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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (July 8, 2016)
FRIDAY, JULY 8, 2016 THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 7 Outdoor Rec / Local Fireworks and felines greens, the what-have- yous, out of sync with the inevitable, accompany- ing sounds, distant enough to give me some sense of relief, but still close enough to worry the THE OUTDOOR COLUMN animals. The sound By Todd Arriola of fireworks This past weekend, I from a dis- made note of the various tance seems to be rivaled activities associated with by the sound of thunder, the celebration of Inde- which certainly causes pendence Day: rodeos, anxiety among critters. barbecues, and parades, Case in point: some years among other pursuits. ago, my brother was out I was content to watch in a hay field, which was and hear the Haines Stam- irrigated with a pivot pede Rodeo’s fireworks sprinkler system. His on Monday night, from a dog, Molly, was with him, comfortable position miles and the weather started to away from all of the ac- turn, including moments tion, but my furry, motley of thunder and lightning. feline family reminded Molly took off running, me of an often-neglected and we haven’t seen her point: animals don’t care since. too much for noise. The inspiration for an From my position of article about outdoor noise security (I don’t care for came from the strangest the noise, either), I could incident: a stolen lawn still hear and “feel” the sprinkler. This isn’t an mini-explosions, which, ordinary sprinkler, but a no doubt, wooed the die- Nelson Rain Train travel- hard crowd, left to enjoy ing model--yellow, with the show, after the sun white wheels, resembling had gone down, and the a tractor. festivities of the day had Expensive by sprinkler concluded. standards, cast iron, and I saw the variety of a great stand-in as a boat bright colors—the reds, anchor, this particular one the whites, the blues, the was taken from a City residence most likely the night of the 4th, complete with the insult-to-injury of a cut garden hose, rather than disconnecting the hose from the sprinkler, apparently considered a waste of precious time to the thief(s). This topic led to dis- cussions also about the constant and intermittent fireworks insanity at all hours of the day and night in the City, up to, and after the 4th, which led to said inspiration about the topic of noise. I’ve seen animals cause injuries to themselves, in order to escape loud noises, such as fireworks, or thunder, and the sub- sequent veterinarian bills hardly add a pleasing post- script to the situation. My own personal injury could be laughed at later (mostly by others): when I was younger, some rela- tives were launching fire- works, and, trying to get away from the noise while my palms covered my ears, I ran into a nearby parked car, which quickly diverted my attention to damaged limbs. I don’t know if any- one noticed. My little crew of furballs hardly made any noise themselves for the longest time outside, and that makes sense, because in the wild, an animal call- ing attention to itself can be targeted more easily, and killed by predators. We humans basically have forced domesticated animals to be the “squeaky wheel that gets the grease,” and to loudly express their opinions, including when they believe it’s meal time (all the time, I suppose?). That’s what it takes to get attention around us, human or not: be loud and direct. Sometimes, though, cats go a bit overboard with expressing emotions. A dog loves you when you return from a trip, because it misses you; a cat hates you, because you left in the first place. Anyway, as far as any advice for calming pets down goes, in my humble opinion, the best action is to get them away from the noise, if possible. Or, at least, limit the exposure. I had an advantage with mine, because they were already many miles away from the fireworks, to begin with, but there are many in the City who became very anxious this holiday weekend. Calming them down during scenar- ios with loud noise helps, via petting, etc. I’m not sure I’m quite sold on the compression sweater, vest, or whatever it is, because I’ve never tried it, so I can’t really comment there. Whatever we can do to help limit the noise expo- sure for our furry friends (and, I might add, combat veterans, among others) would, no doubt, be greatly appreciated... Linemen perform ‘pole top’ exercises Submitted Photo. Submitted Photo. Rich Eskew, Casey Mitchell, Nick Simmons. Rod Wolf. With blue skies above it was a perfect day for Ore- gon Trail Electric Coopera- tive’s line crews to buckle on fall-restraint equipment belts, dig into utility poles and begin their annual pole top rescue exercises. As an OSHA man- dated safety training requirement, the course is designed to evaluate each lineman on their ability to properly rescue an injured and/or stranded lineman. Each lineman must balance their skills with safety, climb a pole and rescue a 185 lb. training man- nequin. The lineman must then secure the mannequin aspect of the training were real with a focus on the safe and efficient methods with which the rescue is accomplished.” In addition to safety training for employees, OTEC continuously raises awareness of electrical safety in its four county service territory by per- forming demonstrations at local schools and offering free trainings with vol- unteer fire departments, emergency medical teams and sheriff’s departments on a regular basis. “We work within our communities to show our members just how easy using ropes and pulleys and safely deliver them back down to the ground. OTEC linemen are re- quired to pass this training to maintain employment with the cooperative. And while OTEC has never had to perform a pole top rescue in the field, the training is an opportunity for the linemen to prepare and hone their skills if the need should ever arise. “No electricity is running through the lines,” said OTEC’s Manager of Loss Control Jeff Anderson. “But, attention to detail re- mains key and the linemen are evaluated as if every it is for an accident to occur when working with electricity,” said Anderson. “Learning how to prevent these dangerous, and sometimes deadly mishaps helps to keep service men and women, as well mem- bers of the community, safe.” “OTEC continuously places safety first,” said Anderson. “By performing these annual trainings, the cooperative is assuring that our linemen and communi- ty members in service are properly trained to handle nearly any situation.” WWNF RAC meeting scheduled Members of the Northeast Oregon For- ests Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) will meet in Baker City, July 14-15, to recommend proposed Title II projects for the Malheur, Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests. Title II projects are covered under Public Law 110-343, H.R. 1424, the Reauthoriza- tion of the Secure Rural Schools and community Self-Determination Act of 2000, also called “Pay- ments to States” Act. According to Jeff Tomac, Whitman District Ranger on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest and designated federal official for the Northeast Oregon Forests RAC, this will be the sixth meeting of the Committee since reau- thorization of Public Law 106-393. The meeting will be held on July 14 and 15, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Whitman Ranger District, Baker Work Center at 3285 11th St. in Baker City. The open public meeting will focus on reviewing and recommending 2015- 2016 project proposals that meet the intent of the Payments to States Act. Objectives of the proposed projects are to protect, restore, and enhance fish and wildlife habitat; improve the maintenance of existing Forest Service infrastructure; protect and enhance ecosystems on the national forests; and restore and improve land health and water quality. Members of the public wishing to provide com- ment to the committee during the meeting should submit a request in writing, no later than July 7, 2016. Requests can be submitted to Jeff Tomac by mail to 1550 Dewey Avenue-Suite A, Baker City, OR 97814, by email to jtomac@fs.fed. us, or by FAX to 541-523- 6395. For additional informa- tion, contact Jeff Tomac at 541-523-1301. Free fishing day tomorrow The second annual Family Fishing Event at Anthony Lake will be held Saturday, July 9, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and is open to kids 14 years old and younger. This year’s event is sponsored by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Powder Basin Watershed Council and the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. Children participating in this event must be accom- panied by an adult and those 12 years of age and older must have a valid fishing license. The lake will be freshly stocked and loaner fishing rods will be available to par- ticipants. People will be on hand to help youth and adults with tips on basic rigging, fish identification and cast- ing. A biggest fish contest will be offered with prizes in several age brackets. Ladies golf The June 19 Quail Ridge Ladies Golf Winners are: 1st Flight: 1st Judy Karstens 2nd flight: 1st Margo Kenworthy 3d Flight: 1st Carol Irvine Bridge Winners: 1st Carol Stevens; 2nd Dianne Elling- son; 3rd Kathy Eidson Folk music played at Interpretive Center Popular northwest folk singer and storyteller Hank Cramer will present his program “Wanderin’ Minstrel” July 15-17 at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpre- tive Center. Daily performances are at 11 a.m., 12:30, and 2 p.m. All performances are inside in the air conditioned Leo Adler Theater. Cramer will be joined by duo Clinton and Sarah Carter of Spokane, known as Carter Junction, bringing together Clinton's deep baritone voice with Sarah's angelic yet earthy tone in folk and western music. Cramer’s repertoire is a mix of original, traditional, and contemporary folk songs telling the stories of pioneers, cowboys, sailors, soldiers, miners, and adventurers of the old west. He is an avid historian and presents educa- tional programs which weave together music, history, and cultural traditions. Blacksmithing demonstrations are also scheduled for July 16 and 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Call (541) 523-1843 for updates on programs and events.
