Page 12A
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Saturday, November 7, 2015
ELK: Drought seems to DISTILLERY: Will also be a bottling plant, tasting room
have affected the elk rut Growers¶ McKennon
Continued from 1A
Continued from 1A
ended Nov. 1 to mixed
success rates, from average
to slightly below average
across the Blues.
And though a third
straight year of drought
hampered
bowhunting
season in September, wildlife
biologists say recent rain
and snow should keep big
game active during the day,
increasing riÀe hunters¶ odds
for success.
Schulman,
DeWolf,
Osteen and Milldrum trav-
eled Thursday from as far as
Portland, Bend and Salem to
camp together in the Umatilla
National Forest. They each
drew general season spike
tags, and felt good about
hunting conditions coming
in.
“Another inch or two of
snow would be perfect,” said
Osteen, of Terrebonne. Not
only does snow help with
spotting elk tracks, he said,
but keeps the ground soft and
damp for sneaking around
the woods.
That was a problem two
months ago for bowhunters,
coming off a summer racked
by drought. The intense heat
also stressed animals and
delayed rutting by at least a
week, biologists said.
Weather forecasts gener-
ally call for a wet week ahead
and temperatures in the 30s
and 40s at higher elevations,
according to the National
Weather Service. Steve
Cherry, district wildlife biol-
ogist for the Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish & Wildlife in
Heppner, said animals tend
to be on the move and feed
more when it¶s cold and wet.
“The
moisture
has
certainly helped with hunting
conditions,” Cherry said.
ODFW conducts elk
counts once every year in
March, Cherry said. Herds
in the Heppner Unit came
in at about 5,400, or just
slightly above management
objectives.
Schulman said the group
will rise before dawn on
Saturday and break up into
groups of two, hiking several
miles into dense timber and
along steep ridgetops. As
a party, they¶ve been more
successful than not in past
years. Spike bulls might only
be a year or two old, but they
can still ¿ll up a free]er with
150-200 pounds of meat.
More than anything,
Schulman, of Bend, said the
group just looks forward
to getting together in some
different country and having
fun.
“As soon as we get back
home, we¶re already thinking
about next year,” Schulman
said.
DeWolf, of Portland,
said Heppner tends to be a
magnet for hunters from the
Willamette Valley. Rural
areas like Heppner and
Ukiah bene¿t economically
from the visitors: ODFW
reports hunters and anglers
spent $2.5 billion statewide
in 2008. That includes the
cost of food, gas, gear, tags
and licenses.
Considering the invest-
ment, Cherry said it¶s up to
the agency to manage big
game for successful hunts
and keep visitors coming
back. After three straight
years of drought, Cherry said
they are starting to see some
impacts on how the animals
spread out and how they are
reproducing.
Biologists aren¶t seeing a
lot of unusual dispersement
yet, Cherry said, but have
noted mule deer fawn ratios
have declined in recent years.
This is the ¿rst year
drought seems to have
affected the elk rut, Cherry
said. That can disrupt the
timing of some hunts, but he
said good hunters are able to
adapt.
“Hunters are used to
adjusting to weather condi-
tions to ¿nd their animals,”
he said. “That¶s just part of
hunting.”
Wild¿re can also tempo-
rarily displace game from
their usual habitat, but over
the long run tends to rein-
vigorate forage and make for
prime hunting in future years.
/i]]y Berkley, wildlife
biologist for the Umatilla
National Forest, said there are
already signs of elk returning
to the area around the *ri]]ly
Bear Complex, which burned
82,659 acres in the Wena-
ha-Tucannon
Wilderness.
The ¿re burned in a patchy
mosaic pattern, Berkley said,
and the scorched areas will
bounce back with healthier
green grasses and shrubs.
“Usually, the quantity
and quality of forage is
improved,” she said.
Mark Kirsch, ODFW
wildlife biologist in Pend-
leton, predicted ¿rst season
success rates in his district
were somewhere in the 15-17
percent range. He said a fair
number of bulls and spikes
should still be on the move,
and so long as dense fog and
storms stay away, the second
season should be in good
shape.
“Absent any weather
like that, it should be good
hunting,” Kirsch said.
As a hunter of 35 years,
Milldrum, of La Grande,
said the Heppner Unit has
become one of his favorite
spots. For as much planning
and scouting as goes into a
trip, hunting can sometimes
simply boil down to the luck
of the draw, he said,
“,t¶s mostly just camping
out with family and friends,”
Milldrum said. “If we get an
elk, that¶s just a bonus.”
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.
H eritage Lu ncheon
Becky Fletcher Waggoner:
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Pendleton Convention Center
Saturday, November 14 th
12:00 – 2:00 pm
Tickets: $40 for members; $50 for general public
Tickets available at
Heritage Station Museum,
Armchair Books, the
Round-Up Store, and
Hermiston Chamber of
Commerce
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Station for the past three
years.
“Distilling and agricul-
ture go hand-in-hand,” he
said.
Bullington plans to
print the lot number from
each batch of grain used
in Oregon Grain Growers
liquor so consumers can
track the exact place the
grain came from.
In the early goings,
Bullington wants to produce
gin and vodka, including
a watermelon and mint
vodka.
The Àavored vodkas will
have other locally sourced
ingredients, like Hermiston
watermelon and mint from
Milton-Freewater and La
Grande.
While the Bullingtons
are both originally from
Pendleton, they ¿rst met
in Seattle. They¶ve been
kicking around the idea of
opening a micro-distillery
since moving back to Pend-
leton almost ¿ve years ago,
but purchasing the Court
property was a symbol of
their seriousness.
In order to receive state
certi¿cation,
Bullington
said they need to show that
they have property and
equipment.
Now that they own the
property, they¶ll spend
the next months doing the
necessary work to turn the
building not only into a
distillery, but also a bottling
plant, tasting room and
retail store.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Rodney and Kelli Bullington want to turn the old Comrie auto dealership on Court
Avenue into a micro-distillery.
Under the Bullingtons¶
vision, the outside will also
receive a makeover.
Bullington said that
under the old wooden edi¿ce
with a Western painting on
it is the building¶s original
stucco and brick façade.
Besides stripping away
the wood, the building¶s
new owners will install a
neon sign with the Oregon
Grain Growers logo.
With the assistance of a
micro-distillery consultant,
Bullington said the project
will move forward aggres-
sively, with plans to hold
a soft open in March and a
grand opening in May.
While the name Oregon
Grain Growers was partly
chosen because of the
vintage feeling it evokes,
Wm. Roesch Brewery has a
legitimate claim to history.
Wm. Roesch¶s liquor
license
was
recently
approved by the City of
Pendleton, which co-owner
Debra Roesch said was
another step in establishing
one of Pendleton¶s oldest
brands.
William Roesch estab-
lished his ¿rst Pendleton
brewery in 1882. Under
various names, Roesch¶s
brewery produced brands
of soda, beer and sparkling
water.
One of those brands, Elk
Horn Beer, adorns the 230
S.E. Third Street building
where Wm. Roesch will
reestablish its brewery.
Debra Roesch said the
Wm. Roesch brand was sold
in the 1940s and was only
taken back by the family in
2010.
Debra Roesch married
into the family, but her
son, Ryan Roesch, is the
great-great-grandson of the
William Roesch and will be
the Wm. Roesch¶s brewer.
After Wm. Roesch
¿nishes
the
licensing
process and re¿nes its
recipes, Debra Roesch said
the brewery will rollout its
product in “baby steps” by
sending beer in kegs to local
bars.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.
RIVER: Looking into extending two miles toward Rieth
Continued from 1A
paths in general.
A recent presentation for
the transportation service
plan update revealed some
of the possibilities the city
is looking at for the future.
While
the
western
portion of the river walk
ends near Rudy Rada Skate
Park, the levy continues
westward toward Rieth.
One of the city¶s ideas
is to pave this section of
the levy, which MacKen]ie
said would extend the
parkway by more than two
miles.
There would be chal-
lenges to this hypothetical
extension — the city would
have to negotiate with sepa-
rate public entities and the
path would have to cross
under Interstate 84, creating
Àooding issues during
wetter months.
But MacKen]ie said
projects like the parkway
are the quality-of-life
aspects of a city that attract
businesses and residents to
town.
MacKen]ie compared
the river walk to Portland¶s
Eastbank Esplanade, a
pedestrian and bike path
that former Portland mayor
Vera Kat] took Àak for
when it was built, but is
now a major source of foot
traf¿c.
Other possibilities the
city is looking into for
the parkway is a southern
expansion down Tutuilla
Road toward Sunridge
Middle School, a northern
extension on an old railroad
alignment and an eastern
expansion toward Mission.
The river walk is being
included in discussion for
an update to the transpor-
tation service plan, which
MacKen]ie said will make
it easier for the city to apply
for grants for the parkway.
In comparison to other
public works projects,
MacKen]ie said the cost
of building extensions is
relatively cheap because
the pavement doesn¶t need
to bear the weight of cars.
MacKen]ie¶s optimism
was tempered by interim
parks
and
recreation
director Donnie Cook,
whose department main-
tains the parkway.
Cook said his seven-
person staff is already
stretched thin and extending
the river walk would require
the city add personnel to his
department.
Despite Cook¶s concerns
over a river walk expansion,
he¶s still working on estab-
lishing a dog park under the
Bedford Bridge.
The Let¶Er Bark Dog
Park is dependent on a deal
with the Round-Up Associ-
ation, which owns the land.
“I¶m just waiting for the
OK,” he said.
Cook said the dog park
could open within 30 days
of a ¿nali]ed agreement.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.