41 ATHLETES COMPETE IN GOLD RUSH RUN The PAGE A10 Blue Mountain EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 Wednesday, June 12, 2019 151st Year • No. 24 • 18 Pages • $1.00 BlueMountainEagle.com The Eagle/Richard Hanners Jack Southworth explains why he planted turnips on pasture land at his ranch near Seneca as part of a USDA Natural Resources and Conservation Services tour on May 15. Building up soil at Southworth Ranch Bear Valley rancher continues heritage of testing techniques By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle Bear Valley cattle rancher Jack South- worth kept 18 rangeland and soil science professionals on their toes as they toured his ranch near Seneca May 15. Southworth had as many questions for them as they did for him as he described his approach to maintaining and improv- ing grass on land his family settled on in the 1880s. The USDA Natural Resources and Con- servation Service hosted the Grazing Land Soil Health Field Tour across Eastern Ore- gon. Participants came from Oregon, Washington, South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana. Short seasons The Southworth Ranch began in 1885 as a sawmill and grew into a town with a post offi ce and stage stop. The town later moved a mile or so south, and the land became a cat- tle ranch. Seneca has the offi cial record for the coldest temperature in Oregon — negative 54 degrees in 1933. Cold soils cut down on cheatgrass and medusahead grass, but it isn’t Bear Valley’s notorious cold winters that limit grass growth, Southworth said — it’s the short growing season. At 4,690 feet elevation, the harsh reali- ties are a short 45-day growing season with the threat of frost every month, Southworth said. Precipitation is limited to less than 15 inches, with most of that in the winter. One of Southworth’s top goals for his grass land is moisture retention. He expects to see warmer and drier conditions this year, and capturing and storing moisture is key to growing grass — which in turn feeds cattle. Soil armor Armoring the soil is No. 1 among the fi ve principles of soil health, which are pro- moted by the NRCS. Soil armor will protect soil from wind or water erosion, and it will reduce soil evaporation. Southworth demonstrated his approach to armoring soil at a pasture that was replanted in 2012. The brown soil between the bunch- grass left by the seed drill needs to be See Ranch, Page A18 The Eagle/Richard Hanners Matt Krrumenauer, left, and Joe Koerner from Restoration Fuels LLC stand next to a triple-pass rotary dryer that will be repurposed for use as a torrefi er kiln at the torrefaction plant in John Day. TORREFACTION ACTION Construction underway for $15M biomass plant in John Day By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle P rogress is being made on construc- tion of a $15.5 million torrefaction plant at the Malheur Lumber Co. mill in John Day. The plant could be running by September, Matt Krumenauer, vice president of special proj- ects for the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, told the Eagle. “This is the largest single investment in John Day since the Malheur Lumber Co. mill was built,” he said. The Endowment is the parent entity of Restoration Fuels, which will operate the plant. Work on concrete foundations and utilities began earlier this year, Krumenauer said. “That’s the hardest part,” he said. “After that, you just put everything in place and bolt it together.” The Oregon Department of Environmental See Plant, Page A18 The Eagle/Richard Hanners A handful of briquettes made from torrefi ed wood at a research facility in Louisville, Kentucky. Celebrating ’62 Days Festivities include parade, bed race, mock shooting By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle Beautiful, sunny skies greeted visitors and partici- pants at this year’s ‘62 Days Celebration in Canyon City, marking the discovery of gold in Canyon Creek in 1862. Families gathered in the downtown city park between events or checked out the vis- iting vendors. The parade moved down the highway at 11 a.m. with dirt bike stunts, a smoking 1927 Model T, queens and prin- cesses on horseback and the Whiskey Gulch Gang can-can girls. Gary Gregg, the 2019 parade grand marshal, and his wife, Loleita, rode in Del Ray- mond’s Wild West stagecoach. “We invite everyone to participate in the parade next year,” parade organizer Melissa Galbreath said. “We Eagle photos/Richard Hanners Gary Gregg, the 2019 grand marshal for the ‘62 Days parade in Canyon City, and his wife, Loleita, ride in a stagecoach driven by Del Raymond. would love to see more horses, mules, family fl oats, organiza- tions and businesses.” At 2 p.m., with 200 wit- Three young prospectors get ready for the ‘62 Days parade in Canyon City. nesses present, a cowboy stumbled out of Sels Brew- ery and was accused of steal- ing a horse. He ran back inside to fi nd his pistol and returned to a hail of gunfi re. Standing on the gallows charged with shooting an unarmed man, the horse thief replied, “He had two arms.” When they weren’t climb- ing on the playground equip- ment or panning for gold, children competed in a water- melon eating contest or dug for treasure in a wood shavings pit on Washington Street. Peggy Murphy reported 80 visitors at the Grant County Historical Museum, and most of them likely toured Mayor Steve Fischer’s historic home — a former schoolhouse. The bed race took off with eight adult entries and four kids entries at 3 p.m. Jeshua, Kaleb and Ethan Sheedy col- lected a $25 prize for fi rst- place in the children’s contest. For the adults, Jessica Knowles and Kennedy and Etoile Benge placed fi rst for $35. The hardest task was climb- ing into oversized pajamas at See Celebrate, Page A18 With hands behind their backs, children compete in the watermelon eating contest during ‘62 Days in Canyon City on June 8.