FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2015
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 7
Outdoor Rec / Local
Sam-O Swim gets renovations Town hall
LEGAL
NOTICE
DISTRICT MEETING
NOTICE
Medical Springs Rural
Fire Protection District
Board of Directors will
hold its regular monthly
board meeting at Pon-
dosa Station, on Thursday,
November 5, 2015 at 7 PM
to discuss fi re department
operations.
The City of Baker City
and the Baker County
YMCA are pleased to
announce the fi rst step of
signifi cant renovations to
occur at the Sam-O Swim
Center.
The lap pool and train-
ing pool will be resurfaced
with a quartz aggregate
surface next month.
In addition, tile lane
lines and targets will be
added to the lap pool re-
placing the current painted
lines and thereby eliminat-
ing the need for frequent
repainting.
The resurfacing upgrade
will be accompanied by
the installation of two new
sand fi lters for the lap pool.
The pool will be closed
to the public during these
renovations.
Work will begin on
November 2nd and the
pool is expected to reopen
November 30th.
Baker High School homecoming
Kailyn McQuisten/
Kailyn McQuisten/
The Baker County Press
The Baker County Press
Homecoming King
Morgan Scilacci with
Amy Wong and Rory
Scilacci.
Homecoming Queen
Ashley Knoll.
Kailyn McQuisten/
The Baker County Press
Madison Elms, Brie Sand, Lindsay Livingston.
Kailyn McQuisten/ The Baker County Press
MaKenna Bachman and Hannah Boruch.
Kailyn McQuisten/ The Baker County Press
Kassidy Herren and Hannah Myers.
OTEC grants wildfire contract
In the coming weeks, as
they travel along Highway
395, near milepost 16,
OTEC members will see
a few additional vehicles
being added to the wildfi re
reconstruction efforts.
“Prior to the Canyon
Creek Complex wildfi re,
OTEC had just completed
the last installment of the
‘J Bar L to Starr Ridge
Fly Job’ with a budget
of $70K,” said OTEC’s
Director of Engineer-
ing and Operations, Ned
Ratterman. “To say the
least, this project was in an
‘accessibility-challenged’
area, near milepost 16 and
set over extremely rugged
terrain.”
Because of the diffi cult
location, OTEC enlisted
the use of a helicopter and
partnered with the forest
service and Bureau of Land
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Management to complete
the project.
That area was damaged
by the wildfi re and, on
September 7, OTEC put
out a call from qualifi ed
bidders to perform repara-
tions to the transmission
power line.
On Tuesday, October 6,
Michael’s Construction
were awarded the bid and
are expected to begin res-
torations on or by Friday,
October 20 and will be
fi nished on or by Tuesday,
December 15.
“There are two phases
of this project, the fi rst
is that one section of the
69 kilovolt (kV) line has
been rebuilt in a new more
effi cient confi guration,”
said Ratterman. “So we
will be ‘wrecking out’ the
fi re damaged line and the
materials that are no longer
useable. The second phase
will be rebuilding the area
that sustained loss along
the hillside.”
To date, OTEC crews
have replaced 160 poles
and 60,000 feet of wire
along the canyon.
For OTEC’s part, the
Canyon Creek Complex
wildfi re and the Cornet-
Windy Ridge wildfi res
have come in at an estimat-
ed cost of $1.5M in total.
All private landowners
and members who will be
directly affected by this
reconstruction have been
notifi ed by OTEC.
scheduled
over Owyhee
land grab
ADRIAN—The Oregon Natural Desert Association
and Keen Footwear (Portland) are gathering signatures
on vaguely crafted petitions asking for action to “protect
the Owyhee Canyonlands.” It is anticipated that these
recreationally focused groups will use these petitions
to prompt President Obama to use his power under the
Antiquities Act to designate about 43% of the land in
Malheur County as a National Monument. Depending
upon who one asks, this could be good (possibly more
tourists), or bad (far less economic activity).
Senator Ted Ferrioli (R-John Day), Representative
Cliff Bentz (R-Ontario), Malheur County Judge Dan
Joyce, and Malheur County Commissioners Larry Wilson
and Don Hodge will hold a town hall meeting on Thurs-
day, October 29th from 6:30-8:30 p.m. (MDT) at the
Adrian High School gymnasium (305 Owyhee Road) to
hear from the people who would bear the “on the ground”
consequences of the designation. Representatives from
Senator Merkley, Senator Wyden, and Congressman
Walden’s offi ces have been invited.
Those in support of this effort include American River,
American Whitewater, Conservation Lands Founda-
tion, Mazamas, the Oregon National Desert Association,
the Pew Charitable Trust, Sierra Club, the Wilderness
Society, a Portland shoe company (KEEN footwear), and
others. These groups are actively gathering signatures
on petitions asking for protection of this 2.5 million acre
area.
Local residents have formed the Citizens in Opposition
to the Owyhee Canyonlands Monument Committee in an
effort to prevent southern Malheur County from becom-
ing yet another vast economic wasteland.
Said Rep. Bentz, “It’s my inclination to oppose this
concept, since I believe such a designation will cause
more damage to this land than it will prevent, and since
the future of Malheur County must include more than just
recreation. Nonetheless, it is essential that we hear from
you. This is your opportunity to say whether you support,
or oppose, such a designation.”
This meeting will serve as an open forum for attendees
to share their thoughts on the proposed establishment of
an Owyhee Canyonlands designation, be it a National
Monument, National Conservation Area, or Wilderness
Area.
A petition opposing the establishment of the Owyhee
Canyonlands National Monument can be found at: https://
www.change.org/p/barack-obama-ron-wyden-jeff-merk-
ley-oppose-the-misguided-owyhee-canyonlands-monu-
ment-proposal?recruiter=401903828&utm_source=share_
petition&utm_medium=copylink, or at the Committee’s
website at http://www.opposetheocm.com/. A petition in
support of the proposal can be found on the Wild Owyhee
website.
Meetings ahead
for Blue Mountain
Forest Plan
The Forest Service has scheduled new public meet-
ings to discuss the Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision.
Please see the current schedule below:
Monday, Nov. 2, 2015,6 p.m. - 9 p.m. (doors open
at 5:30), Access and Wilderness, Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest, La Grande, OR, Armory, 404 12th St, La
Grande, OR 97850.
Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. (doors open
at 5:30), Livestock Grazing, Umatilla National Forest,
Heppner, OR, City Hall, 111 N Main St,, Heppner, OR
97836
Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2015, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. (doors open at
5:30), Livestock Grazing, Umatilla National Forest and
Malheur National Forest, Ukiah, OR, N. Fork John Day
Ranger District, 401 West Main St, Ukiah, OR 97880
Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. (doors open at
5:30), Pace and Scale of Restoration, Wallowa-Whitman
and Umatilla National Forests, La Grande, OR, Armory,
404 12th St, La Grande, OR 97850.
A facilitator will ensure that everyone in attendance has
time to speak, listen to others, and propose solutions.
In 2014, the Forest Service released a draft Envi-
ronmental Impact Statement (EIS) related to the Blue
Mountains Forest Plan Revision and received over a
thousand comment letters. Based in part on that feedback,
the three Blue Mountains National Forests have worked
with stakeholders to identify topics for further discussion
– including the Pace and Scale of Restoration, Livestock
Grazing, Access, and Wilderness.
A Forest Plan describes the social, economic, and eco-
logical goals of a National Forest and provides a frame-
work for future management decisions. The National
Forest Management Act of 1976 requires each National
Forest to prepare a Forest Plan and revise it every 15
years to address changing needs and conditions. The
current Forest Plans for the Wallowa-Whitman, Umatilla,
and Malheur National Forests are from 1990, and the
Blue Mountains region has changed signifi cantly since
1990.
Meeting summaries from previous Forest Plan Revision
meetings are available at www.fs.usda.gov/goto/Blue-
MountainsPlanRevision, and the notes from new meet-
ings will be posted there as well. For more information,
please contact Peter Fargo, Public Affairs Offi cer for the
Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision, at 541-523-1231.