A8
1 Year Later
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Weekend blazes contained as Rail Fire grows
Blue Mountain Eagle
Lightning strikes over the
weekend ignited four fi res in the
Malheur National Forest, while the
Rail Fire, southwest of Unity, con-
tinues to grow.
Two fi res were reported in the
Monument Rock Wilderness Area
with another two in the Emigrant
Creek Ranger District.
A 63-acre fi re near Lunch Creek
has been surrounded by fi re lines
created by three fi re crews who are
continuing mop up efforts. A quar-
ter-acre fi re, located southwest of
Monument Rock Wilderness Area, is
reported as contained.
Both fi res in the Emigrant Creek
Area have been contained, one at 2.5
acres and the other at half an acre.
The 10,702-acre Rail Fire has
entered the Monument Rock Wil-
derness Area and is being battled
by 765 people: 26 crews, 10 dozers,
29 engines, 19 water tenders and
seven helicopters. The fi re, which
started July 31, is 10-percent con-
REHAB
Continued from Page A1
Ferguson said the threat of mas-
sive fl ooding has subsided signifi -
cantly since last year and he believes
the fl ood mitigation work done by the
county has provided the area some sig-
nifi cant protection.
However, the work is only a tem-
porary fi x, and the sandbags, dikes
and berms will have to be removed in
fi ve years. The county will now weigh
different alternatives to provide a long-
term fi x to protect the area against ma-
jor fl ooding, Ferguson said.
He believes the best fi x is to con-
duct major dredging in the creek to
lower the water table in key areas. That
type of project would cost several mil-
lion dollars and likely be challenged by
environmental groups, he added.
But that type of project would pro-
vide the most fl ood protection, and it
would also improve fi sh passage for
protected steelhead and bull trout, Fer-
guson said.
“We can’t ever bring that creek
back to a pristine mountain system ...
but we can solve the hydraulic prob-
lems and improve fi sh passage in there
in the process,” he said. “We need to
keep pushing on this.”
A major undertaking by the U.S.
tained, but cool weather and cloud
cover have given fi refi ghters more
time to construct and improve fi re
lines as well as prepare for burnout
operations.
A small fi refi ghting camp has
been set up near the Sheep Creek
Trailhead, and mop up operations
will begin in areas where the fi re is
not expected to grow.
Chainsaw and campfi re use are
being restricted in the Malheur Na-
tional Forest as the Industrial Fire
Precaution Level is at three, and the
fi re danger rating remains at high.
For more information on the restric-
tions, contact any of the following
forest offi ces: Malheur National
Forest Supervisor and Blue Moun-
tain Ranger District offi ce, 541-575-
3000; Prairie City Ranger District,
541-820-3800; Emigrant Creek
Ranger District, 541-573-4300.
To report a wildfi re, call John
Day Interagency Dispatch Center
at 541-575-1321 or the Burns In-
teragency Dispatch center at 541-
573-1000.
Contributed photo/U.S. Forest Service
Fire crews have constructed fire line around the entire 63-acre Canteen Creek Fire in the
Monument Rock Wilderness Area.
Forest Service to restore vast swaths
of forest damaged by the fi re is mostly
complete, said Malheur National For-
est supervisor Steve Beverlin.
The work done in that project was
based on recommendations by a spe-
cialized Forest Service team known as
the Burned Area Emergency Response
team.
It included restoring miles of trails
and drainage ditches, repairing and
modifying culverts and applying wood
mulch treatments on severely burned
hillsides to absorb and slow runoff.
A major focus of the work was on
helping vegetation recover and pro-
tecting hill slopes and riparian areas,
as well as protecting human safety and
cultural and heritage sites.
The BAER team report recom-
mended mulching about 3,410 acres
within the burned area but the Forest
Service ended up only mulching 329
acres.
When Forest Service staff saw
the signifi cant plant growth occur-
ring on hill slopes this spring, they
advised that further mulching treat-
ments were not necessary, said Amy
Unthank, a Forest Service natu-
ral resources and planning staff
offi cer.
“We mulched the high-risk areas,
the steepest areas we thought would
lead to the most damage from runoff,”
Unthank said. “We only mulched a
small area of what we proposed.”
A lot of warning signs were posted
to warn people of hazards in the burned
area and damaged guard rails and trees
were removed along roads, trails and
campgrounds.
Stream channels were treated to
protect fi sh habitat.
Fourteen log jams were placed in
streams to prevent stream blowouts
and protect fi sh habitat.
Some damaged trees that still had
their root balls attached were placed in
streams to slow the velocity of the wa-
ter and help catch debris and sediment
and improve stream banks.
“That helps put soils back in the
creek and build back the stream bank
instead of having it all eroding down-
stream,” Beverlin said.
The forest restoration project in-
cluded replanting thousands of acres.
The money to achieve the work rec-
ommended by the BAER team must be
spent within one year, a deadline that is
coming up next month. The vast ma-
jority of that work will be completed
within that one-year time frame and an
extension can be sought for any work
not accomplished due to valid reasons,
Beverlin said.
Ongoing forest restoration work
involving funding outside the BAER
project includes monitoring the suc-
cess of the mulching treatments as well
as conducting forest patrols after major
storms to check how the improvements
are working, Beverlin said.
If necessary, more erosion control
work will be conducted, he said.
Invasive weed surveys will contin-
ue to be conducted, with treatments
occurring if necessary.
A lot of trees will be planted in the
burned area this year, Unthank said,
and “we will monitor the area to deter-
mine where additional work might be
needed in the future as the watershed
recovers and heals.”
The Forest Service’s Pacifi c North-
west regional offi ce provided $360,000
toward the forest restoration work,
while the national Forest Service offi ce
provided $3.8 million for the mulching
treatments, though much of that money
won’t be spent.
Though it will take the forest a gen-
eration to return to its pre-fi re state,
there is new vegetative growth all
across the burned area, and the ripar-
ian areas are looking better, Beverlin
said.
“That’s really encouraging,” he said.
The Oregon Water Resources De-
partment installed an early fl ood warn-
ing stream gaging station in the Vance
Creek drainage.
The fi re also damaged parts of High-
way 395 South, and a major Oregon
Department of Transportation project
repaired damaged pavement as well as
signs and guardrails.
The biggest part of that ODOT
project was signifi cantly widening and
improving the Vance Creek and Sheep
Gulch culverts that run under the high-
way.
Because of the Forest Service fore-
cast showing the possibility of massive
fl ooding during a major storm event, the
department was concerned the culverts
couldn’t handle the water, and debris
and would plug and wipe out parts of
the road, said ODOT public information
offi cer Tom Strandberg.
The highway was closed for 10 days
in November while road crews replaced
both culverts with much larger ones.
“It was a huge effort,” Strandberg
said. “We didn’t want to have some-
thing that would wash away the road-
way and signifi cantly impact traffi c for
a long time.”
The department also coordinated a
project to cut down and remove hun-
dreds of trees that were burned by the
fi re and created hazards.
Beverlin said the entire post-fi re res-
toration effort has been a partnership be-
tween the Forest Service, ODOT, local
offi cials and private landowners.
“It’s really been a whole community
effort,” he said. “I think it’s been a very
successful project.”
More than 1,000 tons of hay donated for livestock
By Sean Ellis
For the Blue Mountain Eagle
When the Canyon Creek
Complex fi re tore through this
area last summer, scorching
signifi cant portions of grazing
land, Prairie City Mayor Jim
Hamsher and others put out an
urgent request for hay dona-
tions to feed the animals affect-
ed by the loss of grazing land or
displaced by the fi re.
Help poured in fast, and it’s
still coming in a year later.
“We’re still receiving dona-
tions,” said Hamsher. “It’s been
really remarkable.”
A little more than 1,000
tons of hay has been donated to
help feed livestock, horses and
other animals impacted by the
fi re and about 20 tons remain,
as well as about $5,000 in cash
donations.
Hamsher plans to use the re-
maining money to purchase an-
other semi load of hay this fall.
“We were able to help ev-
erybody out as much as they
needed,” Hamsher said. “Hay
is still going out to the victims.”
The cattle industry is one of
the local economy’s most im-
portant sectors, and Hamsher
said a lot of ranchers were sig-
nifi cantly impacted by the fi re,
which burned 110,000 acres, a
lot of it grazing land ranchers
use to feed their animals.
Some ranchers lost all of
their grazing allotments in
the fi re, and the need for ani-
mal feed was great following
the fi re, Hamsher said. Many
ranchers won’t be allowed to
return to their allotments for
several years while the land
heals.
Grant County rancher Alec
Oliver said the fi re took out a
Cowboy Chapel H our
KJDY,
Sunday, 7 a.m.
“Moses vs. Jesus”
lot of summer grazing land.
“It affected quite a few peo-
ple,” he said of the fi re, and the
donated hay “defi nitely helped a
lot of people that needed it.”
The response to the call for
help was quick, and donations
came in from all over Oregon as
well as other states. Two semi-
loads of alfalfa hay, about 60
tons, was brought in from Grand
Junction, Colorado.
“Most of the hay, I’d say
about 98 percent, came in from
outside the county,” Hamsher
said. “It was very generous.”
Hamsher was also able to get
a $5,000 grant from the Humane
Society of the United States to
help feed displaced horses and
was able to purchase a semi-
load of hay with that money.
The need has been great, and
people have even picked up feed
for goats and sheep, he added.
“When this fi rst started, I
didn’t think I’d ever receive that
much hay or that it would last
that long,” Hamsher said.