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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 12, 2003)
Page 14 Biscuit Fire assessment is available .The Biscuit Post-Fire As- sessment, conducted by the Rogue River and Siskiyou National Forests, is available for review. The assessment evaluates the fire that burned nearly 500,000 acres in Southern Oregon and Northern Califor- nia during the summer and autumn of 2002. The purpose of the assess- ment is to evaluate changed conditions and recommend potential management actions following the fire. Only the portions of the Biscuit Fire located on the Siskiyou National Forest are evaluated in this assessment. Terrestrial, aquatic, and social conditions and issues in and around the fire area are ad- dressed. Public safety, ecosys- tem sustainability, economic opportunities, recreation op- portunities and cultural re- source protection are empha- sized. Meetings were held in Grants Pass, Cave Junction, Brookings and Gold Beach in December to engage public opinion, and again in January to discuss the developed rec- ommendations. The document is available on the Internet at, www.biscuitfire.com. There are also a few copies available to check out, read and return at all ranger districts and of- fices of the Siskiyou and Rogue River National Forest. There are also a limited num- ber of copies available for dis- tribution. Phone 471-6722 for more information. Children not vaccinated sent home Public health officials at the Oregon Dept. of Human Services (DHS) predict that a greater number of children than usual may be sent home on Wednesday Feb. 19, be- cause they don’t have all of their immunizations required by law. “Last year, we had to tem- porarily suspend requirements for adult tetanus-diphtheria (Td) and chickenpox vaccina- tions because of national shortages,” said Grant Higgin- son, M.D., state public health officer. “Now we expect to issue more exclusion orders than usual, because children who missed getting those immuni- zations need to get caught up,” he said. School exclusions have increased in the past few years because of additional require- ments for middle school chil- dren to receive Hepatitis B, second measles and chicken- pox shots. Higginson said that last year’s temporary suspension of Td and chickenpox vacci- nations will likely make this year’s exclusion total even higher. In 2002, 37,283 exclusion orders were issued to children who were found to be missing immunizations. Of those, 8,263 children were unable to go to school or daycare on exclusion day because they had not yet received the re- quired immunizations, accord- ing to Higginson. School exclusion day oc- curs annually in mid- February. Children whose school or day care records have not been updated show- ing the missing shots or who do not have an appropriate medical or religious exemp- tion will be sent home. For more information phone (800) SAFENET, or (800)723-3638. Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR 97523, February 12, 2003