BAKER CITY HERALD • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2022 A5
LOCAL & STATE
SNOW PLOW
ROUTES 2022-2023
27
Oregon State Police/Contributed Photo
Oregon State Police on Monday,
Nov. 28, 2022, reported evidence
seized during a search in Decem-
ber 2021 in a poaching case led to
indictments against Walker Erick-
son, 28, of Pendleton, and Hunter
Wagner, 23, of Pilot Rock.
11
26
23
Zone 'D'
9
10
22
Two local men
face charges
in big game
poaching case
25
Zone 'A'
12
8
24
7
6
Zone 'B'
20
5
1
2
18
4
East Oregonian
Zone 'C'
19
17
3
21
14
29
30
13
31
15
32
16
34
33
28
35
36
38
37
39
Zone 'E'
41
40
N
Garbage Pick-up Days
X
Zone 'A' = Thursday
Zone 'B' = Friday
Zone 'C' = Monday
Zone 'D' = Tuesday
Zone 'E' = Wednesday
City outlines snowplowing priorities
Baker City Herald
The National Weather Service is pre-
dicting a significant snowstorm this
week in Baker City, and enough snow
could fall to bring the city’s snowplows
and graders into action.
The city’s snowplowing policy is that
when at least 4 inches of snow has fallen,
with more likely to come, crews will
start plowing city streets.
City officials ask that residents avoid
parking cars along streets if possible so
plows can clear snow to the curb. This is
especially important on priority 1, 2 and
3 routes (see map on this page) as they
are plowed more often than residential
streets. Plow crews often start around
midnight, both to plow snow and to
haul away snow from the berms that are
plowed into the center of some streets.
Although plowing depends on snow
depth, city trucks do spread salt and
sand at busier intersection and in some
other places as needed, regardless of the
snow depth.
Because it depends on the weather,
the city’s cost for snow and ice control
can vary widely from year to year.
In fiscal 2020-21, for instance, when
there was relatively little snow, the city
spend about $39,000. But the previous
year the city spent more than twice as
much, at almost $80,000.
During the winter of 2016-17, the
snowiest in Baker City in a couple de-
cades, the city spent $312,000 and had
to transfer $100,000 from the street
fund’s contingency budget.
Other tips from the city’s public
works department:
• Code enforcement will be out assist-
ing with tagging and towing of vehicles
and other items stored on the street.
• When shoveling out driveways af-
ter the plow has been by, place shoveled
snow behind the curb.
• Please keep snow on private prop-
erty. It is a municipal code violation to
push snow from private property onto
city streets.
• Allow extra time while traveling so
that you don’t have to drive faster than
the conditions warrant.
More information is available by call-
ing the public works department at 541-
524-2047.
Massive die-off hits fir trees in Central, Southern Oregon
Scientists blame
drought, insects, disease
BY NATHAN GILLES
Columbia Insight
PORTLAND — Fir trees in
parts of Oregon and Washing-
ton died in record-breaking
numbers in 2022, according to
as-yet-unpublished research
conducted by the U.S. Forest
Service.
Called “Firmageddon” by re-
searchers, the “significant and
disturbing” mortality event is
the largest die-off ever recorded
for fir trees in the two states.
In total, the Forest Service
observed fir die-offs occurring
on more than 1.23 million acres
— over 1,900 square miles — in
Oregon and Washington.
Oregon, however, was the
hardest hit. The Forest Service
observed dead firs on roughly
1.1 million acres of forest in
Oregon alone. This year’s num-
bers for the state are nearly
double the acres recorded
during previous die-offs.
Heavily affected areas in-
clude the Fremont, Winema,
Ochoco and Malheur national
forests. The most southerly of
the forests, the Fremont Na-
tional Forest, was the hardest
hit, according to survey data.
“We’re calling it ‘Firmaged-
don,’ ” Daniel DePinte, who led
the survey for the USFS Pacific
Northwest Region Aerial Survey,
told a gathering of colleagues in
October. “It is unprecedented,
the number of acres we have
seen impacted. It’s definitely sig-
nificant and it’s disturbing.”
appears to be due to a com-
bination of drought coupled
with insects and fungal diseases
working together to weaken
and kill trees.
See Trees / A6
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Many factors contribute to
unprecedented deaths
DePinte said although his
team’s results are prelimi-
nary and further analysis is
needed, the 2022 Firmageddon
PENDLETON — Oregon
State Police reported two local
men face charges for poaching
following an investigation that
began more than two years ago.
OSP Fish & Wildlife Troopers
from the Pendleton Area Com-
mand received information on
several individuals who were
unlawfully taking big game an-
imals, according to a press re-
lease from state police. Troopers
in the summer of 2020 began
gathering information and ev-
idence during the following
year, which led to a search at a
Pendleton residence in Decem-
ber 2021.
Evidence seized from the
search warrant included six sets
of deer antlers and three sets of
elk antlers, including a 7x7 tro-
phy bull elk, a rifle, a bow and
meat, which led to the indict-
ment of Walker Erickson, 28, of
Pendleton, and Hunter Wagner,
23, of Pilot Rock.
State court records show a
Umatilla County grand jury in
October indicted Erickson was
indicted on the following:
Three counts of unlawful take
of a cow elk.
Four counts of unlawful take
of a whitetail buck.
Two counts of unlawful take
of a mule deer buck.
Four counts of unlawful take
of bull elk.
Three counts of waste of
game.
One count of unlawful pos-
session of big game.
One count of hunting while
criminally trespassing.
One count of hunting on an-
other’s cultivated or enclosed
land.
One count of hunting from a
motor vehicle.
And two counts of tampering
with physical evidence.
The charges for unlawful tak-
ing of the elk and deer are Class
C felonies. Erickson has a pre-
trial conference Jan. 3, accord-
ing to court records.
State police reported Wagner
was indicted on seven counts of
counseling, aiding, or assisting
in another’s unlawful take of a
big game animal, but state court
records do not show that indict-
ment.
The anti-poaching prosecu-
tor with the Oregon Depart-
ment of Justice in coordination
with the Umatilla County Dis-
trict Attorney’s Office is prose-
cuting the case.
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