THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 3
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2017
Business / Agriculture
Museum adds new lighting for rocks
BY SAMANTHA
O’CONNER
Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Friday, February 3, the
Baker County Museum
Commission held a special
meeting at the Baker Heri-
tage Museum to discuss
the LED lights they are
adding to the Cavin/Warfel
Collection Rock Display.
The Baker County Mu-
seum Commission has
been replacing lights in the
museum with LED lights
for about two years. They
received several grants
that have allowed them to
replace the lights.
“All lighting is specific
to different exhibits,” ex-
plained Museum Commis-
sion President Dave Hun-
saker. “Certain exhibits
don’t do very well under
certain lighting. Some
other lighting might even
harm certain exhibits so
we have to mix and match.
Overall, we’re moving to
the LED because it really
is a much more efficient
use of our operational
funds. We found that
we’ve saved considerable
money for the county by
moving that way.”
They have already
switched most of the lights
in the museum to LED and
Hunsaker explained that
the rock room is the last
big chunk they are switch-
ing.
“The lighting does make
an awful lot of difference,”
explained board member
Steve Bogart. “Of course,
cleaning the cases makes
an awful lot of differ-
ence too. It’s certainly an
improvement.”
The collection was given
to the museum on March
22, 1984 and dedicated on
August 9, 1984. The two
women who began the col-
lection were Mamie Cavin
and Beth Warfel.
According to a his-
tory pamphlet by Scotty
Haskell, given at the
museum, Cavin and Warfel
began their rock collecting
in 1930 in Baker County.
The interest began with
Warfel, who had taken
a geology class and that
started her interest in col-
lecting rocks.
The pamphlet quoted
Cavin on her explanation
of what it meant to be a
rock hound:
“You get a bag of
marbles and every time
you pick up a rock to keep,
you throw away a marble.
When you’ve lost all your
marbles, you’re a rock
hound.”
In Haskell’s pamphlet,
he explained; “One mirac-
ulous find by the women is
the largest known collec-
tion of extremely rare Tem-
skya, the petrified form of
a pre-historic fern, which
grew between 20 and 30
feet high.
“They were investigating
an old placer mine in the
Greenhorn District south-
west of Baker City when
they found it.”
Cavin and Warfel,
from 1930 to 1984 found,
bought, or traded eighteen
tons of rare minerals and
rocks, including thunder
eggs and geodes, crystals,
opals, fluorescent minerals,
jade, saganite, fulgurite,
and sand crystals, Accord-
ing to Haskell’s pamphlet,
some are indigenous to
Eastern Oregon. Their col-
lection also holds precious
and semi-precious stones
such as garnets, amethysts,
sapphires, rubies, and Her-
kimer crystal quartz.
Haskell explained Cavin
and Warfel didn’t just find
the geodes, thunder eggs,
Friday, February 10, 2017 — Eastern Oregon
Prices trended generally steady in a limited test
compared to week ago prices. Most demand lays
with the retail/stable hay. According to some
producers, horse owners prefer lower sugar, higher
protein hay. The recent snows slowed movement as
trucks cant get to the farms to get loaded.
Tons Price Range Wtd Avg
Alfalfa — Large Square Good
30 130.00-130.00 130.00
Alfalfa / Oat Mix — Large Square Good
50 100.00-100.00 100.00
Alfalfa / Orchard Mix — Small Square Premium
20 185.00-185.00 185.00
USDA Market News Service—AMS.USDA.gov
Samantha O’Conner / The Baker County Press
The rock display in the museum now has LED
lighting.
and petrified woods, but
cut and policed every piece
themselves.
Haskell quoted Cavin,
who said, “You have to do
more than just go out and
pick them up. You have to
take it step by step. It’s a
lot of work.”
Haskell explained that
Warfel became ill and died
in 1988. Cavin passed
away in 1992 at the age
of 98 and lived to see her
collection on display in
its permanent home at the
Baker Heritage Museum.
Haskell explained that
“The Cavin/Warfel collec-
tion has been extolled by
professionals as ‘one of
the most magnificent and
respected rock collections
in the United States’.”
Board member Mindy
Sherrieb explained that
the Smithsonian wanted to
purchase the display from
Cavin and Warfel, but they
would rather it stayed in
Baker City.
Bogart commented that
the phrase he heard was
that they wanted to bring
the rock collection home.
The center cases in
the rock collection were
owned by Cavin and
Warfel, donated to hold
their displays. 90% of the
rock display in the first
room is from the Cavin/
Warfel collection, the rest
donated from other collec-
tors.
“The Cavin/Warfel Col-
lection is huge,” explained
Bogart. “And when you
put the others who made
contributions together, the
rock collection probably is
one of the most extensive
and— I don’t know as far
as value how much value
it has to it—it’s one of
the best ones you’ll find
anywhere.”
In the rock collection,
they have minerals from
all over the world, not just
from Oregon.
The Baker Heritage
Museum is currently re-
placing the lighting in the
rock room and the display
is currently closed. The
museum will be closed the
24th and 25th of February,
it will be open for Night
at Old Auburn, and the
museum and rock room
will open the first weekend
of March.
He said that Sunday,
the snow storms still kept
him grounded, so he called
Trindle about mid-day on
Monday, January 23, to
offer to get some hay to the
cattle, since the weather
seemed clear at that point,
and Troy had planned to
fly to Enterprise to retrieve
the Robinson chopper.
He said that he, Gen,
pilot Tanner O’Grady,
and pilot-in-training and
mechanic Dustin Stephens
boarded the six-passenger,
red and white Bell 206
Long Ranger, tail number
N412KK, with O’Grady
and Stephens at the con-
trols, and Troy, Gen, and
a bale of hay in the back
from Trindle, and flew to
the area where the cattle
were last seen, using the
recorded GPS coordinates
as a guide, on the way
to retrieve the Robinson
chopper where it had been
snowed in since Saturday.
Troy said upon arriving
at the scene of the cattle
that he noticed the cow
lying on her side beneath
a tree, and he thought she
was dying at the time,
and he saw one yearling
near that same tree, and
the other yearling about
seventy-five yards away,
standing in an opening.
Troy wanted to drop the
hay next to the cow, since
she appeared to be in the
worst shape, so, he opened
the door of the chopper
while Stephens hovered
roughly seventy-five feet
above the cow, he pushed
the bale out the door with
the strings still attached,
and the bale landed bout
ten yards in front of the
cow, without breaking
apart.
The crew then headed to
Enterprise, and O’Grady
and Stephens flew the Bell
chopper back to Baker, and
the Woydziaks boarded
the Robinson chopper, and
fueled it up, to fly it back
as well. On the way back,
within an hour of dropping
the hay off, Gen told Troy
she was worried about the
cow, so Troy flew to the
area where the cattle were,
and he noticed a newborn
female calf standing, wet
and shivering, with the
yearlings basically where
they had been seen before.
He’d realized that the cow,
which he said was looking
very thin when they first
spotted her, was on her
side giving birth earlier,
and he landed the chop-
per in order to assess the
situation.
Troy said he knew that
if the hay wasn’t moved
closer to the cow, the cow
wouldn’t have had much of
a chance to survive, which
would, in turn, have affect-
ed the newborn’s survival,
so, he placed and broke
up the bale near the cow,
which started to eat some
of the hay. He picked up
the newborn, carried her
back to the chopper in
knee-deep snow, and the
Woydziaks flew her back
to Trindle’s ranch.
That left the crew to
come up with a game plan,
in order to retrieve the
remaining cattle. Troy said
that Trindle sent some indi-
viduals up in snowmobiles,
but they had trouble with
the machines and the snow,
so, Trindle asked Troy if
he could use possibly the
larger chopper to haul the
cattle out, which he’d nev-
er tried before (he helped
haul other animals for
Wyoming-based Hawkins
and Powers Aviation, us-
ing a specially made bag,
which he didn’t have at the
time, but no cattle yet).
Troy said that, since he
didn’t have a bag to haul
the cattle out yet (he has
since ordered a bag, be-
cause there’s an increasing
request for that service), he
decided to try to use a net
to capture the remaining
animals, hobble each one,
and try to haul them out.
On Thursday, Janu-
ary 26, morning, Troy
discovered that Trindle
had found someone who
had a snowmobile which
could make it to the cattle,
and that morning, one of
the yearlings was roped,
and hauled back down
to the ranch, with a sled
that was pulled behind the
snowmobile. Troy asked
Trindle whether he wanted
to still use the chopper to
try to retrieve the remain-
ing cattle, and Trindle said
that he did, because the
first yearling rescue had
taken so much time, and
the crew was running out
of daylight.
Troy flew to the scene of
the remaining cattle, with
mechanic Carl Mathis,
who held a net gun, and
after about an hour, the
duo captured the calf, and
— Cattle Market Report —
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Vale, Oregon
Cattle sold through the auction: 1920
Steer Calves
300-400# Bulk 151.00-168.00 Top 177.50
400-500# Bulk 147.00-176.00 Top 183.00
500-600# Bulk 129.00-158.00 Top 159.50
Heifer Calves
300-400# Bulk 126.00-143.00 Top 143.50
400-500# Bulk 118.00-145.00 Top 146.25
500-600# Bulk 116.00-134.00 Top 135.00
Yearling Steers
600-700# Bulk 116.00-133.00 Top 135.00
700-800# Bulk 114.00-124.00 Top 124.50
800-900# Bulk 109.00-120.00 Top 120.50
900-1,000# Bulk 96.00-113.00 Top 116.25
Yearling Heifers
600-700# Bulk 109.00-122.00 Top 122.50
700-800# Bulk 106.00-118.00 Top 119.00
800-900# Bulk 103.00-115.00 Top 116.75
900-1,000# Bulk 89.00-106.00 Top 110.50
Thin Shelly Cows 37.00 TO 48.00
Butcher Cows 49.00 TO 58.00
Butcher Bulls 69.00
Pairs Young 1250.00 TO 1375.00
Stock Cows N/A
Stock Cows Young - N/A
ProducersLivestock.com
541-473-3136
— Log Price Report —
Snowbound calf rescued
CONTINUED FROM
PAGE 1
— Weekly Hay Report —
Submitted Photo.
Lucky.
tried to hobble it correctly,
but Troy never felt secure
about the hobble setup, so,
Trindle’s crew managed to
haul the steer back down
to the ranch. The cow had
died by Thursday, Troy
said, and she hadn’t moved
from where she was first
discovered.
Troy added that Mike
relayed to him that the
yearlings had eaten snow
for survival, and it took
some time before they
were able to start drink-
ing water. Troy said that
the newborn female calf,
which the Woydziaks
named “Lucky,” has since
been successfully paired
with a mother, who had
lost her own calf.
Troy said, “The Trindle
family has always been
really supportive of us, and
our business. Mike’s the
guy that got me started in
flying... Mr. Trindle has al-
ways bent over backwards,
to help us out... He taught
me a lot about aviation...
He’s been a great mentor
for us, and we’re happy
to do something for him,
once in a while...”
Prices are based on the majority of saw mills in
Northeastern Oregon and Central Idaho. The prices
listed below are a composite prices of various saw-
mills willing to visit with me about this topic.
Ponderosa Pine—small diameter class 8-11 inches
diameter class $250 per mbf. Only one sawmill was
willing to buy small diameter pine at this time.
Ponderosa Pine—medium diameter class 12-17
inches diameter class $300 to $350 per mbf
Ponderosa Pine-large diameter class 18 plus inches
diameter class $380 to $410 per mbf
The Pine prices are still approximately $40 per mbf
below average lumber/log market due to 2017 fire
salvage
Doug Fir & Western Larch—$380 to $420 per
mbf. Normal prices typically ranged between $425
to $475 per mbf.
White Fir-$300 per mbf. Normal prices typically
ranged between $340 to $360 per mbf.
Engelmann Spruce—$350 at one Idaho sawmill,
other sawmills including with White fir prices.
In general, the log prices still impacted from 2015
fire season and fire salvage that resulted. Sawmills
are starting to get log yard inventory in line with
sawmill production needs. With a new Administra-
tion as of 1/20/2017, a more normal economic envi-
ronment should result and hopefully a more healthy
housing situation will result in a better climate for
Northeast Oregon Sawmill and private forest land-
owners.
Courtesy of Arvid Andersen,
Andersen Forestry Consulting
— Precious Metals Report —
Price per ounce, USD
Gold: $1,233.20
Silver: $17.75
Platinum: $1007.07
Palladium: $787.34
Bloomberg.com
— Ag Commodities —
Corn: $377.75/bu/USD
Wheat: $466.00/bu/USD
Soybeans: $1,067.50/bu/USD
Oats: $251.00 bu/USD
Rough Rice: $9.38/cwt/USD
Canola: $531.35 CAD/mwt
Live Cattle: $113.60//lb./USD
Feeder Cattle: $124.48/lb./USD
Lean Hogs: $71.35/lb./USD
Bloomberg.com