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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 2018)
A6 Community Blue Mountain Eagle The deadline for What’s Happening items is 5 p.m. Friday. Call the Eagle, 541-575-0710, or email editor@bmeagle.com. For meetings this week, see our list in the classifieds. Wednesday, January 17, 2018 W HAT’S FRIDAY, JAN. 19 HAPPENING Baptist College concert Monument Soil and Water Conservation Dis- trict seminar and meeting • 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monument Senior Center Topics at the landowner seminar will include soil health, noxious weed updates and herbicide resistance. Updates will also be given on the North and Middle Forks John Day River Ag. Water Quality Plan and the John Day Basin Partnership. At noon, the Monument School SkillsUSA will serve a fundraiser tri-tip lunch at a cost of $8 per plate. The annual meeting will follow the landowner seminars at 2:30 p.m. Those planning on attending are asked to RSVP for a meal count by Jan. 18 at 541-934-2141 or mswcd@ centurytel.net. SATURDAY, JAN. 20 Clay pigeon shoot SUNDAY, JAN. 21 Grant County Farm Bureau meeting • 1 p.m., Outpost Restaurant, John Day Speakers at the meeting will be Sen. Cliff Bentz; Barry • 6:30 p.m., Canyon City Community Hall Local Democrats are encouraged to attend. For more infor- mation, call 541-542-2633. THURSDAY, JAN. 25 • 5 p.m., First Baptist Church, 300 W. Main St., John Day The West Coast Baptist College men’s singing group will be performing. There is no cost to attend, and the public is wel- come. • 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Kimberly Rock Products pit, mile marker 9 on Highway 402 Events include jackpots, Annie Oakley and more, plus men’s, women’s and children’s competitions. The cost is $3 per shoot. All proceeds from the shoot will benefit the Monument Senior Center, which will have concessions available on site by donation. Beginning at 1 p.m. will be the first of a separate four- part series shoot. Dates for the series shoot are Jan. 20, Feb. 17, March 17 and April 14. The men’s division costs $100, and the prize is a $500 gift certificate to Nydam’s Ace Hardware; the women’s division costs $40 with a $200 gift certificate to the Mossy Oak store as the prize; and the children’s division (14 and under) costs $20 with a $100 cash prize. Participants must attend at least three of the shoots to qualify, and prepayment in full is required at the first shoot. For more information, call 541-934-2143. WEDNESDAY, JAN. 24 Democrats meeting TUESDAY, JAN. 30 Local work group meeting Courtesy of OFB Oregon Farm Bureau President Barry Bushue will speak at the Grant County Farm Bureau meeting Jan. 21 in John Day. Bushue, president of the Oregon Farm Bureau; and Mary Anne Cooper, public policy counsel for the Oregon Farm Bureau. Officers will be elected during the meeting. A pizza bar and refreshments will be served at 1 p.m. The public is welcome. • 1-3 p.m., Oregon Department of Forestry conference room, 415 Patterson Bridge Road, John Day The Natural Resources Conservation Service is holding a local work group meeting to gather input from farmers, ranch- ers, state and federal agencies and agriculture and conservation organizations regarding natural resource conservation priorities and opportunities to invest collaboratively in Grant County. A request for accommodations for people with disabilities should be made at least 48 hours before the meeting to Lorraine Vogt, 541-575-0135 ext. 109. Forest Service seeks comments on improving NEPA efficiency Free grant- writing webinar announced Blue Mountain Eagle Blue Mountain Eagle A free, 90-minute live webinar, “The Biggest Myths about Grantseeking ... and How to Keep Them from Sabotaging Your Grant Success,” will be presented by Maryn Boess from 9-10:30 a.m. Feb. 1. There is no charge, but registration is required. To register, visit grantsmagic. org/myths-nao. After registration, attendees will re- ceive a link to a Facebook page where questions, comments and challenges can be shared. Attendees will learn new, specific, down-to-earth tools and action steps to improve grant writing success. The Forest Service is seek- ing public comment on its work to improve the often costly, lengthy process to comply with the National Environmental Pol- icy Act when making land man- agement decisions. “Our efforts to improve our processes are rooted in our de- sire to be more responsible for the land we manage and more responsive to the people we serve,” said USDA Forest Ser- vice Chief Tony Tooke in a press release. “We will continue to de- liver science-based, high-quali- ty analysis as we work to make better decisions in a timelier manner. We are focused on our core mission to achieve quali- ty land management for multi- ple uses of national forests and grasslands.” The public has until Feb. 1 to comment on the advance notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Regis- ter. Submit comments by email to nepa-procedures-revision@ fs.fed.us or online at https:// cara.ecosystem-management. org/ Public/ CommentInput? proj- ect= ORMS-1797. The Forest Service seeks public comment on how it, un- der NEPA, can: • Increase efficiency in mov- ing through the NEPA process. • Improve application of the NEPA process on land- scape-scale restoration projects. • Determine which types of activities could undergo an ab- breviated NEPA review because they pose minimal effects on natural resources, such as cer- tain restoration projects, special use authorizations and activities to maintain and manage sites, facilities and associated infra- structure. • Improve coordination with other agencies on multi-agency projects. This solicitation of feed- back is part of a larger effort by the Forest Service to eval- uate its environmental analysis and decision-making process. The Forest Service’s capaci- ty to complete environmental analysis needed to make de- cisions is at its lowest level in decades, largely due to the increased costs of dealing with longer, more intensive wild- fire seasons. In addition, more than 80 million acres of land the Forest Service manages is in urgent need of treatment to mitigate risk for fire, insect and disease infestation. Thus, a substantial backlog of forest, watershed and range restoration projects exists. Ad- ditionally, the majority of envi- ronmental decisions the Forest Service makes authorize spe- cial use permits, of which more than 6,000 are awaiting com- pletion. This affects more than 7,000 businesses and 120,000 jobs. The Forest Service aims to improve its efficiency in these areas in order to fully meet the expectations of the American public to increase the health and productivity of national forests and grasslands. National for- ests and grasslands are working lands that provide a multitude of benefits to the American pub- lic, from forest products such as wood and food, to opportuni- ties for world-class recreational experiences that also provide health benefits. Forest Service programs and work contribute to 360,000 jobs and more than $30 billion in gross domestic product. For more information about the Forest Service, visit fs.fed. us. A msst heartfelt THANK YOU to all of our friends and family that donated in a million different ways to the 25th Annual Carrie Young Memorial! A record amount of $42,798.20 was raised this year. Thanks to your generosity, we were able to assist approximately 225 elderly throughout Grant County. We live in an amazing county! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts - Lucie Immoos, Christie Winegar, Dolores Young