REGION
Friday, August 26, 2016
HERMISTON
East Oregonian
Page 3A
Archery season for deer, elk
to begin amid ire concerns
Dry weather could
make for dificult
hunting season
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Gary L. West
Umatilla Police Department Lt. Keith Kennedy talks on
his cell phone while examining the scene of a two-car
crash Thursday morning on Highway 395 near the High-
way 730 interchange near Umatilla. The crash injured
two women and snarled trafic for more than an hour.
Two injured in
head-on crash
East Oregonian
Two women were taken
to Good Shepherd Medical
Center at about 8:10 a.m.
Thursday morning after a
head-on crash on Highway
395 north of Hermiston.
The male driver of a red
Dodge Charger fell asleep at
the wheel, according to an
Oregon State Police trooper
at the scene, crossing the
center line and crashing into
an oncoming Pontiac Torrent
SUV that tried to swerve to
avoid the collision.
The Charger then left the
roadway and crashed into
the brush.
Each vehicle had one
passenger, and the driver
and passenger of the Torrent
were taken to the hospital.
Neither the driver or the
passenger of the Charger
were transported by ambu-
lance.
According to OSP, the
driver of the Charger was
cited with failure to main-
tain a lane.
HERMISTON
City adds new library director
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Hermiston Public Library
has a new director.
The library welcomed
Mark Rose to its staff last
week after former director
Marie Baldo retired.
Rose moved to Hermiston
from Nampa, Idaho, and has
been working in libraries
since 1991. Before that he
served in the U.S. Army and
was stationed in Germany as
a platoon leader.
Baldo also came to
the library with a military
background, but Rose said
head librarians with military
experience are relatively
rare. For Rose, he said he
realized that Army life was
not something he wanted
to make a career out of,
and when he thought back
on his college experience
he remembered time spent
studying in the library. So he
returned to Brigham Young
University for a master’s
degree in library science.
“I always enjoyed being
in the library, surrounded by
books,” he said.
Rose said he and his
wife have family in Idaho
and Portland, so Hermiston
seemed ideally situated to
visit both.
“We’re a great bathroom
stop for family now,” he
said.
The couple have six
children, two of which still
live at home. Rose said their
family looks forward to
getting to know the commu-
nity and he looks forward to
helping the library continue
to grow.
“Every
community
deserves a good library,” he
said.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
BRIEFLY
Umatilla Co. enacts temporary burn ban
PENDLETON — The Umatilla County Board of
Commissioners have approved a temporary burn ban —
including all agricultural burning — effective August 25
through August 31. This burn ban is in response to poor air
quality conditions caused by multiple wildires in the area.
For more information, call Gina Miller at 541-278-6300.
GEODC hires new director
Greater Eastern Oregon Development Corp. appointed
Susan Christensen as its new executive director.
According to a press release, Christensen has been serving
as interim director of Pendleton-based GEODC since April,
having been hired as the community and economic develop-
ment director the month before.
Christensen has a master’s degree in public adminis-
tration, planning, public policy and management from the
University of Oregon.
She has established relationships with the public,
nonproits, tribes and private sector through her more than 20
years of economic development experience, according to the
release.
The GEODC is a nonproit that supports regional
economic development in its district, which includes
Umatilla, Morrow, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Malheur and
Wheeler counties.
Music
on the
Lawn
Archery season for deer
and elk begins Saturday
in Eastern Oregon, and
oficials are reminding bow
hunters to beware of ire
danger when heading into
the woods.
The Blue Mountain Inter-
agency Dispatch Center
reports there have been
110 ires so far this year,
57 of which were human-
caused. Human-caused ires
have also burned the vast
majority of acres in the area,
totaling 29,642.
Statewide, the Oregon
Department of Forestry has
recorded 575 ires on lands
protected by the agency,
with 514 of those started by
humans.
“It’s already been a
tough ire season,” said
Tom Fields, ire prevention
coordinator with the Oregon
Department of Forestry.
“While we have been
fortunate with minimal
lightning-caused ires, our
concern is with the human-
caused ires.”
Restrictions are in place
on both ODF and national
forest land to lower the risk
of starting new ires. The
most common regulations
include:
• No campires, except
in designated campgrounds
and recreation sites.
• Smoking and off-road
driving is prohibited in most
areas.
• Vehicles must have
either a gallon of water or
2.5-pound ire extinguisher
and shovel, except on state
highways or county roads.
• ATVs must have a
2.5-pound ire extinguisher.
Kristin Babbs, executive
EO ile photo
In this Nov. 2014 ile photo, a herd of elk grazes on private land near Weston.
Security breach of hunting,
ishing license information
Oregon security specialists are investigating the
impact of a reported information security breach
involving the online licensing system used by Oregon
and other states to process hunting and ishing applica-
tions.
As a precaution, access to the online system is closed
until further notice.
“We are working with the vendor to determine
if any personal information was indeed accessed,
while ensuring their system is secure before allowing
Oregonians to use it,” said Alex Petit, Oregon’s Chief
Information Oficer.
Hunting and ishing licenses can still be purchased at
ODFW ofices and participating retailers.
director of the Keep Oregon
Green Association, said
there have been more than
50 illegal or unattended
campires that have led to
wildires this summer.
“It only takes one of these
careless acts to lead to the
destruction of our forests,”
Babbs said. “Our plea to
the hunters and public in
general is to be vigilant and
have ire prevention front
and center in their minds
when enjoying what our
state has to offer.”
Mark Kirsch, district
wildlife biologist for the
Oregon Department of Fish
& Wildlife in Pendleton,
PENDLETON
From bucking expectations to Let ’er Buck
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Rod Retherford has taken
up a variety of titles in his
lifetime — football player,
rodeo cowboy, professional
speaker — but it’s his
current job that’s bringing
him to Pendleton.
Retherford is moving
his saddle making shop
from Hermiston to Pend-
leton, replacing Miss Joni’s
Florals at 11 S.E. Court
Ave. and itting in themat-
ically with his downtown
neighbors — Stapleman
Custom Boot Shop and
Hamley’s.
When Rod Retherford
Saddlery and Art opens its
doors in September, Rether-
ford will offer custom-made
saddles, repairs and an art
gallery.
But even with more than
20 years under his belt as a
saddle maker, Retherford is
still best known for his feats
on the gridiron.
Measuring under 5 feet
and weighing less than 90
pounds as a freshman, the
high school football coach
at John Day told him he
had no chance at making
the
team.
Regardless,
Retherford was able to play
his way from John Day to
Treasure Valley Community
College to Washington State
University as a walk-on in
1980.
As if his football career
EO ile photo
Rod Retherford stands in his saddlemaking shop
at Horse Plaza in Hermiston in October 2015. He is
opening a new shop in downtown Pendleton.
wasn’t already unlikely
enough,
Retherford
survived an accidental
gunshot from a teammate
and overcame temporary
paralysis to become a starter
at cornerback and play for
the Cougars in the Holiday
Bowl.
After his playing days
were over, Retherford
returned to Oregon and
began considering new
career options.
Retherford asked Richard
Boyer, a longtime saddle
maker at Hamley’s, to teach
him how to build saddles in
1995.
Retherford used the
lessons he was taught by
Boyer to open his own
saddle shop in Redmond
Friday Night D inner
August 26th • 5:30 pm • $12.00
BBQ RIBS
FRIDAY, AUG. 26
Mark Holt
6:00-9:00 pm
H AMLEY S TEAK H ouse & S aloon
COURT & MAIN, PENDLETON • 541.278.1100
said bow hunting typically
draws more than 1,500
people to the district over 30
days. The most popular units
for deer and elk include the
Ukiah, Mount Emily and
Walla Walla units.
Kirsch said the animal
populations
have
not
changed
considerably
compared to last year.
Deer and elk populations
have rebounded to winter
management levels in
Ukiah after ODFW thinned
out high-density cougar
populations in the unit.
As for weather, Kirsch
said this year’s conditions
are a lot better than last
year’s drought, but a recent
string of hot, dry days has
helped accelerate the drying
of habitat.
“It makes everything a
little more brittle, and more
of a tinderbox,” Kirsch
said. “Everything you step
on makes noise. (Hunting)
becomes more dificult.”
The heat also makes cow
elk more lethargic, Kirsch
said, and less likely to draw
bulls into a rut.
“When it’s hot and dry
like this, the cows are just
trying to stay cool and get
enough to eat,” Kirsch said.
“In archery season, I think
most people would agree it
just gets better and better as
the season goes.”
Archery regulations for
2016 remain largely the
same, though there are a
few changes. Lighted arrow
nocks are now allowed for
bow hunters. In the Minam
and Desolation units, the
bag limit has also changed
from bull-only to one elk of
either sex this year.
For more information on
hunting regulations, visit
the ODFW website at www.
dfw.state.or.us.
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.
• Corn on the Cob
• Potato Salad
• Watermelon
Proceeds to benefit Pendleton Elks’ Charities
Pendleton Elks Lodge #288 14 SE 3rd, Pendleton
509-948-2163 • 541-276-3882
and also dabbled in his own
unique art form, covering
animal skulls in intricate
leather designs.
“I’m the only one in the
world that does what I do,”
Retherford claims.
Retherford tried to launch
an art career in Texas, but
the Lone Star State wasn’t
for him.
“I got tired of ducking
tornadoes all the time,” he
said.
When
Retherford
returned to Oregon last year,
he set up shop at Horse Plaza
at 34287 Diagonal Road in
Hermiston.
Horse Plaza owner Joe
Sturza had long sold Reth-
erford’s saddles in his store
and was happy to have him
come aboard.
Sturza estimates he’s
sold about 100 Retherford
saddles over the years, a
popular item customers buy
in-store or on commission
from locales throughout the
West.
While tending cattle
or training horses, Wade
Bertsch of Stanield esti-
mates he is on horseback
14-16 hours a day. He said
he’s bought two or three
Retherford saddles because
of their “impeccable” work-
manship and good it.
Bertsch’s comments were
echoed by Jason Robinson,
a farmer from Washington’s
Yakima Valley.
Robinson, who started
buying saddles from Reth-
erford under the recommen-
dation of some friends, said
the saddles have a level of
customization you can only
get from an expert saddle
maker.
“They’re well worth the
wait,” Robinson said.
Although
Retherford
has only been based in
Hermiston for a year, he said
the location and price of the
Pendleton space was too
good to pass up.
Retherford’s saddles will
continue to be sold at Horse
Plaza, but they’ll be made in
the Round-Up City.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.