SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A
COMMUNITY
ARCHERY
PRINCIPALS
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One is the increasing num-
ber of archery hunters over
the past few decades. ODFW
said the number of archers
hunting elk in Eastern Or-
egon rose from about 12,300
in 1995 to about 18,500 in
2019.
And due in part to im-
provements in technology,
which allow hunters to make
longer kill shots, archery
hunters have higher success
rates.
But because the archery
seasons have remained gen-
eral seasons, with no limits
on how many tags are sold,
ODFW’s lone tool to limit
hunting to protect deer and
elk herds has been to cut the
number of tags for rifl e hunts,
which are controlled hunts
with limited tags awarded
through the lottery system.
“Currently the controlled
rifl e season is the one place
we have the ability to adjust
hunter harvest, and they
have taken almost all the
tag reductions in the last 25
years,” said Jeremy Thomp-
son, district wildlife biologist
for ODFW’s Mid-Columbia
area who is managing the
review of elk archery hunts.
“The ultimate goal of this
proposal is to be able to make
management actions equi-
table for all users.”
In choosing which units
to propose the change from
a general to a controlled ar-
chery season, ODFW offi cials
considered the current elk
populations in those units, as
well as hunter density and
hunter displacement, which
are based on a public survey
of hunters done in 2020.
Units where the bull ratio
— the number of bulls per
cows — have not met the
state’s goals in three out of
fi ve years are proposed to
change from general to con-
trolled archery hunts in 2022.
“We have tried to craft a
solution that addresses the
problems we are seeing in
some units, while continuing
to retain as much general sea-
son opportunity as possible,”
Thompson said.
ODFW is proposing to
change from a general to a
controlled elk archery hunt
in some other units because
although those units are
meeting bull ratio goals,
the bull elk harvest is near
what biologists consider the
unit’s capacity. In some units,
archery hunters have been
taking as many or more
branch-antlered bulls than
rifl e hunters have, according
to ODFW.
Two Baker County archery
hunters, Bob Reedy and
Keith Jensen, said they have
Witty announced last month that Skye
Flanagan, current middle school principal,
would be taking the lead as BHS principal
in the coming year. Greg Mitchell, current
principal, will move to the District offi ce
Flanagan
where he’ll work as director of federal
programs, curriculum and professional
development. Jodi Thew, who was hired
for that work last year, will move to Baker
Middle School to replace Flanagan as prin-
cipal there.
“This is a great opportunity for us to pro-
Mitchell
mote leadership changes that capitalize on
the strengths of our administrators,” Witty
stated in the press release.
“Each of these individuals has done an
excellent job within their current assign-
ment,” he stated. “Moving them to a differ-
ent building will allow them to develop their
Thew
capacity as school leaders.”
During Thursday’s meeting, Witty ex-
pressed his pride in members of the administrative team.
“I’ve worked with a lot of people over a lot of years and
it takes time to develop the relationships we have,” he
said. “I have absolute full confi dence in every one of these
individuals.”
In comments included with the March 11 press release,
the reassigned principals and administrators talked
about their new positions.
Anderson said: “I’ve grown so close to the staff and
families at Brooklyn, it will be hard to say goodbye. I’m
really proud of what the staff has accomplished over the
past fi ve years. I am excited to join the team at South
Baker Intermediate and continue to support the great
work they are doing.”
Hurliman said: “I’ve really enjoyed working with our
high school students and staff. I look forward to devel-
oping close relationships with our families and staff at
Brooklyn Primary and South Baker Intermediate, as
well as further developing my leadership skills in this
new role.”
Collier, referring to Haines Elementary, said: “This
school means so much to me. Working in a small school,
you get very close to the staff, families, and students. It’s
been a wonderful experience. I am looking forward to the
opportunity of working with the community at Brooklyn
Primary.”
Bates said: “With all my past experience at the elemen-
tary, middle, and high school levels, I am looking forward
to helping Skye Flanagan in making a smooth transition
for staff and students at BHS.”
Moore said: “I’m excited to be taking this step in my ca-
reer. While serving as the dean of students
at South Baker, I was able to experience all
aspects of school leadership. In addition, my
family owns a ranch, so small, rural schools
are near and dear to my heart. It will be a
great fi t personally.”
The Nature Conservancy/Contributed Photo
A large herd of elk on the Zumwalt Prairie in Wallowa County.
Units proposed to change from general
season to controlled season, for archery
elk hunters, in 2022:
Silvies, N. Malheur River, West Beulah,
Murderers Creek, Northside, North
Sumpter, Desolation, Heppner, Ukiah,
Starkey, Catherine Creek, Keating,
Minam, Imnaha, Snake River, Pine Creek
concerns about the potential
effects of ODFW’s proposed
changes.
Reedy, who lives in Baker
City and also owns an archery
shop, disputes ODFW’s con-
tention that switching from a
general to a controlled season
for elk is necessary to deal
with declining elk populations
and bull ratios.
“I think a lot of this is about
the state mismanaging the
animals,” Reedy said.
He contends that the
state could either temporar-
ily ban hunters from killing
bulls, whether they use bows
or rifl es, or change the bag
limit to prohibit hunters from
shooting spike bulls.
By restricting hunters
to harvesting only mature,
branch-antlered bulls, Reedy
believes the state could boost
bull ratios in units where
they’re below state objectives.
“If they want better bull
ratios, stop shooting so many
bulls,” he said.
Jensen, who also owns an
archery shop, in Bowen Valley
just south of Baker City, said
he concedes ODFW’s point
that for the past few decades
rifl e hunters, not archers, have
borne the brunt of cuts in elk
tag numbers.
But Jensen said he’s wor-
ried that ODFW’s proposed
“piecemeal” approach —
moving to controlled archery
seasons in some units but
continuing with a general
season in others — would
push many hunters to units
with a general season, leading
to overcrowding.
Both Jensen and Reedy also
believe ODFW is failing to
acknowledge that predation,
by bears, cougars and wolves,
is contributing to declining elk
numbers in some units.
ODFW is asking hunters
to submit comments on the
proposed changes, which the
Fish and Wildlife Commission
is scheduled to discuss during
its June 18 meeting.
The Commission will make
a fi nal decision on archery
seasons for 2022 during its
September 2021 meeting.
More information is avail-
able online at myodfw.com/
articles/big-game-hunting-
season-review
Comments should be
emailed to odfw.wildlifeinfo@
state.or.us no later than April
15. There will be additional
opportunities to comment
before and during the Com-
mission’s June 18 meeting.
airplane bound for New Jersey.
“It was very random,” Cripe
Continued from Page 1A
said of how this opportunity
Arvidson runs Med Trans-
came about. “Everything just
port Inc., and has contracts
aligned.”
with FEMA and other disaster
He left Baker City on Feb. 3,
relief agencies. Right now,
and returned March 6.
those contracts need medical
Cripe was assigned to a
professionals to help at vacci- vaccination clinic set up in
nation clinics and “step down” an Atlantic City convention
services at hospitals across the center — one of several “mega
country.
sites” established to adminis-
Cripe called Arvidson, and
ter COVID-19 vaccines.
the next day Cripe was on an
“The convention center is
huge. We used maybe a tenth
of it,” he said.
When he arrived, a shift of
10 nurses were giving 400 to
600 shots a day.
Cripe’s unit of 10 paramed-
ics began working 12-hour
shifts, seven days a week.
“By the time we left, we
were doing 3,600 shots a day,”
he said. “Their was goal was
to get to 4,000 a day.”
Except for about 80 doses,
he said they were giving the
Pfi zer-BioNTech vaccine. A
full pharmacy on site stored
the vaccine until needed.
The experience, he said,
differed greatly from his
career as a fi refi ghter/para-
medic where he never knew
what daily challenges he
would encounter.
At the vaccination clinic, he
had the same routine every
day: he got up at 5:30 a.m.,
had breakfast at 6:30 a.m.,
arrived at the convention
center at 7 a.m., and then
gave shots from 8 a.m. to 7
p.m.
“It almost seemed like
Groundhog Day,” he said.
It did, however, give him
the chance to meet new
people.
“I had a lot of good conver-
sations,” he said. “So many
people were so thankful for
me being there.”
Having a vaccine avail-
able, he said, seemed to give
people new hope.
“A bunch of people cried —
the thought of the world going
back to a sense of normalcy,”
he said.
And he’s glad he had the
chance to help.
“I was honored to do it. It
was a great experience,” he
said. “There are so many good
people in the world. I made
some lifelong friends.”
He’s planning to stick
around Eastern Oregon, and
hopes to take more deploy-
ments such as this one.
“I think there will be endless
opportunities,” Cripe said.
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Moore
Expanded schedule possible for
middle school, high school students
In other business Thursday night, Witty told the Board
that in discussions with Colt Gill, director of the Oregon
Department of Education, he has reason to believe that
the state will relax social distancing requirements in
schools soon. That would open the door for Baker Middle
School and Baker High School to return to in-person
classes full time.
Witty said Gill was “hopeful, but not certain” that
the square-footage requirement in classrooms would
decrease from the current 35 square feet per student
and the number of children allowed in cohort groups in
each class would be allowed to increase from the current
100 people per day. Those changes would allow the full
reopening of Baker’s secondary schools to a regular four-
day per week schedule.
The Baker School District has many factors support-
ing its efforts that has allowed it to be one of the largest
districts in the state to be as open for in-person classes as
possible under the guidelines, Witty said.
Elementary students have attended classes four days
a week since Oct. 14. Secondary students had in-person
classes one day a week starting Nov. 9, and they moved to
two days of in-person classes per week on Jan. 25.
Witty credited the staff with helping achieve goals for
getting students back to in-person instruction.
“It’s a huge advantage to have willing teachers coming
to work,” he said.
All District employees who wanted to be vaccinated
have been and have passed the two-week mark since
the last inoculation to put them at maximum immunity,
Witty said.
Gov. Kate Brown announced on Friday, March 12, that
the Department of Education would release the new
guidelines early next week.
If changes are made to allow full reopening for Baker
secondary students, Witty said he will immediately con-
fer with the Baker County Health Department and Dr.
Eric Lamb, the county’s public health offi cer, to determine
how to proceed.
“It’s in the (Oregon Health Authority’s) hands and the
governor’s offi ce at this point,” he said.
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