News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Students plant a better future
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountain Eagle
Eight-year-old Dominic Donathon
digs his ingers into the root system of
a mint plant, loosening them in prepa-
ration to be planted. It’s dirty work,
but he doesn’t seem to mind.
Humbolt Elementary School has
teamed up with the Forest Service to
help educate kids on how to better the
environment. Retired teacher Sophie
Cosgrove is spearheading the opera-
tion with plants she bought from Bet-
ter Blooms and Garden in John Day.
Better Blooms and Garden gave
Cosgrove a discount on the native
plants she bought to help educate stu-
dents on the importance of supporting
native species over invasive species.
The students will be planting mint,
sage, irises and Karl Foerster Feath-
er Reed Grass in an attempt to attract
pollinators such as bees and butter-
lies. They hope, in turn, these species
will bring birds and other creatures to
the area.
“We’re just trying to get more in-
volved in the community and help
bring everyone together,” Cassandra
Butler, a Forest Service wildlife em-
ployee, said.
Butler said, even though it is late
in the summer, the plants are hardy
enough to survive as long as they are
cared for properly and there isn’t an
overnight freeze within the irst week
of planting them.
By Rylan Boggs
Eagle photos/Rylan Boggs
Gus McDaniel, 8, carries two mint plants while
helping create a garden of native plants at
Humbolt Elementary School on Tuesday, Sept.
13. McDaniel and other students donate their
lunchtime to help plant the garden which is
geared toward attracting pollinators like bees.
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
Are you
part of a
Suicide
prevention
resources
available
Blue Mountain Eagle
Bates Pond group comes
close to consensus
A stakeholder work group
discussing the future of Bates
Pond and Bates State Park
inished their three planned
meetings but failed to reach a
consensus about a recommen-
dation to the Oregon Parks and
Recreation Department.
Grant County Judge Scott
Myers, who represented the
county in the group, said all
but one unidentiied member
agreed they would not chal-
lenge one of the six proposed
options.
“It pretty much left the
footprint of the pond about the
same,” Myers said of the op-
tion most agreed on. “It didn’t
put a stream alongside it. It
didn’t lower the dam. It didn’t
fully separate the stream from
the pond.”
Myers said the option
would enhance riparian and
wildlife features above and
below the pond, clean and
deepen the pond and repair
the lower step of the ish lad-
der. He said the group plans to
meet again in the spring to try
to reach a consensus on a rec-
ommendation.
The 131-acre park, near
Austin Junction at the conlu-
ence of Bridge Creek and the
Middle Fork of the John Day
River, opened in 2011 and in-
cludes a 28-site campground,
camping for hikers and bicy-
clists, short trails and a small
pond on Bridge Creek. Debate
over the best management ap-
proach for the old mill pond,
and especially balancing rec-
reation with the pond’s effects
on water quality and ish pas-
sage, in part prompted OPRD
to convene the group.
The park currently serves
around 20,000 day visitors and
provides 1,600 camper nights
a year. A camper night is equal
to one camper spending one
night in a state park.
“We know the pond is im-
portant as both a historical re-
minder of the Bates Mill, and
A3
National Public Lands
Day events planned
Blue Mountain Eagle
Eagle file photo
Peaceful and still,
the deep blue water
of Bates Pond is a
refreshing sight while
meandering the trail
that encircles the pond
and others throughout
Bates State Park.
as a recreation feature of the
park,” said Park Development
Manager Scott Nebeker, who
represented the OPRD execu-
tive team on the work group.
“Balancing these facts with the
need to improve water quality
and ish habitat is a challenge,
and we’re thankful the stake-
holder group came together to
work through this openly. We
expect the group will be able
to develop an alternative when
they convene again.”
National Public Lands
Day, the nation’s largest sin-
gle-day volunteer effort for
public lands, is Saturday,
Sept. 24.
Volunteer projects are
planned, and Forest Service
recreation sites and the Bu-
reau of Land Management’s
Oregon Trail Interpretive
Center in Baker City will of-
fer free admission.
The Malheur National
Forest will host a volunteer
project targeting the previ-
ously unmaintained Reynolds
Creek Trail No. 264 on the
Prairie City Ranger District,
just off of Forest Road 2635
in section 22. Project work
will include clearing rough-
ly 1.8 miles of trail through
brush work and tread work.
The event is planned to be-
gin at 10 a.m., meeting at the
trailhead. For more informa-
tion, contact Susan Garner
U nity Harvest
Bazaar
G ET
YOUR HOLIDAY SHOPPING
DONE EARLY !
Lots of vendors
Great variety of items
Saturday, Oct. 1 • 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
U NITY C OMMUNITY H ALL
Door prize drawing at 2 p.m.
MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN
* HINT * M EN WOULD LOVE IT !
Coffee, muffins &
lunch
Provided by FFA
N ONPROFIT
in Grant County?
We need your help!
The Blue Mountain Eagle is working to
create a master list of nonprofits in Grant
County. We are looking for the NAME of the
nonprofit, CONTACT PHONE NUMBER,
EMAIL, ADDRESS and WEB SITE if available
to be added to or updated on the list for
this year’s Grant County Giving Back
section, coming out in October.
Either call the information into
the Eagle office at 541-575-0710 or email
office@bmeagle.com.
Blue Mountain 195 N Canyon Blvd.
EAGLE
John Day
541-575-0710
Humbolt Elementary School third-graders Dominic
Donathan, 8, left, Gus McDaniel, 8, and Taylor
Parsons, 8, help plant a native garden to attract
pollinators like bees to their school on Tuesday,
Sept. 13.
Cover
-GCG
iving2
015 -
Pa
ge 1
- Comp
osite
at 541-575-3039. Following
the trail work, a barbecue
and interpretive talks are
planned for the volunteers.
Volunteer trail and veg-
etation projects begin at 9
a.m. at the Oregon Trail In-
terpretive Center. The first
30 participants receive a free
T-shirt, and all volunteers
will be offered refreshments
provided by the Trail Ten-
ders volunteer group and a
coupon for free admission at
National Parks and federal
recreation areas.
For 23 years, National
Public Lands Day has been
a nationwide effort to help
care for parks, natural ar-
eas, historic sites, trails,
watersheds and other public
lands. An estimated 170,000
volunteers countrywide par-
ticipated last year. More in-
formation on events can be
found at neefusa.org/public-
lands-day.
To raise awareness of
warning signs and risk
factors of suicide, former
school teacher Corinne
Stennett is distributing Yel-
low Ribbon Suicide Preven-
tion pamphlets.
In the wake of a Grant
Union student’s suicide, she
says it is important the com-
munity has access to infor-
mation.
The pamphlets outline
risk factors, such as trou-
ble with school or the law,
stressful family life or the
breakup of a romance,
and how to identify warn-
ing signs, such as abrupt
changes in personality, giv-
ing away possessions or a
change in eating or sleeping
patterns.
Coping strategies such
as being open with your
feelings, spending time
with friends and family and
not tolerating abuse of any
kind are also provided.
The pamphlets include
a small yellow card that
can be cut out and given
to someone to serve as a
non-verbal cry for help.
These cards encourage the
recipient to stay with the
person, to listen to what
they have to say and to get
help immediately.
Stennett hopes putting
this information in the hands
of community members will
help them recognize those
in need of help or seek help
themselves if they need it.
If you or someone you
know is considering suicide
or are experiencing other
emotional risks, call 800-
273-8255 or 866-488-7386
or text 741741.
For more information
visit yellowribbon.org.
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full-time administrative/ advertising
assistant. This is a rare opportunity to
learn multiple aspects of our business.
Successful candidates will need
problem-solving and computer skills,
plus the ability to handle multiple tasks
at once. Must be very accurate and
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customer service and communication
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195 N. Canyon Blvd.
John Day, Oregon
04349