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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 2015)
FIRE SEASON HEATS UP Small town of Roosevelt evacuated as wildfi re sends smoke up the Columbia River PAGE 2A Your guide to the Umatilla County Fair INSIDE WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2015 139th Year, No. 209 WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD One dollar County Wildlife area gutted by fi re likely to ban pot business BOARDMAN Fire burned 85 acres in refuge, displaced resident animals By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian Charred grass and gnarled snags are all that’s left of about half the Coyote Springs Wildlife $UHDHDVWRI%RDUGPDQDIWHU¿UH scorched the refuge July 21. Flames shot 100 feet into the night sky as the blaze swallowed entire trees, consuming 85 of 160 acres while displacing multiple species of birds and wildlife. The Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife plans to mend the burned up refuge starting in the fall, maintaining what has become a valuable oasis of habitat among predominantly agricultural land. Dan Marvin, wildlife area manager, said they hope to have VSHFL¿F WUHDWPHQWV ¿QDOL]HG E\ September. That includes planting a mix of native and introduced grasses, as well as trees, shrubs and sage. Until then, Marvin said hunting and bird watching in the refuge will likely be diminished. “Most of those (species) are probably displaced, at least for this year,” he said. Coyote Springs is one of four wildlife areas managed by ODFW in the Columbia Basin, along with Power City, Irrigon and Willow Creek. The areas provide habitat for a variety of mammals including deer, skunks, By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Eighty-fi ve acres of the Coyote Springs Wildlife Area burned on July 21 destroying vital habitat for wildlife in a largely agricultural area east of Boardman. coyotes and raccoons, along with waterfowl and upland birds. ODFW leases the land for Coyote Springs from the Bureau of Reclamation. Historically, WKHUHIXJHVHUYHGDVDQRYHUÀRZ point for the Westland Irrigation canal, creating seasonal wetland habitat. Then, it would dry up and maintain desirable habitat for more upland species. “It’s a pretty valuable little parcel of ground,” Marvin said. Coyote Springs is located just east of the Port of Morrow industrial park, and the southern boundary reaches along the west- bound lanes of Interstate 84. It’s easy to see the brittle, blackened UHPDLQVRIWKH¿UHHYHQIURPWKH freeway. “In places, it looks kind of like a moonscape,” Marvin said. “In other places, it’s caused mortality of the plants but there’s still struc- ture that will provide habitat for some species.” 7KHFDXVHRIWKH¿UHZDVXQGH termined, though it correlated FORVHO\ZLWKSRZHURXWDJHVDW¿YH Umatilla Electric Cooperative substations. UEC spokesman Steve Meyers said there is no evidence to suggest the utility’s equipment was responsible for sparking the blaze. )LUH¿JKWHUV ZRUNHG WKURXJK WKH QLJKW WR FRQWDLQ WKH ¿UH DQG protect haystacks at nearby Frederickson Enterprises. Willow trees, cottonwoods and dogwoods See REHAB/8A HERMISTON Night Out helps establish safer neighborhoods 0HGDOOLRQ¿QGHUVKRVWSDUW\RQ-RVKXD'ULYH Night Out helps establish communication, so neighbors feel more inclined to look out for Although the neighbors each other. “It’s a really great opportunity already keep an eye out for one other, a Hermiston neighborhood for neighbors to get out and meet each other,” she said. “It helps became even closer Tuesday. After the South family found ¿JKWFULPHZKHQ\RXVWDUWWDNLQJ the medallion hidden by Herm- ownership of your neighbor- LVWRQ FULPH SUHYHQWLRQ RI¿FHU hood.” Rondi South said searching for Erica Sandoval, members of WKH +HUPLVWRQ SROLFH DQG ¿UH the medallion was a fun family GHSDUWPHQWV DQG FLW\ RI¿FLDOV activity, and the party brought the hosted an ice cream social at their neighborhood closer together. “I actually know everybody residence on S.W. Joshua Drive that did show up,” she said. for National Night Out. Other neighborhoods across “We’ve lived here for eight years, the country also hosted their own so you see everybody, but I guess Staff photo by Sean Hart Preston South poses for a selfi e with Hermiston Crime Preven- block parties for the event that there are two or three that this is tion Offi cer Erica Sandoval at an ice cream social block party encourages neighbors to get to WKH ¿UVW WLPH ,¶YH FKDWWHG ZLWK Tuesday in Hermiston. Preston’s brother, Berek, found the know each other to help reduce them.” medallion hidden by Sandoval to earn the party in conjunction crime. Sandoval said National See NIGHT OUT/8A with National Night Out. By SEAN HART East Oregonian Fire moves in toward Elgin VKRXOGEHUHDG\WRÀHHWKHDUHDDW a moment’s notice. Combined with Monday’s orders for Ruckle Road and Sanderson Springs Road, 60 homes are now under a preliminary evacuation alert. The Phillips Creek Fire, which By GEORGE PLAVEN started Saturday on the Umatilla East Oregonian National Forest near Indian More residents are preparing Point, has grown to 1,538 acres to leave their homes as the and crept within three miles of Phillips Creek Fire continues to Elgin. There are no evacuation spread in the Blue Mountains notices within city limits. $ 7\SH ¿UH¿JKWLQJ WHDP northwest of Elgin. 8QLRQ&RXQW\RI¿FLDOVLVVXHG WRRNRYHUPDQDJHPHQWRIWKH¿UH a Level 1 evacuation notice for Tuesday morning, with incident Highway 204 between Phillips command set up at the Elgin Creek and Valley View roads, as Stampede rodeo grounds. Crews well as Valley View Road from ¿QLVKHG EXLOGLQJ FRQWDLQPHQW the highway to Gordon Creek lines along the south end of the ¿UHRQSULYDWHSURSHUW\DQGKDYH Road. See ELGIN/8A A Level 1 notice means people No cause determined, command set up at city’s rodeo grounds Forests increase public restrictions 3(1'/(721 ² 2I¿FLDOV RQ the Umatilla, Wallowa-Whitman and Malheur national forests are upping public use restrictions to minimize WKHULVNIRUKXPDQFDXVHGZLOG¿UHV The forests will implement Phase B restrictions beginning Thursday, prohibiting the use of chainsaws and DOORZLQJ FDPS¿UHV RQO\ LQ GHVLJ nated recreation sites. Firewood cutting is not allowed during the ban. Campers can still use bottled gas stoves and heaters, but cannot operate any internal combustion engines except for motor vehicles. Generators will be allowed, but See FORESTS/8A Umatilla County’s ban on mari- juana businesses could become permanent. The county’s marijuana study committee has recommended the board of commissioners ban mari- juana businesses. The county board will consider that when it meets Wednesday morning at the county courthouse in Pendleton. The 10-member marijuana committee took a hiatus for three months while the Oregon Legislature was in session and met again July 14. Tamra Mabbott, committee chairwoman and county planning director, reported the group reached a consensus on what to tell the board of commissioners. “The committee is recommending the board continue the moratorium on both medical and recreational dispen- saries,” Mabbott said in an email. “The committee will continue to study the merits of medical marijuana and will participate in state committee efforts to ensure appropriate regulatory reforms advance.” The county commissioners and not the county electorate can make the call to ban the pot businesses under a provi- sion in House Bill 3400, the law that revised Measure 91. County counsel Doug Olsen said the provision covers counties or cities where Measure 91 See MARIJUANA/8A PENDLETON Street issues confound council East Oregonian The paradox of Pendleton’s current street funding plan is that the city’s paltry $300,000 pavement preserva- tion budget mostly goes toward the best-maintained roads while the rest of the streets continue to deteriorate. Staff approached the Pendleton City Council Tuesday to suggest using at least part of a potential $481,000 raised from a proposed $5 transporta- tion utility fee to address repair needs for the city’s neighborhood roads. City Engineer Tim Simons said the task of putting together a priority list RIVWUHHWUHSDLUVLVGLI¿FXOWEHFDXVHRI the current procedures the city has in place. The city uses a program called Street Saver, which prioritizes streets in good condition, the logic being that the city can then repair more streets and prevent well-maintained streets from falling in the rankings. It’s the best bang for the buck. But that also means that the worst streets get even worse each year. Even with an extra $481,000 added to the streets budget, the program wouldn’t recommend repairing cracked and broken Southwest Perkins, whose residents petitioned the city to improve their road’s poor condition. Perkins’ pavement condition index rating was 21 out of 100 and was just one of dozens of streets that are in “poor” or “failing” condition. And as more streets fall into disrepair, the more expensive it is to ¿[WKHP While it costs $2.25 per square yard for slurry seals, it costs $15 for new street overlays and $80 for road reconstruction.
