INSIDE : Round-Up names Bob Stangier as Westward Ho! grand marshal | PAGE A3
E O
AST
145th Year, No. 97
REGONIAN
TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 2021
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WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
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OR RT H EA
EG ST
ON
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T
WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT
ISA
N
More
money Two Pendleton-centric bills greenlighted
needed
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Sen. Jeff Merkley
wants $1 billion
to make forests
less vulnerable
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S.
Sen. Jeff Merkley said last week he
will lobby the Biden administration
to spend at least $1 billion more per
year for logging, prescribed burn-
ing and other work
to make federal
forests in Oregon
and elsewhere less
vulnerable to wild-
fi res during a future
w h e n cl i m a t e
change is likely to
heighten that threat.
Merkley
“Forests are the
heart of Oregon’s identity,” Merkley,
a Democrat, said during an online
press conference Thursday, May 27.
“We have got to do a lot to restore
our forests, to make much more
substantial investments in forest
management.”
Merkley said he hopes to push
his campaign for more aggressive
forest management from his position
as chairman of the Senate Interior,
Environment and Related Agencies
Subcommittee, which he has held
since February.
Merkley convened an appropri-
ations hearing on May 26 where he
advocated for the federal govern-
ment to boost spending on forest
management.
Vicki Christiansen, chief of the
U.S. Forest Service, the federal
agency that manages much of the
public forests in Northeastern
Oregon, testifi ed before the subcom-
mittee.
Merkley said one of his chief
goals is to double federal spending,
from $40 million to $80 million, for
“collaborative” projects on national
forests.
Those are projects that Merkley
said are designed to bring together
traditional “rivals,” such as environ-
mental groups and timber industry
representatives, to work together to
promote solutions that both support.
Merkley said that in the 2018
federal farm bill he included autho-
rization to double spending on
forest collaboratives — which he
described as the “antidote to the
timber wars.”
But the next step — indeed, the
vital step — is to actually include
that money in the Forest Service’s
budget.
During the May 26 hearing
before the subcommittee, Merkley
See Wildfi res, Page A9
SALEM — The Oregon Legis-
lature is clearing the way for the
city of Pendleton to enact two new
policies that require a change in
state law.
On May 18, the Legislature
passed House Bill 2160, a bill that
will allow the city to expand its
urban growth boundary for aff ord-
able housing projects. A week
later, lawmakers followed up by
S
OREGON LEGISLATURE
passing Senate
Bill 315, which
will give the city
the authority to
block disclo-
sure of all public
records relating
Corbett
to the Pendle-
ton Unmanned
Aerial Systems Range if they create
a competitive disadvantage.
State Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Ath-
ena, who was a chief sponsor on
both bills along with state Rep.
with lawmakers and other inter-
ested parties before and during the
legislative session to address any
concerns.
Legislature OKs Pendleton
expansion bill
Levy
Hansell
Bobby Levy, R-Echo, praised
the city of Pendleton for its eff ort
in trying to get the bills passed.
Hansell said city officials and
their lobbyist worked hard to meet
Second time was the charm
for Pendleton’s urban growth bill,
which seemed slated for passage in
2020 before the Republican walk-
outs over cap-and-trade legislation
See Bills, Page A9
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Sunlight silhouettes a Pendleton High School graduate Saturday, May 29, 2021, as he prepares to enter the Pendleton Round-Up Arena
for graduation. More than 170 Pendleton High seniors and their families celebrated the commencement at the Round-Up Grounds.
MOVING ON
Pendleton High grads
‘overcome adversity’
of turbulent times
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
P
ENDLETON — They
endured the monotony of
online classes. They spent
months stuck at home,
away from friends, teach-
ers and coaches. And when
they returned to school, things
weren’t quite how they used to
be, with masks, social distanc-
ing and off -kilter schedules to
curb the spread of COVID-19.
Many struggled through the
uncertain year.
But on Saturday, May 29, a
windless, clear and warm day
in Pendleton, they moved their
tassels from right to left. After
an undoubtedly turbulent end to
their high school learning, the
Pendleton High School Class of
2021 was moving on.
More than 170 students
received their diplomas at the
school’s commencement at
See PHS, Page A9
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Spectators fi ll the stands Saturday, May 29, 2021, at the Pendle-
ton Round-Up Arena as more than 170 Pendleton High School
graduates and their families celebrate commencement.
Veterans, families turn out for Memorial Day services
By JADE MCDOWELL AND
ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — As the sound
of the Taps bugle call echoed across
the Hermiston Cemetery on Memo-
rial Day, more than 600 American
fl ags waved gently behind the crowd
standing in silent attention.
The fl ags aren’t mere decoration
— anyone who knows where to look
can fi nd the name on each fl ag of an
area veteran who has died.
“My dad’s fl ag is out here some-
place,” David Marks said after the
memorial ceremony fi nished. “My
uncle’s fl ag is out here. I’ve been in
town long enough to know a lot of
the people on the fl ags, if I can fi nd
them.”
Marks, an Army veteran himself,
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
A member of VFW Post 1123
salutes during the national an-
them Monday, May 31, 2021, at a
Memorial Day service at the Herm-
iston Cemetery.
said he enjoyed the service at the
cemetery the morning of Monday,
May 31. The event included patri-
otic songs from Hermiston High
School’s choir and band programs,
and several ceremonial honors for
veterans, including the reading of
names of local veterans who died
since the American Legion and
VFW last held the ceremony in
2019 (it was canceled in 2020 due
to COVID-19).
Pastor Dean Hackett of Living
Faith Church, an Air Force veteran,
spoke at the event, telling the story
of Charles Plumb.
Plumb was a “top gun” naval
pilot who completed 74 combat
missions over Vietnam from the
USS Kitty Hawk. On his 75th
mission, his plane was hit by a
surface-to-air missile and he
ejected, parachuting into enemy
territory. He was captured and
spent six years as a prisoner of war,
tortured and beaten.
After he was freed, Hackett said,
a man approached him at a restau-
rant one day and exclaimed, “You’re
Charlie Plumb!” Plumb didn’t
recognize the man, who proceeded
to tell him that he had packed his
parachute.
Hackett said Plumb later said
he laid awake that night, thinking
about the man who saved his life
by packing his parachute correctly,
wondering how many times he had
passed him on the ship and not both-
ered to say hello, because he was a
fi ghter pilot and the man was “just”
a sailor.
See Veterans, Page A9