8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2015
Local
Disaster assistance programs Family history
available after fi e season focus of event
BY BRIAN ADDISON
Brian@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Jason Yencopal, director
of Baker County Emer-
gency Management, led a
seminar organized by the
office of U.S. Senator Ron
Wyden (D-OR), designed
to help Baker County land
owners navigate state and
federal programs designed
to assist those who were
negatively impacted by the
wildfires this past summe .
Financial assistance pro-
grams are in place to help
homeowners, businesses,
agricultural producers and
timberland owners rebuild
and recoup some of what
they lost to wildfire. Pr -
grams were also introduced
to assist those needing to
complete in-stream and
erosion repair and mitiga-
tion projects on their land.
The event was held at the
Baker County Event Cen-
ter and the building held a
roomful of local residents
who this fire season, the
worst in Baker County
history, suffered losses
ranging from lost grazing
resources for livestock, to
devastated timber stands,
to structure loss.
Field representatives
from Senator Wyden’s, US
Senator Jeff Merkley’s (D-
OR), and Oregon Gover-
nor Kate Brown’s offices
attended the meeting along
with local agency person-
nel from the National
Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS), Bureau of
Land Management (BLM),
US Department of Agri-
culture (USDA), USDA
Farm Services Agency, and
USDA Rural Development.
Baker County Commission
Chair Bill Harvey, Com-
missioner Mark Bennett,
and Wallowa County
Commission Chair Mike
Hayward joined the panel
and could also be seen
asking questions of agency
personnel alongside
county residents.
USDA Farm Services
Agency Programs
USDA Farm Services
Agency (FSA) presented
a long list of programs
designed to assist agricul-
tural producers with losses
associated with wildfire
and other financially cat -
strophic events.
FSA offers an Emer-
gency Loan Program to
help producers recover
form production and physi-
cal losses due to drought,
flooding, and other natural
disasters or quarantine.
Emergency Loan funds
may be used to restore or
replace essential property;
pay all or part of produc-
tion costs associated with
the disaster year; pay
essential family living
expenses; reorganize the
farming operation; and, to
refinance certain debts
Livestock grazers may
be eligible for assistance
through the FSA Livestock
Forage Disaster Program.
According to the agency
overview, the 2014 Farm
Bill makes the Livestock
Forage Disaster Program
a permanent program
and provides retroactive
authority to cover eligible
losses back to Oct. 1, 2011.
Compensation may
be requested by eligible
producers who’ve suffered
grazing resource losses
on land that is native or
improved pastureland
with permanent vegetative
cover or is planted specifi-
cally for grazing. Compen-
Todd Arriola/ The Baker County Press
Ray Field and Ronda Crow at the LDS Church.
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Brian Addison / The Baker County Press
Baker County Commission Chair Bill Harvey asks questions during the meet-
ing Sept. 28, organized by US Senator Ron Wyden’s office about fire recover
assistance programs offered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
NRCS personnel from left to right are Rangeland Specialist Joshua Read,
District Conservationist Misty Bennett, and Greg Kuehl.
sation may also be made
for loss of grazing resourc-
es on federally managed
rangeland.
The FSA Emergency
Forest Restoration Pro-
gram is designed to assist
landowners suffering loss
of non-industrial forest
resources in order to carry
out emergency measures to
restore land damaged by a
natural disaster.
FSA administers the
2014 Farm Bill Livestock
Indemnity Program. This
program provide benefits
to livestock producers for
livestock deaths in excess
of normal mortality caused
by adverse weather or
attacks by animals rein-
troduced into the wild by
federal government and
protected by federal law
including wolves and cer-
tain avian species. The pro-
gram is retroactive back to
Oct. 1, 2011. As with many
of the financial assistance
programs offered through
FSA, thorough record
keeping by the producer is
a essential.
The Noninsured Crop
Disaster Assistance Pro-
gram was reauthorized by
the 2014 Farm Bill and
provides financial a -
sistance to producers of
noninsured crops to protect
against natural disasters
that result in lower yields
or crop losses, or prevents
crop planting. Eligible
causes of loss include
damage caused by drought,
freeze, hail, excessive
moisture, excessive wind,
earthquake, flood, exce -
sive heat, plant disease, or
insect infestation.
FSA administers the
Emergency Conserva-
tion Program providing
emergency funding and
technical assistance to
agricultural producers to
rehabilitate farmland dam-
aged by natural disasters
and to implement emer-
gency water conservation
measures in periods of
severe drought.
The list of programs, eli-
gibility, and loan require-
ments are available by
contacting Trent Luschen,
County Executive Direc-
tor, Baker-Grant County
FSA office, 3990 Midway
Drive, phone number 541-
523-7121 ext. 2.
USDA Rural Develop-
ment-Oregon programs.
Vicki Walker, Oregon
State Director USDA Rural
Development, explained
the program providing
single family home repair
loan and grant programs
and the agency’s disaster
assistance program.
USDA Rural Develop-
ment also offers programs
to help rural communities,
businesses, and individu-
als impacted by a disaster,
such as drought, fire, or
earthquake.
Detailed information
on the programs admin-
istered through USDA
Rural Development may
be obtained by contact-
ing Patty Good, Area
Specialist-Single Family
Housing, at 1901 Adams
Avenue, Suite 1, in La
Grande or by phone at
541-963-4178 ext. 102.
For more information on
programs administered by
USDA Rural Development
and eligibility require-
ments, contact Jill Rees,
Community and Economic
Development Coordinator,
at phone number 503-414-
3302.
USDA Natural Re-
sources Conservation
Service
The USDA Natural
Resources Conservation
Service has funding now
available to help Oregon
farmers, ranchers, and
forest landowners recover
from wildfire impacts on
private agricultural and
forest lands. Funding
targets areas with the most
extreme fire severity in
Baker, Grant, and Malheur
counties targeting conser-
vation practices to control
soil erosion, to promote
vegetation cover, and
reduce sediment and debris
to streams.
Those who need to begin
work in streams may need
a permit to do so and
should contact Bethany
Harrington, Division
of State Lands Natural
Resources Coordinator for
Wetlands and Waterways
Conservation District, at
PO Box 219, Pendleton,
Oregon 97801. Harrington
may assist with permit
application and also may
determine individual
eligibility for waiver or
expedition of permitting
requirements.
As with many of the fed-
eral assistance programs,
application should be
made as soon as possible.
The Natural Resources
Conservation Service as-
sistance programs have an
application deadline set for
October 16, 2015.
For more information
on assistance programs
offered through the Natural
Resources Conservation
Service, contact Misty
Bennett, District Conser-
vationist, by visiting 3990
Midway Drive or by call-
ing 541-523-7121.
Federal Emergency
Management Agency
(FEMA) Litigation Grant
Program
Baker, Douglas, Grant,
Josephine, and Wallowa
counties has been declared
eligible for the Hazard
Mitigation Grant Program
after the damage incurred
through the 2015 fire
season. These counties col-
lectively become eligible
for up to $441,555 to help
fund county projects to
control erosion, to pro-
vide for seeding projects,
for public infrastructure
projects, and for private
facility mitigation projects,
such as houses that have
been determined to be
substantially damaged by
fires and are required to be
mitigated per flood plain
ordinances.
Yencopal encourages
all residents within Baker
County to sign-up for the
Red Alert telephone noti-
fication system. Landline
telephones are automatical-
ly enrolled in the Red Alert
system and receive notifi-
cation via telephone of any
emergency situation within
the county. Yencopal said
that is especially important
for those who carry only
cellular phones to contact
the Baker County Emer-
gency Management depart-
ment to enroll in the Red
Alert as cellular phones are
not automatically included
in the Red Alert system.
Wyden’s field represent -
tive from the La Grande
office relayed a message
from the senator: “It is
truly humbling to work
with all of you,” Wyden’s
message began. “People
here work together and
really pull together. We are
in awe of the fire fighter
and the local people who
came together.”
Last Saturday morning, the Family History Center, lo-
cated in the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints
(LDS, or Mormon) on Hughes Lane in Baker City, hosted
another successful annual Family Discovery Day.
Among those joining Center Director Ray Field for a
day of genealogical research training and discovery were
speakers and consultants including his wife, Carol, Ronda
Crow, Caren Stephens, Linda Rich, Maure Albert, Judy
Whitley, and Barb Scrivner.
Attendance was good, Field noted, but said, “It’s hard
to pick a day. Today is good—it’s one of the last fall
days, and all the people that go hunting, or shoot coy-
otes or something, are out doing that.” He said the event
has been held annually for the last two years, but with
sustained interest, the frequency may increase to two or
three times per year.
Live instructional sessions from the consultants in-
cluded such titles as: What’s New at Family Search? (a
research program, with Stephens); RootsMagic (another
research program, with Rich); Using the Census (with
Albert); Why Search for Descendants? (with Whitley);
Findagrave.com (with Crow); and Ancestry.com (with
Scrivner).
Downloaded video sessions from the 2015 RootsTech
conference, held in February at the Salt Palace Conven-
tion Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, included titles such
as: Getting Started in Genetic Genealogy; The Write
Stuff; You’ve Mastered the Census, What’s Next?; Find-
ing Missing People in your Family Tree; Discover New
Research Opportunities with the My Heritage and Family
Search Partnership; Map My Ancestors; Branching Out;
Six Steps to Choreograph Your Research across the
Internet; Building a Research Toolbox; and Tracing Your
British and Irish Roots with Findymypast.com.
A welcome was extended to guests, along with an
Opening Prayer, and instructions for the event, in the
large area in the center of the building called the Cultural
Hall, at 9:30 a.m. The sessions were held from 10 a.m. to
2 p.m., in various rooms within the building, with delica-
tessen snacks and beverages provided by Field, purchased
from a local grocer.
Crow explained that, while research consultant services
are available at the Center, they can also be provided in a
home environment, for individuals with that need. Both
Crow and Field said that the services are generally avail-
able to not only Church members, but non-members as
well. The event included a mixture of both.
Crow, a Photo Index Consultant, said, “We wanted
to photograph all of the headstones in Baker County
cemeteries,” speaking about the enormous task associated
with hers and others’ contributions to Findagrave.com.
“I like a challenge; I’ll take Mt. Hope,” she said, when
asked initially which cemeteries she’d like to cover.
Beginning in 2012, she spent a year and a half, sec-
tion by section, photographing headstones at Mt. Hope
Cemetery in Baker City, and then uploading the photos
to Findagrave.com, in the form of memorials on the
website. There were about 3,200 memorials uploaded
when she started, with over 17,000 currently, she said.
“I’ve taken over 14,000 pictures of the headstones at Mt.
Hope,” Crow said.
“You can find a lot of information on there (Findagrave
com) … Because we are a historical county—and there
are so many cemeteries all over the place, Sparta, Wing-
ville, and places like that—those headstones are deterio-
rating, and it’s going to come to the point that, someday,
we’re not going to be able to read them.”
“Another thing that’s good about it, is that, for myself,
I have a lot of ancestors who came from New York and
Kansas, and so, when I went into this site that I’m work-
ing on, Findagrave.com, I put in my ancestor’s name,
and somebody had created a memorial for my great great
grandfather, and had taken a picture of his headstone. I
was able to contact that person who did that, and say, ‘I
have this other information,’ “ and the uploaded memo-
rial was easily updated.
A quote from David O. McKay (September 8,
1873-January 18, 1970), 9th President of the LDS
Church, on the interior door of the Family History Center,
reads: “One of the most important phases of gospel
activity is associated with the temples. Upon intelligent,
constant genealogical research, vicarious temple work
is wholly dependent. Genealogical research is not only
a function of the priesthood, but also a responsibility
of every family. When conscientiously performed, it
contributes to unity in the home, and permits us to catch
the division of the divine nature. Therefore, let us, as
a Church and as a people, labor with all our might to
qualify as saviours on Mount Zion.”