i Record-Courier
THURSDAY, MARCH 10,2016
Two of Baker County's prominent
registered cattie breeders held
their spring sales Monday and
Tuesday of this week. Harrell Here
ford Ranch sold 150 Hereford
bulls, 50 registered heifers, 20
commercial heifers and 20 Quarter
Horses from Harrell-Mackenzie
Performance Prospects on Mon
day, March 7. Thomas Angus ranch
sold 240 bulls and 50 purebred
females at their ranch on Tuesday.
At left, local veterinarian and
cattle rancher, Dr. Tom Hill (center),
was among those at Tuesday's
Thomas Angus spring sale.
Baker City
Simple
Six Menu!
Selection of six
tasty six inch
sandwiches,
chips and a
21 oz. drink for
March
Specials
guacamole available
815 Campbell St. • Baker City • 541-523-7166
Woodlands Association to Meet:
The Ritter Landowner Collaborative
This month, the Baker County Private Wood
lands Association monthly meeting will feature a
presentation on the Ritter Landowner Collabora
tive by Curt Qual, the Collaborative Coordinator.
The Ritter Collaborative is a unique community
of landowners working together to find innovative
solutions for enhancing the health and productiv
ity of private lands in the Middle Fork John Day
River watershed. The idea for a collaborative was
suggested to Ritter landowners by the Committee
for Family Forestlands (CFF) in 2012, which is a
state-level committee established by the Oregon
Board of Forestry to advise on issues and effects,
of policy on family forestland owners in Oregon.
The CFF and Ritter landowners recognized that
many of the pressing land management issues
could be better addressed by a coordinated,
watershed-scale effort and so the concept of the
Ritter Collaborative was born. Today there are
over 30 landowner members in the collaborative,
representing around 68,000 acres under
management. The Collaborative is coordinating
with the ODF, NRCS, Watershed Councils and
OSU Extension to define their goals and objec
tives, develop specific management plans and
develop relevant educational programs to in
crease landowner knowledge and skills. The
Collaborative is proving to be a powerful tool and
will hopefully serve as a model that can be
replicated in other areas.
The Baker County Private Woodlands Associa
tion evening meeting will be at 6:30 p.m., March
24 at the OSU Baker County Extension Service
office, 2600 East Street in Baker City.
Philip Ruud BC-HIS
• Hearing Aid Sales
• Hearing Aid Service
• Hearing Aid Repair
2830 10th Street
Baker City
at Michael Rushton’s
DPM Office
Free Hearing Evaluations
800-678-3155
Wed., March 16
Pendleton Office
BCLA Holds Meeting on Canyonlands Monument
The Baker County Livestock Association held
what they deemed an urgent meeting on
Wednesday, March 9 after the Record-Courier
went to press. Their only scheduled topic was
the Owyee Canyonlands National Monument
Designation.
"There is a huge effort developing to stop this
designation," wrote Jacob Bingham BCLA
president to the membership.
"Talk is cheap if we aren’t willing to put our
money or actions where our mouth is. We are
willing to put our money where our mouth is, so
that is why we need BCLA members to provide
their input and a vote on this issue. To provide
information on this, representatives from the
Owyhee Basin Stewardship Coalition will be
present to discuss their efforts to deter the
monument designation. Please come to listen,
be informed, and vote on a large sum of BCLA
funds that would be contributed to this cause. It
is vitally important that we utilize the voting
process in our industry and our country," said
Bingham.
Bingham also stated at the previous meeting,
Dr. Matt Kerns stressed some valuable concepts
for consideration including the rotation of
parasite control methods. Mike Colton from the
Baker County Wolf Depredation Compensation
Committee provided an update and Ed Trindle
informed ranchers of efforts to form a grazing
association. Interested producers, in particularly,
those who may have lost grazing land due to
fires, are encouraged to contact Trindle.
Cheryl Martin, OCA District 2 Vice President,
gave a report on the OCA Spring Quarterly
meeting.
"It sounds like we have a very competent and
energetic OCA staff doing their best to promote
the interests of cattle producers in Oregon,"
Bingham added.
Oregon Snowpack Holding Steady
In most basins across the state, Oregon’s
mountain snowpack remains at near normal to
above-normal levels and continues to surpass
last year’s peak levels, according to the March
Water Supply Outlook Report released today by
the USDA Natural Resources Conservation
Service.
Today’s statewide average snowpack is 92
percent of normal.
Portions of eastern Oregon are experiencing
the highest snowpack levels due to above-nor
mal precipitation that fell as snow throughout
January. Additionally, cooler temperatures at
higher elevations have retained the snowpack
from earlier in the season.
In Western Oregon, snowpack is the lowest in
the state in the Mt. Hood and Willamette Basins,
at 77 percent and 76 percent, respectively.
February was very warm, with above normal
temperatures statewide.
Most basins experienced some mid and low el
evation snowmelt during warmer periods in the
middle of the month. Higher elevations contin
ued to gain snow during February and are re
taining the snow for now. As the spring weather
approaches, warmer temperatures and rain-on-
snow events could result in significant snowmelt
run-off.
‘Temperature will be the key indicator for
March snowpack development and retention,
since warmer conditions have already resulted
in low and mid-elevation snowmelt run-off in
several locations,” said Scott Oviatt, NRCS Ore
gon snow survey supervisor. “Eastern Oregon
continues.to see the best conditions in the state,
due to cooler mountain temperatures.”
According to the March report, streamflow fore
casts call for slightly-below-average to slightly-
above-average volumes for the summer water
supply season. Southeastern Oregon has some
forecast points well above average, however the
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Bill and Cindy (541) 358-2921 • Jeff and Julie (541) 358-2905
highest forecasts are for the Deschutes and
Crooked Rivers. However, hydrologists continue
to caution that if current warm conditions prevail,
summer projections are likely to change.
The latest information on Oregon’s streamflow
forecasts can be found in the March Water Sup
ply Outlook Report available on the NRCS Ore
gon website.
The NRCS Snow Survey is the federal pro
gram that measures snow and provides stream
flow forecasts and snowpack data for
communities, water managers and recreational-
ists across the West. In Oregon, snow meas
urements are collected from 81 SNOTEL sites,
42 manually measured snow courses, and 26
aerial markers. Water and snowpack data for
all Oregon SNOTEL sites are available online in
a variety of formats. The reports are updated
every
hour
and
are
available
at:
www.or.nrcs.usda.gov/snow
NRCS publishes six monthly Oregon Water
Supply Outlook Reports between Jan. 1 and
June 1 every year. To regularly receive this in
formation as an email announcement, visit the
Oregon NRCS Snow Survey website and click
the “email updates” icon to subscribe.
I ntermountain
L ivestock
60654 Livestock Rd. • La Grande, Oregon
541-963-2158
Sale Schedule
March 17 - Pair Special
March 24 - Regular Sale
March 31 -
Regular Sale with Breeding Bulls
April 7 - Back to Grass Sale
April 14- Pair Special
April 21 - Regular Sale
April 28 - Pair and Feeder Sale
Current Snow
Depths
Anthony Lakes Site (7,160 ft.
elevation) -
56 inches 1 44 inches in
2015
Bourne Site (5,850 ft. eleva
tion) - 34 inches 1 12 inches
in 2015
Moss Springs Site (5,760 ft.
elevation) -
54 inches 1 40 inches in
2015
Schneider Meadows Site
(5,400 ft. elevation) - 72
inches 1 43 inches in 2015
Taylor Green Site (5,740 ft.
elevation) -
43 inches 1 24 inches in
2015
Wolf Creek Site (5,630 ft. ele
vation) -
44 inches 1 28 inches in
2015
All measurements are current
as of March 8, 2016 at 1
a.m.
Brownlee Water Level
March 8, 9 a.m. - Brownlee
Reservoir water level was at
2,047 feet; 30 feet from full.
You are invited to join us for a
coffee with friends...
OTEC is hosting an informal coffee klatch for all
OTEC members to come and visit with their local
board members and OTEC’s General Manager
Werner Buehler over coffee and pastries.
Monday, March 14 - 9-10 a.m.
Joe and Sugar's -119 Adams Ave.
ftflkfr City-
Tuesday, March 15 - 9-10 a.m.
Mdd Matilda’s - 1931 Court Ave.
Friday, May 27-9-10 a,m,
tom-
Bella Java - 314 N, Broadway Ave,
Bring a
friend!
jphnPgy-
Friday, May 27 - 2-3 p.m.
The Squeeze Inn - 423 W, Main St.
RSVP by calling (641) 524-2831
i