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East Oregonian
Crater Lake plans to more
strictly enforce no-drone rule
By ZACH URNESS
Statesman Journal
SALEM — The videos
are nothing short of spectac-
ular.
In one film posted to
YouTube, two skiers are
captured shredding down the
rim of Crater Lake, filmed
from an eye in the sky that
takes in the full sweep of the
United States’ deepest lake.
In another, the footage
showcases the cliff-walled
circle of the lake from directly
overhead, providing a bird’s
eye view into the belly of the
exploded volcano.
Both videos are unique,
have been watched thousands
of times and, of course, were
filmed illegally.
The use of drones is
outlawed at national parks
nationwide — and has been
since 2014. But the dropping
price and improving tech-
nology of what are officially
known as unmanned aircraft
have meant an increase in the
number buzzing Oregon’s
only national park.
“It’s becoming quite a
problem,” Crater Lake super-
intendent Craig Ackerman
said. “People are using them
without concern for the
impacts, and we intend to
start stepping up enforcement
of the rule.”
Park officials say they see
drones flying over the lake on
a regular basis, especially in
Marc Adamus/The Register-Guard via AP, File
In this 2006 file photo, the sun rises over Crater Lake.
Crater Lake officials say more drones are buzzing over
Oregon’s only national park, and they plan to increase
enforcement. The use of drones is outlawed at national
parks, but they’ve become a greater presence because
of falling prices. Violation of the ban is a misdemeanor
with the maximum penalty of six months in jail and a
$5,000 fine.
the summer. Ackerman said
they’ve even buzzed boat
tours on the lake.
Marsha McCabe, chief
of interpretation and cultural
resources at the park, said she
comes across people getting
ready to launch drones on a
regular basis.
“I would say it’s a growing
problem,” she said. “There
might be some folks who just
don’t know, but we make it
pretty clear in the park news-
paper you get upon entering
the park, on our website and
in signs around the lake.”
Violation of the ban is
a misdemeanor with the
maximum penalty of six
months in jail and a $5,000
fine. When park officials spot
a drone in flight, they call
law enforcement rangers,
who try to figure out who’s
controlling them.
Whether they allow
people to get off with a
warning depends on the
situation, McCabe said.
“People come here for
quiet and solitude, and if
there’s a drone buzzing over-
head all of a sudden, that’s
pretty intrusive,” McCabe
said. “We’re also home to
several endangered species
and drone noise has been
shown to disrupt wildlife.
“There are plenty of
public lands where they are
allowed, but at national parks,
our mission is different.”
Where people are allowed
to fly drones varies. They’re
allowed in most national
forests, but are prohibited in
federally designated wilder-
ness areas and some wildlife
refuges.
It’s also a mixed bag at
Oregon’s state parks. Park
managers make a case-
by-case determination of
where they’re allowed, but
they tend to be outlawed at
extremely popular sites, such
as Smith Rock and parts of
Silver Falls.
The Oregon Parks and
Recreation
Department
formed a policy group to
address the issue last year.
But, at Crater Lake, the
issue is settled: no drone use
allowed by the public. Even
when a film company does a
commercial shoot at Crater
Lake, and pays for a permit,
they’re not allowed to use
drones, McCabe said.
The National Park Service
is allowed to use drones for
search and rescue operations,
fire operations, scientific
study, and aerial photog-
raphy.
And, if you produce one
of those videos and post
it to YouTube, you could
be getting a call. Crater
Lake officials said their law
enforcement would “look
into” some of the videos
posted.
AP Photo/Nicholas K. Geranios
Water moves through a spillway April 11 of the Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River near Almota, Wash.
GOP criticize spill of dam water to help salmon
By NICHOLAS K.
GERANIOS
Associated Press
SPOKANE,
Wash.
— Republican Congress
members from the Pacific
Northwest are upset with a
federal judge’s order to spill
water from four Snake River
dams to help speed migrating
salmon to the Pacific Ocean.
They say the water could
be saved for other uses and
are denouncing the spill,
which began April 3, and a
push by environmentalists
to remove the four dams to
increase wild salmon runs.
“Dams and fish can
co-exist,”
Reps.
Cathy
McMorris Rodgers and
Dan Newhouse, whose
Washington districts include
the dams, said in a joint
statement.
The four dams, built in
the 1960s and 1970s, provide
hydropower, flood control,
navigation, irrigation and
recreation benefits, supporters
say. But the giant dams are
also blamed for killing wild
salmon, an iconic species in
the Northwest.
McMorris Rodgers and
Newhouse have introduced
a bill that would prevent any
changes in dam operations
until 2022. The measure was
co-sponsored by Republican
House
members
from
Oregon, Idaho, Montana and
Nevada, along with Demo-
cratic Rep. Kurt Schrader of
Oregon.
It passed the House Natural
Resources Committee on
Wednesday and heads to the
floor in coming weeks.
“Without Snake and
Columbia river dams and the
many benefits they provide,
life in central Washington
as we know it would be
unrecognizable,” Newhouse
said.
Hydropower is the North-
AP Photo/Nicholas K. Geranios
In this April 11 photo, a fish is seen in a viewing win-
dow at the visitors center of the Lower Granite Dam on
the Snake River near Almota, Wash.
west’s lifeblood, said Repub-
lican Rep. Raul Labrador of
Idaho.
“For a liberal judge to
ignore the broad scientific
consensus of the federal
government and the states
of Idaho, Washington and
Montana is unconscionable
and must be stopped,” he
said.
The increased spill will
cost some $40 million in lost
power sales, and could hurt
transportation and barging on
the rivers, flood control and
irrigation systems, Republi-
cans contend.
But Democrats argue
studies of the dams, including
whether they should be
removed, must go forward.
Democratic Sen. Patty
Murray of Washington
recently sent a letter to House
and Senate leadership saying
the river’s management must
include salmon recovery.
The letter criticized the bill
to prevent changes in dam
operations. It was signed by
Murray and Democratic Reps.
Adam Smith and Pramila
Jayapal of Washington.
“The Columbia and Snake
River system is essential
to the Pacific Northwest’s
culture, environment and
economy,” the letter said.
The four dams — Ice
Harbor,
Lower
Monu-
mental, Little Goose and
Lower Granite — span the
Snake River between the
Washington cities of Pasco
and Pullman. Together they
produce about 4 percent of
the region’s electricity.
Replacing that power
would require the equivalent
of two nuclear power plants,
Labrador said.
Environmental
groups
disagree.
A new study contends
other renewable sources
could replace the dams’
power for a little more than
$1 a month for the average
Northwest household.
The study “explodes the
myth that we can’t have
both wild salmon and clean
energy,” said Joseph Bogaard,
director of the Save Our Wild
Salmon Coalition. “We can
remove these four deadly
dams, restore one of our
nation’s great salmon rivers
and improve the Northwest’s
energy system.”
But supporters of the dams
say wind and solar power are
too unreliable to replace the
lost hydropower.
The
Columbia-Snake
river system holds more than
a dozen imperiled salmon
runs, and the federal govern-
ment has spent more than $15
billion since 1978 on efforts
to save the fish.
But those efforts have
pushed wild salmon, orca and
other fish and wildlife popu-
lations closer to extinction,
Bogaard said.
Removing the dams is the
only way to save the salmon
runs, conservation groups
say.
“Salmon are in desperate
need of help now,” Earthjus-
tice attorney Todd True said.
Advocates for fishermen
also hailed the decision to
increase spill, saying it will
produce larger adult salmon
returns.
Proposals to remove the
four dams have percolated in
the Northwest for decades,
and have devolved into a
largely partisan issue with
Democrats generally on the
side of the fish and Republi-
cans for keeping the dams.
The latest skirmish began
in March 2017, when U.S.
District Judge Michael
Simon of Portland, Oregon,
ordered the dams to increase
spill beginning this spring.
Federal agencies have esti-
mated increasing spill until
mid-June will cost electric
ratepayers $40 million in
lost power revenues in 2018
alone.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals in early February
rejected an appeal of Simon’s
order. The dams operate
under a plan created by a
collaboration of federal agen-
cies, states and tribes during
the Obama administration to
protect salmon.
But Simon found it does
not do enough. He ruled a
new environmental study is
needed, and it must consider
the option of removing the
dams. Simon also wrote
that wild salmon were in a
“precarious” state.
That was disputed by Terry
Flores, executive director of
Northwest RiverPartners, a
group that includes farmers,
utilities, ports and businesses.
Saturday, April 21, 2018
BLOOMIN’ BLUES
Photo contributed by Bruce Barnes
Serviceberry, Amelanchier Alnifolia
Serviceberry an
early bloomer
By BRUCE BARNES
For The East Oregonian
Name: Serviceberry
Scientific name: Amel-
anchier alnifolia
This is the first article
for 2018, and though lots of
flowers have been blooming
in town not many of our
native plants are blooming
yet. It has been a cool spring
overall. This usually means
once they get started, we
will be seeing the progres-
sion of spring flowers
accelerate. However, in the
past 16 years of writing
these articles, every spring
has been different.
A week ago, from
Cayuse to near Umatilla
Forks, about the only plant
blooming was serviceberry,
which is now at its peak and
is covered with white clus-
ters of blossoms. It is easy
to identify by the way its
narrow, oblong petals twist,
curve, or turn every which
way with no consistency.
Serviceberry is a tall
shrub or occasionally
a small tree found in
Alaska, western Canada to
California and eastward to
the northern Great Plains
and New Mexico. Other
Amelanchier species are
common in the northeast
United States. Amelanchier
is a French word for the
genus. The species name
alnifolia means “alder
leaves” which are similar to
those of Serviceberry. The
common name Service-
berry is generally applied
to most of the species in
North America, referring
to the many purposes it has
served for people of this
continent. Other common
names used are Shadbush
and Saskatoon.
The plant is about 6 to
15 feet tall with gray bark
and no thorns, and rounded
oval leaves with teeth along
the edge toward the tip. The
round fruits are about a half
inch or less in diameter,
somewhat sweet and juicy,
black to dark purple when
ripe, and begin to ripen late
July or early August.
Birds and many animals
enjoy the fruit, and it has
been a major food for
Indians throughout much
of North America and for
early settlers in the area.
The berries were eaten
fresh or dried for later
use and helped many to
survive long winters. They
were dried into cakes, used
as candy, and made into
nutritious food when mixed
with salmon, venison, or
buffalo fat. The fruits were
also made into jams, jellies,
and wine. Sticks were used
to preserve sturgeon oil,
as well as for harpoons,
digging sticks, arrow shafts,
and the rims of baskets.
Medicinal
treatments
were prepared from the
plants, and varied by tribe.
They were to treat upset
stomachs, colds, coughs,
fevers, as a laxative, eye
drops and ear drops, and to
aid childbirth.
Where to find: Service-
berry plants are now
blooming at low elevations
along steam banks and in
moist areas through the
Blue Mountain region, and
will be blooming up to
middle elevations into June.
Not all black or dark purple
small fruit are edible so be
sure of what you might eat.
Be aware that these can
sometimes be wormy.
Darin Oswald/The Idaho Statesman via AP, File
In this 2003 file photo, fisherman Larry McBrom
works along the Snake River shoreline below Hells
Canyon Dam in southwestern Idaho. Idaho officials
have approved an agreement allowing a utility com-
pany’s $216.5 million in relicensing expenses for a
three-dam hydroelectric project on the Snake River
on the Idaho-Oregon border.
Deal approves $216 million
for Idaho utility’s expenses
By KEITH RIDLER
Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho — Idaho
officials have approved an
agreement allowing a utility
company’s $216.5 million
in relicensing expenses for
a three-dam hydroelectric
project on the Snake River
on the Idaho-Oregon border.
The Idaho Public Utili-
ties Commission issued the
order last Friday that allows
Boise-based Idaho Power to
include the costs involving
the Hells Canyon Complex
in customer rates in the
future. That rate increase
would be preceded by a
separate request from Idaho
Power. The company in
December 2016 requested
about $220 million to cover
relicensing costs that started
in 1991.
“We are pleased that we
were able to reach an agree-
ment,” said Idaho Power
spokesman Brad Bowlin.
He said the company
does not currently have a
rate increase request planned
involving the relicensing.
The company’s 50-year
license with the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commis-
sion expired in 2005, and
it has been operating the
dams under annual licenses
renewed each August.
A significant hurdle to
getting a longer license is that
Oregon officials are refusing
to agree to relicensing
until salmon and steelhead
can access four Oregon
tributaries that feed into the
Hells Canyon Complex, as
required by Oregon law for
the relicensing.
But Idaho lawmakers
have prohibited moving
federally protected salmon
and steelhead upstream of
the dams, which biologists
say is too environmentally
degraded to support salmon.
Idaho Power in February
petitioned the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit to review a
2017 decision by the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commis-
sion dismissing the utility’s
request that it exempt the
three-dam Hells Canyon
Complex from the Oregon
law requiring fish passage
as part of relicensing.