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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (May 31, 2017)
A12 News Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, May 31, 2017 FIREWISE FOREST Continued from Page A1 Continued from Page A1 gaps beneath decks allow the fire in- side. “Where can embers get in?” he said. “Any kind of hole you leave in your house is fair game.” Howell said homeowners can take many steps to make their property less susceptible to fire: moving flammable material, such as bark mulch, wood- piles and debris, away from the home; covering openings with wire mesh; ac- quiring hoses and sprinklers for each outdoor spigot; landscaping prudently; and installing spark arresters on chim- neys. “The more defensible your home is, the easier, the safer it is for us,” How- ell said. “We put our lives on the line every day. We mitigate as much risk as Contributed photo/Irene Jerome we can, and that’s what we ask people Oregon Department of Forestry’s Dave Meyer, second from left, describes fire behavior that occurred in to do too.” Dick Creek area during the Sugar Loaf Fire in June 2015 to Jenny Martin, from left, Tanner Walczyk, Jagger One way communities can learn Michael, Tim Briggs, Jim Latshaw, Mark Howell, Dave Fields and Gail Beverlin. Topography, aspect, heavy more about fire prevention and steps to juniper fuel and weather all played an important part in the intense fire that burned through this area. improve safety is through the Firewise program. Jerome said the informal, community-driven program imple- mented through the Oregon Depart- ment of Forestry provides assessments for communities that wish to partici- 1. Clear leaves and other debris from roofs, gutters, porch- pate and also offers resources for some es and decks. This helps prevent embers from igniting your of the work. home. “The whole idea is for communities 2. Remove dead vegetation and other items from under to be accountable,” she said. your deck or porch, and within 10 feet of the house. Once the risk assessment is com- 3. Screen in areas below patios and decks with wire mesh plete, the community decides if it is in- to prevent debris and combustible materials from accumu- terested and creates a timeline and pri- lating. orities. She said community members 4. Remove flammable materials (wood piles, propane choose and implement the projects, Contributed photo/Irene Jerome tanks) within 30 feet of a home’s foundation and outbuild- and they can perform them over time. From left, Jim Jerome, Dwain Anderson and Howard ings, including garages and sheds. If it can catch fire, don’t The program has few requirements and Gieger feed a chipper at Jack and Lola Derosier’s helps by raising awareness. property in the Pine Creek Firewise Community. let it touch a house, deck or porch. For communities that become des- 5. Wildfire can spread to tree tops. Prune trees so the low- ignated as Firewise communities, she est branches are 6 to 10 feet from the ground. said some funding is available for veg- 6. Keep your lawn hydrated and maintained. If it is brown, etation management within 200 feet of cut it down to reduce fire intensity. Dry grass and shrubs are a home. She said Firewise communi- fuel for wildfire. ties must also perform an annual com- 7. Don’t let debris and lawn cuttings linger. Dispose of munity project. these items quickly to reduce fuel for fire. Three Firewise communities have 8. Inspect shingles or roof tiles. Replace or repair the formed in Grant County — Pine Creek, shingles that are loose or missing to prevent ember Middle Fork and Ritter — and Jerome said others have expressed interest. She penetration. said the first in Eastern Oregon was Pine 9. Cover exterior attic vents with metal wire mesh no larg- Creek in 2014, and the community sur- er than 1/8 inch to prevent sparks from entering the home. vived the Canyon Creek Complex fire 10. Enclose eaves and screen soffit vents using 1/8 mesh the following year. She hoped other Contributed photo/Irene Jerome metal screening to prevent ember entry. communities would form as well. A North Fork John Day Watershed Council Additional information and materials are available at “Now is the time to do it,” she said. youth crew assists Rick Gugliemi and Karen firewise.org. “You don’t want to wait until the fire Prudhomme by piling slash behind their home in comes.” the Ritter Firewise Community. Service regulation reform; and the reform of laws, such as the Environmental Species Act, the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. “Things do need to turn around,” he said. At the state level, Storm said the association has focused its lobbying on preventing “bad bills,” such as diesel emissions and labor legisla- tion, and tax increases. He said the current legislative session was a “train wreck” under single-party control with Democrats wanting to tax and spend, increasing the size of government. He said, however, ODF provides many services to loggers with a tiny general fund budget. “The Department of For- estry is one of the good things in government we strongly sup- port,” he said. After Storm spoke, ODF Entomologist Christine Buhl discussed problems with bark beetles. Prevention is import- ant, she said, because once they’re inside the tree, it’s too late. She said pheromone-based repellants can prevent the bee- tles from targeting trees by de- ceiving them into thinking the tree is fully occupied by other beetles. The rice-sized insects can attack trees as a group, over- whelming the trees’ defenses, she said. Symptoms include pitch, boring dust, staining and galleries under the bark. While just the tip of a branch may yel- low from drought, Buhl said bark beetles will affect an entire branch or the top of a tree or the whole tree. She said ODF provides a variety of fact sheets about bark beetles and other prob- lems, available at tinyurl.com/ odf-foresthealth/usfs-fidl. ODF John Day Unit Stew- ardship Forester Kirk Aus- land concluded the dinner by awarding Brad Clemends of B & M Timber a Central Oregon District Merit Award for his salvage work after the Canyon Creek Complex. “B & M Timber has pro- duced quality results under the most difficult circumstances and challenging conditions,” Ausland wrote when he nom- inated Clemens for Eastern Oregon Operator of the Year. “... Desired future conditions will be more obtainable, and reforestation efforts in the near future will benefit from these salvage operations.” 10 safety tips to protect homes from wildfire BIOMASS Continued from Page A1 The facility will process the debris closer to its source, re- ducing transport costs and cre- ating jobs locally. This reduced cost will allow more work to be done in the forest, according to Scott Fairley, the Greater East- ern Oregon Region Coordina- tor for Business Oregon. Based on demand, the facil- ity can change to other prod- ucts. The project competed against eight others and was chosen alongside a water development project in the Umatilla Basin. The biomass project was chosen because it created local jobs using local resources and increased pro- ductivity from federal lands, Fairley said. At the 13-acre Seneca fa- cility, located in the industrial park, a set of scales was re- cently installed, certified by Forest Service and state, so federal timber can be brought in. More equipment, including doweling machines and a chop saw sorting system, will be delivered from Klamath Falls. Williams said the Seneca fa- cility did not receive any state funding and is up and running. The John Day plant is expect- ed to open this summer. “Iron Triangle is not only trying to utilize low-value material but add jobs in the community as well,” Williams said. Scott Fairley The Basics & Effective Communication Strategies Thursday, June 8 | 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. John Day DHS APD Office 725 W. Main St., Suite E John Day, OR 97845 541-523-6377 541-963-6577 541-573-6377 541-523-6377 05370 PUBLICATION FOR SONSHINE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL Sonshine Christian School will be accepting pre-registrations for the 2017/2018 school year. Registration fee for students is $75.00. If you or someone you know is affected by Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, it’s time to learn the facts. This program provides information on detection, causes and risk factors, stages of the disease, treatment, and much more. As people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias progress in their journey and the ability to use words is lost, families need new ways to connect. Explore how communication takes place when someone has Alzheimer’s, learn to decode the verbal and behavioral messages delivered by someone with dementia, and identify strategies to help you connect and communicate at each stage of the disease. Zoo Phonic Programs Taught Pre School students must be 3 years of age before September 1 of the school year and able to attend to toileting without staff assistance. Their classes will be offered 2 days a week from 9-11am. Pre-Kindergarten students must be 4 years of age before September 1 of the school year. Their classes will be offered 3 days a week from 9-11:30am. Registration packets can be picked up at the church office, 521 E Main Street, John Day. The office is open Tuesday-Thursday 9am-3pm. For information call (541) 575-1895 or e-mail Trace at the church e-mail address, judy@johndaynazarene.com This class is free, but registration is required. To register, call 800-272-3900. 05534 Offered in collaboration with:
