FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2017
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 7
Outdoor Rec / Local
FARM / RANCH
12 yr.-old
sorrel mare.
14 hands high.
$1000.
541-519-5035.
LEGAL NOTICES
DISTRICT MEETING NOTICE
Medical Springs Rural Fire Protection District Board
of Directors will hold its regular monthly board meeting
at Pondosa Station, on Monday, April 17, 2017 at 7 PM
to discuss fire department operations. Equal opportunity
provider.
‘Recreational’ fishing and its
necessary accessories . . .
Commission-
er meeting
in Febru-
ary, hosted
by Baker
County
Commission
Chair Bill
Harvey.
I was curi-
ous myself
about the
reason(s)
“hunting”
or “fishing”
suddenly
THE OUTDOOR COLUMN appeared
By Todd Arriola
as “recre-
ational,” so I
asked Oregon
The day I wrote this
Department of Fish and
article, I purchased an-
Wildlife (ODFW) State-
nual fishing licenses for
wide Wildlife Communica-
myself and my wonderful
tions Coordinator Michelle
and delighted better half,
Dennehy, and she said, via
Brandi, and I purchased a
email, that, “This change
camp chair for my equally
to ‘Recreational License’
wonderful and delighted
occurred recently with year
Airianna, with visions of
2016 licenses, and was
Free Fishing Weekends—
meant to save space on
thank you, Oregon State
documents.”
Legislature, for that rare
I should make it clear
product of solidarity--and
that I appreciate the timely
other adventures in mind,
responses and every bit
for 2017.
of information I receive
Technically, I dub both
from media contacts, but
girls my better “three-
that statement made me
quarters,” but this phrase-
scratch my head, because I
ology may not be quite as
and many others don’t tend
popular, since Airianna
to label hunting or fish-
will inevitably outgrow her
ing “recreational,” though
infancy at some point not
I chose not to pursue the
many moons from now,
subject further at the time,
and I will then be required
since I may have only con-
to amend my hastily cre-
fused myself again, while
ated nickname for my loyal
failing to find some other
duo.
explanation that makes
A note about the fishing
more sense.
licenses I purchased—they
As I was getting ready
seem to have inexplica-
to leave the store the day I
bly metamorphosed into
had purchased the fishing
“recreational” licenses in
licenses, I couldn’t help
recent years, a fact noted
but notice a display near
by the ever observant Tork
the fishing gear and GPS
Ballard, Forest Access For
units.
All (FAFA) President, dur-
When I say getting ready
ing a First Friday with the
to leave, I mean that I was
looking for an excuse to
spend more time in the
fishing aisle, and when I
say I couldn’t help but no-
tice a display, I mean that
a video, part of a display,
started playing, startling
me and commanding my
attention (like our beloved
millennials, I sometimes
become distracted with
videos on small screens,
too).
This video drew me to
a display for a software
application (app), called
HUNT, by onXmaps. I
used maps and my own
knowledge before to deter-
mine where I was at, which
properties were public
and which were private,
who owned what, etc.,
but I couldn’t pass up the
opportunity to download
this extremely handy app
to my cell phone (it can be
loaded onto other devices,
including GPS units, of
course).
The app—in my case, the
Premium App Member-
ship State-Specific Land
Ownership Map, good
for a year—cost me about
$30, and includes Oregon
private land ownership and
public land information,
private land that’s open to
the public, hunting areas,
roads and trails, topograph-
ic maps, wildlife manage-
ment units, aerial imagery,
and a heck of a lot more. I
gave it a test drive, and I
have to say, I will give up
using this app when it is
pried from my cold, dead
hands.
Complementing this
selfish excuse to spend $30
on software for a phone
that’s worth less than $20
now is more actual fishing
gear, in the form of poles,
possibly the most impor-
tant pieces of equipment in
our arsenal.
My standard go-to fish
grabber is a seventy-inch
Shakespeare Ugly Stick,
with a Shakespeare spin-
ning reel. I nearly lost
the forward section of the
pole one day at Anthony
Lake, when it sailed into
the water along with my
line and lure during a cast,
but I fortunately managed
to reel the whole mess in.
Somehow, this reminds
me of my first attempt at
fly fishing, which probably
would have gone better,
had I used the awkward,
ninety-six-inch monstros-
ity to spear the fish with
instead.
Brandi’s gear includes
a sixty-six-inch R2F Per-
formance Series pole and
spinning reel, and Airianna
became the proud owner of
a kit that includes a Shake-
speare Barbie-themed,
twenty-four-inch, telescop-
ing rod and spincast reel,
a tackle box, sunglasses,
and a practice casting plug
(again, she’s three). For
good measure—and, pure-
ly out of curiosity, and in
an attempt to experiment—
I picked up two, thirty-six-
inch Dock Demon De-
luxes, with accompanying
spinning reels.
Armed with the right
gear, enthusiastic spirits,
and plenty of bodies of
water, our wonderful,
adventurous, and loyal
family unit will have three-
quarters of the year left,
in which to investigate
and report on as many
fishing spots as possible.
Notwithstanding work,
northeast Oregon weather,
and a sometimes tired and
cranky, near-four-year-old,
I believe we’ll find the op-
portunities ...
Software system wouldn’t help County
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The Baker County Board
of Commissioners held a
work session on Wednes-
day, April 12, 2017, 9 a.m.,
which included discus-
sions regarding issues with
a State Building Codes
Division software sys-
tem, called Manufactured
Home Ownership Docu-
ment System (MHODS),
service animals, an Oregon
House Bill, and the general
County budget for 2017-
2018.
Present from the Board
were Chair Bill Harvey,
Commissioners Mark Ben-
nett and Bruce Nichols,
and Executive Assistant
Heidi Martin. Presence
also included Baker Coun-
ty Assessor Kerry Savage,
Baker County Administra-
tive Services Coordina-
tor Christena Cook, and
Baker County Facilities
Maintenance Foreman Dan
McQuisten.
Harvey called the
session to order, and the
Board began a discussion
about MHODS issues
with Savage. According
to an Intergovernmental
Agreement (unsigned by
the County), MHODS is a
system “...with a front end
Web site and a back end
database that interfaces to
a document management
system. The front end Web
site will be for customers,
including but not limited
to manufactured structure
dealers, lenders, and title
companies, to search for
information, submit ap-
plications, upload docu-
ments, and pay fees. The
back end database will be
for participating counties
to use for issuing owner-
ship documents and trip
permits, and for recording
interests in manufactured
structures...”
One issue Savage
pointed out is the all of
the fees collected for
MHODS, which, according
to the agreement, would
be deposited with the state
weekly, the State would
keep $20 of each $55 own-
ership document applica-
tion fee, and would remit
$35 of that fee and all of
each trip permit applica-
tion fee to the County on a
monthly basis.
Savage said that this
setup would probably help
the people with lower
incomes, who’ve pur-
chased a manufactured
home, but if the County
entered into the agreement,
title company processing
would change in a negative
way (he said he feels that
title companies would lose
business).
“...the problem I’m
struggling with is, this
system’s so complicated...”
Savage said.
Bennett agreed, and
said, “This thing is totally
backwards...” Bennett gave
the example of the Baker
County Justice Court,
which doesn’t send col-
lected fees to the State in
full, with the County’s por-
tion remitted to the County,
but rather, sends the State’s
portion. He said, “We
don’t have to sign the
darned thing (the agree-
ment)...” and he said that
there would be a huge bur-
den placed on the County,
since the County would be
sending full deposits to the
State initially, and the State
would be collecting $20 of
each $55, with the County
doing all the work.
Savage said that he has
easier access to the cur-
rent system, which makes
the whole process more
streamlined.
Harvey asked, “If we
don’t do anything at all,
what happens?”
Savage said, “Nothing...”
He said that people could
come in to his office, he
could give them all the
forms they need, and they
could finish the process on
the Internet.
Savage said he didn’t un-
derstand why the State was
changing the system, and
Nichols said, “The reason
they’re changing it is just
for the sake of changing
it—it’s my opinion.”
Bennett said the State’s
changing it to collect more
revenue, but the County
is saddled with additional
burden. Harvey said the
County isn’t obligated to
enter the agreement by law,
and Savage agreed, and
said that it’s not mandated.
Briefly, Harvey and the
rest of the Board voiced
their concerns regard-
ing the subject of Oregon
House Bill (HB) 3357, the
Housing Alliance Fund,
which, if passed into
legislation, increases the
amount of fees that are
charged and collected by
County clerks, to record or
file certain property docu-
ments and directs the trans-
fer of the increased fees
to Housing and Services
Department accounts for
housing-related programs.
SEE COUNTY
PAGE 9
Another wolf
depredation
meeting held
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
A Baker County Wolf Depredation Compensation Com-
mittee meeting was held on Wednesday, April 5, 2017,
2:30 p.m., in the Commission Chambers of the Baker
County Courthouse, to further fine-tune and discuss ap-
plication information provided by area livestock produc-
ers for the year 2016.
This was in response to Oregon Department of Agricul-
ture (ODA) Grants Program Area Director Jason Bar-
ber’s concerns regarding the total submitted for missing
livestoc—$54,787, the largest claim in the history of the
program, with only $150,000 to $160,000 available to the
whole state—among other details.
Committee presence included Chair and Baker County
Commissioner Mark Bennett, Tom Van Diepen, Mike
Colton, and Steve Edwards, joined by Baker County
Commission Executive Assistant Heidi Martin.
Since the last committee meeting, on Wednesday,
March 22, 2017, 2:30 p.m. (as detailed in the Friday,
March 31, 2017 issue of The Baker County Press),
Bennett said that more requested information had been
received from Ontario-based livestock producer Earl
Andersen , and Richland-based producer Deven Thomp-
son. Bennett noted a consensus that the two producers’
applications were considered complete, and they would
be submitted as presented.
Bennett said, “On (Richland-based producer Chad)
Del Curto’s, I think it’s important that we have it on the
record, that we have not adopted a lot of criteria, but the
producers have provided what information they have...
My thought is...we just take and use what the historical
averages of loss are in that (radio-collared gray wolves)
OR 29, OR 36, area of known wolf activity (AKWA)...”
Del Curto had originally submitted a claim for the loss of
eleven cows, and forty-one calves in the Fish Lake area,
the largest claim the committee received.
Edwards said, “I would make it clear that we are recog-
nizing that as an area of known wolf activity...The second
part of it, I would be more forthright, and focus on the
cows, and not the calves...” Bennett said he agreed, Mar-
tin asked, “What are you saying, then?” and Van Diepen
said, “We’re going to amend the submission on Del
Curto, to reflect normal losses for that area.”
Bennett said that the benchmark for normal losses for
that area would be amended, and that the committee, as
Edwards suggested, would not try to determine preg-
nancies of the cows, and the specifics of the calves, but
rather, focus on the number of claimed missing cows.
Martin said she spoke with Barber, and, “...he said that
they’re (ODA) probably going to be coming up with...a
guideline, of questions to ask (producers)...He said
they’re going to try to get that pulled together in the next
few weeks, and ship it out to us.”
The committee discussed the number of cattle turned
out by Del Curto, stated on his original application as two
hundred pair. Using the amended criteria, the commit-
tee decided to submit Del Curto’s application, with one
percent considered normal loss, and three percent above
that claimed as missing livestock, or six pair (six cows,
and six calves).
The six bred cows, whose weight was stated as 1,400
pounds each, valued at about $.96 per pound, came to
about $1,350 each, using Intermountain Livestock’s
(IML) rate as a guide (Del Curto didn’t have a contract).
The six calves, stated at around 650 pounds each, were
valued at about $1.19 per pound, or about $770 each, also
using IML’s rate.
Bennett brought up the subject of the Range Rider pro-
gram, and he asked the committee how members would
like to see it implemented this year (whether it still would
be, and whether the County may contract directly with
a rider, rather than a rider contracted through the Baker
County Soil and Water Districts, or BCSWCD).
Bennett said, “The SWCD is not that terribly inter-
ested in being involved in it...” He said that the County
discussed the idea before, and decided against it, and then
he asked Van Diepen about the possibility of Van Diepen
applying for the position, which could be performed by
horse, or by plane (Van Diepen’s a licensed pilot).
Van Diepen said, “I would like to do that...”
Bennett said, “The application’s pretty quick--you want
it, you got it...” noting the difficulty in finding someone
to fill the position.
Edwards said he thinks that’s a good idea, because, “...
if one of this committee had direct intelligence about
what’s going on out there, it would be money in the bank,
I’m telling you.”
Colton suggested contacting the Wallowa County com-
mittee, for some guidance on how that committee uses its
VHF (very high frequency) direction-finding antennas for
locating wolves (Baker County has three of these anten-
nas).
Bennett said that the Range Rider should provide more
specific information to the committee, including riding
locations, riding days and times, any signs of wolves,
applicable photographs, etc. (basically, a more thorough
log book), and there should be more interaction with
the livestock producers. Van Diepen said, “It wouldn’t
hurt to interview him, when we have the meetings,” and
Bennett said, “Really, I guess he should be attending the
meetings...”
Last year, Halfway-based James Chetwood performed
the task of Range Rider, logging 318 hours of riding time,
at $22 per hour, for a total of $6,996. BCSWD District
Manager Whitney Collins said earlier this year, Chet-
wood indicated interest in continuing with the position, if
funding is available.