REGION
Thursday, January 4, 2018
East Oregonian
Page 3A
Governor ‘confident’ in wolf shooting investigation
Environmental groups
cite discrepancies in
physical evidence
By GEORGE PLAVEN
EO Media Group
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown will
apparently not ask state agencies
to reopen their investigation into
the killing of a female wolf Oct.
27, 2017, in Union County, despite
concerns from multiple conserva-
tion groups.
Brian Scott, 38, of Clackamas,
reported that he shot the wolf in
self-defense while elk hunting in
the Starkey Wildlife Management
Unit west of La Grande. The
wolf, he said, was charging at him
though wildlife advocates dispute
his claim, pointing to the
bullet’s trajectory and other
discrepancies in the physical
evidence.
A coalition of groups —
18 in all — wrote to Gov.
Brown asking her to reopen
the state’s investigation,
though in her reply dated
Dec. 1, 2017, Brown said
she has confidence in the
outcome after consulting with
the Oregon State Police, Oregon
Department of Fish & Wildlife and
Union County District Attorney’s
Office.
“While Oregon is working
toward wolf recovery, any wolf
mortality is a serious concern that
deserves a full and rigorous inves-
tigation,” Brown wrote.
Scott told investigators he feared
for his life when he shot the wolf at
“Too many wolves
have been found shot
in Oregon where the
shooters have not
been identified.”
District
Attorney’s
Office declined to press
charges.
Steve
Pedery,
conservation
director
for Oregon Wild, said
they will continue to put
pressure on the governor
and agencies regarding
— Gov. Kate Brown
wolf poaching investi-
gations, and ensure those
a distance of 27 yards. He described protections are taken seriously.
“We now have, I think by
seeing two animals flank behind
him, while a third came running anyone’s standards, an epidemic
of wolf poaching around the state,”
directly toward him.
The groups, however, argue that Pedery said. “That’s a situation that
the bullet passed through the wolf’s should be deeply concerning for
shoulders, perhaps indicating it was anyone who cares about wildlife in
standing broadside to Scott and not this state.”
In her letter, Gov. Brown reit-
charging. Scott has said he cannot
explain the trajectory, and does not erated that killing wolves is illegal
know if the wolf veered sideways everywhere in Oregon, and remains
before he shot. The Union County a federal crime west of highways
UMATILLA
House fire displaces two women
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
A Umatilla house fire
displaced two women on
Wednesday afternoon and
sent huge clouds of black
smoke into the air above
a small neighborhood on
Cherry Street.
Engines responded from
Umatilla Fire Department,
Umatilla
County
Fire
District, Boardman Fire
Department and Irrigon
Rural Fire Department to the
home at 1913 Cherry Street.
Scott Goff, Umatilla
County Fire District fire
marshal, said the department
has not yet been able to
identify a cause for the fire.
He said crews had still been
working on fire suppression,
and he would have to return
to the house on Thursday to
determine what happened.
Goff identified the resi-
dents of the house as owner
Carolyn McCall and her
daughter Annette.
Medics were called to the
scene, but no one was injured
in the fire. According to a
neighbor who declined to be
identified, Carolyn was not
home at the time of the fire,
but Annette came running
out of the house when the fire
started.
“At first there was smoke
coming out of the house, and
flames coming out of the roof
by the time the fire depart-
ment got there,” he said.
He said there may have
been a cat inside the house
when the fire started, and
they did not know if the cat
escaped. He also said he
heard the blaze was started
by a dryer, but Goff said he
couldn’t confirm that.
The home had been for
sale.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Firefighters spray water in the garage of the home at 1913 Cherry Street while fight-
ing a fire Wednesday in Umatilla. Firefighters from Umatilla, Umatilla County Fire
District 1, Irrigon and Boardman responded to the blaze.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Anette McCall and her mother, Carolyn McCall, console one another as firefighters
attempted to extinguish a fire in their home on Wednesday in Umatilla.
By STEVE TOOL
EO Media Group
Contributed photo
Wallowa County Commissioner Todd Nash (left) recent-
ly visited Washington, D.C., with the main purpose of
seeing the Blue Mountain Forest Plan Revision, which
includes the Wallowa-Whitman and Umatilla national
forests, reach its final destination.
County
Commissioner
Mark Owens was appointed
for the job. Nash attended
meetings elsewhere as well
as a number of follow-up
meetings with the head of
the Department of Natural
Resources and Environment,
which oversees the USFS,
and also representatives
of the Department of the
Interior, the Bureau of Land
Management and a wrap-up
with Tooke.
The support you need to find quality
The group also met
with Walden and staff from
Oregon’s U.S. Senators Ron
Wyden and Jeff Merkley.
Much of the agency
talk revolved around issues
facing ranchers and loggers.
These included the threat-
ened species status of plants
such as Spalding’s Catchfly,
and fish species such as the
bull trout.
“We’re looking at setting
up distinct population areas
where they might be de-listed
in an easier manner,” Nash
said. “We have a thriving
population of both those
species in Wallowa County,
and we should be proud of
the fact that we have so many
endangered species that
thrive here, and we should be
acknowledged for the good
stewards we are.”
Nash said that probably
the most significant results
from the meetings was
a possible reassessment
of federal grazing policy,
including closed but most
especially vacant allotments.
“That was on their radar
all the way through,” Nash
said. “They wanted a priority
list of the allotments we’d
like to see reauthorized.”
The trip cost Wallowa
County $700.
“For what we achieved,
it was worth it,” Nash said.
“Our lobbyist out there, Jay
Sullivan, would like us to
come back. Now that we’ve
got a foot in the door we need
to keep up those relationships
and the lines of communica-
tion open.”
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BRIEFLY
Desert View principal resigns
HERMISTON — Families of students at Desert
View Elementary School were informed on Tuesday
that the school’s principal, Laura Jacobsma, resigned
over winter break.
Assistant superintendent Bryn
Browning told families in a letter sent
home with students that she would
serve as the school’s interim principal
for the remainder of the 2017-2018
school year.
Jacobsma was hired for the Desert
View job in May 2017 and moved
from Oakridge School District, where
she worked as an instructional coach Jacobsma
and taught multiple grades. She said
she was leaving the position for
personal reasons.
Browning has been the assistant
superintendent for Hermiston School
District since 2008, focusing on
curriculum and instruction. She
previously served as the superinten-
dent/principal of Ione School District
and Ione Community School for four
years. She has taught first and fourth
Browning
grade, and worked as an elementary
school reading specialist.
Browning also acted as an interim principal at West
Park Elementary after Shane Pratt left in October 2012
for personal reasons.
District communications officer Maria Duron said
Jacobsma gave notice of her resignation on Friday, but
did not give a specific reason for her departure.
Duron said district administrators do not yet know
when they will post the position, but the search for a new
principal will be conducted during spring, the regular
hiring season.
Franell re-appointed to Oregon
Broadband Advisory Council
Commissioner brings forest plan revision to D.C.
Wallowa County commis-
sioner Todd Nash has heard
a lot of lip service from
politicians and government
officials who claim they want
to change management poli-
cies on federal forest lands.
He hasn’t seen much action
until now.
A 14-year collaborative
effort that resulted in the
Blue Mountain Forest Plan
Revision has made its way
to the nation’s capital. The
plan revision includes three
national forests: Malheur,
Umatilla and Wallowa-
Whitman.
Nash went personally Dec.
11-15 to see at least some of
the process of debating the
plan at the federal level. Nash
asked U.S. Forest Service
Region 6 forester Jim Peña
if a county commissioner
could accompany him when
he made the plan revision
presentation to U.S. Forest
Service Chief Tony Tooke in
Washington, D.C.
Peña agreed and Harney
395, 78 and 95.
“Too many wolves have been
found shot in Oregon where the
shooters have not been identified,”
she wrote. “Oregon State Police is
appropriately investigating those
cases, supporting their federal coun-
terparts, identifying poachers and
ready to assist in their prosecution.”
ODFW is also in the process of
revising its Wolf Conservation and
Management Plan, which Brown
said will “keep wolves on the
path to recovery across the entire
state, focus on efforts to reduce
wolf-livestock conflict rather than
merely responding to it, and incor-
porate the best current science
into its management practices.”
Oregon had 112 confirmed wolves
as of the end of 2016. An updated
2017 population report is expected
in March.
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Hermiston’s Joseph Franell will return to the Oregon
Broadband Advisory Council after re-appointment by
Governor Kate Brown on Jan. 1.
Franell, CEO of Eastern Oregon Telecom, has served
on the council every year since the legislature created it in
2009, and has served as chair for all
but its first year. He said it is an honor
to continue to represent rural interests
on the board during his fourth
consecutive appointment.
“The broadband advisory
council is one of the most effective
organizations of its kind in the U.S.
and continues to have a significant
positive impact on the adoption and
utilization of Broadband in Oregon,” Franell
he said in a news release.
The Oregon Broadband Advisory
Council was created to help ensure the implementation of
statewide broadband strategies, according to the release.
Its mission is to encourage coordination across the state in
using broadband to further education, workforce develop-
ment, government and healthcare. The council also works
to promote use of broadband by citizens and communities.
Members of the council were appointed by the governor,
speaker of the house and president of the Senate.
Port of Umatilla hears early
discussion of new data centers
UMATILLA — Port of Umatilla General Manager
Kim Puzey said he has been in preliminary talks with
a company other than Amazon that is interested in
building data centers on port property.
Puzey said while he can’t reveal the name of the
company, he has had about four conversations with
them, and they are looking at purchasing property,
options to purchase the property, or leasing it.
Puzey said the company had told him of their intent
to build data centers, but he did not know how many,
what the cost was, or what the specific purpose would
be.
“I think trying to acquire or secure properties is just
part of their due diligence,” Puzey said, adding that the
discussions were in the very early stages.
Puzey said the plots of land the company is interested
in are in McNary Industrial Park, in the vicinity of the
existing data centers. Puzey said there are currently four
data centers in the area.
Puzey said as far as he knows, all the existing data
centers are owned by Amazon.
———
Briefs are compiled from staff and wire reports, and
press releases. Email press releases to news@eastorego-
nian.com