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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 10, 2019)
#TimberUnity representatives visit White House The PAGE A7 Blue Mountain EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 Wednesday, July 10, 2019 MyEagleNews.com 151st Year • No. 28 • 16 Pages • $1.00 Two resident wolves confirmed near Long Creek Blue Mountain Eagle A new area of wolf activity has been des- ignated for the Northside group of wolves in Grant County. Two wolves were confirmed to be using the area in the Northside Wildlife Manage- ment Unit near Long Creek in June, accord- ing to Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Monitoring is ongoing to learn more about these wolves. ODFW designates these areas when it has evidence of resident wolves, not just dispersing wolves. Livestock producers in the area are encouraged to be aware of this wolf activ- ity and take certain preventative measures. Though not required, nonlethal measures are important to reduce depredation. If dep- redation becomes chronic and lethal con- trol become necessary, ODFW’s ability to lethally remove depredating wolves will be dependent on the extent that nonlethal mea- sures have been used and documented. Wolves are on the federal Endangered Species List west of highways 395, 78 and 95 with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the lead management agency. While the newly designated area includes areas west of this boundary, so far all of the docu- mented locations for these wolves are east of Highway 395 in state-managed areas. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has designated a new Area of Known Wolf Activity near Long Creek. Contributed photo/ODFW Walden outlines bills at town hall meeting By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle Rep. Greg Walden, R-Hood River, held 20 town hall meet- ings in the first three months of 2019, visiting every county in Oregon’s Second Con- gressional Dis- trict. He visited the Mt. Vernon Community Rep. Greg Hall on July 2. Walden W a l d e n updated voters on bills relating to forest management, stopping robocalls and addressing health care costs. Forest management Grant County Commis- sioner Sam Palmer thanked Walden for his support of new forest management legisla- tion. Walden said he could use more help from Oregon’s U.S. senators and the governor to reduce forest fuels and air pol- lution caused by wildfires. The 68 million tons of carbon diox- ide emitted in last year’s fires in California was equivalent to the amount emitted by electri- cal generators in the state for a whole year, he said. The 2018 Farm Bill extended a 3,000-acre categor- ical exclusion for insect and disease treatment and created a 3,000-acre categorical exclu- sion for hazardous fuels reduc- tion projects. This would allow smaller forest projects to pro- ceed without the delays and paperwork associated with full National Environmental Policy Act review. The Farm Bill also increased funding for the Collabora- tive Forest Landscape Resto- ration Program, which funds stewardship projects on the See Walden, Page A16 Celebrating Contributed photo/Chris Carlin Children compete in games at the Monument Fourth of July Fun Festival. the Fourth Small towns host big festivities on INDEPENDENCE DAY By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle cross Grant County, families and friends gathered along main streets on the Fourth of July to watch parades or in city parks to compete in games, admire classic cars and enjoy picnic barbecues. A See Fourth, Page A16 FOURTH OF JULY PHOTOS FROM AROUND GRANT COUNTY | PAGE A9 Contributed photo/Ruthie Moore Piper Swagger, 8, of Redmond helps display the baked goods during the baked goods auction benefiting the renovation of the community hall at Dayville’s Fourth of July celebration. Type 3 team managing Blue Ridge Fire By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle A Type 3 firefighting team with about 125 personnel responded to a lightning-caused fire about 4 miles northwest of the Flagtail Mountain Lookout over the Fourth of July weekend. Forest Service officials chose to manage the Blue Ridge Fire in a similar way to prescribed burning in spring as a way to reduce dead and downed fuels, according to a press release. The fire was first identified on July 3 around 10:15 a.m. and had grown to about 667 acres by July 9. Four Type 2 crews, one helicopter, nine Type 6 engines and one water tender were assigned to the fire. Fire crews reported moderate backing, some single-tree torching and creeping on July 7, as efforts continued to prepare fire lines. Aerial ignition efforts took place inside the containment lines. All lines were still holding the The Eagle/Richard Hanners Smoke from the Blue Ridge Fire as seen from the Aldrich Lookout on July 6. next morning. A helicopter was available, but no additional aerial ignitions were planned. Mop-up work was expected to continue through the week, with contain- ment expected by July 12. Allowing the fire to burn in a managed way is expected to both reduce the risk of larger and cata- strophic wildfires and restore over- all health for Forest Service lands. “Fire is an essential, natural pro- cess, having shaped the landscape for thousands of years, releasing, and recycling nutrients from vege- tation, duff, and soil layers, improv- ing the overall health of plants and animals,” the Forest Service said in a press release. Crews safely and successfully treated about 13,450 acres on the Malheur National Forest through prescribed fire operations in fall 2018 and spring 2019. “These burnout operations will reduce surface fuels (including needle litter and dead and down wood), increase the height of some canopy, reduce small tree densi- ties and help promote fire resil- ient trees, thereby improving our ability to protect communities from wildfire,” the Forest Service said. The Forest Service warned about the potential for light smoke impacts to the cities of Seneca, John Day and Prairie City. To ensure public and firefighter safety, some roads, trails and areas were closed temporarily. For more information, visit Inci- Web online. To report a wildfire, call 911 or 541-575-1321.
