A2
FAMILY
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Fire crews prepare for 2019
prescribed fire operations
Blue Mountain Eagle
Malheur National Forest
fire officials are monitoring
conditions on the forest and
preparing to implement the
fall prescribed fire program.
Prescribed fires, also
known as controlled burns,
refer to the planned and con-
trolled use of fire by a team
of highly skilled fire man-
agers under specific condi-
tions, according to a press
release. During the late sum-
mer and early fall months,
the forest has a number of
planning units, ranging in
size from 150 acres up to
4,000 acres, scheduled for
prescribed fire operations.
Prescribed fires are con-
ducted
within
specific
parameters including tem-
perature, relative humid-
ity, fuel moisture and wind
speed. Implementation is
dependent upon these and
other necessary conditions.
Should conditions allow,
crews may start operations
on some smaller units as
early as, Friday, Sept. 13.
Fall burning will build
upon efforts in the spring
when the forest safely and
successfully accomplished
Contributed photo/U.S. Forest Service
Prescribed fire helps remove slash and debris fuel build-
up on the Damon South Unit near Seneca in 2018. More
prescribed burns are planned for fall 2019.
prescribed fire operations on
approximately 2,600 acres.
Spring operations reduced
surface fuels, increased
height of some canopy,
reduced small tree densi-
ties and helped promote
fire resilient trees, thereby
improving our ability to
protect communities from
wildfire. Additionally, these
prescribed fires improve
wildlife habitat, promote
long-term ecosystem integ-
rity and sustainability by
reducing the risk of high-se-
verity wildland fire.
To ensure public and fire-
fighter safety, roads, trails
and areas may need to close
temporarily as firefighter
operations are taking place.
Smoky conditions may also
reduce visibility to a level
that would require addi-
tional temporary closures.
During prescribed fire oper-
ations, there is potential for
Contributed photo
Reid Psaltis, artist
in residence at the
John Day Fossil Beds
National Monument,
created this sculpture
of Cynarctoides lemur,
an extinct, fruit-eating
dog, which is on
display at the Thomas
Condon Paleontology
and Visitor Center.
impacts to camping and rec-
reational activities. Visitors
are advised to plan ahead,
for their safety they should
not camp in or near an area
of prescribed fire activity.
As dates for individual
units are scheduled and con-
ditions are met, announce-
ments will be released,
updates will also be posted to
Inciweb at: https://inciweb.
nwcg.gov/incident/6299 and
the Malheur National For-
est Facebook page https://
www.facebook.com/Mal-
heurNationalForest. Addi-
tional information regard-
ing prescribed burning on
the Malheur National For-
est is available by viewing
the Prescribed Fire Activ-
ity interactive map at: http://
arcg.is/2wUZIil.
With the potential for
smoke to settle in certain
areas during active opera-
tions, the public can monitor
the smoke and air quality in
our area and across the state
by visiting, http://oregon-
smoke.blogspot.com.
For
further
infor-
mation on the Malheur
National Forest, visit us at
fs.usda.gov/malheur or call
541-575-3000.
Open house planned
for new hands-on
sculpture at Fossil Beds
Blue Mountain Eagle
The John Day Fos-
sil Beds National Monu-
ment’s newest exhibit is a
hands-on experience.
Artist-in-residence Reid
Psaltis focused on exhibit
accessibility by creat-
ing a touchable sculpture
of Cynarctoides lemur,
an extinct, fruit-eating
dog. An open house will
take place from 2-4 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 15, at the
Thomas Condon Pale-
ontology and Visitor
Center.
Psaltis is an illustrator,
sculptor and natural his-
tory enthusiast from the
Pacific Northwest and has
made several trips to John
Day Fossil Beds during
his residency. Because
his residency was almost
two years long, it allowed
time for project consulta-
tion with the park’s chief
paleontologist for scien-
tific accuracy, and feed-
back from people in the
disability
communities,
which added more diverse
perspectives.
The dog sculpture on
display during the open
house will be temporary
until it is permanently
replaced with cast bronze
Kerry Grombacher
entertains in
John Day
Kerry Grombacher performs Friday evening at 1188
Brewing Co. in John Day during downtown First Friday
events.
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Some Harney Basin residents will
receive questionnaire about groundwater
Blue Mountain Eagle
Some southern Grant
County residents in the
Harney Basin will soon
receive a questionnaire
regarding groundwater.
The Harney Commu-
nity-Based Water Plan-
ning Collaborative wants to
know what residential well
users are experiencing with
water quantity and quality.
A sample of residen-
tial well owners in the Har-
ney Basin will be mailed a
simple questionnaire from
Oregon State University’s
Survey Research Center
Sept. 13.
Little information is
known about these wells,
and the confidential ques-
tionnaire that shares no
identifiable
information
is an opportunity to help
the collaborative under-
stand the consequences
of
groundwater-level
declines. Groundwater lev-
els are declining in some
areas of the basin because
more water is being taken
out of the ground than
is replenished each year
through rainfall.
“I can’t overempha-
size how important it is
for basin residents to fill
out and send the question-
naire back,” said Diane
Rapaport, vice-chair of the
Harney County Watershed
Council. “There is no other
way to find out just what is
happening out there in the
basin and the difficulties
many people are enduring.”
The collaborative is a
group of water-users, orga-
nizations and agencies cur-
rently developing a local,
integrated water resources
management plan for the
Harney Basin.
Funding for the survey
was made possible from
a grant from the Oregon
Watershed Enhancement
Board.
To learn more about the
Harney Community-Based
Water Planning Collabo-
rative, visit hcwatershed-
council.com/communi-
ty-based-water-planning.
OUTPATIENT EAR
AND FOOT CLINIC
Open
Mon. - Thurs.
8AM - 4PM
422 West Main
John Day OR, 97845
later this year.
“Visiting this park as a
teenager played a big role
in developing my interest
in natural history,” Psaltis
said. “Now that prehistoric
life has become a regular
subject in my art practice,
it’s been really amazing to
have that come full circle
by contributing something
to the visitor center. Using
art to encourage interest in
Oregon’s natural history is
a great goal, and the efforts
we took to make it accessi-
ble can now bring that to a
whole new audience.”
Superintendent Patrick
Gamman said, “Not only
is the sculpture visually
appealing, Reid took great
efforts to provide palpa-
ble textures so that every-
one can enjoy the exhibit.
Come to the park and pet
the extinct dog. I promise
you, it won’t bite!”
Discover Your North-
west provided support for
this project.
John Day Fossil Beds
National Monument has
been participating in the
artist-in-residence program
for over a decade. For more
information, visit nps.gov/
joda/getinvolved/sup-
portyourpark/artist-in-resi-
dence.htm.
Wayne Stewart Scholarship awards $535,000
Blue Mountain Eagle
The
Wayne
Stew-
art Scholarship for the
2019-2020 school year is
awarding $535,600 to 103
students.
Each is receiving a schol-
arship of $5,200.
Recipients who have
consented to having their
names published include:
Erika Adams, Jennie Adams
Vertz Purcell, Beau Bigo,
Amy Black, Kade Blood,
Levi Burke, Erin Cantrell,
Ely Carniglia, Shyannah
Carr, Hailey Carter, Jes-
sica Carter, George Clark,
Jeremiah Clark, Victoria
Coalwell, Caroline Col-
son, Cody Combs, Andrea
Comer, Amy Cook, Brett
Copenhaver,
McKinzie
Dawson, Kiley Derrick,
Kevin Eddy, Tanner Elliott,
Kyla Emerson, Bud Farmer,
Hannah Flower, Virginia
Frazier, Donald Gabbard,
Nathan Gehley, Stepha-
nie Gilbert, Sandra Glad-
ish, Cameron Hallgarth,
James Hercher, Cassandra
Hire, Trinity Hutchison,
Declan Jensen, James John-
son, Nicole Jones, Maggie
Justice, Teela Kilby, Roen
Langum, Avery Lenz, Grant
LeQuieu, Kelsey Long,
Colton Madden, Daven
Mauseth, Jennifer McClo-
skey, Taylor McCluskey,
Ty McDaniel, Madison
McKrola, Mariah Meyer-
holz, McKeely Miller, Alcie
Moore, Elisa Moore, Alon-
dra Moreno, Avaley Mor-
timore, Heather Mosley,
Mariah Moulton, Railey
Namitz, Katharine Nico-
lato, Shanna Northway,
Jeffrey Parolini, Jay Patel,
Haley Pfefferkorn, Sky-
lar Powell, Dawson Quin-
ton, Katrina Randleas,
Savanna Randleas, Lindsay
Rausch, Jozie Rude, Meg-
gan Russell, Diana Sander-
sfeld, Faythe Schafer, Rea-
gan Shelley, Marissa Smith,
Nicholas Springer, Duane
Stokes, Macy Strong, Maya
Thomas, Preslie Thompson,
Sydney Thompson, Jandy
Torland, Carmen Vaughan,
Cauy
Weaver,
Fallon
Weaver, Wyatt Weaver,
Jessica Winegar, Brennon
Witty, Mackenzie Wood-
cock, Carleanne Wright,
Hailie Wright, Mariah
Wright, Nathan Wunz,
Reitta
Wyllie, Amaya
Zweygardt and Brianna
Zweygardt.
Painted Sky to offer Arts After School
Blue Mountain Eagle
Regular and High
Risk Foot Care done
by specially trained
RN or CNA.
Painted Sky Center for
the Arts is offering Arts
After School for kinder-
garten through fourth-
grade students starting
Sept. 16.
Activities are offered
from school until 5:45 p.m.
Mondays through Thursdays
and from 8 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.
Fridays at 118 S. Washing-
ton St., Canyon City.
The program costs $175
per month, and only 15 spots
are available.
For more information,
visit paintedskycenter.com
or email paintedskycenter@
gmail.com.
About Obituaries
Ears are examined
and cleaned by
Registered Nurses.
Call to make an
appointment today!
541-575-1648
139099
Last Week’s Temps
John Day ...........................................................HI/LO
Tuesday ........................................................... 91/55
Wednesday ..................................................... 92/56
Thursday .......................................................... 91/58
Friday ............................................................... 80/61
Saturday .......................................................... 86/55
Sunday ............................................................. 69/53
Monday............................................................ 69/50
24/7 F ORECAST
A UTOMATED : 541-575-1122
R OAD CONDITIONS : 511; TRIPCHECK . COM
NOAA W EATHER R ADIO FOR J OHN D AY
162.500 MHz
News obituaries of 300 words or less are
a free service of the Blue Mountain Eagle.
The paper accepts obituaries from the family
or funeral home. Information submitted is
subject to editing. Obituaries submitted to
the Eagle with incorrect information may
be corrected and republished as paid
memorials. Obituaries longer than 300
words may be published as paid memorials.
Send obituaries by email, office@bmeagle.
com; fax, 541-575-1244; or mail, 195 N.
Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845. For
more information, or to inquire about a paid
memorial, call 541-575-0710.
W EATHER F ORECAST FOR THE WEEK OF S EPT . 11-17
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