INSIDE
PEAKS, PINES AND A PANORAMA: RETURNING TO POLE CREEK RIDGE | OUTDOORS & REC, B1
September 3, 2022
Financial
good
times may
be ending
State economists
offer two possible
scenarios: reduced
economic growth or
outright recession
By DIRK VANDERHART
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — Oregon state
economists on Wednesday,
Aug. 31, delivered their
most serious warning in
years: The state’s surging
revenue growth is about to
end.
Even if the state and
country don’t experience a
recession in the next year
— a possibility econo-
mists say is extremely plau-
sible — recent tax receipts
that offi cials have variously
described as “shocking,”
“unbelievable” and “stun-
ning” are about to come
back to earth, state econo-
mist Mark McMullen told
lawmakers.
“Even if we don’t go into
a recession, unfortunately
not all of this revenue boom
is sustainable,” McMullen
said. “We are due for a
hangover.”
According to McMullen
and another state econ-
omist, Josh Lehner, that
hangover has not yet
arrived.
In their quarterly pre-
sentation, the pair diverged
from their typical practice
of off ering lawmakers only
a “baseline” forecast that
they feel is most likely to
play out in coming years.
On Aug. 31 they also deliv-
ered a picture of what a
recession might look like.
McMullen told lawmakers
it’s virtually a “coin fl ip”
for which scenario comes
to pass — and warned a
recession, if it arrives, could
be deeper than economists
have supposed.
But in either scenario,
the state’s short-term rev-
enue outlook is posi-
tive. Taxes on business
income and gains real-
ized in the stock market
have not slowed, and per-
sonal income taxes are still
strong.
Under the more
See, Economy/Page A3
lagrandeobserver.com | $1.50
WEEKEND EDITION
UP IN FLAMES
Wallowa County residents urged to evacuate
Freezeout Road
closed to allow
fire resources to
move into area to
fight Double
Creek Fire
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
I
MNAHA — Resi-
dents of Freezeout
Road south of Imnaha
were urged to evac-
uate Friday, Sept. 2,
because of danger from
the Double Creek Fire,
according to a notice
texted by the Wallowa
County Sheriff ’s Offi ce.
The road closed at
9:14 a.m., according to a
press release.
A 7:17 a.m. text read
had been sent out urging
residents to evacuate.
“There will be fi re
units moving in,” the
text read.
The road, also known
as National Forest Road
4230, runs southeast
from the Upper Imnaha
Creek Road along
Freezeout Creek.
The road was rec-
ommended for evacua-
tion in a notice issued
by the sheriff ’s offi ce
Sept. 1 and then reduced
to the Level 2 “Get Set
to Leave” later that day.
Early Sept. 2 it was
returned to the Level 3
“Evacuate Area.”
This fi re, fi rst
detected on Aug. 30
along Hat Point Road
near Grizzly Ridge,
was also likely sparked
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
A bulldozer prepares to offl oad on its way to battle the Double Creek Fire upriver from Imnaha on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022.
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Emilie Wood, left, and Megan Ross of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest are tasked with
ensuring nobody uses the road to Hat Point Summit on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. The road was
closed at Imnaha because of trees felled by the Double Creek Fire.
by lightning. The blaze
exploded overnight,
going from 50 acres
Aug. 31 to 1,500 acres
Sept. 1.
As of early Sept. 2,
the fi re was still listed
as 1,500 acres with zero
percent containment.
Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest Public
Aff airs Offi cer Matthew
Burks called the blaze
an “active fi re suppres-
sion incident” and noted
that full suppression
eff orts are underway,
including air tankers,
helicopters, rappel
crews and fi refi ghters.
“It is growing and
it’ll probably grow
today,” Burkes noted
of the fi re during a
Thursday, Sept. 1,
interview. “But we’re
working with our part-
ners to put that one out.”
A briefi ng on the
fi refi ghting eff orts is
planned from 6-8 p.m.
Sept. 2 at the Joseph
Community Events
Center.
Brian Anderson,
district ranger for
the Wallowa Moun-
tains Offi ce of the
See, Evacuate/Page A3
Wildfi res bring some benefi t to forests
Sturgill, Nebo fires
help ecosystem while
Double Creek Fire
receives full
suppression effort
CLOSURES DUE TO NEBO
AND STURGILL FIRES
By SHANNON GOLDEN
The Observer
L
A GRANDE — Fire
season is well underway,
and as smoke-fi lled thun-
derhead clouds loom, residents
in Northeastern Oregon may see
cause for concern.
According to Wal-
lowa-Whitman National Forest
Public Aff airs Offi cer Matthew
Burks, portions of the region’s
forest fi res are doing what they
need to be doing.
“They’re wildfi res that are
being used for resource benefi t,”
Burks asserted. “They’ve started
naturally and they’re in an area
that has an overabundance of
trees, so we need them to help
clean up the forest and put some
fi re breaks in.”
Due to this year’s long, wet
spring and minimal fi re activity
U.S. Forest Service/Contributed Photo
Smoke rises from the lightning-caused Nebo Fire, which was reported Thursday,
Aug. 25, 2022, in the southeast part of the Eagle Cap Wilderness.
in the area, Burks said letting
these fi res burn will help prepare
for the next hotter, drier season
— and also create a more nat-
ural habitat. He emphasized that
they are continuing to burn as
expected.
Fire management
The Sturgill Fire, in the North
Minam Drainage, is burning
through mixed conifer forests.
WEATHER
INDEX
Classified ......B2
Comics ...........B5
Crossword ....B2
Dear Abby ....B6
Horoscope ....B2
Local...............A2
Lottery ...........A2
Obituaries .....A5
Opinion .........A4
Outdoors ......B1
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Sudoku ..........B5
This naturally occurring blaze,
started by lightning on Monday,
Aug. 22, around noon, covered
around 4,815 acres as of midday
Sept. 1.
The Nebo Fire, 21 miles
southeast of Enterprise near
Mount Nebo, is estimated to
have started on Aug. 25 from
lightning strikes earlier in the
week. With a size estimated as
3,086 acres on Sept. 1, the fi re
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Sunday
49 LOW
89/51
Mainly clear
Sunny; very
warm
• The Minam River Trail (1673) from the
junction of Bear Mountain Trail (1655)
heading south to the junction with the
Rock Creek Trail (1905).
• The North Minam Trail (1675) from
the junction of the Minam Trail (1673)
and North Minam Trail (1675) to the
junction with the Bowman Trail (1651).
• Green Lakes Trail (1666) from the
junction of the North Minam Trail
(1673) to the terminus of the trail at
Green Lake.
• Tenderfoot Trail (1819) from the
trailhead to the 1828 and 1812 trail
junctions.
• Lick Creek Trail (1809) from the trail-
head to the junction of the South Fork
Imnaha Trail (1816).
• Forest Service Road 3900100 from
the junction of 39 Road to Tenderfoot
Trailhead.
• Forest Service Road 3925015 from
the junction of Forest Service Road
3925 to Lick Creek Trailhead.
• Forest Service Road 3900200 from
the junction of 39 Road to Forest Ser-
vice Road 3925015.
has reached the Upper Lick
Creek Drainage and is burning
in subalpine fi r and grass.
Burks noted that both the
See, Benefi ts/Page A3
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Issue 106
2 sections, 12 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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