COMMUNITY
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2020
BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A
Lisa Britton / For the Baker City Herald
Sarah Fry painted a colorful mural on the sidewalk in front of Bella Main Street Market. The artwork features inspiring
words and images with Oregon and Baker County connections, including a wagon train, a beaver and a salmon.
Concrete comes alive on Main Street sidewalk
By Lisa Britton
For the Baker City Herald
Sarah Fry quickly learned that
listening to music while she painted
wasn’t going to work.
“I tried to wear headphones, but
so many people stopped to talk,” she
said.
Fry started painting a mural on
the sidewalk in front of Bella Main
Street Market on Oct. 2. She didn’t
mind when people strolling Main
Street stopped to chat, and soon
ditched the headphones.
“It’s nice to have people respond,”
she said.
The mural, which Fry fi nished
last week, came about from a con-
versation between Beverly Calder,
owner of Bella, and Fry, an artist
who works at Bella and does all the
paint designs on the store windows.
FORESTS
factors contributed to this
change in the species compo-
Continued from Page 1A
sition of forests in the Blue
Those trees, most notably
Mountains. These include
grand and white fi rs, have
past logging that favored the
encroached over the past
commercially valuable pines
century or so in places that
and tamaracks, as well as
historically were dominated
aggressive fi refi ghting strate-
by ponderosa pines and tama- gies that for many decades
racks.
all but eliminated fi res that
Those species, which gener- previously swept through
ally grow in widely spaced
every couple decades, killing
stands rather than in thick-
fi rs before they could form
ets, are much more resistant dense stands.
to wildfi res than the grand
Forest managers’ second
and white fi rs that are much main tool, in addition to thin-
more prevalent.
ning, is fi re itself. But this
Ecologists say multiple
is prescribed fi re, which is
Their discussion, Calder said,
was “about creating beauty — and
hopefully an opportunity to smile
— as well as to stimulate conversa-
tion about playing an active role in
democracy and community.”
The mural’s main message is “No
time to waste.” Surrounding those
words are images tied to Oregon
and Baker County: a wagon train,
apples, pears, hazelnuts, morel
closely controlled, rather than
wildfi re.
After workers have thinned
the forest, crews light fi res
during the spring or fall to
get rid of the combustible
debris. Prescribed fi res can
also promote the growth of
grasses and shrubs that are
food sources for wildlife and
more resistant to fi re than
thickets of trees.
The overriding goal,
Hawkins said, is to restore ex-
panses of forest so that when
the inevitable wildfi res start,
they won’t spread far before
reaching an area that has
mushrooms, a beaver, a salmon, a
swallowtail butterfl y, and a branch
of Oregon grape.
“We’re all in this together,” Calder
said. “I want to stimulate the conver-
sation and celebrate all the things
we hold dear. Think about what you
like, what you want in Baker, and
how you can make it better.”
A checkerboard of black and
white squares outlines the colorful
been thinned. Those areas
can serve as anchor points for
fi re lines.
Ideally, once an area has
been restored, Hawkins said
a fi re potentially can do more
good than harm — in effect
acting much as a prescribed
fi re does in limiting the
amount of fuel on the forest
fl oor.
According to a press release
from the Forest Service an-
nouncing the $2.7 million al-
location, “Work would occur in
general forest areas that are
at risk from wildfi res, such
as areas adjacent to private
O BITUARY
Dwight Saunders
Richland, 1958-2020
Dwight Allen Saunders, 62,
a lifelong Richland resident,
died on Oct. 8, 2020, at his
home surrounded by his
family.
His graveside service will
take place on
Saturday, Oct.
17, at 11 a.m.
at the Eagle
Valley Cemetery
in Richland.
Dwight
Friends are
Saunders invited to join
the family for a
potluck following at the Saun-
ders cabin.
Dwight was born on Jan.
10, 1958, at Baker to Dalton
S. Saunders and Jane M.
Allen-Saunders. He grew
up with siblings Marcia and
Daniel.
Dwight lived in Richland
for all his life; he went to
grade school at Richland
Elementary and attended
Pine-Eagle High School in
Halfway, graduating in 1976.
He was born into a ranching
family, and was 5th genera-
tion. After high school Dwight
wanted to go to college. He
had all of his money saved up
and wanted to be a lawyer.
Sadly, both grandfathers died
the year he graduated, so he
put his college money back
into the farm and stayed
home and ranched.
He married Deborah L.
Carper at Winnemucca,
Nevada, on Nov. 6, 1992. They
met in high school and later
on found each other again.
They had two children, Sierra
Lynne (24) and Sydney Leigh
(22).
Dwight loved raising cattle,
he was a hard worker. He
enjoyed playing cards, loved
to visit, always said “Hello.”
He enjoyed hunting, fi shing
and shooting guns.
Dwight got to enjoy all the
colors from working outside.
His favorite seasons were
spring, when the calves were
born, and the fall, when
the calves came home from
the forest. He loved football
and his favorite team was
“whoever beat the Cowboys.”
He loved his horse, Sis, and
recently, Honey. Dwight was a
Mason, a Shriner, a member
of the Lions Club, school
board member and was a
board member on the ditches
for years.
Dwight’s favorite saying
was “I am so poor if it took
a quarter to go around the
world he couldn’t get out of
Richland.” He loved being a
Dad, his proudest moments
were when his two beautiful
daughters were born.
Dwight is survived by
his wife of 27 years, Debbie;
his daughters, Sierra and
Sydney; his brothers, Dan
Saunders and Bill Fields; his
brother in-law, George Gover;
his nephew, Stacy Gover, and
his wife, Morgan; his nieces,
Holly and Dustin Gallimore,
Joey and Ryan Davis and
families; his brothers-in-law
and sisters-in-law, Gene and
Cindy Carper, Susan and Da-
vid Clason, Jerry and Shelly
Smith, and Mark and Melody
Weir; his nieces and nephews,
Elisha Suldan, Raleigh Coff-
man, Renae Coffman-Han-
sen, Randi Coffman-Smith,
Derek Harlan, Adrian Roach,
Colton, Branden and Dalton
Weir, along with spouses; and
many great-nieces and great-
nephews.
He was preceded in death
by both sets of grandparents,
Merritt W. Saunders and
Eva D. McDowell-Saunders,
Gover D. Allen, and Ruth
M. Stace-Allen; his parents,
Dalton S. Saunders and Jane
elements, and the white spaces will
contain these words: trust, equality,
opportunity, hope, freedom, honor,
and justice.
Fry, who has a bachelor’s of fi ne
arts degree, is using outdoor paint
for the mural.
“It’s as permanent as paint can be
on a concrete,” she said with a smile.
“I’ll probably have to do touch-ups in
the spring.”
lands and municipal water-
sheds, and other important
locations. Treatments would
maintain and enhance old
trees and existing old-growth
stands.”
Hawkins said that al-
though much of the restora-
tion work involves cutting
small trees that have no com-
mercial value — those are
often piled and later burned
— some of the projects pos-
sible due to the new federal
dollars could also produce
logs for sale to mills.
He said most of the thin-
ning work will be done by
private contractors hired by
the Forest Service.
The northern Blues project
has not had money allocated
beyond the current fi scal year.
But the proposed 10-year
project calls for thinning
223,800 acres between the
two national forests and
300,000 acres of prescribed
burning, as well as another
297,000 acres of thinning and
80,000 acres of burning on
private and tribal lands.
Similar restoration cam-
paigns are underway on the
Malheur National Forest in
the southern Blues.
L OCAL B RIEFING
M. Allen-Saunders; his sister,
Marcia M. Saunders-Gover;
his mother and father in-law,
Darrell and Anita Carper;
and his nieces, Jennifer and
Kayla Carper.
Debbie and the girls would
like everyone to remember
Dwight for his legacy of his
management of his genera-
tional ranch and his special
wittiness.
For those who would like to
make a memorial donation in
memory of Dwight, the family
suggests either the Hilary
Bonn Benevolent Fund or
the Eagle Valley Ambulance
through Tami’s Pine Valley
Funeral Home & Crema-
tion Services, P.O. Box 543,
Halfway, OR 97834. Online
condolences can be made at
www.tamispinevalleyfuneral
home.com
Drive-thru fl u shot clinic Friday at BHS
The Baker County Health Department will have a
drive-thru fl u shot clinic on Friday, Oct. 16, from 10
a.m. to 1 p.m. at Baker High School in the student
parking lot, between the school and football stadium,
2500 E St.
Flu vaccine is available to all people 6 months
and older. Flu vaccine costs $38 (available for age 6
months and older) for the regular vaccine and $73.50
for high dose (available for age 65 and older). Bring
your insurance card. More information is available by
calling the Health Department at 541-523-8211.
Wolf shot and killed in Baker County
Oregon State Police are investigating the unlawful
killing of a wolf in the Keating Wildlife Management
Unit of eastern Baker County on or about Sept. 24. The
wolf was shot, according to OSP.
This incident occurred northwest of New Bridge in
the Skull Creek drainage of the Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest, according to OSP. Forest Service Road
7741 accesses the Skull Creek drainage and the wolf
was found off the 125 spur road. Anyone with informa-
tion can contact OSP Sgt. Isaac Cyr through the Turn
in Poachers (TIP) hotline at 1-800-452-7888.
PLUMBING
Try the SHIP TO STORE feature at millershomecenter.com
3815 Pocahontas Road, Baker City 541-523-6404
3109 May Lane, La Grande 541-963-3113