FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 7
Outdoor Rec / Local
HELP WANTED
The Baker Valley Soil and Water Conservation District is accepting applications for a seasonal irrigation system
worker. This position will be responsible in assisting partnering agencies with the implementation of small scale irriga-
tion systems and riparian vegetation. Candidates must have the following;
1.) Valid Drivers License
2.) Basic knowledge of household irrigation systems, small pumps, and controllers
3.) Ability to use hand tools
4.) Ability to operate small engines/equipment
5.) Ability to perform routine tasks for long periods of time
6.) Basic knowledge of weed identification and treatments
7.) Strong communication skills
8.) Ability to make maintenance decisions with little or no supervision
This position will be from May 2017 to approximately November 1, 2017 and will require a 32 hour work week. The
rate of pay will be $13/hr.
To apply, please drop off or email resume along with a cover letter explaining your qualifications for the position to;
Whitney Collins 3990 Midway Dr. Baker City OR 97814 or whitney.collins@bakercountyswcds.com. All applications
must be in by 3:30pm, March 30th 2017. “Baker Valley Soil and Water Conservation District is an Equal Opportunity
Employer.” For questions, please feel free to contact me at 541-523-7121 x 109. 3.31
BAKER SCHOOL DISTRICT is currently accepting applications for Summer Academy Staff. For a complete descrip-
tion of the position and the application process, go to Job Openings at www.Baker5J.org. You may also call Cathy Mar-
tin at 541-524-2261, or email at cathy.martin@bakersd.org. 4.7
PETS
FREE CATS! Three adult cats. 2 white manx, mother and son, blue eyes. One female, calico, fixed. All
shots given. Call 541.755.5003 in Granite.
Spring Break at the
Oregon Trail Center
The National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center
is offering special activities for families during Spring
Break—March 27 to 30! Ninety minute workshops start
at 10:00 a.m. each day. The daily themes include:
Monday, March 27: Pioneer for a Day – Dress up in
pioneer clothing and work with other kids in an interac-
tive overland simulation. Make decisions and explore the
Trail as you tour the Center with Ranger Rachael. Try
your hand at kneading hardtack and have a taste of dutch-
oven grub.
Tuesday, March 28: Heirloom Gardening – Ranger
Rachael leads this workshop about foods that pioneers
grew. Hear the legend of the three sisters (“corn, squash,
beans”) and make your own seed pellet. Wednesday,
March 29: Solar Eclipse – Ranger Cheri teaches eclipse
legends of the Native Americans, and helps you build a
model of the sun and moon, so you can show others how
solar eclipses happen.
Thursday, March 30: Making a Fire the Old-Fashioned
Way – Ranger Jeremy will help you make your own char
cloth and practice safely starting a camp fire with a flint
and steel.
B&C Logging wins prestigious Eastern Oregon
Forestry Practices Operator of the Year award
Photo courtesy of ODF.
ODF’s 2017 Operators of the Year: Wayne Stone Logging, Cameron Newell with B&C Logging (center), and Plikat Logging.
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Baker City’s Cameron
Newell and his company,
B & C Logging, were
recognized as 2016 Eastern
Oregon Area Forest Prac-
tices Operator of the Year,
by the Oregon Department
of Forestry (ODF), and
presented with the award
during the Oregon Board
of Forestry’s regular meet-
ing at ODF Headquarters
in Salem, on March 8,
2017.
According to a news re-
lease issued by ODF, “The
award recognizes logging
operators who consistently
perform above the mini-
mum standards set forth in
Oregon’s Forest Practices
Act for protecting natural
resources.
“Operators are judged on
how well they protect soil,
water, wildlife habitat and
scenic corridors among
other natural resources, es-
pecially in difficult terrain
or challenging circum-
stances...
“The Forest Practices
Act governs logging and
forest management to
protect natural resources
in Oregon. Enacted in
1971, the Act is overseen
by the Oregon Board of
Forestry and administered
by the Oregon Department
of Forestry. Each year a
logging operator who con-
sistently goes ‘above and
beyond’ basic requirements
is recognized by the board
in each of three regions in
Oregon--the southwest,
northwest and lands east of
the cascades.”
During the Board meet-
ing, as part of the award
presentation and recog-
nition, ODF Roseburg
District Office Steward-
ship Forester Jay Morey
said, “B & C Logging
earned the Operator of
the Year award for help-
ing landowners after the
Stices Gulch wildfire, and
protecting fish-bearing
streams. B & C’s work
improved public safety by
removing trees damaged
by the wildfire from urban
areas.”
A four-minute, ODF-
produced video was played
(part of the submitted
material for each operator),
which included interviews
in the Stices Gulch area,
with Newell, ODF La
Grande/Baker Unit For-
ester Logan McCrae, who
nominated B & C Logging
as Operator of the Year,
and landowner Bonnie
Allen.
Newell said, “It feels
good to have a good repu-
tation; we’ve earned, or,
tried to earn that for over
thirty-five years.”
McCrae said, “Stices
Gulch. .. It’s a subdivision
that was hit pretty hard by
the fire. There were about
eight different landowners
that he (Newell) worked
on...”
Newell said, “I’d been
told, when we started look-
ing into it, that there had
already been quite a few
people up here trying to do
it, and...they’d all refused,
because there were so
many different landown-
ers, and so many different
obstacles.”
McCrae said, “These
landowners had called,
probably...five or six of
their operators, at least,
and, nobody wanted
anything to do with this,
because it was too small
of a parcel size, you had
a fish-bearing stream, you
had steep ground, you had
a Forest Service road.”
Newell said, “I thought
it was kind of wrong that
they didn’t get paid any
stumpage for their timber,
especially after such a big
fire...They came up here
to live in the forest, and be
out of town, and, now their
forest is gone, and, at the
very least, they should be
able to get it cleaned up,
and make a dollar.
“They didn’t get rich,
but, they did get it cleaned
up, and they made more
than they thought they
would, and, it felt good to
try to help.”
Allen said, “Well, ev-
erybody I talked to before
and since loves Cameron.
They all say, ‘Yeah, he’s
great, when you can get
him, because he’s so busy,
because he does so good.’ ”
McCrae said, “Eight
different landowners, eight
different personalities,
there’s anywhere from
two-, to forty-, fifty-acre
parcels--not a whole lot of
volume, the markets were
tough. Cameron came in,
he worked around all the
infrastructures, all the per-
sonalities. He got the wood
out, he did it in a fashion,
that, every single person
was happy.”
Allen said, “We were so
happy. We were expecting
a whole lot more mess-
-yeah, there was some
mess--but, he did real good
at cleaning up what he
could, without destroying
something else.”
Newell said, “So, we
had a pond on side, we
had a house, and a propane
tank, on the other side, and
then we had...her father’s
or mother’s grave right
above this big tree, that
had burned over her cabin.
And, that was one of her
big concerns, is that we get
that tree out, from over her
house--because it was three
foot or better--without
wrecking the house, the
propane tank, or, espe-
cially, the grave, or, hitting
the pond. So, that one
made me nervous; you can
be forgiven for a propane
tank, but, a grave’s a little
harder.”
McCrae said, “As time
went on, and people saw
the work that he was do-
ing, more and more people
showed up, and more and
more people wanted him
to do their property. They
wanted theirs to look like
what he was doing every-
where else.”
Newell said, “It seems
like in the industry, a lot of
times, especially if you get
to logging for mills, that
the emphasis gets more on
production, and the cheap-
ness, the price you can
do the job for--somebody
wants it done cheap all
the time, and, don’t really
care how it looks. We’ve
always tried to build a
reputation, doing a little
better job--usually, a lot
better job than most--and I
like that.”
Allen said, “He’s profes-
sional, conscientious, po-
lite. He’s everything you
want in a contractor.”
Newell said, “I like
working outdoors. I like
to have a picnic each day,
at lunch time. I like to see
the wildlife that we see.
I like to leave the forest
better than we found it, so,
maybe my son, or his son
can log it again someday—
keep it healthy. It’s kind of
a way of, I guess, leaving
my mark on the world, a
little bit.”
In an email to The Baker
County Press, Arvid An-
dersen, owner and Presi-
dent of Baker City-based
Andersen Forestry Con-
sulting, Inc., said, “This
award is very difficult to
obtain. B & C Logging
has, for years, been a high
quality operator, and in
winter and spring, salvage
logged around homes
burned out in the Cornet-
Windy Ridge Fire.
“He felled trees around
power lines, swimming
pools, houses, etc...When
Cameron Newell applied
for an operation permit, he
had to file a new one for
every land owner, whether
two acres, or two-hundred
acres.
“ODF asked him, ‘Are
you sure you want to do
this?’ because of all the
paper work, and hassle/
liability, when working
around all the different
landowners.
“Many other logging
contractors refused to do
this, but Cameron Newell
didn’t...”
Speaking about a dif-
ficult, 160-acre commercial
thinning job B & C Log-
ging completed for him,
which included issues such
as multiple creek crossings
and other considerations,
Andersen said, “The job
was flawless in execution.”
Also receiving Operator
of the Year awards were
Wayne Stone and Wayne
Stone Logging, Inc., for
the Northwest Area, and
Wally Plikat and Plikat
Logging, Inc., for the
Southern Area. Merit
Award recipients include
B & M Timber, LLC,
of Burns (who was also
nominated for Eastern
Area Operator of the Year);
Mike Pihl Logging, Inc.,
of Vernonia; and Rick
Krohn, Western Helicopter,
of Newberg, and Mark
Gourley, Starker Forests,
Inc., of Corvallis. Let-
ters of Commendation
were awarded to Keith
Ross Contracting, LLC, of
Redmond, and Paul Tate,
of Elgin.