8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017
Local
County: Noxious weeds and dredge tailings
• B2H INFO
MEETING
SCHEDULED NEXT
MONDAY
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The Baker County Board
of Commissioners held a
work session on Wednes-
day, August 9, 2017, 9
a.m., in the Commission
Chambers of the Baker
County Courthouse, to
discuss biological noxious
weed control in the region
with Oregon Department
of Agriculture (ODA) Nox-
ious Weed Manager Tim
Butler, ODA Northeast
Oregon Weed Coordina-
tor Mark Porter, and ODA
Grant Coordinator Tristen
Berg.
The Board also discussed
draft forms of an ordinance
and mineral right lease
with County counsel Drew
Martin, prompted by the
potential mining of the
Sumpter Dredge tailings.
Present from the Board
were Chair Bill Harvey,
Commissioners Mark Ben-
nett and Bruce Nichols,
and Executive Assistant
Heidi Martin. Atten-
dance also included Baker
County Weed Master Arnie
Grammon, Art Sapping-
ton, Ed Hardt, and Ken
Anderson.
Harvey opened the
session, and Butler began
a discussion regarding
noxious weed control with
reference to a handout,
ODA’s five-year Strategic
Plan, which includes the
mission of “Protecting
Oregon’s natural resources
and agricultural economy
from the invasion and
proliferation of invasive
noxious weeds,” according
to the plan.
The plan includes, for
Years 1-2, developing
a funding package and
requesting funds for 2017-
2019; for Year 3, establish-
ing county weed program
base funding; and for Years
4-5, reviewing and evaluat-
ing the progress.
A recent study, accord-
ing to the handout, noted
that 25 of 128 state nox-
ious weeds have a yearly
impact of $83.5 million to
Oregon’s economy, with
the potential of $1.8 bil-
lion, if left uncontrolled,
and Butler and crew
are attempting to assist
counties, such as Baker,
with the battle, on limited
resources, and red tape on
the federal level.
Harvey said, “We’re
rather unique in our posi-
tion...on this side of the
state, because we’re so
close to the Idaho bor-
der. Whatever happens in
Idaho—by wind, travel, or
what have you...” is spread
across the region, so the
County Weed Department
is the first line of defense.
“We appreciate you guys
focusing on this side as
well,” he said.
Butler said he works
on the state, regional,
and county level, to fight
noxious weeds, and over
the past 40 years, ODA’s
program success stories in-
clude St. Johnswort, tansy
ragwort, musk thistle, and
Mediterranean sage.
Emerging successes
include the seed weevil
Larinus minutus (the
agent), used to control
diffuse knapweed; the
Galerucella beetle, used
on purple loosestrife; and
the stem weevil Mecinus
janthinus, used on Dalma-
tion toadflax.
Bennett asked why Or-
egon seems to be slow to
develop control agents.
Butler said, “In the
nation, as far as biologi-
cal control, Oregon is the
leader...We have a strong
track record of establishing
agents...” which includes
the introduction of 77
biological control agents,
to fight around 34 different
species of noxious weeds.
The benefits of biologi-
cal noxious weed control,
according to ODA, in-
clude: no harmful residues
left in the environment;
agents are host-specific, to
target weeds; agents have
self-sustaining populations;
there is long-term control
with low follow-up costs;
agent attack is synchro-
nized with the target weed;
it’s economical on low-
value range and wildlands;
agents have searching
ability to locate the target
weed; and weeds have a
low rate of resistance to
the agent attack.
The ODA is working on
a new biological control
agent to fight Whitetop,
also known as Hoary
Cress, which Harvey said
is exciting, but that process
could take several years,
and there have been road
blocks to the approval
process of control agents
in general, as outlined in
the paper titled “A clogged
Biological Control Pipe-
line: Time for a Solution,”
prepared by Butler.
After a short break, Mar-
tin discussed draft forms of
a 10-page general county
ordinance, and a nine-
page mineral right lease
he had prepared, which
were prompted by the
potential for mining of the
Sumpter Dredge tailings
on County-owned property
by interested parties (two,
so far).
Harvey complimented
Martin on his effort in
drafting the documents,
and Martin said, “I can’t
take much credit for the
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
L-R: Tristen Berg, Mark Porter, and Tim Butler talking about weeds.
ordinance—I modified it
somewhat... it’s Division
71 (Onshore Minerals
Prospecting And Leasing
Rules) from the State of
Oregon (Administrative
Rules), for leasing mineral
rights from State-owned
property...”
Martin said that he
removed the provisions for
prospecting, because he
considered the section un-
necessary for the County’s
purposes.
He explained what
would be involved with the
lease, including an applica-
tion and bidding process.
Bennett said the County
could be flexible as far as
any forfeiture of the partial
bit amount goes, in the
event the lease may not be
executed.
Bennett explained the
possible lengthy process
with adopting an ordi-
nance, which includes two
public hearings, and he
suggested removing certain
fees from the ordinance,
and placing them in the
County’s Fee Schedule,
which Martin said would
probably be fine.
The Board discussed
other concerns, includ-
ing amending language in
the documents to address
issues such as royalties.
Anderson suggested that
the County receive some
type of royalties, with or
without production, which
would partially encour-
age progress, along with
language to address an
operational time line.
Another issue is how
much involvement from
the Board in the process
would be appropriate
and required, versus the
involvement from the
County Planning Depart-
ment and Planning Com-
mission, as pointed out by
Bennett.
Martin said, “What
we have here is a star-
ing point...very generic
language...”
Bennett asked that Mar-
tin seek County Planning
Director Holly Kerns’s
assistance with the draft
documents, which Martin
said he would do.
Near the end of the ses-
sion, Bennett announced
that there will be a Board-
man to Hemingway (B2H)
transmission line project
meeting on Monday,
August 14, 2017,5 p.m., in
the Commission Cham-
bers, which will include
representatives from the
Oregon State Department
of Energy.
Bennett said the main
goal of the meeting will
be to have Department of
Energy representatives
provide an update on the
status of the project.
Kawa Taiko shows off Japanese drumming
Samantha O’Conner / The Baker County Press
L-R: Janet Komoto, Ellen Burnell, Pinpaka Mccready, Caroline Bruton, Morgan
Bruton, and Flavia Bruton.
BY SAMANTHA
O’CONNER
Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com
On Sunday, August 6th,
Baker City Events wel-
comed Kawa Taiko out of
Ontario, Ore. for the Pow-
der River Music Review.
They also welcomed local
musicians to perform for a
jam session.
This event was brought
to Baker by the Four Riv-
ers Cultural Center, the
Oregon Folklife Network,
Crossroads Carnegie Arts
Center, and the National
Endowment for the Arts.
Josh Chrysler, Staff
Folklorist at Four Rivers
Cultural Center in On-
tario coordinated the event
thanks to a grant from the
National Endowment for
the Arts.
Kawa Taiko was formed
in Ontario in 2000, in-
spired by a performance by
Portland Taiko in Ontario
in 1999.
Their mission state-
ment is, “Kawa Taiko is a
non-profit, non-political
performance group dedi-
cated to fostering the art of
Japanese drumming (taiko)
in the Ontario-Boise area.
Members will work togeth-
er as a team to preserve the
history of taiko, develop
our identity and sound,
promote cultural aware-
ness, and share the joy we
find in all aspects of taiko
performance.”
According to a hand-
out given, “The group is
self-taught, but various
taiko masters from Seattle,
Portland, Los Angeles and
Pocatello have generously
shared their expertise with
KT when they have visited
the area. Members have
also attended conferences
in Seattle, Vancouver BC,
Samantha O’Conner / The Baker County Press
Kids and adults from the audience playing on the drums.
Los Angeles, Sacramento
and Las Vegas for inspira-
tion, and to advance their
taiko skills.”
Kawa means “river” in
Japanese and Taiko means
“drum.”
The group is a project of
the Snake River Chapter
of the Japanese American
Citizens League, a non-
profit club.
Their handout explained,
“The group likes to have
fun and at the same time
hopes to educate and
entertain the public with a
centuries old art form from
Japan.
The original founders
were mothers who wanted
to share this Japanese
culture with their children,
but currently, the group
is comprised of teenagers
and adults who are very
dedicated to preserving
this craft.”
Janet Komoto, the
founder of Kawa Taiko,
explained some of the
history of Kawa Taiko in
Japan.
She explained that
Kawa Taiko was used
2,000 years ago on the
battle field to give com-
mands and instructions,
as that was the only thing
soldiers could hear. 1,000
years later, it was used in
temples and shrines and
only priests were allowed
to play.
There are 200 Kawa
Taiko groups in the U.S
and it has spread to South
America, Canada, Eng-
land, and all around the
world.
In Japan, there are 2,000
groups.
SEE KAWA TAIKO
PAGE 9