News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Magone Trail project
ranks well for grant
County domestic
violence shelter
closer to fruition
Shelter needs
have doubled in
recent years
Idlewild Sno-Park
also seeking
grant funding
By Richard Hanners
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
Blue Mountain Eagle
Two outdoor recreation
projects in the Grant County
area received high rankings
from an Oregon Parks and
Recreation Department advi-
sory committee for this year’s
Recreational Trails Program
grant funding.
The Malheur National For-
est Blue Mountain Ranger
District’s $218,804 request
for construction of the Ma-
gone Trail Network ranked
sixth out of 14 entries in the
nonmotorized trails division.
The Eastern Oregon Trail
Alliance deserves the credit
for the trail project, said Jar-
ed Bowman, the forest’s north
zone recreation manager. The
Forest Service applied for the
grant on behalf of the alliance
because the group had not ex-
isted for three years, which
was a grant requirement.
The total cost of the project
is estimated to be $361,679.
Plans call for a 28-mile trail,
of which 5 miles will be re-
habilitated trail and improve-
ments to the Nipple Butte
Trail, Bowman said.
The remaining 23 miles
includes road-to-trail con-
versions that the alliance and
Forest Service will under-
take with assistance from the
North Fork John Day Water-
shed Council’s youth crew
and new trail built by pro-
fessional mountain bike trail
contractors. The grant funding
will be used to pay for the lat-
541-523-6377
Contributed photos
Youth crews from the North Fork John Day Watershed Council work on the Magone
Trail in August of 2017.
A youth crew
member helps
improve the
Magone Trail in
August. Grant
funding could
further improve
trails in the
area.
ter work, Bowman said.
Volunteers from the alli-
ance built several hundred feet
of trail in 2017. The alliance,
Forest Service and youth crew
created a few hundred feet in
2018, Bowman said.
Progress was slow. At that
rate, the 28-mile long trail
541-963-6577
541-573-6377
could take 56 years to com-
plete, which was unaccept-
able, Bowman said. The grant
would enable the project to
be completed in two years, he
said.
The goal is to augment
recreation opportunities in the
Magone Lake area.
541-576-2160
90632
“The trail network will
be an amazing asset for this
area — a destination feature,
to which urbanites in the re-
gion will likely travel, not to
mention locals,” Bowman
said. “We are hoping to cap-
ture some of the flow-through
bicycle traffic in the area and
increase the amount of time
visitors spend in the John Day
Valley.”
Bowman said he and fellow
north zone recreation planner
Kevin Green were working
with the alliance board to
analyze the trail system, de-
velop phases for construction
and set goals for 2019. The
alliance meets on the second
Wednesday of each month at
the Outpost Pizza Pub & Grill
in John Day, he noted.
“We hope this will in-
crease enthusiasm and volun-
teer support as we move into
the second year of funding,”
Bowman said.
A $160,000 request to fund
a new building to house the
snowmobile trail grooming
machine at Idlewild Sno-Park
in Harney County was ranked
fifth out of five requests in the
motorized trails division.
Harney County Snowmo-
bile Club president Darrell
Williams said plans call for
constructing a 40-by-60-foot
building at the parking lot
that was paved about four
years ago. The total cost of
the project is estimated to be
$200,000. Club members in-
tend to provide in-kind ser-
vices for the match.
The groomer is owned by
the Oregon State Snowmo-
bile Association with support
from the Oregon Department
of Transportation, Williams
said. Each snowmobile club
maintains and operates a
groomer.
Without a shed, volunteer
operators had been parking
the Idlewild groomer in a se-
cure place in the woods or at
a club member’s cabin, Wil-
liams said. There have been
no vandalism incidents, but
club members wanted a more
secure means to store the ma-
chine, he said.
While the past winter was
a drought year with poor cov-
erage for snowmobiling, the
Idlewild machine groomed
1,200-1,300 miles two win-
ters ago, Williams said.
A9
Grant County is one step
closer to having new offices
and a shelter for its domestic
violence program.
The Grant County Court
approved submitting a
$980,000 Community Devel-
opment Block Grant applica-
tion on behalf of the Heart of
Grant County for construc-
tion of the Meredith House
following a public hearing
during its Nov. 7 meeting.
Commissioner Jim Ham-
sher noted how sad it is that
such a facility was needed,
but that is the reality. Grant
County Judge Scott Myers
agreed.
Sally Bartlett, the coun-
ty’s economic development
coordinator, said the state had
approved a pre-application
for the grant. With a Dec. 31
application deadline, Bart-
lett said the grant might be
awarded in the spring. If suc-
cessful, the project could be
put out to bid, and construc-
tion could start next summer,
she said.
Heart of Grant County
was established in 2008. The
nonprofit provides domestic
violence and sexual assault
protection services for county
residents and provides a 24-
hour hotline, temporary safe
housing, emergency trans-
portation and support groups
The nonprofit has relocat-
ed its offices several times
and needs a better location,
Bartlett said. Shelter demand
has doubled in recent years,
with shelter space maxed out
several times. The current
facility also lacks needed se-
curity and safety provisions,
she said.
In fiscal year 2017-2018,
Bartlett said, Heart of Grant
County was contacted by 131
people in crisis, received 236
hotline calls, provided 310
shelter nights at their small
apartment, provided 19 motel
rooms, handled 17 new cli-
ents and 134 ongoing clients,
provided safety planning for
212 clients and accompanied
92 clients for medical rea-
sons.
According to 2016 num-
bers from the Grant County
District Attorney’s Office,
victim assistance staff han-
dled 108 victims of domestic
abuse, including 73 cases of
domestic and family vio-
lence, 12 child abuse cases,
11 child sexual abuse cases,
five stalking cases, three vi-
olation of protective orders
and two adult sexual assault
cases.
Bartlett said Heart of
Grant County started its site
search on county-owned
land, but nothing suitable was
available. The nonprofit then
found land and purchased it.
The site was not chosen on a
whim, she noted.
The new facility is esti-
mated to cost $1.5 million,
but the total could be reduced
through in-kind services pro-
vided by locals, Bartlett said.
The estimated total cost in-
cludes architecture and engi-
neering but not furniture and
equipment, she said.
The hope is to provide
three bedrooms, two bath-
rooms and offices for the
nonprofit, Bartlett said. The
facility would accommodate
women, men and children.
Acceptance of clients from
outside the county would be
determined on a case-by-case
basis, Executive Director
Shelly Whale-Murphy said.
The state, which will ad-
minister the federal grant,
would own the building for
five years and lease it to the
Heart of Grant County at a
nominal amount, Bartlett
said. Ownership would be
transferred to Heart of Grant
County after that.
Heart of Grant County is
seeking donations to com-
plete the $15,000 required
match for the grant. For more
information, call 541-575-
4335.
Comments sought
on Silvies grazing
allotment analysis
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Emigrant Creek
Ranger District of the Mal-
heur National Forest is so-
liciting scoping comments
regarding an environmen-
tal analysis to re-authorize
grazing on three grazing al-
lotments through the South
Silvies Complex Grazing
Allotments
Environmen-
tal Analysis. The planning
area is located in Grant and
Harney counties, 18 miles
north of Burns, according
to a press release. This area
encompasses about 54,506
acres within the Silvies River
Watershed, including the Big
Sagehen, Silvies and Bridge
Creek grazing allotments.
The document can be
accessed on the Forest Ser-
vice website at https://www.
fs.usda.gov/project/?proj-
ect=52366, or by contacting
Marion Mahaffey at 541-
575-3302 or marionmahaf-
fey@fs.fed.us.
The 30-day scoping pe-
riod for the South Silvies
Complex Grazing Allot-
ments Environmental Anal-
ysis began Nov. 14. Only
those submitting specific
written comments during a
designated opportunity to
comment will have standing
to object to the project. Com-
ments must be postmarked or
received within 30 days from
the date of publication of the
scoping notice, Dec. 14.
For more information,
contact Mahaffey.
The Mt. Vernon Volunteer Fire Dept. would like to thank the
following contributors of the food basket raffle for their support:
John Day True Value Hardware
Backdoor Creations
Vey Ranches
Frontier Equipment
Emma Winkleman
Annie Smith
Patricia Ross
Linda McCumber
Nydam’s Ace Hardware
Napa Auto Parts
Chester’s Thriftway
Log Cabin Espresso
Elsa Moreno Spence
KJ Kuhl
Sherri Preston McGuire
Michele McManama
Liz & Matt Allen
There was over $1,100 raised for the Elderly Food Basket Pro-
gram. The Fire Dept. was able to give out 50 baskets last year.
Any cash donations go towards the purchase of turkeys, hams
and other food items.
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