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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (June 24, 2016)
FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2016 THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 7 Outdoor Rec / Local Signs of Fathers Day—literally Ladies golf brands, sat in the Burnet- tos’ cabin in Bridgeport for a few years, before the push to finally install them last weekend. The Bur- nettos began construc- tion on their cabin over THE OUTDOOR COLUMN 15 years ago, and have been By Todd Arriola regular visi- This past Father’s Day tors and hunt- Sunday, facilitated by ers in the Bridgeport area the clear weather, a sign since that time, bringing structure was installed on family and friends, from the Arriola Ranch, compli- time to time, including last ments of two individuals, Father’s Day. They’ve father and son, Frank and gifted my father some Rod Burnetto, of Portland, interesting items over the whom my father, in the years, including the awe- direct and appropriate some-looking signs, and a Basque way, dubbed “The beautiful, custom-stocked Squirrel Hunters.” rifle, engraved with his This sign—or, rather, name—Pat Arriola—as signs, since there are “the steward of the land.” actually two—sits on a As their nickname sug- nearly bomb-proof, square gests, they made a point of metal tube frame, all of it seeking out as targets each custom-built by the Bur- year those animals which, nettos, several years ago. frankly, no farmer or The metal signs, one a rancher, to my knowledge, “rocking E,” and the other, has fallen in love with at “AY,” both Arriola cattle any point in time. No, they’re not trigger-happy, bloodthirsty savages—just practical, helpful (and entertaining) individuals, who fit in well, whether at their home west of the Cascades, or in eastern Oregon. That particular weekend, I had attempted to mow my mother’s and grand- mother’s lawns, but the rainy weather on Saturday wouldn’t allow it, making the return journey out there on Sunday a necessity, which worked well, as it turned out. Sunday morn- ing, while I mowed my mother’s lawn, Dad and the Burnettos worked out a plan to mount the signs, and I joined the crew after I finished mowing. A hole was drilled near the top of a large post, one of two which hold and se- cure the main corral gate, both timber set in place 35 years ago, from the former radar tower atop Dooley Mountain. Assisted by mighty Basque strength (i.e., Dad used a tractor with a bucket), the frame was lifted up, and Rod bolted the top part of it to the post. Rod marked the bottom hole, the frame was leveled, and the bottom part was bolted to the post. Dad held us up in place, and I helped Rod mount the signs, which are ori- ented to be seen properly, if one is heading east, on Bridgeport Lane. During the whole process, naturally, I snapped some photographs (I couldn’t resist play- ing reporter), and post- installation, the entire crew basked in the glory of the accomplishment, which included, as expected, even more photographs, to mark the momentous occasion for posterity. Unfortunately, I could not attend the evening dinner which included chili (and, possibly some such beverage as wine, or whiskey, and the resulting entertaining conversa- tions), courtesy of the Burnettos, at their cabin. But, it was a constructive day, and I have no doubt that Dad and Mom were pleased with the project, though it was years in the making. I can assure the Burnettos, as they made their way back to Portland, they had no need to doubt whatsoever that their gift was the center piece of a great Father’s Day... Winds spur hazard tree removal A wind event this spring caused several dozen haz- ard trees to fall across For- est Road 39 and 3960 be- tween Indian Crossing and Blackhorse campgrounds. Coverdale campground, located in the middle, was impacted the most heavily and both roads were not passable due to the downed trees. Forest Service Rec- reation and Fire Crews pulled together immedi- ately in order to remove the downed hazard trees. Fire Crews focused on removing the trees from the roadways while the Recreation Crew focused on the Developed Recre- ation Sites. “I’m happy to say we were able to pull together and take care of this public safety event quickly and with as little impact to the public as possible,” said Deputy Dis- trict Ranger, Jake Lubera. Hazard trees are defined as having a likelihood of property damage or personal injury from tree failure. For the U.S. For- est Service it is an issue primarily in developed recreation areas. A program of hazard tree management is neces- sary to reduce the risk of property damage, injuries and fatalities due to tree failures in developed areas. This event emphasizes the need to do more preventa- tive hazard tree removal across the Wallowa-Whit- man National Forest. There are several places that are in need of hazard tree reduction near devel- oped areas. Plans like the Lostine Corridor Public Safety Project are intended to address this problem. The Lostine Corridor projects project seeks to increase public safety in conjunc- tion with improving forest health and resiliency in a high-use public area leading into the Eagle Cap Wilderness. More informa- tion on this project is avail- able at www.fs.usda.gov/ project/?project=48592 One startling fact about the blowdown events along the Imnaha is that almost all of the trees were broken off roughly 15 feet from the ground. This occurred to the trees no matter what size they were, from very small to very large. This type of blow-down suggests that the trees were suffering from bark beetle infestation prior to the windstorms. Commercial drivers licensing procedure is changing If you are seeking an Oregon commercial driver license (CDL), some changes are under way at DMV that will take effect this year. The changes are re- quired to comply with Fed- eral Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations. Oregon is adopting these changes by switching from a CDL “instruction permit” system to a new “com- mercial learner permit” program. The new com- mercial learner permit is more like a CDL in that it has a class, endorsements and restrictions. The law took effect July 8, 2015, and Oregon is mak- ing the changes in phases. To ease the transition, Oregon DMV is changing its CDL drive test appoint- ment scheduling policy and procedure this sum- mer: • Effective June 28, 2016, customers must have a valid Oregon CDL instruction permit and applicable commercial knowledge test scores on record with DMV before scheduling a CDL drive test appointment occurring on or after Sept. 26, 2016. • On or after Sept. 26, 2016, customers must have either a valid Oregon CDL instruction permit and applicable knowledge test scores on record or a valid Oregon commercial learner permit before scheduling a CDL drive test appoint- ment. These changes are being made to enforce the re- quirement, beginning Sept. 26, that applicants must hold a valid Oregon CDL instruction permit or com- mercial learner permit in order to take a commercial driver skills test. Additional information about Oregon’s transition to the commercial learner permit will be distributed in future releases. For more information, visit OregonDMV.com. Owyhee Canyon fire assessment done The Owyhee Canyon Fire burned 22,000 acres along the Owyhee River Canyon on June 5-8, 2016. Vale District Bureau of Land Management (BLM) fire suppression personnel, along with the Jordan Val- ley Rangeland Fire Protec- tion Association (RFPA) and contracted resources contained the fire. Bureau policy requires BLM staff to create a draft plan for Emergency Stabi- lization and Rehabilitation of the area within seven days of containment. A more comprehensive final plan will be submitted by June 28. The initial plan states that of the 21,776 acres burned, 21,075 acres of it is BLM managed land and 701 acres is privately owned. The fire area is identified as general sage- grouse habitat as well as mule deer winter range. One sage-grouse lek (a mating area for sage- grouse) was identified as being within the burn perimeter. The fire also burned 4,120 acres of the Owyhee Canyon Wilder- ness Study Area (WSA), one livestock grazing allotment and damaged 16 miles of livestock manage- ment fences. The burned areas will ad- versely affect sage-grouse and other sage-obligate species. Invasive species such as Scotch and bull thistle, whitetop species, Russian knapweed, and rush skeletonweed have all been documented in the area. With the burning of competing native veg- etation, these species are highly likely to spread into the affected area unless they are treated. Potential treatments include: Inventory and treatment of noxious weeds in and around the fire perimeter; Repair of fences, gates and livestock management infrastructure ; Temporary deferment or closure of affected grazing allotments; Construction of temporary fences to keep livestock out of the affected area; Herbicide application to prepare for planting and/or to remove invasive annual species competition; Sagebrush restoration; and Ongoing monitoring to determine treatment effectiveness and appropriate time to reopen grazing allotments. scores Scores for the June 8 Ladies Golf Day at Quail Ridge are: Golf Winners 1st Flight: 1st Myrna Evan, 2nd Lavelle Woodcock; 2nd Flight: 1st Kathy Hopkins; 3rd Flight: 1st (tie) Rox- anne McAdams: Carol Irvine; Birdie Carp; Irvine Bridge Winners: 1st Margo Kenworthy; 2nd Dianne El- lingson; 3rd Marlene Cross 9-Week Bridge Winners are: 1st Joan Colton, 2nd Deni Smith, 3rd Janice Smull. SWCD looks at ‘waning water woes’ with projects Submitted Photo. One of four rubber tire troughs for off stream live- stock watering. Irrigation and livestock water: two things which are absolutely essential to the livelihood of local farmers and ranchers; but four straight years of drought do not help the cause. The Baker County SWCDs, consisting of Baker Valley, Keating, Burnt River, and Eagle Valley, put a major focus on water developments and improved ir- rigation efficiency this year; helping landowners develop springs, install pipelines and watering troughs, as well as install diversion structures and head gates. Two small grants, one in the Baker Valley District, and the other in the Burnt River District, improved irrigation delivery by upgrading from flood to gated pipe. While flood irrigation can be very effective, it also increases the risk for erosion, sediment runoff, and does not allow for proper control or water management. Gated pipe will allow these two landowners to more evenly disperse ir- rigation water throughout their pastures while improving water quality by eliminating much of the tail water. A Technical Assistance grant was recently completed in the Baker Valley District that also aims to improve irriga- tion efficiency and water delivery. The MaHarry-Blevins Ditch conveys water to the P-2 Pipeline, and is supplied by Wolf Creek Reservoir. About 1.5 miles of the ditch is open, and experiences considerable ditch loss by leaching through the banks, as well as through evaporation. After an Optimization Study was completed on the MaHarry- Blevins in 2013, it was determined that the ditch was losing up to six acre-feet per day, or 1,955,108 gallons of water per day! To account for ditch loss in the summer months, and to meet the irrigation needs of the producers, nearly twice as much water than needed must be released down the ditch. This project used grant funding to hire a licensed engineer to develop a 100% construction-ready design for installing a pipeline in the 1.5 miles of the open MaHarry-Blevins Ditch. In the Burnt River District, due to maintenance defi- ciencies, pushup style dams were previously in use on two of the main diversion structures to divert water from Camp Creek. Two other diversions were in critical shape, and did not allow for adequate fish passage. Camp Creek was also experiencing severe bank erosion and a reduc- tion of stabilizing woody vegetation, therefore releas- ing sediment into the Camp Creek system. This large restoration project replaced four pushup dams with four concrete sill/wing-wall diversion structures. Head gates were also installed at each diversion, as well as streambed material to aid in fish passage. To minimize stream bank erosion, 44 juniper skeletons were installed along the worst sections of cut banks. Along the same section, 26 willow clumps and 18 vertical bundles were planted to help reestablish woody vegetation. There was 5,000 feet of wildlife friendly fence installed to restrict livestock ac- cess to Camp Creek, thus protecting the newly stabilized riparian area. Upland restoration, although not tied directly, still plays a key role in water quality in Baker County. A large resto- ration project is just wrapping up in the Keating District, which focused on off stream watering and improved live- stock distribution. A lack of a reliable water source can cause livestock to congregate in certain areas, typically overgrazing those areas and opening up niches for inva- sive species, like medusahead rye. Medusahead crowds and competes with native grasses and forbs, deteriorating forage for livestock, as well as habitat for wildlife such as Sage Grouse. This conservation project developed four springs on the property, and installed pipeline to convey water to four individual watering troughs. The newly developed springs were enclosed with wildlife friendly fence to aid in protecting the springs from trampling. A 4,500 foot cross fence was also installed as a part of this project, creating two separate pastures to aid in livestock distribution. These activities will greatly improve range- land health and native species in the area, while allowing the landowner to better manage grazing on his private ground.
