NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
Together again: FFA state convention returns in person
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
REDMOND — Watching the
opening session of the 2022 Oregon
FFA State Convention, Hayden
Bush could feel tears welling in his
eyes.
“I’m an emotional person,” said
Bush, an agriculture teacher and
FFA advisor at Tillamook High
School. “There is something about
being in that session hall and feel-
ing that excitement that you can’t get
virtually.”
More than 2,500 Oregon FFA
members and guests gathered start-
ing Thursday, March 17 for the first
in-person convention since the start
of the pandemic, bringing a rush of
energy and unbridled enthusiasm to
the Deschutes Fair & Expo Center in
Redmond. The convention culmi-
nated March 21 in the election of
state officers.
For Codie-Lee Haner, a freshman
at Sherman County High School in
Moro, it was her first live conven-
tion experience. She likened it to
a rock concert, particularly in the
main session hall where members
crowded around the stage to dance
with their friends.
“So far, I’ve made a lot of friends
along the way,” Haner said. “I’m
not good at making friends, but I’ve
opened up to a lot of people here.”
It is precisely that element of
togetherness that FFA members
and advisors say can’t be duplicated
online.
Two years ago, Oregon FFA
members were preparing for the
annual state convention when the
George Plaven/Capital Press
From left, Corrina Smith and Dakota Anderson, sophomores, Elgin FFA, and Gary Walls, senior, Ione FFA, pose
for a photo during the 2022 Oregon FFA State Convention in Redmond, which ran Thursday through Saturday,
March 17-20, 2022.
first coronavirus restrictions were
announced. All public gatherings
were banned to prevent the spread
of the virus, forcing the cancellation
of the convention a week before it
was scheduled to begin.
Oregon FFA leaders moved
quickly to pivot to a virtual conven-
tion in 2020, then again in 2021.
While not ideal, the format still
allowed members to compete in
events, attend workshops and elect
new officers.
Kendall Castrow, a senior at
Redmond High School, said she
is excited to be coming out of the
pandemic and reuniting with her
fellow FFA members from across
the state.
“I feel like there’s been a lot of
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built-up energy,” Castrow said.
“Everybody gets to kind of release
that energy and just be themselves.”
Bush, the Tillamook FFA advi-
sor, said this year was his 15th state
convention as both a teacher and
student. It was at here, Bush said,
that he met his best friend and the
future best man at his wedding. It
was also here that he decided he
Wolves kill working dog near Halfway
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
Mostly cloudy and
warmer
A shower in the
afternoon
67° 43°
69° 40°
Mostly cloudy
Times of clouds
and sun
Partly sunny and
pleasant
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
60° 41°
65° 43°
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HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
71° 41°
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OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
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PENDLETON
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Pullman
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Portland
Hermiston
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The Dalles 71/41
Salem
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68/48
Yesterday
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La Grande
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PRECIPITATION
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24 hours ending 3 p.m.
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HERMISTON
Enterprise
67/43
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PRECIPITATION
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Lake
61/45
Aberdeen
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Tacoma
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Today
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Medford
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Wed.
NNE 4-8
WNW 4-8
SW 7-14
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SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
68/34
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
Sunrise today
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6:55 a.m.
7:10 p.m.
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wanted to become an agriculture
teacher in his hometown.
“The kids learn stuff here they
can take home,” Bush said. “Perhaps
most importantly, they learn who
they are.”
Gary Walls, a senior from Ione,
met the morning of March 19 with
Corrina Smith and Dakota Ander-
son, both sophomores from Elgin.
Walls, who joined FFA in seventh
grade, had just earned his State
Degree, the highest award a state
FFA association can bestow on its
members.
The friends said they remember
feeling disappointed when the state
convention was canceled in 2020.
Now it was time to celebrate.
“You can feel all the positiv-
ity and great emotions in-person,”
Walls said.
“I’m really a people person,”
Anderson added. “I like to meet
new people.”
Phil Ward, Oregon FFA CEO,
said this year they eclipsed 14,000
total members statewide — the most
in the state organization’s history.
For the majority of these
students, Ward said this was their
first in-person state convention.
“They’re seeing it for the first time
with fresh eyes,” he said. “It’s been
fun to watch.”
Though Ward said he is proud
of Oregon FFA for how it has
responded to the pandemic, there
is simply no substitute for being
together in person.
“It just reminds me of what FFA
is all about,” he said. “This is an
organization that builds potential in
young people.”
HALFWAY — A wolf or
wolves from the Cornuco-
pia pack inflicted fatal inju-
ries on a working dog on a
cattle ranch near Halfway
last week.
And a state wildlife biol-
ogist who monitors wolves
in Baker County said wolves
from the Cornucopia and
Keating packs — a total of
at least 15 animals — have
been making some unusual
movements during the past
month or so.
“It makes it harder to
predict what’s going to
happen, and it makes it harder
on producers,” said Brian
Ratliff, district wildlife biol-
ogist at the Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife’s
Baker City office.
Six wolves — three from
each pack — are fitted with
GPS tracking collars, but
Ratliff said recently two of
those collars, one from each
pack, ceased working.
The collars don’t allow
anything approaching real-
time information about the
wolves’ location, Ratliff
said, and uploading data
from the collars to satellites
uses a considerable amount
of the collar’s battery power,
so if they reported the loca-
tion frequently the collars
wouldn’t last long.
The collars typically
report their location once
a day although sometimes
more often — the time varies
to give a wider range of data
— which is usually enough
to allow Ratliff to spot trends
and, when necessary, to alert
ranchers that wolves have
been frequenting a specific
area.
That’s been the case
recently in the north end of
the Eagle Valley, north of
Richland, Ratliff said.
Ranchers have frequently
been hazing wolves in that
area. Ratliff said he has hazed
wolves there as well.
So far there have been no
reports of wolves attacking
livestock in that area, he said
on Thursday, March 17.
The fatal attack on the
working dog, a 40-pound
heeler, happened across the
divide in the south end of
Pine Valley, near Pine Town
Lane.
The dog’s owner found
the animal by its kennel the
morning of March 15, Ratliff
said.
The dog died later, after
being treated by a veteri-
narian, and Ratliff said the
owner, after burying the
animal, called ODFW.
Ratliff said the dog was
disinterred and, after exam-
ining its wounds on March
16, he confirmed it had been
attacked by a wolf or wolves.
He said it’s not certain
where the attack happened,
but he doesn’t think the dog,
given the severity of its inju-
ries, could have traveled very
far after the attack.
According to the ODFW
depredation report, the dog
had “premortem bite punc-
tures to the head and throat
with associated muscle tissue
trauma. Bruising of the hide
and muscle trauma were
found on the back, hips, and
groin. The location and size
of the tooth marks are consis-
tent with wolf attack injuries
on dogs.”
According to the report,
radio collar data from a
yearling male wolf from the
Cornucopia pack placed the
wolf a half-mile from the
ranch where the dog lived, at
2 a.m. and 5 a.m. on March 15.
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 97° in Cotulla, Texas Low -4° in Driggs, Idaho
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
IN BRIEF
Enterprise may have to
return ARPA funds
ENTERPRISE — The city of Enterprise
may have to give back some of the federal
American Rescue Plan Act funds coming
its way, according to a press release from
the city.
The city resolved at its Feb. 14 meeting
to distribute the $443,000 it has received
under the American Rescue Plan Act distrib-
uted because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, City Administrator Lacey
McQuead on March 14 announced the possi-
bility that some of the funds may have to be
returned. City attorney Wyatt Baum agreed
that losing the funds is a possibility, so
McQuead said none of the funds will be spent
until the expected second round of funding is
received. She said the next round is expected
in July or August and is to total $221,795.
She said after the meeting there was a
notice sent out regarding a “claw-back plan,”
that would have rescinded recently allocated
funds.
“However, it doesn’t sound like Oregon
is a part of the rescinding funds discussion,
as it was not on the list of 30 states this could
impact,” McQuead said in an email.
Fire Chief Paul Karvoski said there is
a concern over rising prices and the list of
funding requests he had previously made
likely will go up.
After a discussion, the council agreed the
ARPA Committee will review recommenda-
tions made, make adjustments and revisit the
issue at the next council meeting.
— EO Media Group
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