TIGERS POUNCE ON MOUNTAINEERS PAGE A10
The
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
W EDNESDAY , S EPTEMBER 20, 2017
• N O . 38
• 18 P AGES
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www.MyEagleNews.com
OREGON WOLVES
Plan update may be ready for review in December
Known Oregon wolf packs
By Eric Mortenson
EO Media Group
tate wildlife offi cials made more than 50 changes so far to a draft wolf man-
agement plan and hope to have it ready for public and Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife Commission review by the end of the year.
Conservation groups have criticized what they consider a delay in updating
the plan, especially as fi ve wolves have been legally shot since August due to
repeated attacks on livestock. Groups such as Oregon Wild argue that ODFW should
not authorize lethal action on wolves while a management plan review is pending.
Commission Chairman Michael Finley defended the process.
“I will say there is no intention to delay or pause for the sake of delay,” he said by
email. “We have a responsible wolf plan in place and are working to replace it with an
updated plan that refl ects lessons learned and works to recover the wolf.”
At a Sept. 15 commission meeting at Resort at the Mountain, on the fl anks of
Mount Hood, ODFW wolf program coordinator Russ Morgan said most of the chang-
es are based on input from the public and from commission members.
“To me that strengthens this document,” said Morgan, who is retiring effective
Oct. 1 and was making his last report to the commission.
Commission members thanked Morgan for
his work in managing a controversial
species, a process in which conser-
vation groups and livestock pro-
ducers hold opposing and hotly
debated points of view.
Commissioner Greg Wolley
said people recognize “what a
Confirmed pack/individual range
S
See WOLF, Page A9
Estimated pack/individual range
NOTE: Polygons represent estimated
ranges for known wolf packs with
radio-collared animals.
82
Portland
Pendleton
197
Unnamed
Heppner
5
26
Minam
Meacham
97
101
Chesnimnus
Wenaha Shamrock
Snake
Walla Walla
River
N. Emily
395
84
Salem
(As of Dec. 31, 2016)
OR30
Desolation
22
Mt.
Emily
Catherine
26
84
Harl
Butte
OR29/36
OR37
20
26
126
Bend
Eugene
OREGON
20
97
58
OR25
5
Silver
Lake
101
Rogue
N
Keno (status unknown)
25 miles
199
Medford
5
*At least one breeding pair
395
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
(cont.)
Total
Keno
Heppner
Silver Lake
OR30 pair
Chesnimnus*
Harl Butte*
N. Emily
OR29/36
Lone/misc.
Minimum total
1
3
1
2
9
10
3
2
7
112
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
“
We have a responsible wolf plan in place and are working to replace
it with an updated plan that reflects lessons learned and works to
recover the wolf.”
Michael Finley
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission chairman
John Day man charged with pointing fi rearm at another
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
A John Day man has been
charged with pointing a firearm at
another after an incident Sept. 9 at
The Ugly Truth Bar & Grill.
Joseph William Leo, 40, faces
charges of unlawful possession of
a firearm and pointing a firearm at
another, both misdemeanors, ac-
cording to court documents.
The document filed by Grant
County District Attorney Jim Car-
penter accuses Leo of carrying a
concealed firearm and purposely
pointing it at Brian Hubbard.
John Day Police Sgt. Damon
Rand said the department was no-
tified of an incident at 12:11 a.m.
Sept. 9.
Rand said Leo was arrested
without incident and was the only
person arrested. He said no shots
were fired, and no one was in-
jured.
He said he would not discuss
the details of the case pending tri-
al.
Leo could not be reached for
comment. His plea hearing is
scheduled for 9:15 a.m. Oct. 26.
Greg Honachefsky from New
Jersey said he was in John Day
playing poker at the bar when
a man came in and joined the
game. He said a verbal confron-
tation occurred, and later he saw
the man had drawn a gun be-
neath the table and pointed it at
Hubbard.
No one else had seen the gun,
Honachefsky said, so he asked
Hubbard to go outside.
New drug laws draw mixed views
Small-scale
possession now
a misdemeanor
By Rylan Boggs
Otis started drinking when he was 9. “I held
out a long time before I started,” he joked.
His fi rst taste was sampling his
uncle’s home-brewed beer when
his father asked him to fetch one.
Blue Mountain Eagle
S
One escape from
a life of addiction
Blue Mountain Eagle
By Rylan Boggs
mall-scale drug possession
is now a misdemeanor in
Oregon, but jail sentences
could actually be longer.
While some believe House
Bill 2355 will help people who
are addicted to drugs by pro-
moting treatment rather than
jail time, Grant County District
Attorney Jim Carpenter said the
changes might not reduce sen-
tences for offenders. The bill
reducing the charges for person-
al possession of drugs, such as
cocaine, methamphetamine and
heroin, from felonies to misde-
meanors for fi rst-time offenders
Hubbard said they went outside
to smoke, and Honachefsky told
him Leo had a gun. He said they
saw the gun while Leo was lean-
ing over the bar, so they subdued
him and took the gun.
Honachefsky said he had flash-
backs of the incident during his
entire drive home to New Jersey.
“Every morning I still see it all
and want to puke,” he said.
The Eagle/Rylan Boggs
not subject to the same sentenc-
ing guidelines, Carpenter said.
“The maximum sentence for
simple possession now classifi ed
as a misdemeanor is 364 days in
jail, a $6,250.00 fi ne, or both,”
he said. “I now have the option,
instead of recommending 10
days for every offense, of rec-
ommending increasing amounts
of jail time for each subsequent
“I was a full-fl edged alcoholic by
junior high,” he said. “I just loved the
buzz.”
His parents, migratory fruit
Otis
pickers, were constantly on the
move. Otis said he attended as many as eight grade
schools in his childhood. His parents accepted and
normalized his drinking at a young age. It was
during this time he found his passion for music,
playing the guitar and banjo.
While Otis said he had a good childhood, he doesn’t
remember a single sober weekend in high school.
See LAWS, Page A9
See ESCAPE, Page A9
A photo illustration of cocaine.
took effect Aug. 15.
Carpenter said these changes,
however, might not reduce sen-
tences for offenders, and fi nes
may actually increase as a result.
As an example, he said pos-
session of meth is classifi ed
as a crime seriousness of one,
the lowest, on the Oregon felo-
ny sentencing guidelines grid,
which carries a presumptive
sentence of 10 days in jail. As a
misdemeanor, the same crime is