THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 3
FRIDAY, JULY 22, 2016
Business & Ag
BLM does Juniper lop and lay
project in Baker County
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Fuels Specialist Scott
English, of the Vale Bu-
reau of Land Management
(BLM)/Baker Resource
Area, spoke about the
recent thinning projects
in the Rooster Comb,
Pedro Mountain, and
Mormon Basin areas west
of Bridgeport by Medford-
based contractor Summitt
Forests, Inc., aimed at re-
ducing juniper expansion.
As a ten-year project
so far (planning started
in 2006), with ten more
years’ worth of work pos-
sible (pending funding),
the overall goal is to “...
help maintain range land,
restore plant communities,
and improve wildlife habi-
tat diversity, including elk,
antelope, deer, and birds,”
English said.
Around 3,700 acres’
worth of cutting and hand
piling in the Rooster
Comb area was com-
pleted in June, after about
four weeks of work, that
involved three crews of
between 10 and 20 people
each, from Summitt, he
said. Cutting and hand
piling by a crew of 20 will
continue in the Mormon
Basin area for another one
to two weeks, with around
2,700 acres as the goal
there.
The cost to taxpayers
was not available at the
time of print.
Future effort includes
machine piling, and even-
tually, burning the piled
juniper this fall, English
said. He explained that
reducing juniper expan-
sion means eliminating
it all. “You get rid of all
of the juniper; we’re not
saving any. It’s considered
a weed tree. A tree can
suck up to 30 to 40 gallons
of water a day, and it will
crowd out the pine...” he
said.
He explained that with
advancements in the sup-
pression of wildfires, more
of the landscape is saved,
including juniper, and that
the goal is restoration.
“The overall goal is to get
it back to what it was, be-
fore we were here...We’ve
changed the landscape,
and juniper is crowding...
Eventually, it will crowd
out the sage brush, and
eventually, it will overtake
grasses...When you have a
pure juniper stand, there’s
nothing in there..” for deer,
elk, and other animals to
eat, he said.
English said it would be
impossible to treat every
single acre with juniper
issues, since there are too
many factors affecting
that ideal goal, but there is
some good news for com-
munity members: firewood
cutting opportunities, pos-
sible once fire restrictions
are lifted. “We’d rather
have them use it for that,”
he said. “If there were
someone who could take
it off our hands, and who
could use it for whatever
(if there was a market),”
he said that would be the
ideal situation. “We would
sell it super cheap...A lot of
it’s right next to the road.”
Summitt was awarded
a four-year, local IDIQ
(Indefinite-Delivery/Indef-
inite-Quantity) contract,
having the lowest bid. The
contract is currently in its
third year, English said.
Summitt, in operation
throughout the western
U.S. for over 30 years, has
completed thousands of
forestry contracts for gov-
ernment agencies, as well
as private land owners.
Federal and State govern-
ment agencies are its larg-
est clients, with contracts
worth millions of dollars
completed yearly with
those agencies, according
to the company.
“If we have enough
funding for ten years
straight, we’ve got
enough work for ten years
straight...That’s what’s
frustrating; we never
know what our funding’s
going to be,” English said,
emphasizing the difficulty
in predicting what funding
may be available, year to
year, or even within the
same year.
Blue Mountains Forest Plan
Revision call held for public
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
On Wednesday, July 13,
2016, 5:30 p.m., represen-
tatives of the United States
Forest Service (USFS)
held a conference call, in
order to update the public,
regarding the Blue Moun-
tains Forest Plan Revision
(BMFPR). The update
included discussion of
four main topics covered
in the BMFPR Team’s
latest newsletter, published
in June: Recommended
Wilderness, Backcountry
Areas, Wildlife Corridors,
and Designated Routes.
BMFPR Team member
and Public Affairs Of-
ficer Peter Fargo acted as
facilitator for the call, and
he explained that, because
of the possibility of a total
of 250 listeners, the Team
decided it would be easier
to hold a one-way call,
though it would still be in-
teractive, as listeners could
submit questions live via
email. Questions and con-
cerns from the public were
also submitted beforehand
to the Team.
The rest of the represen-
tatives were introduced:
Malheur National Forest
Supervisor Steve Bever-
lin, BMFPR Team Leader
Sabrina Stadler, BMFPR
Team Recreation Plan-
ner Dennis Doherty, and
Malheur National Forest
Public Affairs Specialist
Mike Stearly.
Fargo explained the
conference call process,
and he said that further
calls and newsletters are
planned, in order to update
the public. There are no
final decisions yet, he said,
which was also stated in
the June newsletter.
Stadler provided an
update on the status of
the BMFPR. She said
that within the next few
months, the draft Final
Environmental Impact
Statement (FEIS) should
be ready for the Regional
Office to review, followed
by public review, which
may possibly be early next
year.
Fargo asked a Stadler a
question, submitted from
a member of the public:
“Will the public have a
opportunity to review the
two, new Alternatives,
that we announced in the
April newsletter?” Stadler
responded that currently,
there will be an opportu-
nity to object to what is
seen in the Alternatives,
plus a chance to object to
material not already in the
Alternatives.
Beverlin discussed the
major points of the June
newsletter, as he explained
that it echoed details from
the April newsletter, that
the Team was analyzing
two, new Alternatives in
the EIS, based on public
comment, issues, and
concerns. As pointed out
in the newsletter, he said,
after consideration of
public comments regard-
ing the Vinegar Hill/
Indian Rock Scenic Area,
USFS staff reevaluated
the area, and found that it
had some conflicting uses,
and it didn’t meet all of the
criteria for Recommended
Wilderness. In particular,
the existence of mining
claims was noted, in addi-
tion to significant over-the-
snow use.
He discussed the next
topic, Backcountry Areas,
explaining that there are
two different types in the
EIS, motorized, and non-
motorized, and generally,
the areas overlap with
Inventoried Roadless Ar-
eas (IRA). Beverlin said
that generally, the USFS
does not have the ability to
change the IRA boundar-
ies, though the USFS can
adjust the boundaries of
Backcountry Areas, to
better align with IRA
boundaries. According to
the newsletter, public com-
ment caused the USFS to
recommend the following:
to align the boundaries of
the Backcountry Areas
with the IRAs, as much
as possible; and to fix
mapping errors between
the motorized, and non-
motorized portions of the
Backcountry Areas, to bet-
ter fit existing uses, roads,
and motorized trails.
Beverlin said there were
some Wildlife Corridors
identified in the Plan, for
the Umatilla and Wallowa-
Whitman National Forests,
and none were identified
for the Malheur National
Forest, and after consid-
eration, the Team isn’t
recommending including
Wildlife Corridors in the
new Alternatives (they’ll
remain in the existing Al-
ternatives, he said). This
issue can be addressed on
a project-by-project basis,
according to the USFS.
In discussing what
Beverlin called a “some-
what controversial” topic,
Designated Routes, he
said that Travel Manage-
ment planning has not
been completed for either
the Wallowa-Whitman,
or the Malheur National
Forests, regarding Subpart
B analysis (designation of
roads, trails, and areas for
motorized use). He said
that the term “designated
routes” was removed from
the Plans for both the
aforementioned National
Forests, while the USFS is
stating that it is required
to manage all roads, trails,
and areas consistent with
national laws, policies, and
regulations.
While he discussed the
major topics, Beverlin
noted to listeners the dif-
ferent Management Area
designations used: Con-
gressionally Designated
Wilderness Area (1A);
Recommended Wilderness
Area (1B); Wilderness
Study Area (1C); Wild and
Scenic River (Included
Designated, Eligible, and
Suitable Rivers) (2A);
Research Natural Area
(2B); Botanical Area (2C);
Geological Area (2D); His-
torical Area (2E); Scenic
Byway and All-American
Road (2F); Nationally
Designated Trail (2G);
Scenic Area (2H); Starkey
Experimental Forest and
Range (2I); Municipal
Watershed (2J); Backcoun-
try (non-motorized) (3A);
Backcountry (motorized)
(3B); Wildlife Corridor
(3C); General Forest (4A);
Riparian Management
Area (4B); and Developed
Site, Administrative Area
(5).
Fargo began a public
Q&A session, with previ-
ously submitted questions,
and live questions submit-
ted via email. Among the
questions asked were the
following:
“Can the Forest Service
preserve large areas for
non-motorized use, to pro-
vide quiet, natural spaces,
and limit impacts to the
quality of hunting, camp-
ing, hiking, fishing, etc.?”
Doherty said that yes, the
USFS can do this, and he
elaborated on the subject,
providing some examples.
“Why are some Back-
country Areas designated
as motorized, whereas,
others are designated as
non-motorized?” Doherty
said that there is a distinc-
tion between the two,
that the USFS recognizes
Backcountry Areas and
IRAs have overlapping
boundaries, and that the
USFS recognizes the exist-
ing uses.
“Can the Forest Service
create more wilderness
areas, including Wildlife
Corridors, to create refu-
gia, for climate-challenged
resources?” Stadler said
the USFS can’t create a
Wilderness area, but it
can recommend one to
Congress, to designate.
She said that the current
Wilderness areas in the
Blue Mountains, coupled
with the IRAs, are treated
differently than other
areas, i.e., there wouldn’t
be as much timber harvest,
or road-building activ-
ity, which results in more
landscape-level protection.
SEE BMFPR CALL
PAGE 7
— Weekly Hay Report —
Friday, July 15, 2016 — Eastern Oregon
Prices trended generally steady compared to week
ago prices. Most demand lays with the retail/
stable hay. Many hay producers are selling or have
already sold most of their first cutting hay, and are
working on second cutting resulting in higher vol-
umes of hay moving.
Tons Price Range Wtd Avg
Alfalfa — Large Square Premium
250 155.00-155.00 155.00
Alfalfa — Large Square Fair
300 100.00-100.00 100.00
Alfalfa—Small Square Fair
75 95.00-95.00 95.00
Timothy Grass — Large Square Premium
500 185.00-185.00 185.00
USDA Market News Service—AMS.USDA.gov
— Cattle Market Report —
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Vale, Oregon
Cattle sold through the auction: 453
Steer Calves
300-400# Bulk N/A Top N/A
400-500# Bulk 142.00 - 148.00 Top 155.00
500-600# Bulk 130.00 - 138.00 Top 145.00
Heifer Calves
300-400# Bulk N/A Top N/A
400-500# Bulk 121.00 - 128.00 Top 132.00
500-600# Bulk 118.00 - 125.00 Top 131.50
Yearling Steers
600-700# Bulk 122.00 - 130.00 Top 135.00
700-800# Bulk 121.00 - 128.00 Top 130.00
800-900# Bulk 120.00 - 123.00 Top 125.00
900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A
Yearling Heifers
600-700# Bulk 115.00 - 122.00 Top 128.00
700-800# Bulk 112.00 - 125.00 Top 127.50
800-900# Bulk N/A Top N/A
900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A
Thin Shelly Cows 52.00 - 60.00
Butcher Cows 75.00 - 82.00
Butcher Bulls 80.00 - 86.00
Older B.M. 1000.00 - 1250.00
Hfretts. 80.00 - 90.00
Stock Cows Young - 1250.00 - 1460.00
ProducersLivestock.com
541-473-3136
— Log Price Report —
Price per 1,000 board feet: Northeast Oregon
Currently the local log market is flooded with
fire salvage logs. The log buyer for Malheur
Lumber Co. stated they have all the logs they
need under contract and are not accepting any
new purchases. BCC/LLC of La Grande has
receive so many burned fire salvage logs they
are no longer accepting logs at the La Grande
log yard. Any additional pine logs have to be
delivered to the Elgin Log yard cut in plywood
lengths and to a 8 inch top. For these pine
logs cut in plywood lengths, BCC is offering
$280.00/mbf. They are also paying $420.00/
mbf for Doug Fir & Western Larch. For White
Fir they are offing $325.00/mbf. At the Pilot
Rock Saw Mill BCC is offing $360.00/mbf for a
12 to 15 inch top, for 16 to 19 inch top $400.00/
mbf & offing $425.00/mbf for 20 inch plus top
Courtesy of Arvid Andersen,
Andersen Forestry Consulting
— Precious Metals Report —
Price per ounce, USD
Gold: $1,316.70
Silver: $19.54
Platinum: $1087.25
Palladium: $674.50
Bloomberg.com
— Ag Commodities —
Corn: $344.25/bu/USD
Wheat: $413.00/bu/USD
Soybeans: $1099.50/bu/USD
Oats: $202.00 bu/USD
Rough Rice: $10.81/cwt/USD
Canola: $463.40 CAD/mwt
Live Cattle: $108.80/lb./USD
Feeder Cattle: $138.63/lb./USD
Lean Hogs: $63.88/lb./USD
Bloomberg.com