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OFF PAGE ONE
Wallowa County Chieftain
Fire:
Wednesday, September 7, 2022
fi ghters on the ground, to try
to limit the fi res’ spread in
certain directions.
Both the Sturgill and
Nebo fi res have surpassed
the 2019 Granite Gulch Fire
as the biggest in the Eagle
Cap Wilderness since the
Wallowa-Whitman National
Forest instituted a policy
allowing lightning fi res to
burn naturally. The Gran-
ite Gulch Fire burned about
5,500 acres in August and
September 2019.
The Goat Mountain 1
Fire is not currently active.
The Goat Mountain 2 Fire,
which is burning 9 miles
south of Lostine, has burned
153 acres. It is zero percent
contained and there are two
personnel assigned to the
fi re.
Fire activity was mini-
mal on the Goat Mountain 2
Fire on Labor Day. Lookouts
will continue to monitor the
fi re, and fi refi ghters will take
action to suppress the fi re in
Lostine Canyon if needed.
ANOTHER BRIEFING SET FOR SEPT. 8
JOSEPH — Another community briefi ng on the fi res in
Wallowa County will be held Thursday, Sept. 8, at 6 p.m.
at the Joseph Community Events Center, fi re offi cials
announced Sept. 6.
Continued from Page A1
eff ect for the town of Imnaha
and south to Freezeout
Road. A Level 2 “Get Set”
is in eff ect for the area from
the town of Imnaha north to
Fence Creek, including the
lands east toward Lightning
Creek, and Lostine River
Road from Fir Road south
including all campgrounds.
A Level 1 “Be Ready” is in
eff ect from Freezeout south
to the Pallette Ranch and
Imnaha River Woods, and
Lostine River Road from
Highway 82 to Fir Road.
Eagle Cap
Wilderness fi res
There was low to moder-
ate fi re activity on the Stur-
gill Fire on the Labor Day
holiday. The Wildland Fire
Modules, working in con-
junction with Smokejump-
ers, implemented structure
Damage:
Continued from Page A1
He was asked if the group
of contractors was complete
and said he is open to having
more join the recovery eff orts.
“You can never have too
much help,” he said.
Wide variety of aid
Several offi cials from var-
ious agencies also told Wal-
lowans they were available to
help.
Connie Guentert, of Wal-
lowa, executive director of
Community Connection of
Northeast Oregon and until
recently the manager of the
Enterprise offi ce, emphasized
that Community Connection
has multiple resources avail-
able, including food, transpor-
tation and household materi-
als. She urged contacting the
Enterprise offi ce directly.
Dr. Elizabeth Powers said
both Winding Waters Medical
Clinic and Wallowa Memo-
rial Hospital could help with
mental health needs, noting
that the community has expe-
rienced a traumatic event in
the hailstorm.
A list of resources was cir-
culated at the meeting and
copies would be made avail-
able at city hall, Community
Connection, the senior center
and elsewhere around town. It
includes contacts and sources
to receive and make dona-
tions, bedding, a possible tax
break from the county Asses-
sor’s Offi ce, food banks,
The meeting will provide the latest information on
fi refi ghting eff orts on the Double Creek Fire — now the
state’s largest — the Sturgill Fire, the Nebo Fire and the
Goat Mountain 2 Fire.
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
A high-pressure ridge in Wallowa County on Tuesday, Sept. 7,
2022, blankets the valley fl oor with smoke from the Double
Creek and Eagle Cap Wilderness fi res and makes it impossible
to see the mountains.
protection for private inhold-
ings along the Minam River.
The Sturgill Fire has
burned 14,262 acres and
is zero percent contained,
according to the Sept. 6
update. There are 33 person-
nel assigned to fi ght the fi re,
which is burning 15 miles
southwest of Enterprise.
Firefi ghters will con-
tinue
structure
protec-
tion measures on Sept. 6
where needed. Additional
housing, transportation, vet-
erans services, legal aid and
state resources, and con-
tact information for various
building contractors, window
replacement, carpet clean-
ing and tree services and auto
repair.
Reach out to help others
It was acknowledged that
not nearly all who live in Wal-
lowa were represented at the
meeting. Notices of the meet-
ing had been posted around
town and announced on the
city’s Facebook page, Harsh-
fi eld said, but it was just
scheduled Aug. 29 and she
believes the word hadn’t got-
ten around to everyone.
“Not everybody’s on Face-
book,” she said.
Hulse and Cathey agreed
more meetings will be
scheduled, be they weekly,
bi-weekly or whenever is
appropriate.
“The good news is there
will be more meetings,”
Cathey said.
Prior to adjourning the
emergency council meeting,
Hulse was asked if he wanted
to schedule the next meeting.
He declined to do so, saying
they would wait until they
have more information to
announce.
In the midst of concern
for their own needs, Hillock
urged Wallowans to reach out
to others they may know who
are in need, particularly the
elderly.
“Each one of you needs
to do that,” he said. “You all
know someone in need.”
resources and equipment
will be assigned to the Stur-
gill Fire to complete a shaded
fuel break along the Lostine
River corridor.
The Nebo Fire, which is
burning 21 miles southeast
of Enterprise near Mount
Nebo, has burned 7,832
acres and is zero percent
contained. There are 81 per-
sonnel assigned to fi ght the
fi re.
Fire activity was low to
Growers:
Continued from Page A1
Melville said he primarily
cut that poor crop last year at
the request of his crop insur-
ance agent.
With the crop insurance,
“You can at least cover your
bases,” he said.
This year, Melville said,
“the only thing that kept it
from being a bumper crop
was we didn’t get that extra
inch of rain in July.”
Precipitation and cooler
temperatures through June
helped a lot, he said.
Predictions come true
Offi cial sources predicted
Oregon wheat production
would far surpass that of last
year.
A writer at Columbia
Community Connection said
that wheat harvests in Ore-
gon and Washington were
forecasted to surpass 2021
yields by as much as 85%
due to heavy rainfall and
cooler spring and summer
temperatures.
The USDA’s National
Agricultural Statistics Ser-
vice forecasted that Oregon
winter wheat production was
expected to total 44.6 mil-
lion bushels, up 41% from
last year. Growers in Ore-
gon are expected to harvest
a total of 720,000 acres of
wheat. And yield is predicted
to be 62 bushels per acre, up
23 bushel from last year.
Prices are up, too, accord-
The briefi ng also will be on Facebook live at www.Facebook.
com/DoubleCreekFire2022 and www.Facebook.com/
EagleCapWildernessFires 2022.
— Wallowa County Chieftain
moderate on Sept. 5. Crews
and heavy equipment kept
the fi re west of the road sys-
tem. Additional resources
assisted with mastication
and thinning along the Wal-
lowa Mountain Loop Road
(FSR 39) and Forest Ser-
vice Road 200. Firefi ghters
also implemented structure
protection to Forest Service
infrastructure, including the
Lick Creek Campground.
Roadside mastication will
continue along the Wallowa
Mountain Loop Road (FSR
39) to the Canal Road on
Sept. 6.
The Sturgill and Nebo
fi res in the Eagle Cap Wil-
derness are “managed” fi res.
That means offi cials are not
trying to put out the fi re but
are using a variety of tactics,
monitoring the fi res in some
areas and taking action, such
as having helicopters drop
water and dispatching fi re-
ing to www.oregonlive.com,
which stated that the price
for Oregon wheat has nearly
doubled in the past two years
and farmers are anticipat-
ing a hearty crop this sum-
mer, with the damp spring
creating favorable growing
conditions.
Farmers agree
Other farmers agreed with
Melville that the weather
was key to their bountiful
crop.
“The moisture’s always
a factor, especially com-
pared to last year,” said Jon
VanderZanden, who raises
about 165 acres of dark
northern spring wheat. His
biggest crop is alfalfa and
timothy grass hay on the
approximately 1,000 acres
he farms, but the wheat is an
important crop.
“It looks like it’s good,
but I won’t really know until
it’s all in,” he said Sept. 1.
Burke Lathrop, who
raises about 1,000 acres in
the Leap area outside of Los-
tine, said his yield also is far
above normal thanks to the
extra moisture.
“My crops that usually
make 60 bushels an acre are
making 80,” he said.
In fact, he had some vol-
unteer wheat — a crop that
comes up on its own from
the previous year that wasn’t
planted — produce more
than the crop it replaced.
“I cut a fi eld last year and
was going to summer fallow
it,” he said, meaning he’d not
plant it this year. “Then my
breakdowns are a regular
part of farming.
VanderZanden had to
take a break from his har-
vesting Sept. 1 to run to town
for parts.
“I’ve been living in my
truck,” he said.
Melville had a more
unusual forced halt when his
combine ran across a steel
squirrel trap.
On Aug. 31, he was har-
vesting a fi eld of oats just
west of Highway 3 north of
Enterprise and ran across the
trap.
He said they regularly
trap squirrels because they
devastate the crops. But the
traps are made of metal and
secured to the ground with a
long metal stake that wreaks
havoc on a combine header.
“Those squirrels cost us
tens of thousands of dollars
each year,” he said. “But it’s
tough to remember where all
the traps are.”
Fortunately, this time, hit-
ting the trap bent only a por-
tion of the header a little and
Melville was able to keep
going.
But the producers keep
producing, all agreed. As
smaller farms get consol-
idated into larger ones, or
farmers retire and their land
gets sold to developers, that
means the farming commu-
nity is shrinking. Those who
remain on the land feel the
need to stay there.
“There are fewer and
fewer of us doing it any-
more,” Stonebrink said.
“We’ve got to keep it going.”
tractor broke down and the
fi eld grew up. I got 40 bush-
els an acre where I’d only
gotten 28 an acre last year.”
Also, Lathrop said, he
usually leaves the straw in
the fi eld, but there was too
much so he baled it and
hauled it to dairy farms,
which use it for bedding for
their cattle.
Melvin Stonebrink, who
farms more than 800 acres
of dryland soft white winter
wheat, DNS and feed bar-
ley in the Leap area, said his
land is abnormally dry, so the
extra moisture was essential.
“We’re considered the
driest spot in Wallowa
County,” he said.
Stonebrink said his yield,
so far, has been in the high
60s for bushels per acre.
“That’s way above our
average,” he said. “It’s nor-
mally 48 bushels. Last
year was one of the worst
droughts we’ve had and only
got 4 bushels. It’s kind of
nice to have a good crop for
a change.”
He said the timely
rains and lower tempera-
tures made for an excel-
lent grass-growing year, of
which hay and small grains
are a part of.
“The grass family likes it.
That’s why the grain and hay
did well this year,” Stone-
brink said. “We need to have
a good one every so often.”
Other problems
Moisture isn’t the only
thing that hampers or ben-
efi ts farmers. Equipment
Coffee Break!
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CLUES ACROSS
1. Grievous
7. Queens ballplayer
10. Honorable title
12. Created
13. Grillmasters do it
14. Wartime German
cargo ship
15. Cocoplum
16. Hebrew calendar
month
17. British thermal unit
18. Brews
19. One of Thor’s names
21. Decorative scarf
22. Clothes
27. -__: denotes past
28. A way to address a
lover
33. Commercial
34. Utters repeatedly
36. Google certification
(abbr.)
37. Taxis
38. Belgian village in
Antwerp
39. Talk excessively
17. “__ Humbug!”
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20. Journalist Tarbell
23. Teachers
24. One older than you
25. Long Russian river
26. Run batted in
29. Beloved Hollywood
alien
30. Holiday (informal)
CLUES DOWN
31. Furniture with open
1. Protein-rich liquids
shelves
2. Musician Clapton
32. Argued
3. Wine
35. Sino-Soviet block
4. When you hope to
(abbr.)
arrive
5. Something one can get 36. Cars have them
38. Volcanic craters
stuck in
6. Midway between east 40. Made of fermented
honey and water
and southeast
41. Shelter for mammals
7. Mothers
or birds
8. German river
42. One who utilizes
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43. Moves swiftly on foot
10. Discharged
11. Areas near the retina 44. Builder’s trough
45. Architectural wing
12. Greek mythological
46. 12
sorceress
14. Very unpleasant smell 47. Pacific Standard Time
40. Broad volcanic crater
41. Surgical instrument
44. Listens to
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48. Paddles
49. Heard
50. Tooth caregiver
51. Metric capacity units
WORDS
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