail is set at
$150,000, with no reduced
cash equivalent. Normandy
Park attorney Christopher
Swaby has been assigned to
represent him.