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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 12, 2018)
Outdoors Blue Mountain Eagle Contributed photo Wednesday, September 12, 2018 Oregon makes case for prescribed fire smoke Jes Burns Dedra Siemon smiles after shooting a .30-06. Oregon Public Broadcasting S HOOTING THE B REEZE G irls with Guns ! By Dale Valade For the Blue Mountain Eagle Like it or not, fellas, the number of women participating in the various outdoors activities is on the rise. I am glad to see this taking place, mostly for selfish reasons. The more people we encourage and mentor to hunt and shoot, the more people that will vote and fight to preserve our rights to do so for generations to come. Some may feel that it’s some- how not a woman’s place to know how to handle a gun or to engage in hunting or shooting of any kind. This couldn’t be further from the truth for many reasons. Sadly, women as a group are specifically targeted each year by criminals. Women are ful- ly capable of defending themselves against any deviants if they are prop- erly equipped and trained. Guns, of course, are the proper equipment in a fight for one’s life, virtue, safety or property. They are an equalizer. And as far as hunting goes, grow- ing up in the country, all of us, boys and girls alike, were taught how to shoot, hunt and fish. I’ve never felt belittled or emasculated to be joined in the field by family members or friends of the opposite sex. I enjoy shooting and hunting alongside these skilled, experienced women. There is much to be learned from these hunt- resses. Being more patient with your shot and lighter on your feet when stalking come to mind. Hunting itself is a life skill, and being able to suc- cessfully provide meat for the table is something everyone should learn how to do regardless of con- trarian social senti- ments. Women can and do shoot very well, and they are typical- Dale ly much better pupils Valade than men. They fol- low instruction and take advice much better in my expe- rience. While women can be biolog- ically inclined to be more recoil sen- sitive than men, I know many ladies that shoot the big stuff too. Every- thing from 7-mm and .300 magnums clear up through the various .45- and .50-caliber shoulder stompers. Deal- ing with recoil is largely mind over matter, something anyone can learn to build up a tolerance for. Having a big game rifle that fits your physique does even more to mitigate a lot of “felt recoil” as well. Most females I’ve informally polled about shooting and hunting don’t get caught up in the stigma of numbers or bravado like us males. They don’t feel desiccated by not carrying a veritable cannon or by re- fraining from lobbing shots into the next county. They do typically fo- cus on what’s most important when hunting like staying warm and well hydrated, safe gun handling, making good shots and treating every game animal they take as a trophy, regard- less of antler orientations. Bragging rights and Boone and Crockett scores are of much less importance than putting venison in the freezer for the women I’ve talked to. In magazines and on television, we see an increasing number of fe- male hosts with their own network shows and in professional capacities as competitive shooters or guides on dangerous game hunts. These lovely women are just deadly with a rifle or bow. And what a fulfilling way to spend time in the outdoors! Ladies, if you’re curious, look up Eleanor O’Connor, Salome de Villiers, Eva Shockey, Julie Golob, Lena Miculek or Melanie Peterson. I, for one, welcome these new- comers and veterans alike. And I’m not alone, the various manufacturers have taken note. All manner of new product lines have been designed with the features most appealing to a feminine shootist in mind. Rifles, bows, camouflage clothing, boots, headgear and packs are just a few of the items available that are fit for Jane Q Hunter. Don’t miss the chance to expose more folks to the wonderful tradi- tions we here in Eastern Oregon hold so dear. Positive reinforcement and good experiences afield can impact lives for generations. Ladies, if you’re wanting to learn how, or if you are already hopelessly hooked like the rest of us, we want to hear from you! Email us at shoo- tingthebreezebme@gmail.com and sound off. Dale Valade is a local country gent with a deep love for handload- ing, hunting and shooting. A7 Oregon is proposing to change how it regulates smoke. The idea is to make it easier to use intentional- ly set or prescribed fire on public and private land. Wildfire smoke has increasing- ly become a point of contention in communities across the Pacific Northwest. For example, Southern Oregon has experienced the worst air quality in the state this summer. There have been around 25 days when the air quality has reached unhealthy levels. It’s broadly accepted that light- ing prescribed fires in times when fire danger is low can burn up ex- cess fuels in the forest and help re- duce the severity of wildfire — and it should also help with smoke in the summer. The Oregon Department of For- estry and the Department of En- vironmental Quality are working on rule changes that will increase the number of burn days avail- able for prescribed fire. Currently ODF says about 165,000 acres are burned each year in the state, and they’d like to get that number up. The main push is to relax air quality standards around commu- nities. The smoke from prescribed burns is regulated and currently not allowed to blow toward most of the population centers in the state. The changes would allow limit- ed amounts of smoke to enter com- munities. The 24-hour average smoke lev- el would have to stay below a cer- tain level. There would be a 1-hour smoke limit as well, but commu- nities with approved public infor- mation plans could apply for an ex- emption. The changes are designed to increase the number of burn days and should eventually lead to more annual prescribed fire. “If we don’t have the ability to use prescribed fire in and around communities in specific areas, then the wildland fire they’re going to learn to live with would be cata- strophic,” said Joe Stutler, a natu- ral resource advisor for Deschutes County who supports the effort. “The issue is, ‘How do you like your smoke?’” There has been some opposition to relaxing air quality standards. The American Lung Association in Oregon says it can’t support the proposal. Lisa Arkin of the environmental health group Beyond Toxics isn’t thrilled either. She thinks the rules are too broad. “The agencies have failed to separate out prescribed burning as part of an ecological and fire pre- vention tool in fire landscapes as opposed to increasing the amount of smoke that’s allowed from slash burning on corporate timber plan- tations,” she said. Slash is the bark and branches left behind and piled after a logging or thinning operation. According to the Oregon Department of Forest- ry, slash is often removed (through burning or other means) to reduce the risk of wildfire and/or prepare the site for replanting. Both kinds of burning are con- sidered prescribed burns under the state’s Smoke Management Plan. Even if the rule changes are ap- proved, it may be a while before any substantive changes happen in wildfire season. Public comment on the proposed changes will be accepted through Sept. 14. Sepa- rate decisions by ODF and DEQ are expected over the next several months. Forest Service announces new Pacific Northwest regional forester Glenn Casamassa appointed to position By George Plaven EO Media Group The U.S. Forest Service has named a new regional for- ester for the Pacific Northwest covering Oregon and Wash- ington. Glenn Casamassa, a long- time Forest Service employee and former supervisor of the Arapaho and Roosevelt na- tional forests and the Pawnee National Grassland in Colo- rado, will take over Sept. 17 at the Portland office. He suc- Glenn Casamassa ceeds Jim Pena, who retired July 3. Casamassa is a 30-year veteran of the Forest Ser- vice. As the regional forester, he will oversee 16 national forests, two national scenic areas, the Crooked River Na- tional Grassland in Oregon and two national volcanic monuments. In a statement released by the Forest Service, Casamassa said he is committed to work- ing with agency employees, tribes and local communities to share stewardship of public lands across the two states. “Being good neighbors and setting a standard of ex- cellence for public and cus- tomer service are priorities for the region in working along- side the people who care for, value, and depend upon these lands,” Casamassa said. Casamassa earned his bachelor’s degree in for- est ecology from Utah State University, and completed post-graduate work in logging system engineering at the Or- egon State University College of Forestry. He began his ca- reer as a forestry technician, working as a seasonal fire- fighter on the Tonto National Forest in Arizona. Casamassa landed his first permanent job on the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, and from there went to work on the Wasatch-Cache National Forest in Utah. He has also served as district ranger of the Moab and Monticello ranger districts on the Manti-La Sal National Forest, and was the regional environmental coor- dinator for the Forest Service Intermountain Region, span- ning portions of Utah, Col- orado, Wyoming, Idaho and Nevada. Casamassa also worked as a legislative affairs specialist at the agency’s Washington, D.C., headquarters. Forest Service Interim Chief Vicki Christiansen said Casamas- sa has played a leading role in reforming regulations at the national level, and brings with him “tremendous land management and conserva- tion leadership experiences.” Jerome Rosa, executive director of the Oregon Cattle- men’s Association, said he is looking forward to working with Casamassa to address outstanding issues — namely livestock and grazing guide- lines — in the final draft of the Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision, which sets goals and desired conditions for 5.5 million acres in the Umatilla, Wallowa-Whitman and Malheur national forests in Eastern Oregon. “We’re really excited about the opportunity to work with him,” Rosa said. Dianne Guidry, who has served as the acting regional forester since Pena retired in July, will resume her role as deputy regional forester after Casamassa arrives. 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