REGION
Tuesday, May 18, 2021
Former natural
resources manager for
Umatilla Chemical
Depot passes away
East Oregonian
UMATILLA — Don
Gillis, the former natural
resources manager for the
Umatilla Chemical Depot,
passed away last month at
the age of 73.
Gillis, who worked
at the depot for 15 years,
was instrumental in lead-
ing the efforts to ensure
the survival of the West-
ern Burrowing Owl at
the depot. In 2007, Gillis
noticed a decline in the
nesting areas for the
burrowing owls at the
depot. The decline was due
to a lack of badgers, which
made tunnels the owls used
for spring nesting. Gillis
contacted Mike Gregg, a
biologist with the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, who
put him in contact with
Dr. David Johnson of the
Global Owl Project.
Gillis and Johnson
pursued funding from vari-
ous organizations, and in
2008 biologists, volunteers,
and depot employees soon
began creating and install-
ing artifi cial burrows using
55-gallon plastic barrels,
plastic pipe and buckets.
“When this project
started none of us foresaw
how successful it would
be,” Gregg said.
In 2011, Gillis and the
depot received the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife National Mili-
tary Conservation Partner
Award after being nomi-
nated by Gregg.
Between 2009 to 2020,
there have been 542 nests
on the Umatilla Chemical
Depot and 2,004 Western
Burrowing Owls have been
banded — a sharp increase
from the three to four nest-
ing pairs that called the
depot home in 2008.
“The depot has more
owls than any place else
in the entire Pacifi c North-
west. Had we not put in
artifi cial burrows, the owl
numbers would have zeroed
out about 2010,” David H.
Johnson, director of the
Global Owl Project, said.
“The value of the depot
to the owl population in
British Columbia, Oregon
and Washington is really
phenomenal and truly
signifi cant. With 40 to 60
pairs nesting each year, the
depot is the anchor popula-
tion that critically supports
the owls in the region.”
Carl Scheeler, the wild-
life program manager at the
Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reserva-
tion, said Gillis was always
the “go-to guy” for all
things organic on the depot.
“His understanding and
sensitivity to the local ecol-
ogy was unmatched,” he
said. “That single-mined
focus was truly instrumen-
tal in guiding our plan-
ning for protection of the
imperiled Columbia Basin
shrub-steppe habitats of the
depot.”
Gillis is survived by his
wife, Valerie, sons Peter
and Daniel, and siblings
Hallie, William (Buzz), and
Veronica. Due to COVID
restrictions, the family
will have a private memo-
rial. They have requested
that anyone who wishes to
pay their respects instead
of fl owers, please donate to
one of Don’s favorite chari-
ties: Feeding America, Red
Cross, St. Jude, or the Wild-
life Fund.
Michele Lanigan, a long-
time friend and employee at
the depot, noted that Don
posted on Facebook before
he passed, “Life is good and
then you die. I concentrate
on the fi rst part.”
East Oregonian
A3
Graduation celebrates migrant students’ success
IMESD’s Migrant
Education Program
honors graduates
By BEN LONERGAN
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The
sound of music spread
across the lawn at the East-
ern Oregon Trade and Event
Center, as students in the
InterMountain Education
Service District’s Migrant
Education Program cele-
brated graduation on Satur-
day, May 15, in Hermiston.
The event, in its second
year, offered recognition
to graduating high school
seniors, preschool students
entering kindergarten and
their families, according
to the IMESD’s Director of
Migratory Education and
Assessment Eric Volger.
“It’s just to give a little bit
of extra recognition for some
of the challenges that are
faced when being mobile,” he
said. “Many of these students
transfer multiple times in
their school career so pick-
ing up in a diff erent school,
trying to catch up — much
less graduate — is a pretty
awesome accomplishment.”
As Umatilla High School
senior Jennifer Rincon sat
with her family, she refl ected
on her last two years .
When Rincon and her
family moved to Umatilla
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Umatilla High School senior Jennifer Rincon, left, takes a sel-
fi e while waiting for the the start of the InterMountain Edu-
cation Service District’s Migrant Education Program gradua-
tion ceremony at Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center in
Hermiston on Saturday, May 15, 2021.
from Porterville, Califor-
nia, two years ago she didn’t
know many people and was
struggling to adjust to the
new school. However, two
years later the 18-year-old
high school student is prepar-
ing to graduate high school
and attend Oregon State
University next year.
“When I got here, I only
knew one girl from the whole
school and I didn’t know
anyone else,” she said. “Once
I found out about the Migrant
Education Program, I was
more comfortable being in
the school and I didn’t feel as
left out.”
R i ncon cred it s t he
IMESD’s Migrant Educa-
tion Program, and a simi-
lar program she took part in
while living in California,
with her success as a student.
“It’s really opened doors
for me,” she said. “It’s made
me more comfortable asking
for help from teachers and
my counselor.”
Through Rincon’s time
in the Migrant Education
Program, she worked closely
with the program’s gradua-
tion specialist, Brenda Flores,
who was once a member of
the program herself, is a 2014
graduate of Stanfi eld High
School and fi rst-generation
college graduate from West-
ern Oregon University.
Flores and several other
graduation specialists help
to ensure that students are
on track for graduation and
help them prepare for life
after high school, whether
that be work, trade school
or college. This year, the
program will see 49 students
graduate from high schools
across Umatilla and Morrow
counties, according to Flores.
“We just help our families
look for resources and help
our students fi gure out how
to get on track,” she said. “A
lot of our students are fi rst
generation and although they
know how school works, they
don’t know what they need
to do to reach some of their
goals.”
Flores, a nd pa re nt
involvement specialist
Obdulia Munoz, have seen
an uptick in the involvement
in students’ home lives over
the past year, as they work to
ensure families have the tools
they need to navigate remote
learning and other COVID-
19 issues.
“Instead of just having
the parent meetings that we
usually have during the regu-
lar school year, we try to meet
physical needs like food and
rent and emotional support
with parents,” Munoz said.
LOCAL BRIEFING
Pendleton man
pulled from
Columbia River
KENNEWICK, Wash.
— Oscar Castaneda, 29,
of Pendleton, was found
drowned on Friday, May 14,
in the Columbia River near
the Lampson hydroplane pits
at Columbia Park in Kenne-
wick, Washington.
He has family in Pasco,
Washington, said Benton
County Chief Deputy Coro-
ner Dennis Morris.
It’s believed he drowned
sometime on the evening
of Thursday, May 13, in
the river and fl oated a short
distance downriver to where
he was discovered near the
bank.
Investigators still are
trying to determine why
he was in the park and how
exactly he went into the
water. Castaneda was fully
clothed, so it didn’t appear
that he was swimming.
Foul play is not suspected
at this time, Morris said. No
autopsy is planned.
Columbia Basin Dive
Rescue divers were called in
to help bring him to shore.
Motorcycle crash
kills Washington
man on 395
PEN DLETON — A
Washington man was killed
in a motorcycle crash on
Saturday, May 15, accord-
ing to a press release from
Oregon State Police.
Steven Orchekowsky,
53, of Newcastle, Wash-
ington, was northbound on
U.S. Highway 395 when the
motorcycle left the roadway
and crashed near milepost 53,
the press release said.
OSP was assisted at
the scene by Ukiah Quick
Response Team and Oregon
Department of Transporta-
tion.
— Tri-City Herald and
EO Media Group
OFFER ENDS May 25, 2021
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