NORTHWEST East Oregonian Page 2A Wednesday, May 4, 2016 Happy Canyon honors long-time Report: Faster response needed to minimize salmon die-offs volunteers Bronson and Ward By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press Happy Canyon shined the spotlight Tuesday night on two treasured volunteers – Bryson Bronson and Gary Ward. About 40 people gathered at the Pendleton Convention Center for a presentation and short speeches. In all, 73 volunteers have been honored since 1981 when the award was created. This is Happy Canyon’s 100th year of existence. Bryson Bronson is one of Happy Canyon’s most well- known faces. Clad in a war bonnet and leather leggings, Bronson rides a paint horse named Chinook during the four Happy Canyon Night Shows each year. The iconic visage also guides the horse the length of the Westward Ho! Parade route each September and represents Happy Canyon by riding in out-of- town parades events. In June, Bronson and Chinook will lead Portland Rose Festival’s Grand Floral Parade. The relationship between Bronson and Chinook started with a ride together in the Kennewick Parade and a subsequent trip to the moun- tains where they bonded. “This bonding has led to a dynamic partnership,” said emcee Dennis Hunt. In December, Bronson and Chinook ferried an American lag into the National Finals Rodeo arena in Las Vegas and stood solemnly during the singing of the national anthem. “The entire country got to see what we locals have known for years — there is nothing more spectacular than the American lag being BOISE — Northwest isheries managers must respond faster to reduce ish kills of sockeye salmon in the Columbia River Basin if warm-water conditions return, a draft report taking a hard look at last summer’s massive die-off says. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- tration report released late last month describes condi- tions and assesses actions of isheries managers in a year when 90 percent of the 510,000 sockeye salmon that entered the Columbia died. Endangered Snake River sockeye perished at an even greater rate, with only about 1 percent of the estimated 4,000 ish returning from the Paciic Ocean surviving the 900-mile journey to central Idaho. “We need to be faster,” NOAA’s Ritchie Graves said. “There was too much talking and not enough action and experimenta- tion.” In 2015 a rare combi- nation of an extended heat wave coincided with low lows in rivers to push water temperatures above 70 degrees, conditions that had not occurred in the basin since at least the 1950s and can be lethal for cold-water sockeye. “Should similar events occur frequently, the impact on sockeye salmon populations in the Columbia River basin could be substantial,” the report says. The draft report lists Bronson Ward carried by a Native American wearing a war bonnet, astride a beautiful paint horse,” said Hunt. Last spring, Bronson, Chinook and Chinook’s owner, Rusty Black, made an 850-mile round trip to Vegas to present the lag at the Federation Equestre Interna- tionale World Cup, a world class dressage and jumping event. For the past seven years at the Happy Canyon arena, Bryson has nudged Chinook up a steep wooden ramp to a platform high above the crowd, where they form a tableau during the singing of the national anthem as they ignore the lash of ireworks and lightshows. Bryson missed the appre- ciation event because he was ishing for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. By letter, he thanked the board for the award and also Chinook’s owner, Rusty Black, for trusting him with “her spec- tacular horse.” Gary Ward considers himself a newbie as a Happy Canyon volunteer. So his jaw dropped a bit to learn he was receiving a Happy Canyon Appreciation Award for his 13 years serving on the grounds crew and main- taining Happy Canyon’s leet of motorized vehicles. “If you’re familiar with the grounds crew, you know that they don’t just meet two weeks before Round-Up,” Hunt said. “These guys and gals start in April or May and meet nearly every Wednesday night to make sure the Happy Canyon arena and stands are ready for the concert, (Professional Bull Riding) and four nights of the show.” Ward was lauded by various Happy Canyon directors for doing anything that needs to be done from mopping the directors’ room loor to ixing a gas tank in which vandals had punched a hole. Ward brushed off the praise. “Happy Canyon is just a great place to volunteer,” Ward said. “You made it fun and it will continue to be fun. It doesn’t get any better than this.” Additionally, Ward serves as security director with the Round-Up and Happy Canyon Hall of Fame Board. ——— Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@eastoregonian.com or call 541-966-0810. Didn’t receive your paper? Call 1-800-522-0255 before noon Tuesday through Friday or before 10 a.m. Saturday for same-day redelivery 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211 333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211 Ofice hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed major holidays To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255 or go online to www.eastoregonian.com and click on ‘Subscribe’ East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published daily except Sunday, Monday and Dec. 25, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. 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Hi 63 73 64 62 72 68 69 71 78 70 63 71 68 70 59 61 83 80 74 73 69 72 73 66 71 74 79 Lo 47 47 42 51 43 48 45 49 51 50 44 50 47 51 47 50 56 55 52 51 41 47 54 45 47 55 52 Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. W pc c t sh c t pc t t t sh t t c pc c pc t t pc c pc t t pc t c WORLD CITIES Today Beijing Hong Kong Jerusalem London Mexico City Moscow Paris Rome Seoul Sydney Tokyo Hi 82 84 70 63 83 66 63 73 68 73 74 Lo 53 79 53 44 55 43 42 51 49 56 63 W pc sh c s t pc pc t s s r Thu. Hi 81 87 74 67 80 56 68 71 76 74 74 Lo 52 78 55 50 53 43 46 50 60 57 62 W pc t s pc t r s s s s s WINDS Medford 71/54 Klamath Falls 64/43 (in mph) Today Thursday Boardman Pendleton N 4-8 NNE 4-8 WSW 4-8 WNW 4-8 UV INDEX TODAY Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. REGIONAL FORECAST Coastal Oregon: Cloudy today; a couple of showers, except dry in the south. Eastern and Central Oregon: A shower or thunderstorm in spots today, except dry in the upper Treasure Valley. Western Washington: Cloudy today and tonight with a couple of showers. Eastern Washington: Mostly cloudy today with a thunderstorm in spots; however, dry across the south. Cascades: Cloudy today into tomorrow with a couple of showers. Friday: warmer across the north. Northern California: Mainly cloudy today with showers around. 1 3 4 4 3 River sockeye needed it most. The mistake went unnoticed for about a week, and by then managers were moving forward with the capture and transport of Snake River sockeye to a ish hatchery. But managers say 90 percent of Snake River sockeye died before even reaching the Snake River. “It deinitely didn’t help, but I don’t think it was a signiicant factor in the loss,” said Russ Kiefer of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. The report notes that one of the quandaries facing managers is the downstream transporting by barge of juvenile Snake River sockeye. In 2015, the report said, transported ish with poorer homing skills spent more time in the river. That proved lethal, and none of the returning adults survived the journey upstream to Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River. However, barging juvenile ish downstream is intended to boost the number of returning adult Snake River sockeye, an endeavor isheries managers say they are now having to reconsider. The 58-page report is being reviewed by federal and state managers as well as tribes, with comments from those entities being incorporated into a inal report expected early this summer ahead of this year’s sockeye run. The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely regrets any errors. If you notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818. ADVERTISING Advertising Director: Jennine Perkinson 541-278-2683 • jperkinson@eastoregonian.com Subscriber services: For home delivery, vacation stops or delivery concerns: 1-800-522-0255 — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — nine actions isheries managers could do to recognize earlier when a massive die-off is looming and some actions to poten- tially reduce the die-off. Among the recommen- dations is making changes to get real-time reporting of temperatures in ish ladders at dams to provide an early warning. Graves said he’d be surprised if that change isn’t accomplished in the next two years. The report also said drawing cold water from deep in reservoirs to use in ish ladders could help keep ish moving upstream. That was a problem last year when warm water in some ish ladders caused migrating salmon to stall. The report says that in 2016 a new, permanent intake structure at Lower Granite Dam will draw water from 60 feet deep and give managers a greater ability to keep water cool. Much of the report deals with the Snake River where managers have more ability to control water temperature by releasing cold water from Dworshak Dam. “Honestly, there are not a lot of things you can do to manage temperatures in the lower Columbia River,” Graves said. The report notes that last year faulty temperature readings caused managers to reduce cold-water releases from Dworshak Dam just when Snake 1 8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m. 0-2, Low 3-5, Moderate 6-7, High; 8-10, Very High; 11+, Extreme The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num- ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection. Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2016 -10s -0s showers t-storms 0s 10s rain 20s flurries 30s 40s snow ice 50s 60s cold front 70s 80s 90s 100s warm front stationary front 110s high low National Summary: Severe storms will affect the Florida Peninsula as a mosaic of showers and storms extends from the Midwest to the Northeast today. Showers and storms will expand southward along the Pacific coast. Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 96° in Thermal, Calif. Low 8° in Hohnholz Ranch, Colo. NATIONAL CITIES Today Albuquerque Atlanta Atlantic City Baltimore Billings Birmingham Boise Boston Charleston, SC Charleston, WV Chicago Cleveland Dallas Denver Detroit El Paso Fairbanks Fargo Honolulu Houston Indianapolis Jacksonville Kansas City Las Vegas Little Rock Los Angeles Hi 75 72 55 61 81 73 86 52 82 63 52 63 81 73 59 85 58 68 85 80 56 81 67 91 79 71 Lo 50 50 49 48 54 49 58 45 57 46 39 46 55 45 45 60 34 48 74 56 41 56 43 68 51 56 W s pc sh sh s pc c c pc t c t s s t s pc s pc s t t s pc s pc Thur. Hi 80 65 56 60 85 70 83 51 72 59 60 58 80 79 66 90 61 84 85 81 62 76 72 86 75 67 Lo 55 51 50 49 55 48 56 48 52 48 44 45 57 50 46 63 41 57 72 54 43 51 50 57 50 55 W pc pc r r pc pc pc c t sh pc sh s pc pc pc pc s pc s pc s s pc s t Today Hi Louisville 62 Memphis 75 Miami 86 Milwaukee 50 Minneapolis 63 Nashville 70 New Orleans 78 New York City 56 Oklahoma City 78 Omaha 69 Philadelphia 58 Phoenix 100 Portland, ME 53 Providence 56 Raleigh 76 Rapid City 74 Reno 73 Sacramento 77 St. Louis 67 Salt Lake City 82 San Diego 68 San Francisco 65 Seattle 65 Tucson 97 Washington, DC 63 Wichita 74 Lo 46 51 68 39 43 46 63 49 48 43 49 72 41 45 52 46 48 54 46 60 58 55 51 64 53 44 W t pc t c s pc s sh s s sh s c c pc s c c pc pc pc c sh s c s Thur. Hi 65 71 85 55 75 66 79 59 78 75 62 95 52 54 64 83 65 72 68 83 68 65 69 94 60 78 Lo 49 50 65 44 56 46 60 52 53 52 52 66 42 47 48 51 46 51 49 60 58 52 52 60 52 51 Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice. W pc s s pc pc pc s r s s r pc c c t s t t s t t t pc pc r s