NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
A3
The future of Grant County
Kam Wah Chung
bringing visitors
from across the
world
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
Grant County’s future is
looking bright on several
fronts.
Guest speakers at the
Grant County Chamber of
Commerce installation din-
ner Oct. 2 talked about the
potential that the Kam Wah
Chung State Heritage Site
has for tourism, upcoming
projects in the county and
changes underway.
Former John Day mayor
and county commissioner
Chris Labhart, a tour guide
at Kam Wah Chung, began
the speeches by talking
about how many people visit
Kam Wah Chung.
“So far, as of today, we
have had over 8,600 people
come to our museum since
May of this year,” Labhart
said. “We’ve had (visi-
tors from) every state in the
union except West Virginia,
Vermont and Delaware, and
we’ve had 26 visitors from
foreign countries.”
By the end of October,
Labhart is expecting to reach
9,000 visitors. Labhart also
gave statistics and feedback
that came from 558 guests
from the museum regard-
ing their visit and stay in the
county.
“Fifty percent of the vis-
itors hear about us through
word of mouth,” Labhart
said. “The rest are through
travel websites. Most are
staying at least one to three
nights or more. They are
using this as a hub to go to
different places in Burns,
Baker and the Fossil Beds
(National Monument).”
The feedback “almost
unanimously” said the
county needs a Chinese
restaurant, he said.
Discovery Channel USA
and China visited last year in
October. They will be releas-
ing their videos this fall
or next spring. Discovery
Channel China told Labhart
the county will receive buses
full of Chinese tourists, and
he is concerned the county
will not be able to accom-
modate the increase in visi-
tors without providing new
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
Chris Labhart talks about Grant County visitors and the Kam
Wah Chung State Heritage Site at the Grant County Chamber
of Commerce installation dinner Oct. 2.
hotels and more restaurants.
The chamber office also
had visitors from around the
U.S. and many other coun-
tries such as British Colum-
bia, The United Kingdom,
Australia, Scotland, The
Netherlands,
Germany,
France and New Zealand.
“We have things here
that they don’t have any-
where else, and that’s why
people come,” said chamber
Manager Tammy Bremner.
“Kam Wah Chung draws a
lot of people, the fossil beds
— our museums are so far
above average, the people
are constantly talking about
them.”
Bremner said the cham-
ber office received new win-
dows and landscaping, and
a new flag pole will also
be placed in front of the
building.
The chamber also began
giving community scholar-
ships to help county celebra-
tions such as the Fiber Fest,
Fourth of July celebrations
and the Grant County Fair.
Grant County Regional
Airport Manager Haley
Walker discussed current
projects such as the $1.2
million north apron project
and the $6.3 million decou-
pling project.
Walker also talked about
involving youth at the air-
port as people can get a pilot
license at age 14. The airport
provides a paid internship
every summer and offers
discounted college credits
set up through Eastern Ore-
gon University.
“They get to come work
at the airport, get discounted
college credits, get exposed
to aviation and we get help
at the airport during our bus-
iest time,” Walker said.
Ron Lundbom, the mayor
of John Day, talked about the
momentum that the Innova-
tion Gateway and Riverfront
Recreation projects are gain-
ing locally and by the state.
M.G. Devereux, the
assistant director of the Ore-
gon Parks and Recreation
Department, recently visited
the city’s greenhouses, the
Hill Family Park and Kam
Wah Chung. There were no
announcements regarding
the sale of the land where
Gleason Pool is, but the city
and OPRD are on the same
page, Lundbom said.
The city is also waiting
to hear back about poten-
tial broadband and transpor-
tation grants in October or
November, he said.
Cam Marlowe, the chief
financial officer for Blue
Mountain Hospital, updated
the community on hospital
plans.
Dr. Keith Thomas, the
general surgeon, decided to
take a position in adminis-
tration at a VA hospital in
Colorado. He will be leaving
at the end of the year, Mar-
lowe said.
Dr. Oliver Wisco, a der-
matologist, will begin taking
appointments this month.
The hospital is currently
looking for another doctor
or mid-level practitioner, he
said.
The therapy services
department is growing fast,
according to Marlowe.
There are six physical thera-
pists, a recently hired speech
therapist and the hospital
was just approved to hire an
occupational therapist.
State funding will support five river projects
Blue Mountain Eagle
Five John Day River res-
toration projects will receive
$489,100 in funding from
the Oregon Watershed
Enhancement Board.
The North Fork and
South Fork watershed coun-
cils will use the funding to
enhance fish and wildlife
habitat for chinook salmon,
steelhead and bull trout,
restore clean water, increase
water quality and reduce fire
risk.
“Native fish in Grant
County, including salmon,
steelhead, bull trout and red-
band trout, need cool, clean
water,” North Fork John
Day Watershed Council
Executive Director Valeen
Madden said.
• In combination with
Forest Service funding, the
North Fork council will
remove multiple old log
weir dams and historic rail-
road berms on Clear Creek
in the Middle Fork of the
John Day River drainage
near Austin.
The work, which should
be completed this year, will
improve passage of juve-
nile fish during low stream
conditions and help reduce
water temperatures.
• With additional funding
and assistance from the For-
est Service and Confeder-
ated Tribes of Warm Springs,
the North Fork council will
work to reduce stream tem-
peratures in Camp and Lick
creeks, which enter the Mid-
dle Fork of the John Day
River just north of Galena.
Willow, cottonwood and
dogwood will be planted
along the streambanks to
provide shade, and large logs
or other natural structures
will be placed in streams to
Contributed photo/Kristen Walz
The North Fork John Day Watershed Council will establish an
upland water source and install fencing to protect streams from
livestock impacts on the Eight Mile Basin ranch near Ritter.
Contributed photo/Justin Rowel
The North Fork John Day Watershed Council plans to remove multiple old log weirs that block
fish passage in Clear Creek in the Middle Fork John Day River valley near Austin Junction.
create pools. The two-phase
project should be completed
by next year.
• Working with two pri-
vate landowners, the Eight
Iron Ranch and Eight Mile
Basin LLC, the North Fork
council will build fences on
the Middle Fork of the John
Day River west of Highway
395 near Ritter to keep live-
stock out of streams. The
project could be completed
next year.
To provide livestock with
an alternative water source,
upland water sources will
be developed by using nat-
ural springs to feed water-
ing troughs filled by gravity
flow. The project also calls
for removing juniper and
thinning overstocked forest
around the spring.
• The North Fork coun-
cil will also build buck-and-
pole fencing this year to pro-
tect rare aspen habitat along
Fox Creek, which flows into
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Cottonwood Creek, a trib-
utary of the North Fork of
the John Day River, near the
town of Fox. Juniper will
also be removed in priority
areas.
• The South Fork John
Day Watershed Council
will use OWEB funding to
improve river habitat in the
southwest corner of Grant
County. In the Big Flat area,
183 acres of western juni-
per will be removed on the
Keerins Ranch at the head-
waters of Flat and Brisbois
creeks to reduce water tem-
peratures for native fish.
“Big Flat is at the
headwaters of many red-
band-bearing streams, but
closest to Flat Creek and
Brisbois Creek,” said Amy
Stiner, the executive direc-
tor of the South Fork John
Day Watershed Coun-
cil. “In both watersheds,
streamflows are very low
or even nonexistent during
summer months.”
The Keerins Ranch plans
to develop a watering system
for a new well to support a
natural spring that goes dry
much of the year to provide
upland livestock habitat.
The South Fork Council will
assist by removing juniper
in the Big Flat area, Stiner
said. The area is also consid-
ered winter range habitat for
elk and mule deer, she said.
“Both the North Fork and
South Fork John Day water-
shed councils are working
collaboratively with other
agencies and private land-
owners to make our streams
healthy for native fish,”
Madden said. “We are grate-
ful to OWEB for their sup-
port, to our partners for
working
collaboratively
with us, and to Oregonians
for supporting this kind of
work throughout the state to
keep our water clean and our
fish abundant.”
Contributed photo/Amy Stiner
The South Fork John Day Watershed Council will use grant
funding from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board to
remove junipers in the Big Flat area of the South Fork John
Day River drainage. In the background is Snow Mountain.
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Contributed photo/Kristen Walz
The North Fork John Day Watershed Council will work to
protect rare aspen habitat along Fox Creek.
Thanks from,
OHSU Knight Cancer Institute
GIST Cancer Research
Jerry & Linda McClellan