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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 9, 2017)
A18 News Blue Mountain Eagle WOLVES Continued from Page A1 The Oregon Cattlemen’s Association said the order didn’t go far enough. “As an organization, we are extremely disappointed that they are not taking out the entire pack with all the depredations that have oc- curred and all the work that has been done on the Oregon wolf plan,” Executive Di- rector Jerome Rosa said in a prepared statement. “To not take the entire pack? This is code for our ranchers that cattle will continue to be killed.” The association said dry summer weather caused the pack’s natural food source – deer and elk – to move high- er into the mountains and made rancher’s cattle “easy targets.” Cascadia Wildlands, a Eugene-based group, said it is “disgusted” the de- partment will kill wolves. In March 2016, the depart- ment shot four wolves from the Imnaha Pack; the Harl Butte pack may include rem- nants of that pack and other wolves from the Imnaha and Snake River wildlife man- agement units. “It is becoming pain- HYDROPONIC Continued from Page A1 of our dollars right back into the community, the city wins — just everyone wins,” Wyllie said. Local markets, restau- rants, schools and the hos- pital are all potential cus- tomers, Lieuallen said. He speculated the greenhouse could yield more produce than could be consumed locally. Produce grown locally could have a longer shelf life and potentially re- duced cost, encouraging residents to eat healthier, Green said. Two to three jobs could be created by the facility, and volunteer labor could be compensated with pro- duce. The facility would initially use fresh water, but could be switched to using reclaimed water from a possible wastewa- ter treatment plant pro- posed for the Innovation Gateway. Potential partners for the venture include Ore- gon Regional Solutions, the county and academic institutions. Wednesday, August 9, 2017 fully obvious from every experience in Oregon and Washington that killing wolves leads to more con- flict down the line and does not address the prob- lem,” Cascadia legal di- rector Nick Cady said in a prepared statement. “We are setting ourselves up for a perpetual cycle where we are throwing away pub- lic dollars and needlessly killing a still-recovering species.” The Portland group Ore- gon Wild also criticized the kill order. “If ODFW kills these wolves, it will demonstrate that Oregon has a failed wildlife agency and a broken wolf management plan,” Ex- ecutive Director Sean Ste- vens said in a prepared state- ment. “It’s clear now that Gov. (Kate) Brown needs to step in and reform this fail- ing agency so that the public can trust that its wildlife is being protected.” In deciding to kill two wolves, the department determined livestock pro- ducers had taken proper non-lethal measures to deter attacks and hadn’t done any- thing to attract wolves to the livestock, such as leaving bone piles or carcasses. Ranchers, their employ- ees, a county range rider and a volunteer provided “daily human presence” in the area, ODFW said. One ranch- er in the area said the pack frequented an area that put them in the middle of sev- eral herds grazing by permit on public land. On seven occasions in June and July, ranchers or the range rider hazed wolves that were chasing or were close to livestock. They chased wolves away by yelling, firing a pistol, shooting at them and riding a horse to- ward them, according to ODFW. Ranch hands also spent the night with herds and kept stock dogs in horse trailers at night, as wolves FIRE “All in all, things are look- ing pretty good,” she said. Smoky skies, however, may linger for another week, affecting local air quality. The National Weather Service in Pendleton has issued another air quality alert through noon Saturday for Grant, Umatilla, Morrow, Union, Wallowa, Wheeler, Gilliam and Sher- man counties. Meteorologist Mike Mur- phy said a low pressure sys- tem is expected to move into the area Saturday, bring- ing winds out of the west, which will help to clear out the haze. Thunderstorms and lighting may also be in the forecast, which would likely mean more fi res given how hot and dry the forests have been. Matt Howard, unit forest- er for ODF in Wallowa, said the formula they use to de- termine how ripe conditions are for burning — known as the energy release compo- nent — is at extreme levels around the Northeast Oregon District, thanks to months of below-average precipitation and record heat. “We have transitioned quickly, and we are now in a critical period in our sum- mer for fi re danger,” Howard said. Coming off a wet winter with above-average snow- pack, Howard said grass- es were growing taller and thicker than in previous years heading into spring. Now, those same grasses are dry, cured and ready to burn. With lightning potentially on the horizon, Howard urged people to take care when rec- reating in the forest to avoid causing more unnecessary human fi res and straining fi refi ghting resources. “We really don’t want to be messing with hu- man-caused fi re when we’ve got lightning like that coming in,” he said. Out of 74 total fi res re- ported this year by the Blue Mountain Interagency Dis- patch Center, 30 have been human-caused, burning 1,298 acres. “They’re taking quite a few resources to gain the up- per hand on some of these in- cidents,” Howard said. ODF lands are in a regu- lated use closure, prohibiting all open fi res except at des- ignated locations. Proper- ty owners also cannot use a Known Oregon wolf packs Confirmed pack/individual range Estimated pack/individual range NOTE: Polygons represent estimated ranges for known wolf packs with radio-collared animals. 82 Pendleton 197 Unnamed Heppner 5 26 Minam Meacham 97 101 Chesnimnus Wenaha Shamrock Snake Walla Walla River N. Emily 395 84 Portland Salem (As of Dec. 31, 2016) OR30 Desolation 22 Mt. Emily Catherine 26 84 Harl Butte OR29/36 OR37 20 26 126 Bend Eugene 97 OREGON 20 58 Silver Lake OR25 5 101 Rogue N Keno (status unknown) 25 miles 199 Medford 5 *At least one breeding pair southeast of Elgin on private forestland. Jamie Knight, spokes- woman with the Oregon De- partment of Forestry, said the Indian Lake Fire is 65 per- cent contained and burning on a mix of lands protected by ODF, the Forest Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs. It is not certain whether any structures were damaged, Knight said Monday after- noon. No closures have been issued for the area. The Clarks Creek Fire, meanwhile, is now 80 per- cent contained. Crews on both fi res are working to strengthen lines and mop up hot spots, Knight said. Ontario Wolf pack population Pack/area Total Wenaha* Walla Walla* Snake River* Minam* 12 11 9 11 Mt. Emily Meacham* Rogue 8 7 6 Desolation Shamrock Catherine* 1 4 5 Source: Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Continued from Page A1 395 (cont.) Keno Heppner Silver Lake OR30 pair Chesnimnus* Harl Butte* N. Emily OR29/36 Lone/misc. Minimum total Total 1 3 1 2 9 10 3 2 7 112 Alan Kenaga/Capital Press are territorial and might be drawn to attack dogs. Some producers changed grazing practices, such as bunching cow-calf pairs in a herd so they could protect themselves. They also delayed pasture rotations to avoid moving into areas where wolves had recently been, according to ODFW. Producers removed potential wolf “attrac- tants” such as injured or sick cattle, taking them back to home ranches for treatment. A dead bull’s carcass was removed from an area near a pond where cattle were concentrated, according to ODFW. The department first re- ceived a lethal control re- quest from producers in October 2016 after a fourth confirmed depredation. ODFW turned it down at the time because cattle were be- ing moved out of the grazing allotments. This time, cattle are ex- pected to be grazing on pub- lic land until October and on private land until November. Brown, the ODFW acting coordinator, said there is a “substantial risk” livestock attacks would continue or escalate. chainsaw, weld metal or mow dried grass with power-driven equipment between the hours of 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. On the Malheur, Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman na- tional forests, chainsaw use is prohibited at all hours. Under Phase C public use restric- tions on the Malheur, camp- fi res are banned. On Forest Service and ODF lands, off-road vehi- cle travel is not allowed, and smoking is prohibited in the woods except in vehicles, boats or cleared areas. Howard said it is the pub- lic’s responsibility to know what restrictions are in place within each jurisdiction be- fore heading out. For more information, visit fs.usda.gov/malheur or bmidc.org. Rep. Knute Buehler seeks governorship By Paris Achen Capital Bureau State Rep. Knute Buehler, R-Bend, has offi cially an- nounced his plan to run for governor. Buehler, an orthopedic sur- geon who had been rumored to seek the post in 2018, was fi rst elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 2014. The Bulletin on Thursday reported Buehler announced his candidacy during a meet- ing with the newspaper’s edi- torial board Wednesday. In an offi cial announce- ment Thursday, Buehler said that Oregon “needs change — and I’m ready to lead it.” He said he intended to pur- sue public pension reform, “re- store fi scal sanity to Oregon’s budget,” and work to boost the state’s economy by emphasiz- ing job training and holding back on “excessive, job-kill- ing” regulations. Buehler’s political action committee has collected more than $97,000 in campaign donations this year and spent about $106,890, as of Thurs- day morning, according to state campaign fi nance records. Buehler grew up in Rose- burg and attended Oregon State University. He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and earned a medical degree from Johns Hopkins University. More than a year before the November 2018 election, Bue- hler is the fi rst offi cial contend- er in the race. The timing of his announcement in early August is unusual for a gubernatorial campaign. Buehler has hired political strategist Rebecca Tweed to run his campaign. Tweed was statewide cam- paign coordinator for the “No on Measure 97” coalition. The coalition’s campaign helped to defeat the $6.1 billion corpo- rate sales tax measure in 2016. In the bid for the GOP nom- ination, Buehler could face off with Happy Valley Mayor Lori Chavez-DeRemer. The Re- publican mayor opened a Lori Chavez-DeRemer for Gover- nor PAC in June to raise mon- ey for a potential run but has not offi cially declared.
