Page 10C
OUTSIDE
East Oregonian
Saturday, April 30, 2016
ENTERPRISE
Wild mustangs on the job in national forest
Horses trained by
inmates in Nevada
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Eleven wild mustangs
have arrived in northeast
Oregon from Nevada to
assist summer trails crews
working in Hells Canyon and
the Eagle Cap Wilderness
on the Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest.
The horses came from
Carson City, Nevada, as
part of the Bureau of Land
Management’s Wild Horse
and Burro Program. Both the
BLM and Forest Service are
required to follow the 1971
Wild Free-Roaming Horses
and Burros Act, which
provides for the management
of unbranded and unclaimed
horses on public lands. That
partnership allowed the
mustangs to transfer from
one agency to the other at no
cost to taxpayers.
John Hollenbeak, trails
coordinator on the Wallowa-
Whitman forest, said the
horses will be used as pack
animals to bring in tools and
equipment during routine
trail maintenance. They
could also be used to pack
out ireighting gear in the
event of another active wild-
ire season.
“It’s impressive how well
they act,” Hollenbeak said.
“This stock has particularly
Photo contributed by Matt Burks
John Hollenbeak, left, and Curt Booher, with the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, work with mustangs
brought up from Nevada to help pack in loads of gear for summer trails crews.
good training. I have a lot of
conidence in them.”
The
Forest
Service
will chronicle the horses’
adventures with photos and
video posted to Facebook
throughout the summer.
There’s Bojangles, who is
described as having a little
bit of ire, but mostly gentle
BLOOMIN’ BLUES
Photo courtesy Bruce Barnes
Redstem Spring Beauty
Redstem Spring Beauty
in eye of the beholder
By BRUCE BARNES
For the East Oregonian
Name: Redstem Spring
Beauty
Scientiic Name: Clay-
tonia rubra
This
unusual-looking
plant is fairly common,
and is found from British
Columbia to California, and
east to North Dakota and
Colorado. It is quite similar
to the better-known “miner’s
lettuce,” but the coloring
makes it stand out.
The color of the leaves and
stems of this plant is variable,
and can range from brown to
bright pink or pale reddish, to
a sickly pale yellowish and
even seldom-seen shades of
green. The stems tend to be a
pale pinkish color regardless
of the color of the leaves. The
example pictured here shows
the characteristic pink stems,
and the leaves vary from
pale green to a faded salmon
color.
The plant is typically
spread out and somewhat
lattened on the ground, with
stems a few inches long.
Leaves arising from the roots
are egg-shaped or spoon-
shaped. The lowering stems
have only one leaf, which
encircles the stem just below
the lowers. The lowers are
quite small and have 5 white
petals that often have a pink
stripe down the center.
Redstem spring beauty
is also known as redstem
miner’s lettuce. It is very
closely related to other
species of miner’s lettuce
which make a great succulent
and mild-lavored addition to
salads and soups. Though the
common name of miner’s
lettuce came from use of
several species of Claytonia
during the gold rush, the
plants have been in use long
before that by Indian tribes
across the west.
Where to ind: This
plant can be found already
in lower-elevation stream
valleys and woods, and
should very soon be spotted
at middle elevations as well.
The unusual coloring makes
it very easy to spot.
to be around. Then there’s
Ringo and Heart, and some
of the wilder ones including
Oden, Jed, Batman and Gil.
Studley, Joe Kid, Spanky and
Rupert round out the group,
which will get to work out on
the trails by next week.
“It usually takes a little
while to get them acclimated
to the type of work they’re
doing, and camping out for
up to seven nights at a time,”
Hollenbeak said. “Usually,
they are built to survive this
kind of deal. They’re tough.
They tend to learn very well.”
Alan Shepherd, Wild
Horse and Burro Program
lead for the Nevada BLM,
said each mustang already
has about 120 days of training
under their belt thanks to
the Saddle Horse Training
Program at Northern Nevada
Correctional Center. Inmates
at the prison work with about
100 horses every year to get
them ready for adoption.
“The inmates have given
them enough foundation
training to be ready for
packing and riding,” Shep-
herd said. “Now, they are
working in some of the most
rugged country in Oregon.”
Hollenbeak went down in
March to pick up the animals
and bring them back to the
Wallowa-Whitman. Most of
the mustangs are 7-8 years
old, and will work alongside
the existing horses and mules
on the forest — some of
which are now into their 20s
and 30s. Hollenbeak igures
some of those animals will be
retired by the end of the year.
Usually, a three-person
trails crew will be accom-
panied by at least riding
animals, and three pack
animals, depending on the
job.
“We have been struggling
with having enough horses to
keep a couple (trails) crews
going,” he said. “We just
didn’t have enough stock.”
By partnering with the
BLM’s Wild Horse and
Burro Program, Hollenbeak
said it is a win-win situation
for both agencies.
“They are now mustangs
with jobs,” he said.
To follow the mustangs
on social media, visit www.
facebook.com/Wallow -
aWhitmanNF, or www.
facebook.com/BLMNevada.
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.
Fires create gaps in Paciic Crest Trail
CABAZON, Calif. (AP) — Vast
wildires have created lengthy gaps
in Southern California sections of the
famed Paciic Crest Trail, which hikers
must bypass via shuttles or alternate
routes to avoid dangerous conditions
like unstable trees and loose rocks.
Long-distance backpackers must
be shuttled by van around the closures
or risk incurring $2,500 ines, the
Riverside Press-Enterprise reported
Monday.
To get around a 15.5-mile gap
caused by a wildire last year in the
San Bernardino National Forest, hikers
are driven from the Whitewater Trail
House in Cabazon to Onyx Summit on
State Route 38, where the trail reopens.
About 14 miles of the trail
approaching the mountain town of
Idyllwild are closed three years after a
blaze scorched more than 27,000 acres.
Each year, thousands trek sections
of the 2,650-mile Paciic Crest Trail,
which runs from Mexico to Canada.
Some of the adventurers — who
often take on nicknames for their jour-
neys — aren’t thrilled with the idea of
getting into a van after retreating into
the wilderness. Last week in Idyllwild,
Bruce “Man in Black” Cornish of San
Diego planned to research an alternate
hiking route to bypass the closed
section while waiting for friends.
At 59, he retired early from a job as
an eighth-grade science teacher to hike
the entire route after dreaming about
the trip for 20 years.
“The philosophy of this trail is,
Frank Bellino/The Press-Enterprise via AP
This July 2013 ile photo a water tender makes his way back to the
the Mountain Fire near Lake Hemet. Vast wildires have created lengthy
gaps in Southern California sections of the famed Paciic Crest Trail,
which hikers must bypass via shuttles or alternate routes to avoid dan-
gerous conditions like unstable trees and loose rocks.
‘Hike your own hike,’” he told the
newspaper. “If people want to hitch
ahead, that’s cool. It’s just not for me.”
Danger in the unstable areas can
come from falling branches dubbed
“widow-makers,” dead giant trees
with weak roots that can fall and crush
hikers, the U.S. Forest Service said.
Loose rocks, debris including rolling
logs, lash loods, trailside stump holes
and slippery ash can also pose a danger.
Crews are working to remove
charred trees and ill in holes to make
the trails passable again. While some
hikers are impatient for the work to
“Hike your own hike.”
— Bruce Cornish,
PCT hiker
inish, others don’t mind catching an
occasional ride.
“I know some other people who are
what we call ‘purists’ — want to hike
every inch of the trail,” said Robert
“Bobcat” Donnellan, 38, of Asheville,
N.C., sitting at a picnic table outside
the Whitewater home where he was
staying April 13. “I personally don’t
care.”
Trophy trout could win anglers $50 Visa gift card
East Oregonian
LA
GRANDE
—
Anglers could be ishing
for more than just trophy
trout this spring at Phillips
Reservoir.
The Oregon Department
of Fish & Wildlife will
stock the reservoir with
4,000 trophy-size rainbows
in early May and June. Of
those, about 400 of the
ish will be marked with
tags good for a $50 Visa
gift card. The reward is
meant to encourage anglers
to report tagged trout to
ODFW, which helps the
agency determine catch
rates.
“We want to make
sure that the majority of
the trophy trout that are
released into the reservoir
actually end up in the creel
of our anglers,” said Tim
Bailey, district ish biolo-
gist in La Grande.
The reward tag system
has proven to be a cost-ef-
fective method for deter-
mining catch rates in other
areas of the state, according
to Bailey, which is why
they chose to try it out at
Phillips Creek.
“Using this method
allows us to collect infor-
mation that just was not
possible with more tradi-
tional methods due to their
expense,” Bailey said.
Tagged ish can be
caught
and
released,
and still be eligible for
prize money. If the ish is
released, ODFW says to
cut the tag off at its base
rather than try to rip it out.
Anglers can also report tags
in person, by mail, over the
phone or at the ODFW
website at www.dfw.state.
or.us.
Reward tags must be
returned either in person
or by mail to ODFW’s East
Region Ofice, located at
107 20th St. in La Grande.
BRIEFLY
ODFW sets salmon
seasons on Columbia
Fisheries managers in Oregon
and Washington have announced
summer and fall salmon ishing
seasons on the Columbia River.
Summer chinook ishing will
begin June 16, with a daily bag
limit of two hatchery-born ish.
The season should remain open
through July 31.
Anglers will also be able
to keep sockeye and hatchery
steelhead on the Columbia
from the Astoria-Megler
Bridge upstream to the Oregon-
Washington border. The season is
closed for coho.
Fall chinook season is based
on a strong anticipated return of
960,000 salmon.
About 93,000 ish are expected
to reach the upper Columbia — a
strong return, but not as strong as
last year’s record 127,000 upriver
ish. Anglers will be allowed to
keep chinook, coho and hatchery
steelhead from Aug. 1 — Dec.
31 from Warrior Rock to the state
border, with a daily bag limit of
two adults and ive jacks.
Regulations could be subject to
in-season modiications.
Human waste, trash
ongoing problem at
Oregon hot springs
PORTLAND (AP) — A scenic
natural hot springs in Oregon’s
Cascade Mountains is now closed
to overnight camping because of
ongoing problems with human
waste, trash and other damage.
The Oregonian reports the U.S.
Forest Service has been tracking
the problems at Umpqua Hot
Springs for a year. Diamond Lake
District Ranger Jimmy Tyree told
the newspaper that campers have
been tossing trash on the ground,
cutting down trees and leaving
behind incredible amounts of
human waste.
The hot springs will remain
open for use from sunrise to sunset,
but overnight camping is banned
for now. Tyree says the goal is to
get the site cleaned up and allow
the land to recover.
Trash and waste is a frequent
problem at hot springs in the
West. The U.S. Bureau of Land
Management considered closing
Skinny Dipper Hot Springs in
Idaho last year partly because of
the mess. That decision was later
put on hold, however.
New ski lift planned
for Mt. Bachelor
BEND (AP) — Mt. Bachelor
plans to build is irst ski lift to new
terrain in two decades.
The Bulletin reports that the
resort says the new Cloudchaser
lift will climb 1,448 vertical feet,
opening up 635 acres of skiable
ground. The resort said in a news
release that the lift will make Mt.
Bachelor the ifth largest ski area in
the country.
Interim General Manager John
McLeod says construction will
begin this summer. The resort
hopes to have the lift ready for
skiers and snowboarders by
Christmas.
The construction won’t affect
mountain biking, disc golf or other
summer activities on the mountain.
2 Malaysians plead
guilty to wildlife
smuggling
PORTLAND (AP) — Two
Malaysian nationals pleaded guilty
to smuggling wildlife into the
United States and were sentenced
by a judge in Portland to six
months in federal prison.
The investigation began three
years ago, when authorities found
a helmeted hornbill mandible
while searching an international
package headed to Forest Grove.
Undercover agents then purchased
orangutan skulls, bear claws, a wild
pig skull and other parts.
Prosecutors said the men
owned an online business that was
responsible for smuggling $95,000
worth of endangered wildlife parts
into the U.S. since 2004.