#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.