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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 5, 2018)
FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 2018 THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 7 Outdoor Rec / Local More to the beaver story ... but he didn’t locate any projectile. He said he could tell that a projectile of some sort had entered the rear of the skull, and exited out the front, but a distinction between an THE OUTDOOR COLUMN air rifl e pellet and a rimfi re By Todd Arriola or centerfi re I wrote an article in the rifl e bullet Friday, December 22, 2017 couldn’t be made with issue of The Baker County just that evidence. (Risley Press, about a beaver that stated to Baker City Police had been trapped at some (BCPD) offi cers that he’d point, had somehow freed used an air rifl e, and he itself with the trap still showed them the rifl e. The attached to a hind leg, and BCPD didn’t charge Risley had been put out of its mis- with any violation). ery with an air rifl e, near Echoing Oregon Depart- Charles Risley’s property ment of Fish and Wildlife on Kirkway Drive, directly (ODFW) District Biologist east of the Powder River. Brian Ratliff’s assessment However, one mystery re- of the beaver at the scene, mained: who’d trapped the Cyr said, “That beaver beaver in the fi rst place? had gangrene, so, that trap In an attempt to fi nd an had been on there for quite answer to that question, some time. It was in a I spoke to Oregon State condition where, had I re- Police (OSP) Wildlife sponded to it, I would have Trooper Sergeant Isaac shot it myself, for humane Cyr, of the Baker City OSP reasons. Had he not shot offi ce, at the intersection of it, we would have, because 10th Street and Pocahontas it needed to be put down.” Road. Cyr didn’t fi nd any vio- Cyr wasn’t involved with lations, from a wildlife law the initial response, but he standpoint. was called in to determine Cyr showed me the trap whether there were any itself, a solid-looking steel, State wildlife violations. coil spring model, with As part of Cyr’s inves- a jaw that has a spread, tigation, he performed a or inside diameter, of 6.5 necropsy (autopsy) on the inches (a No. 4 size) when beaver, and ran a metal set, manufactured by the detector over the carcass, Duke Company, of West Point, Mississippi. Cyr had to remove enough rust with a wire wheel grinder in order to reveal that information during the investigation, but he couldn’t fi nd any form of identifi cation, such as a unique brand number, which is issued by ODFW, to each properly licensed trapper. The reason the beaver had been able to escape with the trap to begin with became obvious, once Cyr showed me the chain—a dog leash-type spring load- ed metal clip was attached to the end of it, which meant that the trap chain could have been pulled loose from its anchor point without much diffi culty. Cyr said, “To me, some- one who knew what they were doing with trapping would never use something like that.” In order to legally use the trap itself, Cyr said, and according to ODFW regulations,for a trap of this size, there needs to be a space between the jaw, when the trap is sprung, of at least 3/16 of an inch. The trap doesn’t have that spacing, but he said that the general remedy for a trap of this type is to weld a bead on either side of the jaw, creating that spacing (the spac- ing is required in case a bird springs the trap, for example, instead of the intended target, and it can free its leg, or legs). Regardless, Cyr said, trapping isn’t normally allowed within City limits anyway, let alone using that type of trap (while Cyr said he thinks the trap was set within City limits, and he’s seen traps set along the river, there was no way to determine the original location, and the investiga- tion didn’t associate Risley with the trap). A cage type trap, meant to capture the animal alive, would be authorized, with the proper permission and permit from ODFW. Cyr said that Risley had issues in the past with damage to his property from beavers, and at that time, he did have a permit from ODFW to address that issue, along with a cage trap. Chief Wyn Lohner forwarded the BCPD report to District Attorney Matt Shirtcliff for further review, since, according to Lohner, the only potential charge probably would have been Recklessly En- dangering—the Leo Adler Memorial Pathway sits to the west of the Powder River, across from Risley’s property at that location, with a 60-acre farm fi eld, owned by Charlotte Ward, to the west of that. Shirtcliff said, consider- ing all of the evidence, “We reviewed it, and de- termined no charges would be fi led.” A fi tting end to an inter- esting scenario, though the mystery still remains of who originally set the trap, and where. Whatever the case, there usually is more to every story ... BLM’s wild horse gather ahead As part of the Bureau of Land Management’s commitment to keeping public landscapes healthy and productive, the Vale District announced plans to conduct a helicopter gather of wild horses within the Cold Springs and Hog Creek Herd Management Areas beginning in Janu- ary/February 2018. The Cold Springs HMA is located approximately 45 miles southwest of Vale, Ore., 25 miles southwest of Harper, Ore., and 45 miles southeast of Juntura, Ore., in Malheur County. The Appropriate Man- agement Level (AML) – the number of horses the range can sustainably sup- port in conjunction with other animals and resource uses – is 75 to 150 horses for this area. The current population is over 175. The Hog Creek HMA is located approximately 20 miles west of Vale, Ore., and fi ve miles west of the town of Harper, Ore., in Malheur County. The AML for this area is 30 to 50 horses and the current population is over 60. Heavy to severe wild horse grazing jeopardizes the health of rangelands, wetlands, wildlife habi- tats, and ultimately animal health and condition. Both gathers will reduce the wild horse popula- tion to levels within AML and immediately reduce resource impacts. Each gather will likely last less than one week, though exact start and end dates will be determined by the weather and con- tractor’s availability. BLM will host public viewing days during the helicopter gathers. The public is welcome to attend the gathers and must read the Field Obser- vation Protocol informa- tion before visiting. Ob- servation will be held daily during the gathers, with a maximum number of 15 people attending each day. If you are interested in observing the gathers, you must contact Larisa Bogar- dus at the BLM Lakeview District Offi ce, (541) 947- 6237 or lbogardus@blm. gov, to have your name added to the viewing list. Observation will be offered on a fi rst-come fi rst-served basis for each day of the gathers. Ob- servers must personally check in with the BLM offi cial at the meeting site (Vale District BLM Offi ce –100 Oregon St. Vale, OR 97918) to be considered. Observers will be led by caravan to and from the gather site by BLM employees. Personal, high clearance, 4-wheel drive vehicles are REQUIRED. If you do not have ad- equate transportation to the observation area, you may attempt to carpool with other observers (at their discretion), but this option is not guaranteed. Access to and distance from the capture site loca- tion will be determined jointly by the contractor and the BLM’s Contracting Offi cer’s Representative prior to gather operations. Safety of the horses, crew and public, is our top prior- ity. Viewing opportunities and gather reports will be shared here: https:// www.blm.gov/programs/ wild-horse-and-burro/ herd-management/gathers- and-removals/oregon- washington. The supporting planning documents for the Cold Springs and Hog Creek gathers are available on BLM’s ePlanning website at: https://eplanning.blm. gov/epl-front-offi ce/eplan- ning/nepa/nepa_register.do Animals selected for re- moval from the range will be transported to Oregon’s Wild Horse Corral Facility in Hines to be prepared for adoption. For viewing, the pub- lic may visit the Corral Facility anytime between regular business hours, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Two arrested after cutting forest products On January 5th, 2018, Baker County 911 received a transferred call from Union County regarding possible stranded/overdue family members. Darrell Adams initially reported his 22 year old son, Alex Adams and his 26 year old cousin, Levi Logsdon, had gone to the Pondosa hot springs and not returned. Darrell added he had spoken to the two, and they were near a sign that indicated they were 9 miles up Big Creek Road off of Highway 203. Darrell ad- vised the two had been at the location for a couple of days. It was also Logsdon frequents this location, and had been called in the previous month to Union County as an overdue motorist. Union County ac- tivated Search and Rescue and located Logsdon, who turned down any assis- tance. A deputy contacted Darrell Adams and advised resources would be de- ployed in the morning. On the morning of Janu- ary 6th, 2018, a Deputy from the Baker County Sheriff’s Offi ce, along with law enforcement from the U.S. Forest Service, conducted a search of the area as described by Dar- rell Adams. At one point during the search, investi- gators came across Darrell, who was also searching. They were unable to locate either Alex or Levi. On the morning of Janu- ary 7th, 2018, personnel from the Baker County Sheriff’s Offi ce again de- ployed to the area and be- gan searching for the two men. During the course of the search, Levi Logsdon’s truck and an associated trailer were located. Both the truck and trailer were loaded with several cords of freshly cut fi rewood. At the location of the vehicles was also a small warming fi re, which was still burning. In the early afternoon hours, both Alex Adams and Levi Logsdon (along with Logsdon’s four dogs), where located in the woods (by following their tracks in the snow), paralleling the main ser- vice road. Both men were eventually arrested. Alex Adams was arrested by the Baker County Sheriff’s Offi ce and charged with a Probation Violation. Levi Logsdon was arrested by the United States Forest Service and was charged with Unlawful Cutting/ Transporting of Special Forest Products. Buck taken illegally Submitted Photo. This buck was poached in Umatilla County. After a lengthy investigation involving Troopers of the Oregon State Police (OSP) Fish & Wildlife Division in Pendleton, a Pendleton area man was arrested on Janu- ary 6, 2018 for multiple misdemeanor charges related to the illegal taking of wildlife on private and public lands within Umatilla County. In September of 2017 an OSP Fish & Wildlife Trooper received information about alleged illegal hunting activi- ties. As the investigation progressed, the primary suspect was identifi ed as Joseph Reide St. Pierre, age 18, from Pendleton, who was alleged to be illegally Hunting, Taking, and Wasting Wildlife on both Public and Private Properties in Umatilla County. Information obtained during the investigation alleged that St. Pierre was involved in the Unlawful Taking of Wildlife as far back as the fall of 2016, to include a large mule deer buck, 3 large whitetail bucks, and two antler- less elk. On Saturday January 6th, 2018 St. Pierre was lodged at the Umatilla County jail for probable cause and arraigned on Monday January 8, 2018 for the following charges; • Unlawful Take of Buck Deer Closed Season-4 counts • Unlawful Waste of Game animal-2 counts • Hunting on the Cultivated Lands of Another- 3 counts • Unlawful Discharge of a Firearm Across a Public Way -2counts • Hunting prohibited method: Shotgun with shot restric- tions- 1 count • Unlawful Take of Antlerless Elk -- 2 counts • Exceeding Annual Bag Limit Elk- 1 Count • Criminal Trespass In The Second Degree-1 counts • Criminal Trespass While in Possession of a Firearm-1 count • Unlawful Discharge of a Firearm from a Motor Ve- hicle-1 count •Hunting with the Assistance of Artifi cial light- 1-count • Assisting of Aiding another in committing wildlife vio- lation, Unlawful Taking of Buck Deer-2 counts Anyone with information related to this investigation is asked to call the Turn-in-Poacher TIP hotline at 1-800- 452-7888 or contact Trooper Tom Juzeler or Senior Trooper Ryan Sharp at the Pendleton offi ce of the Oregon State Police 541-278-4090. Information on the T.I.P. Reward Program: The Oregon Hunters Association offers rewards to per- sons, through their T.I.P. fund, for information leading to the issuance of a citation to a person(s), or an arrest made of a person(s) for illegal possession, killing, or taking of bighorn sheep, mountain goat, moose, elk, deer, antelope, bear, cougar, wolf, furbearers and/or upland game birds and water fowl. T.I.P. rewards can also be paid for the illegal taking, netting, snagging, and/or dynamiting of game fi sh, and/or shell fi sh, and for the destruction of habitat. In addition rewards may be paid for information leading to the issuance of a citation to a person(s), or an arrest made of a person(s) who have illegally obtained Oregon hunting/angling license or tags. People who “work” the system and falsely apply for resident license or tags are not legally hunting or angling and are considered poach- ers. Rewards: Bighorn sheep, mountain goat, moose $1000 ; Elk, deer, antelope $500; Bear, cougar, wolf $300; Habitat destruction $300; Illegally obtaining Oregon hunting or angling license or tags $200; Game fi sh, shellfi sh $100; Upland birds, waterfowl $100; Furbearers $100. New car fees in effect New Oregon vehicle registration, title and trip permit fees took effect Jan. 1, 2018, providing funding for a major investment in the state’s transportation system. Oregon residents with vehicle tags expiring on or after Jan. 1 are already seeing new registration fees in their renewal reminders. The fee for a two-year passenger vehicle registration renewal – DMV’s most common vehicle transaction – increased from $86 to $112. In addition to this vehicle registration fee increase, the package is funded by increases in other transportation- related fees that take effect Jan. 1, 2018. These include increases on motor fuel taxes and fees for title transfers and commercial motor vehicles. The new law created a 0.5 percent privilege tax on new vehicle purchases, which will be collected by the Oregon Department of Revenue. The law also includes a $15 fee on new adult bicycles that cost $200 or more.