NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Friday, December 27, 2019
Action on Owyhee wilderness bill likely in 2020
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
SALEM — Supporters
of a proposed wilderness
designation for a chunk
of Malheur County expect
the bill to make progress in
Congress as 2020 unfolds.
U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden
and Jeff Merkley, both
D-Ore., on Nov. 7 intro-
duced Senate Bill 2828,
the Malheur County Com-
munity
Empowerment
for the Owyhee Act. It
would designate more than
1.1 million acres of the
Owyhee River Canyon-
lands in Malheur County
as wilderness.
Local ranchers, busi-
ness people and commu-
nity members collaborated
with conservation groups,
university researchers and
others to craft the bill. It’s
viewed as important in
preserving the area’s his-
toric and economically
significant ranching indus-
try, and protecting wild-
life, scenic and other val-
ues as the area draws more
visitors.
The bill was read twice
in the Senate and referred
to the Senate Commit-
tee on Energy and Natural
Resources. Wyden serves
on that committee.
“Sen. Wyden will hit
the ground running in
Photo contributed by Toni Jo Eiguren
Owyhee Basin Stewardship Coalition Treasurer Elias Eiguren, right, with son Thales, 10, at
the family’s ranch near Arock.
prises environmental orga-
nizations and the Owyhee
Basin Stewardship Coali-
tion. The coalition consists
of local ranchers, business
owners, outdoor enthusi-
asts, law enforcement offi-
cials and others.
In a nod to local lead-
ership, the Oregon Cat-
tlemen’s Association Pub-
2020 to get a hearing in the
Senate Energy and Nat-
ural Resources Commit-
tee as soon as possible for
the legislation backed by
the broad-based coalition
he put together in Eastern
Oregon,” said Hank Stern,
Wyden’s Oregon press sec-
retary based in Portland.
The broad group com-
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
A stray afternoon
shower
Periods of clouds
and sunshine
Considerable
clouds
Clouds and sun
Cloudy
41° 28°
38° 32°
43° 28°
39° 31°
45° 34°
40° 31°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
39° 30°
46° 35°
43° 32°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
47/38
33/26
40/27
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
39/28
Lewiston
44/38
42/29
Astoria
48/37
Pullman
Yakima 36/25
45/35
38/29
Portland
Hermiston
45/37
The Dalles 43/28
Salem
Corvallis
47/33
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
36/26
Bend
48/32
40/25
37/25
Ontario
36/23
Caldwell
Burns
0.00"
0.13"
1.24"
5.08"
7.62"
9.71"
WINDS (in mph)
36/23
34/12
BEND — Two peo-
ple were arrested during a
human trafficking investi-
gation in southeast Bend on
Christmas Eve.
Around 1:20 p.m. on
Tuesday, Bend police pulled
over a stolen 2009 sil-
ver Dodge Charger near
the intersection of South-
east Murphy and Southeast
Country Club roads.
Jennifer Marie John-
son, a 40-year-old Portland
resident, and Tyler John
Charles Ford, a 29-year-old
Gresham resident, were in
the car along with a 15-year-
old girl from Portland.
Today
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
43/29
Sat.
WSW 4-8
WSW 6-12
NE 3-6
WNW 4-8
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
38/20
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
7:35 a.m.
4:17 p.m.
8:56 a.m.
5:53 p.m.
First
Full
Last
New
Jan 2
Jan 10
Jan 17
Jan 24
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 83° in Naples, Fla. Low -11° in Big Piney, Wyo.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
50s
ice
60s
cold front
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Copyright © 2019, EO Media Group
Johnson
Officers identified the
teenage girl as a missing
person out of the Portland
area.
Throughout the investi-
gation, officers believed the
teenager was being groomed
for work in the commercial
sex trade.
No one was injured
during the investigation and
the girl is now safe.
Heroin and methamphet-
amine were seized from
BRIEFLY
Missing skier at Mt. Bachelor
in Oregon found safe
Former Walmart worker faces
charges of bomb, death threats
BEND — Authorities have found a
30-year-old skier from California who went
missing while skiing at an Oregon resort on
Christmas Day.
The search for Ashlee Gingerich began
around 5 p.m. Wednesday when Deschutes
County deputies were alerted she had not
reunited with her skiing partners at Mt.
Bachelor. The ski patrol swept all the runs
right away and did not find her.
Deschutes County Search and Res-
cue professionals and volunteers then got
involved.
The Bulletin reports Gingerich was
found in good condition Thursday after
spending the night on the mountain because
of an alcohol-fueled ski crash.
Lt. Bryan Husband, Deschutes County
Search and Rescue coordinator, said she
was unable to get back into her skis, aban-
doned her equipment and began walking
downhill.
Gingerich then grew tired, fell asleep
and walked to a chairlift in the morning,
Husband said. She displayed mild signs of
hypothermia, but was otherwise unharmed.
YAKIMA, Wash. — A former Walmart
employee in Washington state pleaded not
guilty to charges he threatened to blow up one
of the stores and kill two managers, according
to court records.
Roy Lee Maynard, 41, was arraigned Tues-
day on a charge of making a threat to bomb
property and two counts of felony harassment,
The Yakima Herald reported Tuesday.
Maynard was recently fired from the
Walmart in Yakima and sent texts to an assis-
tant manager Dec. 10 saying he was going to
blow up the building and kill two managers,
authorities said.
Maynard also said in the texts he would
make the managers watch as he killed their
families. Both managers told police they
believed the threats, authorities said.
Maynard has no prior felony convictions,
but Yakima police asked the court to impose a
high bail due to the victims’ fear of the suspect
and severity of the threats, court records said.
Maynard was released on his own recogni-
zance as part of the Yakima County Superior
Court’s pretrial release program, records said.
— EO Media Group and Associated Press
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
Ford
the vehicle, along with sto-
len and forged identification
documents. Several of the
recovered documents were
linked to thefts in the Port-
land area.
Johnson was jailed on
suspicion of 10 counts each
of identity theft, first-degree
forgery and criminal posses-
sion of a forged instrument,
and one count each of prosti-
tution and unlawful posses-
sion of methamphetamine.
Ford was jailed on sus-
picion of unlawful pos-
session of heroin and was
found to be in violation of a
restraining order for being
in contact with the 15-year-
old juvenile female in the
vehicle.
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
43°
32°
39°
27°
67° (1980) 5° (1948)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
47/34
0.00"
0.75"
1.33"
12.33"
10.20"
12.80"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 35/23
47/34
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
41/28
42/32
38°
31°
39°
25°
67° (1980) -9° (1924)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
46/34
Aberdeen
33/23
33/25
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
46/39
Human trafficking investigation
in Bend leads to two arrests
By BRENNA VISSER
EO Media Group
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
37° 31°
lic Lands Committee and
national Public Lands
Council went against
standing policy in decid-
ing they would not oppose
the wilderness legislation.
OBSC Treasurer Elias
Eiguren,
whose
fam-
ily runs a ranch in south-
ern Malheur County, said
when a hearing on the
bill is held in Washing-
ton, D.C., OBSC members
likely will participate.
“We are waiting on the
senator’s direction,” he
said, referring to Wyden.
Locally,
OBSC
—
which opposed an Obama-
era proposal to designate
a national monument —
has been discussing details
and on-the-ground impacts
of the legislation as well as
concerns.
Eiguren said some peo-
ple have voiced questions
or concerns about how the
legislation would affect
existing water rights, and
how wilderness designa-
tion would impact access
to federal land for hunting,
fishing or ranching.
Input about concerns
can help in “seeing if there
is a possibility to address
these concerns within
this legislation as we go
through the legislative pro-
cess,” he said.
“Especially when you
are dealing with this type
of acreage and the unique-
ness of the landscape, it
is very important to get
things right so you don’t
shut out access for peo-
ple who have traditionally
used the land in ways that
are low-impact or benefi-
cial,” Eiguren said.
The legislation would
allow grazing to continue,
partly as a land-manage-
ment tool used to mini-
mize impacts of wildfire
and other threats.
It
would
provide
funding for research,
active-management activ-
ities and monitoring, and
enforcement of anticipated
uses.
It would maintain exist-
ing roads, and establish
“loop roads” to encourage
tourism while improving
access for firefighting.
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
CORRECTION: In the Page C5 story “Days Gone By,” published Saturday, Dec.
21, in the 25 Years Ago section, former Port of Portland Executive Director Mike
Thorne’s name was misspelled.
The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely regrets any errors. If
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