NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
A3
Court presents requests for Austin Project
Scoping period
ends Aug. 7
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Grant County Court
expressed an interest in
coordinating with Malheur
National Forest during a
scoping presentation for the
proposed Austin Project on
July 24.
Commissioner
Sam
Palmer asked to be shown
around the project area with
a Forest Service silvicultur-
ist or fuels reduction expert
on hand.
Malheur National For-
est Supervisor Craig Tru-
lock and NEPA planner Kate
Cueno reacted in a positive
way to Palmer’s request,
along with comments and
questions from the court and
the public, inviting them to a
July 30 open house for more
detailed information.
Project plans
The Austin Project cov-
ers 78,200 acres encom-
passing the entire Bridge
Creek-Middle Fork John
Day River watershed and
the headwaters of the Mid-
dle Fork, according to a For-
est Service scoping briefing.
Planning began in 2017, and
a 30-day scoping period for
public comment ends Aug.
7.
The project goals are to
promote watershed health
and resiliency, maintain and
improve diverse forest com-
position, improve wildlife
habitat, promote forest con-
ditions that allow for rein-
troduction of fire upon the
landscape, move toward a
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
From left, Malheur National Forest project planner Kate Cueno and Supervisor Craig Trulock
update the Grant County Court on the Austin Project on July 24.
safe and sustainable mini-
mum road system and con-
tribute to the region’s social
and economic vitality.
Upland restoration work
includes about 28,000 acres
of commercial thinning,
6,500 acres of biomass treat-
ments and 900 acres of non-
commercial thinning near
private land and highways.
About 3,240 acres in the
wildland-urban
interface
will see fuel reduction work.
Prescribed burning is
planned for 76,700 acres in
blocks to reduce fuels and
invasive plant species. Road
maintenance and recon-
struction will take place
for needed haul routes, and
about 43 miles of temporary
roads will be constructed
to access some commercial
harvest units.
Road system changes
include closing 57 miles of
currently open roads, return-
ing 11 miles of existing
roads that had been decom-
missioned to closed-road
status, converting 1.2 miles
to trail, opening 5.9 miles of
currently closed or decom-
missioned roads, relocat-
ing 1.2 miles of Forest Road
2620, decommissioning 13
miles of currently open or
closed roads and confirm-
ing the closure of 31 miles
of roads that were adminis-
tratively closed in the past.
Watershed and fisheries
activities include restoring
about 2,820 acres of stream
and floodplain and 670 acres
of riparian meadow at 30
areas. Unique habitat work
includes 330 acres of aspen
restoration and 510 acres
of mountain mahogany and
upland meadow restoration.
Recreational
develop-
ment plans include 4.6 miles
of new trail construction to
extend the Sumpter Valley
Railroad Interpretive Site
trail and for the proposed
Bridge Creek Trail, which
will also get a new trailhead.
A fuels reduction project is
planned for the Dixie Creek
Campground.
Issues raised
Trulock responded to
Commissioner Jim Ham-
sher’s request to delay the
scoping deadline by 15 days
by noting that additional
public input periods and
opportunities for develop-
ing alternatives will follow
scoping.
About 70% of the forest
work will be offered first to
Iron Triangle, which holds
a 10-year stewardship con-
tract, Trulock said. Judge
Scott Myers asked if more
of the work could be offered
to other bidders because the
county doesn’t receive a
share of timber receipts from
the stewardship contract.
Trulock noted that the
forest work will take place
after Iron Triangle’s 10-year
contract ends three years
from now, so the contract
could be modified. He also
said he would look at mak-
ing downed and piled logs
available for firewood and
Palmer’s request to make
burned trees available for
salvage after fires.
Billy Jo George asked
the Forest Service to take
another look at trees in the
Crawford Creek area seri-
ously damaged by a pre-
scribed burn. She requested
mechanical treatment rather
than prescribed fire for that
area.
Cueno noted that most
of the project’s prescribed
burning will not take place
for 9-10 years. Jim Sproul
asked the Forest Service
to “think outside the box,”
choosing more selective
logging over prescribed
fire. Cueno, however, said
the Forest Service goal is to
restore a natural fire regime
to the area as a way to pre-
vent catastrophic wildfires.
Sproul also suggested
many of the roads proposed
for closure were built prior
to 1976 and are protected
under Revised Statute 2477.
Cueno disagreed and said
any designation would need
to go through a court process.
Trulock agreed with Cueno
but noted that he wants to
work with the county on any
roads the county believes are
protected under RS 2477.
George noted that a his-
toric road and part of the
Sumpter Valley Railroad
will be impacted by fish
restoration plans. She also
expressed concerns about a
proposed road closure that
would eliminate an emer-
gency evacuation route for
residents and visitors in the
Bates State Park and Austin
area.
Bates Pond project moving forward
Construction bids
could be solicited
by 2020
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
Design work is underway for
the dam and former mill pond at
Bates State Park, and construction
bids could be let out in fall 2020,
according to Scott Nebeker, a park
development administrator for
the Oregon Parks and Recreation
Department.
About $200,000 was included
in OPRD’s last biennial budget for
design and permitting of the pond
project, he told the Grant County
Court on July 24. OPRD has bud-
geted another $3 million for the
project in the next biennium, he
said.
Public information meetings
will be held next year as the
final design work proceeds, he
said. Construction could begin in
spring or summer 2021, but those
dates are highly dependent on
project funding and permitting,
he said.
The fish ladder at Bates Pond.
The ladder would be improved or
replaced under a plan to retain the
pond and improve fish passage.
Historic legacy
The county court recognized
the importance of the historic
mill site and popular recreation
pond in 2007 when it backed a
$400,000 loan so the Bates Park
and Museum Foundation could
purchase the former town and
mill sites for a future park.
The state purchased the land
from the county for $406,612 in
lottery funds, and plans for a state
park progressed quickly under
Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s “park-a-
year” plan.
But a political division formed
between passionate supporters
of culture, history and recreation
and equally passionate support-
ers of native fish and free-flow-
ing streams.
The latter were concerned
about protecting two native fish
— spring chinook salmon and
summer steelhead. Steelhead are
listed under the Endangered Spe-
cies Act. Critics of the project
Eagle file photos
Peaceful and still, the deep blue water of Bates Pond is a refreshing sight while meandering the trail that
encircles the pond and others throughout Bates State Park.
said the existing fish ladder was
not adequate for migrating fish
and stream water from Bridge
Creek was warmed by the pond,
threatening downstream habitat
for cold-water fish.
Construction of the new state
park began in June 2011. About
4,000 trees and shrubs were
planted and a riparian area with a
meandering stream was restored
where Bridge Creek enters the
Middle Fork. The park opened
three months later and was soon
seeing 20,000 visitors a year.
Pond debate
The issue of the pond and dam,
however, was not settled. Collab-
orative meetings of stakehold-
ers and interested parties led by a
hired facilitator took place three
times in 2016 without reaching a
consensus.
A stronger consensus devel-
oped over the next year and a
half, and sideboards were estab-
lished for a meeting in March
2018. The group agreed at the
meeting to move forward with an
option that called for constructing
a bypass channel on the west side
of the pond so most of the stream
flow from Bridge Creek could
reach the Middle Fork without
warming up.
The option also called for
shrinking the pond’s footprint
while deepening the pond by
dredging as much as six feet of silt.
The fish ladder would be replaced
with a new one that was less steep
and had larger pools.
Nebeker told the county court
July 24 the goal is to improve fish
passage while creating a pond that
is not static and clogged with algae.
OPRD hired Interfluve Engineer-
ing of Hood River to conduct mod-
eling for the design work. So far
the modeling says the bypass chan-
nel design will help keep water
temperatures down, he said.
Francis Preston told the court
she saw a helicopter drawing water
from the pond recently to fight a
nearby forest fire. She emphasized
the importance of having water
sources like Bates Pond and Olive
Lake for firefighting purposes.
Dennis Bradley, the regional
OPRD manager, said Bates State
Park was seeing more visitors.
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
Scott Nebeker from the Oregon
Parks and Recreation Department
updated the Grant County Court
on the Bates Pond project on July
24.
Matt Rippee, OPRD’s Eastern Dis-
trict manager, said plans are under-
way for more electrical hookups at
the park.
Grant County Judge Scott
Myers, who played a pivotal role
in support of a state park, said the
site needs more shade.
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