News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
A7
Prairie City welcomes new district ranger
Guzman
continues 31-
year Forest
Service career
Blue Mountain Eagle
Ed Guzman recently start-
ed as the new Prairie City dis-
trict ranger for the Malheur
National Forest.
Guzman considers Eastern
Oregon his home, although
his most recent duty station
was the Klamath National
Forest in the Klamath Riv-
er country of northern Cali-
fornia, according to a Forest
Service press release. For the
past seven years, he has been
the fi re man-
agement offi cer
for the Klamath
National For-
est.
G u z m a n ’s
Ed
fi rst summer
Guzman
job with the
Forest Service
was in Paisley, on the Fre-
mont National Forest, where
he worked as a tree planting
inspector, among other sil-
viculture-related duties. His
31-year career since then has
included working in fi re and
fuels management on the Sis-
kiyou and Umatilla national
forests in Oregon and Wash-
ington, as well as the Arapa-
ho-Roosevelt National Forest
in Colorado. He also spent
a season with the Redmond
Hotshot crew in central Or-
egon. In 2007, Guzman was
named the interagency deputy
forest fi re management offi cer
on the Fremont-Winema Na-
tional Forest out of Lakev-
iew, and he was there until
his move to the Klamath.
Guzman has also completed
details as the district ranger
in Cascade, Idaho, and the
deputy forest supervisor on
the Klamath National Forest.
One of the defining mo-
ments in Guzman’s career
was his deployment with the
Pacific Northwest Incident
Management team to New
York City in 2001 in the days
following the attack on the
World Trade Center. He was
there for over three weeks,
staffing a supply cache at
Ground Zero, which was re-
sponsible for equipping the
rescue personnel working at
the site.
Guzman holds a forestry
degree from Central Ore-
gon Community College in
Bend, and he completed a
natural resources manage-
ment certificate in an accel-
erated-curriculum program
through Colorado State Uni-
versity. However, he said a
big part of his education has
been in being “boots on the
ground” throughout his ca-
reer.
Since starting his new po-
sition in Prairie City, Guzman
has been working on getting
to know the employees and
the projects that the district
is currently involved in. He
Music in the air at Grant Union
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
A March 14 concert had
the audience tapping their
feet as the Grant Union
middle school band, concert
choir and high school band
presented their latest reper-
toire.
The crowd was intrigued
by the middle school band’s
performance of “Bugs” by
David Shaffer, as director
Lori Hart led the music with
a bright green fl y swatter.
The choir entertained
with a bright rendition of
“Nelly Bly” by Stephen Fos-
ter.
Among the high school
band’s selections was “Car-
naval in Sao Paulo” by
James Barnes, to remind that
warmer days are ahead.
Hart, who is from Mich-
igan and is a recent graduate
of Brigham Young Univer-
sity — Idaho, has led the
Grant Union music depart-
ment since the start of the
new year. She also leads mu-
sic for Humbolt Elementary
School.
In other music news, bass
clarinet player Carle Wright,
a sophomore, won fi rst place
in her division at the March
4 OMEA District 6 contest in
La Grande. She will compete
at the April 29 State Solo
Music Championship.
The Grant Union senior
band will perform at the April
12 Tri-County High School
Band Festival in Stanfi eld,
and the middle school band
will perform at the April 21
Tri-County Middle School
Band Festival at Riverside
Junior-Senior High School
in Boardman.
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Members of the Grant Union senior band perform in concert on Tuesday, March 14, at
the school, including, front from left, Athena Tipton, Annie Wall and Raya Mead.
The Grant Union concert choir performs at their March
14 concert.
Grant Union music director
Lori Hart
has been impressed with the
enthusiasm and motivation of
the employees at the district.
“We have some very
knowledgeable
and
hard-working people here,
and I look forward to continu-
ing the work they have start-
ed,” Guzman said.
He has been enjoying his
transition to the area, includ-
ing getting settled in his new
offi ce, which he said “has one
of the best views of the Straw-
berry Mountains.”
Guzman will be joined by
his wife of 22 years, Rose, and
their black Lab. Rose grew up
on her family’s century wheat
and cattle ranch in southeast
Washington. She fought fi re
with the Forest Service in the
summer to fi nance her college
B RIEFLY
Forest Service
seeks trail input
The Forest Service Pacifi c
Northwest Region is inviting
the public to help identify trails
that will be part of a Forest Ser-
vice effort with partners and
volunteers to increase the pace
of trail maintenance.
Nationwide, the Forest Ser-
vice will select nine to 15 prior-
ity areas among its nine regions
where a backlog in trail main-
tenance contributed to reduced
access, potential harm to nat-
ural resources or trail users or
has the potential for increased
future deferred maintenance
costs.
To provide ideas and sug-
gestions on potential priority
areas and approaches for incor-
porating increased trail mainte-
nance assistance from partners
and volunteers, contact your lo-
cal Forest Service offi ce or Re-
gional Trail Program Manager
Dennis Benson at denniscben-
son@fs.fed.us by March 31.
The Forest Service Pacifi c
Northwest Region manages
more than 24,000 miles of trails
enjoyed by many users each
year. In 2016, approximately
5,000 volunteers contributed
more than 230,000 hours of
service to trails work across
Oregon and Washington. These
volunteer contributions helped
the Forest Service accomplish
nearly half of the Region’s trail
accomplishments in 2016.
Baker City to host
fi re refresher class
Carleanne Wright
The Grant Union senior band performs at their Tuesday,
March 14 concert.
harvest again.
Don’t let knee or hip pain keep you from doing what you love.
StCharlesHealthCare.org/Mako
degree at the University of
Idaho, and that is how she and
Guzman met. She now enjoys
her career in the social work
fi eld.
The couple enjoys any-
thing
outdoors—camping,
hiking, rock hounding, dis-
covering historical sites —
and they look forward to
exploring the backroads of
Grant County and meeting the
locals.
“We have driven through
Grant County many times and
have done some recreating
in the area and have always
wanted to spend more time
here,” Guzman said.
The Guzmans look for-
ward to getting involved with
the local community and be-
coming part of it.
Eastern Oregon Training
Group of Baker City will be
offering a 2017 Wildland Fire
Safety Refresher Class April
22. The class RT-130 will be
held at the Baker City School
District Building at 2090 Fourth
St. Class will start at 8 a.m.
This is a required class for
all fi refi ghters and contractors
that are planning to work for
any state or federal agency
during the upcoming fi re sea-
son.
Certifi cation will be from
the National Wildfi re Suppres-
sion Association. Training will
meet or exceed the standards
set by the National Wildfi re
Coordinating Group. The cost
is $100.
Registration and payment
may be done at oregonfi retrain-
ing.com. Contact Laurel Go-
odrich at 541-403-0907 or Jeff
Sherman at 541-519-6213 for
more information.
Training funds
available for
manufacturing
and health care
companies
The Eastern Oregon Work-
force Board has dedicated
$40,000 to help manufactur-
ing and health care compa-
nies in Baker, Grant, Harney,
Malheur, Morrow, Umatilla,
Union and Wallowa counties
retrain workers. This could
include training in new or ad-
vanced skills that enable an
employee to multi-task or be
more productive. Priority for
funding is given to applicants
who demonstrate the funding
could assist the business in
avoiding a layoff, downsizing
or closure, or would provide
retention opportunities by up-
grading employee skills as a
result of the training. For more
information, contact Eric La-
bonte, 541-963-7942.