Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 20, 2019)
NEWS Blue Mountain Eagle Forest Continued from Page A1 A draft version of the plans was unveiled in 2014 and received so much back- lash the local Forest Service offices decided to re-engage with the public over mul- tiple years to develop new alternatives. Lumber companies wor- ried the amount of timber harvest allowed under the plans would be insufficient to maintain existing mills; ranchers worried about restrictions on grazing; local cities and counties worried about the buildup of forest fuels driving larger, more destructive wildfires; and residents worried about the closing of more roads, lim- iting forest access. Environmental groups, too, worried about the increasing fragmentation of forest habitat for vulner- able wildlife species, such Concepts Continued from Page A1 Hill Family City Park, a trail system at the Davis Creek Park, downtown John Day, the Seventh Street Com- plex and the Grant County Fairgrounds. Many of the designs are conceptual at this point. Potential features could include a botanical garden in the area near the yellow sawmill building that peri- odically floods, a new camp- ground at the site of the exist- ing wastewater treatment plant once it’s removed, parking and open space for an event site at the former planer building and even beaches constructed at sev- eral locations along the river. Greenhouse business Matt Craigie, a proj- ect manager at ECONorth- west in Portland, outlined some of the study topics for a comprehensive economic development strategy. The CEDS will be a roadmap of actions to achieve economic goals, he said, a playbook of actions and tactics for lead- ers to use for the next five years. The three study areas as wolves, birds and endan- gered fish. The latest “preferred alternative” for the Blue Mountains Forest Plans called for thinning up to 33 percent of dry upland for- ests to improve health and resiliency, creating up to 1,173 new jobs in forest products, livestock and rec- reation, and $59.5 million in added income. The plans would have also doubled timber har- vest across the three for- ests from a recent average of 101 million board feet to 205 million board feet, and identified 242,800 animal unit months of livestock grazing. An animal unit month, or AUM, describes the amount of forage one cow and her calf, one horse or five sheep or goats would eat during a month. Still, the plans received approximately 350 formal objections, and more than ECONorthwest and other consultants will look at for the CEDS are commercial greenhouses, housing stock and marketing and branding for tourism, he said. Export-oriented hydro- ponic businesses are com- plex but possible, Craigie said. They have a high fail- ure rate, but that risk could be reduced. High costs typ- ically include labor and energy, but in the case of John Day, the nearest export markets are three hours away, which drives up trans- portation costs, he said. In addition to addressing those issues, the consultants will look at how to market produce and whether Ore- gon State University can use the future greenhouses for research and education. The greenhouses now under con- struction at the Innovation Gateway project site will produce vegetables for local consumption. Craigie said the local housing supply is con- strained to some degree by floodplain regulations and steep hills, but more import- ant is the need for develop- ing expensive infrastructure to serve new building lots. The consultants will con- tinue to study those issues, he said. 300 people voiced concerns during each of five commu- nity meetings in November and December. French said the plans do not “fully account for the unique social and economic needs of local communities in the area.” “The resulting plans are very difficult to understand, and I am concerned that there will be ongoing con- fusion and disagreement as to how each revised plan is to be implemented,” French said. In the coming months, the Forest Service will reach out again to partners to figure out next steps for management plans in the three forests. Casamassa, the regional forester based in Portland, said he is confi- dent they can find common ground for long-term sus- tainable management. “I look forward to join- ing local and state officials, partners, tribes and mem- Plant Continued from Page A1 the facility, Green said. Con- struction could begin in spring 2020. Plant hurdles The Anderson Perry engineering firm in La Grande has been studying the project for 12 years, senior engineer Brett Moore said. The deteriorating con- dition of the aging facility and newer, more stringent environmental regulations add to the difficulties. A significant geographic hurdle is the steep terrain that confines the cities of John Day and Canyon City, but there are also numer- ous bureaucratic hurdles, he noted. The new plant will pro- duce more Class A reclaimed water than can be uti- lized by the city, especially during winter. There were concerns that dumping the warmer treated water into the river could adversely impact the total maximum daily load for temperature, Moore explained. A recent court decision on TMDLs, however, has created confusion for the Wednesday, March 20, 2019 bers of the public to explore how we can best work together in shared stew- ardship to pursue common objectives,” Casamassa said. U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Oregon, praised the Trump administration for listening to concerns raised by people in forested com- munities. Walden said a common refrain from the public at meetings was that the government was not listening. “Despite repeated efforts to provide input, local elected officials and the people they represent have repeatedly felt ignored by the process and proposals the Forest Service put for- ward,” he said. “While it is unfortunate to have to begin again, I’m hopeful we can move forward in a man- ner that ensures the needs of our local communities are finally being heard and reflected in the plan.” state and federal agencies that will determine regu- lations for the new plant, Moore said. In a nutshell, the agencies currently lack the information and frame- work to make a decision on the new plant’s opera- tion, he said. A temporary agreement has been reached allowing the city to dump the Class A reclaimed water into the existing lagoons, Moore said. Moore also described a state law requiring new treatment plants be sized by official population esti- mates, which for John Day and Canyon City are nega- tive. Asking a city to make a large investment in a plant that will not accommodate growth is unrealistic, he said, and Anderson Perry continues to debate this issue with state officials. River project It will take about two years before the wastewa- ter treatment plant is oper- ating. That’s enough time to complete design and per- mitting work for a plan to rework decades of gold mine dredging disturbance and restore the John Day River to a more natural con- dition, according to Gardner Johnston, a hydrologist with Hello Grant County, DST Continued from Page A1 hard enough to get up on gray winter mornings,” Newberg resident Carol Kelley testi- fied. “I hate to think of sun- rise times an hour later all winter long than they are currently. Plus as an educa- tor, I don’t like the idea of schoolchildren walking to school in darkness through- out our four to five months of fall and winter before lighter mornings return.” Thatcher said that her staff crunched the num- bers for locations through- out Oregon and found that, if daylight saving time were adopted for the whole year, the latest sunrise in Oregon — on the winter solstice — would come around 9 a.m. on the north coast. Despite its name, stan- dard time is only in effect from November to March — less than half the year. Inter-Fluve of Hood River. Johnston presented an aerial photo illustrating the extent of dredge tail- ings covering much of the John Day city area in 1939. He said he was unable to find earlier photos or maps showing the original river channel, but he believes a normal meandering river was left in a straightened ditch when the miners finished. That kind of channel does not allow for the sea- sonal flooding needed by riparian habitat and lacked the deep pools and shade needed by fish. The goal is to return sinuos- ity to the river and create a lower elevation floodplain along the north side of the river. That area would flood seasonally but remain dry in summertime for trails and recreation. Benefits would include reduced flood impacts to urban areas, new floodplain surfaces that would better mimic natural river condi- tions while providing mul- tiple recreational uses, con- structed wetlands that could be used for city stormwater treatment, improved access for fishing or recreation and enhanced values for neigh- boring properties. Channel designs Local resident John Mor- ris asked if the slower-mov- ing river water would get hotter in summertime without shade, and Mark Croghan, a hydrologist with Who is ready for spring? Well, I know I am! I am really enjoying this 50 degree sunny day! Almost all of the snow is gone. Speaking of snow, did you see our Snowman Contest on our Facebook page? We had 10 fabulous entries! First place ($100 in Grant County Greenbacks) went to Eliza and Presley Harper, second ($50 in Greenbacks) went to Meredith Thomas and third ($25 in Greenbacks) went to Jamison and Graham Connor. Other contestants were Owen Armstrong, Noah Cobb, Sydney, Brandon and Bailey McCracken, Quinn Cherry, Joelene Floyd, Blake Sandor, and Cornerstone Youth. Thanks for participating! If you haven’t picked up your prize, please come to the Chamber office and get it. We have something for everyone who participated. We will be having some photo contests coming up, so start taking pictures! Some of the categories are: hiking, biking, sunsets, water, landscape and fun! If you haven’t liked our page on Facebook, type in Grant County, Oregon Chamber of Commerce and like us now! Our March Chamber meeting and no- host luncheon will be Thursday, March 21st. The board meets at 10:30 a.m. at the Chamber office for their business meeting and the luncheon is at noon at the Outpost. This month’s speaker will be Peggy Murphy, Curator of the Grant County Historical Museum. She will be sharing information about the Passport to Fun during Spring Break and what’s been happening at the Grant County Historical Museum. We would like to welcome Stacie Bailey, Financial Advisor with Edward Jones, Riverside Home Park, and Come Ride with Us Maps as new Chamber members. We would like to welcome Benny Santos, the new owner of the John Day Dairy Queen, to Grant County; stop in and say hello to Benny. Our billboard has been installed, so if you’re in the Ontario area, be sure and look for it. Did you hear that Parmalee is going to be the Headliner for the 110th Grant County Fair August 16th? You can buy your tickets now at Eventbrite.com. Great job to fair manager Mindy Winegar! Thanks to that switch, during the winter, the sun rises earlier in the morning, but it sets earlier as well. Aileen Kaye, a Turner resident, told senators that keeping daylight saving time all year would make life easier for her. “I just would love more daylight in the evenings,” Kaye said. “We have horses, and they can stay out later. We can clean their stalls in the daylight. It’s wonderful.” Marilyn Grendele wrote to the committee, for elderly Oregonians like her, “more daylight in the evening frees us to go out and not fear driving home in the dark.” Rebecca Gladstone of Eugene said she just wants to see a uniform time — for the whole year, and for the whole West Coast, including Washington, California and British Columbia — whether it’s standard time or daylight time. the Bureau of Reclamation, asked about the stability of the new constructed chan- nel during floods. Johnston explained that channel design and reveg- etation would address tem- perature issues. He also acknowledged that the proj- ect was in an urban area and not a headwaters area, where a river could run wild. The project also will be designed to maintain the functionality of the diver- sion dam near the former Oregon Pine sawmill build- ing, he said. Inter-Fluve came up with the river restoration pro- posal based on the Oxbow project they had done on the Middle Fork of the John Day River, Green told the Eagle. The river resto- ration project would be paid for with external non-city funds, with estimates rang- ing from $2.5-3 million, depending on the scope of the project, he said. Once approved, con- struction of 3,000 feet of meandering channel could be completed in one season or in phases, Johnston said. Green noted that unusual objects have been used for rip-rapping the river, includ- ing an automobile body. Future work could include study and permit- ting for integrating rehabili- tation of the sewage lagoons into the restoration project, a geotechnical study of the stability of subsurface gold dredging areas and a hydro- logic engineering feasibility study. Monday - Thursday 7am- 6pm Friday 8am - 5pm Mendy Sharpe FNP Apppointments available 106279 A18 Tammy Bremner Manager, Grant County Chamber of Commerce 100004 110108
