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OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Wildfire: With temperatures above normal, fire conditions worsen
Continued from Page A1
average for much of the
summer. But McCraw said
that’s beginning to change.
In the Central Blue Moun-
tains zone, for instance, an
area that includes much of
the southern half of the Wal-
lowa-Whitman, the energy
release component — a com-
puter model estimate of how
much heat a fire would pro-
duce, based on the moisture
content in various types of
fuels — has stayed slightly
below average for most of
July.
Fire officials use that
index, based on conditions
from 1993 to 2015, to gauge
how difficult it would be to
douse a blaze. The index on
Tuesday climbed to average
for the date.
The index remains below
average, however, for the
Northern Blue Mountains,
which includes parts of
Union and Wallowa coun-
ties. For purposes of estimat-
ing fire danger, Northeast-
ern Oregon is divided into
six zones, and conditions are
much less dangerous than
they were a year ago across
the region.
At the end of July in 2018
the energy release compo-
nent ratings reached all-time
record highs on much of the
Wallowa-Whitman, rang-
ing from 79 to 84. The rat-
ings Tuesday among the six
regions ranged from 60 to
67.
High fire danger doesn’t
always translate to a busy
fire season, though.
Lightning is a key com-
ponent as well, as it is the
ignition source for more than
half the fires in northeastern
Oregon most years. In many
years lightning starts 80 per-
cent or more of the blazes on
the Wallowa-Whitman.
The statistics this year
reflect the generally benign
conditions, McCraw said.
Through Monday, there
were 12 lightning fires on
the Wallowa-Whitman this
year, and they burned 18
acres. The three human-
caused fires on the forest
burned just 1 acre.
“We’ve had a few storms
come through that put down
quite a bit of lightning,”
McCraw said, “but we’re
still pretty green and a little
wet out there.”
A recent lightning fire
that burned about one-half
acre near Highway 7 about
5 miles southeast of Sumpter
illustrates the situation, he
said. The lightning bolt actu-
ally hit about a week earlier,
but the fire didn’t produce
much smoke until Sunday
afternoon. Crews controlled
the fire later that day.
McCraw said it’s not
uncommon for a light-
ning-sparked fire to smolder
for a week or longer — espe-
cially when vegetation is
still lush and the ground rel-
atively moist — and then be
fanned into flames on a hot,
dry day. Fire managers call
these blazes “holdovers.”
“We’ve had holdovers
take 10 or 14 days to show
up,” McCraw said.
Public use restrictions
on state, private and
BLM land
Steve Meyer, wildland
fire supervisor at the Oregon
Department of Forestry’s
Baker City office, said the
fire season has been atypi-
cally placid so far.
“Usually we’re a lot
drier than we are at this
point,” Meyer said Tuesday
morning.
As of today, the For-
estry Department, which is
responsible for fires mainly
on private and state land,
had only one fire this year, a
lightning blaze that burned
just one-tenth of an acre.
But with the hot tempera-
tures this week, Meyer said
the fire danger will increase
to high in Baker County on
Friday, when the Forestry
Department will cease issu-
ing permits for outdoor
burning in the county.
People using chain saws
will have to stop using them
at noon each day, Meyer
said.
“Fuels are drying out,” he
said. “We’re definitely in fire
season.”
The Vale District of the
BLM also announced more
stringent public use restric-
Pilots: International shortage draws female aviators
Continued from Page A1
struck more recently as she
chatted about other pilots’
experiences while visiting
Times Square in New York
City.
“I turned to my brother and
said, ‘I’m going to be a pilot,’”
Wildbill recalled.
Only a few months later,
she took her first flight as a
student.
“Every cell in my body felt
so alive,” she said. “I knew I
was at the beginning of some
big life adventure.”
Bridgman and Wildbill
started ground school and fly-
ing lessons at Bergman Air-
craft in Pasco. Recently, the
two women and other mem-
bers of the Mid-Columbia
Chapter of the Ninety-Nines
converged at the Eastern Ore-
gon Regional Airport in Pend-
leton. The international orga-
nization of women pilots
provides a forum for network-
ing, outreach and scholarships.
Wildbill and Bridgman,
along with former pilot
Susan Demarsh, exclaimed
as the first plane appeared,
a speck on the horizon. The
Cessna 172 landed, taxied
and pulled up next to the
tiny welcoming committee.
As pilot and co-pilot Bonnie
Molitar and Lynn Harbinson
hopped out, hugs ensued. In
the next 15 minutes, two
other small planes and four
more women landed and
Contributed photo
Tania Wildbill, of Pendleton, recently decided to become a pilot.
joined the group.
The women ranged from
students to veteran pilots.
They spent the day bonding
and sharing information as
they ate lunch at Sister’s Cafe,
toured the Tamastslikt Cul-
tural Institute and did yoga at
Wildbill’s Wellness Wave fit-
ness studio.
Bridgman and Wild-
bill tapped into the wealth of
experience by asking plenty
of questions. They compared
notes on phone apps for fli-
ers, flying experiences and
training.
Harbinson, a flight instruc-
tor and a veterinarian, took up
flying nine years ago. She said
the catalyst was the death of a
friend. The sudden loss made
her realize she shouldn’t delay
her dreams.
“I asked myself, ‘What am
I not doing that I want to be
doing?’” Harbinson said.
The answer was flying and
she immediately enrolled in
flight school.
For those who want to learn
to fly, options include the mili-
tary, private flight schools and
university aviation programs.
Matthew Toelke directs
the 52-year-old aviation pro-
gram at Walla Walla Univer-
sity. The school owns seven
planes and has 40 aviation
students, including three
women.
Toelke, who is also a com-
mercial pilot in the firefighting
field, reflected on why so few
women choose flying. For one
thing, he said, the male-domi-
nated field hasn’t always been
welcoming to women.
“The captain was kind of
the god of the airline,” Toelke
said. “Some of that macho
male stuff pushed women
away, but the industry has
changed dramatically. There’s
a realization that a macho atti-
tude is not the safest attitude.”
Aviation seems to be
embracing the all-out recruit-
ing of women. Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University hosts
flight exploration camps to
introduce middle- and high-
school girls to flying. Women
in Aviation, the Ninety-Nines
and other groups are award-
ing scholarships to female
flying students. Many airlines
are raising recruiting quotas
for female pilots.
Harbinson figures many
women just haven’t seriously
considered the idea of becom-
ing a pilot.
“It’s just one of those areas
where they don’t think of it as
an option,” she said. “It’s not
on their radar.”
Wildbill is happy with her
decision to start flying. Even
after hearing the story of a
student having to fly solo on
her third lesson after her flight
instructor slumped over from
cardiac arrest, she refused to
worry. Instead, she asked her
instructor to teach landings
sooner rather than later.
“He had me do seven
touch-and-goes that day,” she
said.
Most of the time, instead
of worry, flying brings calm
to Wildbill.
“It’s like yoga in the sky,”
Wildbill said. “You have to be
so focused and present.”
tions that will take effect
Monday, July 29. The BLM
manages primarily lower-el-
evation rangeland where
grasses and shrubs tend to
dry earlier than forested
areas.
Campfires will be banned
across the Vale District, as
will driving motor vehicles
off designated roads.
Cooking stoves and heat-
ers that burn liquid or bot-
tled gas will still be allowed,
but they must be used in an
area at least 10 feet in diam-
eter that’s been cleared of
flammable materials.
“The light fuels that
characterize the rangeland
in this area take very little
time to dry out with wind
and higher temperatures,”
Tracy Skerjanec, the Vale
District’s deputy fire man-
agement officer, said in a
press release. “We’ve seen
the moisture levels dropping
significantly to warrant the
additional restrictions.”
Lightning sparks fires
on Umatilla
A series of thunderstorms
last weekend sparked sev-
eral fires on the Umatilla
National Forest, including
six on the Heppner Ranger
District.
On Tuesday fire crews
focused on the Bull Fire
near Bull Prairie Lake,
which was reported Mon-
day afternoon and burned
four acres.
Fire crews contained a
5-acre fire near Rocky Flat
on Monday.
The energy release com-
ponent rating on Monday
creeped just above aver-
age in that part of the Blue
Mountains.
With few fires in the
region, and none of them
requiring large numbers
of firefighters, the Wal-
lowa-Whitman has been able
to temporarily assign two
of its 20-member elite Hot-
shot crews to other areas,
McCraw said.
The Union Hotshots
have been working on
fires in Alaska for close
to two weeks, and the La
Grande Hotshots are on a
fire in Washington.
Apartments: Pendleton
Heights out of limbo as
financing surfaces
Continued from Page A1
to a project that’s been
beset by delays and rene-
gotiations for years.
The Tutuilla Road
housing
development
was announced in 2012
and was originally con-
ceived as a 72-townhouse
subdivision.
As a part of a part-
nership between Jivanjee
and Pendleton city gov-
ernment, the city agreed
to donate the land near
Olney Cemetery and
front the money for nec-
essary
infrastructure
improvements.
After Jivanjee built
32
townhouses,
the
city allowed Jivanjee to
change the final 40 town-
houses into a 100-unit
complex.
More renegotiations
followed, usually involv-
ing more money from the
city for infrastructure or
moving around the debt
owed to the city to make it
more palatable to the proj-
ect’s private financiers.
The
relationship
between Jivanjee and the
Pendleton City Council
has grown more conten-
tious with each passing
round of renegotiation.
After the council
rebuked one of Jivan-
jee’s requests in Sep-
tember 2018, the council
agreed to take on more of
the infrastructure costs
and Jivanjee committed
to pay $150,000 to the
city before starting the
project.
On Monday, Jivanjee
said the project has been
delayed by the complexi-
ties of financing, but he’s
still invested in seeing it
succeed.
Although he’s had the
city take on more of the
financial burden of the
development,
Jivanjee
said the city’s contribu-
tion is still dwarfed by the
$13 million to $14 million
he will have invested in
the project by the time it’s
done.
“It’s a sweetheart deal
for (the city),” he said.
With Jinvajee expect-
ing to see loan funds soon,
he expects the road to be
completed in late Septem-
ber or early October.
Building the first 20
units of the apartment
complex will involve a
new loan process, Jivan-
jee said, and he now proj-
ects they’ll be completed
in spring 2020.
Recall: Although odds seem stacked against recall supporters, they are hopeful
Continued from Page A1
petitions, one of which was
filed by Oregon’s Republi-
can Party chairman Bill Cur-
rier and the other by the Ore-
gon First! PAC and the Flush
Down Kate Brown group that
is led by Michael Cross.
Justifications for the fil-
ings included Brown’s cap-
and-trade legislation that
failed after GOP senators left
the state to avoid a vote and
the governor’s subsequent
comments at the end of the
session that hinted she may
turn to executive powers to
pass future environmental
legislation.
Also mentioned was leg-
islation that granted undocu-
mented immigrants the abil-
ity to get a drivers’ license,
raising taxes, Oregon’s status
as a sanctuary state and more.
On Tuesday, Beers spent
a few hours of her afternoon
sitting under the shade at Vet-
erans Memorial Park in Pilot
Rock gathering signatures.
Though she voiced her agree-
ment with many of the points
listed in the filings, the thing
that’s compelled her the most
has been feeling ignored by
the state’s executive office
and legislature.
“There’s 26 things on
my list,” Beers said, laugh-
ing. “But most of all, I don’t
believe they’re listening to
the will of the people.”
The primary example
lauded by Beers and other
supporters of the recall is
House Bill 2015, which
passed through Congress and
was signed into law by Brown
at the end of the session. The
bill was nearly identical to
Measure 88 in granting those
who can’t prove legal citizen-
ship the ability to get a driv-
ers’ license.
In 2014, Measure 88 didn’t
pass a vote from the public by
a margin of 66% to 34%.
“When the citizens of the
state vote on something, I
don’t believe the legislature
of the governor have a right
to reverse it,” Beers said.
An official statement on
the recall efforts from the
Roundup Republican Women
shares the same sentiment.
“The people of Oregon
recognize that government
derives its just powers from
the consent of the governed.
They therefore demand a
Governor that honors the will
of the voters and works for
the good of all citizens,” the
statement read. “They under-
stand it is their right to alter
government when it does not
abide by these principles.”
Since placing the recall
petitions out at his rifle shop
last Friday, Daren Blagg said
he’s seen a “huge amount” of
people come by to sign it and
that the majority have men-
tioned HB2015 as to why.
Another complaint from
the effort’s supporters is that
Brown has threatened use of
executive action to pass legis-
lation, such as cap-and-trade
that failed in the past session.
However, Democrats aren’t
buying it.
Mark Petersen, the chair-
man of the Umatilla County
Democratic Party, said recall
organizers were more moti-
vated by their dislike of
Brown than by executive
overreach, seeing as the gov-
ernor hasn’t taken any action
yet.
“This whole thing is like
political vaudeville,” he said.
“There’s no basis for a recall.”
ther comment on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Beers took
offense
to
Wheatley’s
statement.
“They’re just ignoring the
people,” she said. “This has
nothing to do with Trump.”
While each side is at odds
about the motivation behind
the recall efforts, Petersen
has a point about the hurdles
facing its supporters.
“IF YOU AREN’T FOLLOWING THE
WILL OF THE PEOPLE THEN THIS IS
WHAT HAPPENS.”
— HollyJo Beers
If organizers don’t get
more funding for their recall
effort, Petersen anticipates
it will be “an exercise in
futility.”
Following the news that
recall efforts had been offi-
cially filed, Brown’s political
advisor Thomas Wheatley
released a statement linking
the efforts all the way to the
top of the GOP:
“First, Republicans held
the legislative process hos-
tage, now they want to undo
the entire election. They
claim it’s about education
funding and addressing cli-
mate change. But this is really
Trump’s politics descending
on Oregon. It has no place
here and should go back to
the morally corrupt place it
came from.”
The governor’s office
could not be reached for fur-
As reported by the Salem
Statesman Journal, ana-
lysts from the state say the
effort is unlikely to succeed.
While the signature require-
ment, which is set at 15% of
the most recent gubernatorial
election, is a steep total on its
own, even if enough signa-
tures are collected and veri-
fied all that is guaranteed is a
special election taking place
in the next 35 days.
In 2018, Brown won
re-election with 50.1% of the
vote, which equaled 934,498
total votes. That was 6.4%
and 119,510 votes more than
Republican candidate Knute
Buehler received.
History isn’t on the recall’s
side either.
In 1908, Oregon and
Michigan became the first
states to make state execu-
tive and legislator recalls an
option. Since then, only three
state governors have even
had recall efforts make it to
the ballot.
Lynn J. Frazier was suc-
cessfully recalled by North
Dakota voters in 1921, Cali-
fornia recalled Gray Davis in
2003, and then in 2012 Scott
Walker survived a recall elec-
tion from Wisconsin voters.
Over that same span, Ore-
gon has recalled three state
legislators but has never
seen a governor’s recall
effort make it to ballot. Most
recently, Oregon City resi-
dent Arin Marcus launched a
recall against Brown in 2017
but failed to secure the neces-
sary signatures.
While the odds may
appear to be stacked against
them, Beers said she thinks
this year’s effort is a move-
ment that’s different than
those in the past.
“So many people are
awake now. People are really
angry,” she said. “Everybody
can look at what’s going on
and find something wrong.”
That’s why, according to
Beers, she’s had numbers of
registered Democrats and
people unaffiliated with polit-
ical parties coming to sign
her petition as well.
Beers began gathering
signatures on Monday and
said as of Tuesday afternoon
that she had gotten about
200 on her petitions. In the
past, Beers has successfully
gathered signatures for local
ordinances, mostly related to
preservation of the Second
Amendment. Based on those
previous experiences, she
said she can count on the peti-
tions at Garner’s and Blagg’s
to reach between 500-1,000.
Both stores said they’d
have the petitions out and
available for people to sign
until the October deadline.
While those only amount
to a small dent in the required
signatures, Beers said she is
confident in the movement
around the state after hear-
ing of organizers in Medford
who collected 8,000 in just
two days.
Along with gathering sig-
natures, Beers said she has
dedicated time to helping
people register to vote if they
haven’t already. And while
optimistic of the effort, she
also knows there’s a possibil-
ity it might fail.
In that event, the more
registered voters who are
sympathetic to the efforts of
Beers and other supporters
of the recall means they’re
better prepared for what’s to
come.
“Then we move onto the
next phase to get people in
there to beat the Democrats,”
Beers said. “Get active, get
out there and get elected.”
But beyond everything
else, Beers hopes the orga-
nizing efforts of the recall
movement sends a message
to Brown.
“We want our voices
heard,” she said. “If you
aren’t following the will
of the people then this is
what happens.”