NEWS
BlueMountainEagle.com
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
A3
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
Ken Kirby is the new manager at the Les Schwab Tire
Centers store in John Day.
John Day tire store
has new manager
Contributed photo
Brad Clemens of B & M Timber LLC fells a tree. His
company was named Eastern Oregon Area Operator
of the Year for 2018.
Burns logger named
Operator of the Year
By Blue Mountain Eagle
Harney County logger
Brad Clemens of B & M
Timber LLC in Burns has
been chosen as 2018 Opera-
tor of the Year for the East-
ern Oregon Area. The Ore-
gon Board of Forestry will
honor Clemens at its March
9 meeting in Salem. Other
awardees are Jay Browning,
J.M. Browning Logging
Inc. of Astoria, for North-
west Oregon and Dave
Wilkerson, Dave Wilker-
son Logging LLC in Eagle
Point, for Southern Oregon.
The board gives the
Operator of the Year awards
to recognize those who,
while harvesting timber or
doing other forestry work,
protect natural resources
at a level that goes above
and beyond requirements
of the Oregon Forest Prac-
tices Act. That law requires
people to harvest respon-
sibly and protect streams
and water quality, protect
and enhance habitat and
reduce landslide risks. The
law also requires landown-
ers to replant forests after
harvesting.
Private Forests Division
Chief Lena Tucker said,
“These operators have
shown how they can har-
vest needed wood prod-
ucts in Oregon forests
while protecting natural
resources. We’re pleased
to honor the excellent care
and diligence they demon-
strate, often in challenging
circumstances.”
Clemens earned the
Eastern Oregon Operator
of the Year award for min-
imizing soil disturbance
during a winter harvest in
a narrow valley while also
protecting a fi sh-bearing
stream that runs through
the valley. Clemens has
also been recognized for
helping multiple land-
owners by careful salvage
logging of their proper-
ties after a devastating
2015 wildfi re in Eastern
Oregon.
Contributed photo
Grant County Search and Rescue trains with their side-by-sides last summer.
Search and rescue team
keeps busy in Grant County
Deputy Dave
Dobler is SAR
coordinator
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Search and Rescue
team of the Grant County
Sheriff’s Offi ce has had a
busy winter.
In December, the group
responded to six incidents,
locating an overdue wood-
cutter and snowmobiler, a
motorist stuck in the snow,
an overdue hunter and an
injured hunter.
On Dec. 6, SAR located
the body of a missing hiker
who was new to the area.
The call to fi nd Lucas
Cavalle came Dec. 4 after
he’d already been missing
overnight in subzero tem-
peratures near Fields Peak,
west of Mt. Vernon.
Deputy Dave Dobler was
hired on in August as the
SAR coordinator and as a
part-time forest patrol dep-
uty for Grant County, work-
ing under Sheriff Glenn
Palmer.
“For this size of a com-
munity, I think people would
be stunned by the number of
incidents that occur,” Dobler
said.
He brings a wide range
of experience to his work
in search and rescue and
law enforcement, includ-
ing several years with the
Deschutes County Sheriff’s
Offi ce where he was an SAR
coordinator and training
offi cer. He also spent time
there as a canine supervisor,
forest patrol offi cer, arson
investigator and SWAT team
member, he said.
His work history, dat-
ing back to 1982, includes
stints with the Port of Port-
land Police and, later, Port-
land Police Bureau, working
as a fraud and identity theft
investigator. Most recently,
Dobler was a deputy and
undersheriff and SAR coor-
dinator at the Wheeler
County Sheriff’s Offi ce.
His work as the local
coordinator includes admin-
istrative duties, such as
reporting on the unit’s mis-
sions, including how they
deployed, and evaluations
once incidents conclude. He
also submits state reports,
summarizing
personnel
hours and how far a missing
person was located from the
point last seen.
While he is usually man-
ning the incident command
Contributed photo
The Search and Rescue unit of the Grant County Sheriff ’s
Offi ce and mutual aid searchers meet at Fields Creek
Road and Highway 26 during their mission to locate
missing hiker Lucas Cavalle on Dec. 6. The SAR team
had mutual aid from Deschutes, Morrow, Crook and
Baker counties during the search. In the photo, Grant
County Sheriff Glenn Palmer is fourth from right and
SAR coordinator Dave Dobler is second from right.
post for most missions,
Dobler is also on the ground
for some searches.
As busy as they’ve been,
he said they are seeking
more SAR members.
They have a roster of
about 25 volunteers, with
about a third of those active
and another third as active as
work will allow, he said.
He added there are many
different parts to keeping the
search and rescue running
— more than just strong
hikers who search in brutal
weather conditions.
“Resource management
is a big part of SAR —
making the most of limited
resources,” Dobler said.
He said people who work
in the background, including
those who operate radios,
shuttle people around and
bring food supplies, play an
important role.
“It’s a good team to be
on,” he said. “It’s nice to
work together and see the
fruits of your labor and be
able to help people in the
community.”
He said SAR teams are
tight and, when they operate
as a unit, are more than the
sum of all their parts.
“It’s kind of a synergy,”
he said. “It doesn’t take
too many missions where
you’ve helped someone or
saved a life to be hooked.”
He said regular trainings
are improving, and the group
is working more closely with
Grant County Air Search
and ARES (Amateur Radio
Emergency Service), plan-
ning a coordinated training
mission in the spring.
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There are also peo-
ple who provide help with
their ATVs, UTVs and
snowmobiles.
Others giving special-
ized assistance include
Cindy Lemcke, who owns
two search and rescue dogs.
Gabby is a long-haired Ger-
man shepherd trained in
scent-specifi c trail, which
means she can search for a
specifi c individual. Mr. Oak
is a 6-month-old German
shepherd and Dutch shep-
herd mix in training. Kim
Kell, also an SAR member,
helps Lemcke train the dogs.
“(Gabby) doesn’t have
to follow every footstep a
missing person left,” Lem-
cke said. “She’s trained to
follow the scent, so her goal
is to get to the missing per-
son the closest and fastest
way.”
SAR members deploy
when a rescue is needed,
and they also spend time
educating the public on
safety measures to avoid
sticky, even dangerous,
situations.
Dobler said they are
planning a Lucas Cavalle
Initiative, reaching out at
snowparks and trailheads
with basic safety tips as well
as sharing information with
local students and commu-
nity groups who would like
training tips and techniques.
Some of these safety tips
include:
• Use the buddy system
when exploring. Don’t hike
or snowmobile alone.
• Let someone know
your travel plans, and if
those plans change, notify
them.
• Prepare for the condi-
tions, such as winter travel.
• Keep emergency sup-
plies, including blankets,
fl ashlight, batteries, food,
water, proper clothing and
fi re starting materials.
• Travel with a full tank
of fuel.
• Know how to use a map
and compass.
• Know how to make a
fi re.
• Carry a strobe light or
a brightly colored military
signal tarp or panel, which
helps Air Search locate
missing people.
• Consider purchasing a
satellite-based emergency
locator device.
Dobler
said
when
Cavalle went missing, tem-
peratures dipped to a minus
12 degree windchill.
“Unless you have train-
ing and the mindset and
the right equipment, your
chance of survival is low,”
he said. “Mindset is your
biggest tool — keep your
head in the game and don’t
panic.”
People, ages 18 and up,
interested in volunteer-
ing for SAR can pick up an
application at the sheriff’s
offi ce. Volunteers need to
have a good driving record
and the process includes a
questionnaire, interview and
background check. For more
information, call the sher-
iff’s offi ce at 541-575-1131.
98784
Ken Kirby has taken
over management of the
Les Schwab Tire Cen-
ters store in John Day. He
replaces Cork Humphrey,
who retired after 41 years.
Kirby grew up in Fos-
sil. After graduating from
Wheeler High School in
1997, he spent six years at
Treasure Valley Commu-
nity College in Ontario and
then went to work for Les
Schwab in Bend.
“I’ll have 21 years with
Les Schwab in April,” he
said.
The company has roots
in Central Oregon, and the
John Day store is the fi fth
in the corporate chain, open
for business since May 1,
1957.
Les Schwab was born in
Bend in 1907. He founded
the tire company shortly
after he bought OK Rub-
ber Welders in Prineville in
1952. That little tire shop
grew to a chain of 488
stores by 2018 operating in
eight states with more than
7,000 employees.
Schwab died in 2007.
The company moved
its headquarters from
Prineville to Bend in 2008.
The company conducted
more than $1.8 billion in
annual sales in 2018 and
was the second largest inde-
pendent tire retailer in the
U.S.
The company is well
known for hosting sporting
events and sponsoring char-
itable programs. The 23rd
annual Les Schwab Invi-
tational basketball tourna-
ment featuring NBA stars
was held in December 2018
in Hillsboro.
“We like anything to do
with youths,” Kirby said.
Locally, Les Schwab has
partnered with the Oregon
FFA for the Drive Away
Hunger food drive, hosted
the annual Icebreaker Tour-
nament for high school
baseball teams, offered a
rifl e to the winner of the
Big Buck Contest and
co-sponsored a tractor pull
at the county fairgrounds.
98773
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
Blue Mountain Eagle
MyEagleNews.com
Don’t get left behind, call today! Kim Kell 541-575-0710