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