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Wednesday, January 20, 2021
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153rd Year • No. 3 • 14 Pages • $1.50
Forest Service axes 21-inch rule
New guidelines still call
for retention of old trees
but will be more fl exible
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
The U.S. Forest Service lifted
its ban on logging large trees in six
national forests in Central and Eastern
Oregon, removing a 25-year-old rule
on cutting trees larger than 21 inches
in diameter.
The new rule still emphasizes the
protection of old trees but will not pro-
hibit the removal of some larger trees
in certain situations.
The 21-inch rule was part of the
Eastside Screens, a set of standards
which came to be in 1995 to protect
wildlife habitat and water quality on
nearly 10 million acres of public land.
Although approved as an interim mea-
sure, they remained in effect for all or
parts of the Malheur, Umatilla, Wal-
lowa-Whitman, Ochoco, Deschutes
and Fremont-Winema national forests.
Emily Platt, Forest Service team
leader, said the agency had amended
the Eastside Screens 24 times through-
out that period because the 21-inch
standard limited the ability to restore
forests in Eastern Oregon and South-
east Washington.
“We wanted to fi nd a better way to
be able to restore these forests with a
policy that was updated to incorporate
current science,” she said.
In an executive summary published
on Friday, the Forest Service noted that
it would move from the 21-inch stan-
dard to a guideline that emphasizes the
“recruitment” of old and large trees.
The Forest Service defi nes an old tree
as over 100 years old and a large tree as
30 inches for grand and white fi r and 21
inches for any other species of tree.
The new guidelines prioritize old
trees. When there are not enough old
trees to develop late and old structure
conditions, larger, fi re-tolerant trees are
to be protected.
A standard to a guideline
The new guidelines will allow For-
est Service managers more fl exibility.
While the guidelines expect the man-
Eagle fi le photo
See Guidelines, Page A14
A view of the Strawberry Mountains from Keeney Fork Road on the Malheur
National Forest in Grant County.
Dollar
General
breaks
ground
Grand opening set
for this summer
Rebekah Rand, director of emergency management services at Blue Mountain Hospital District, gets a vaccine shot ready Friday.
VACCINATION
CIRCULATION
Grant County
planned to
vaccinate 400
people with
the fi rst dose
by today
some had changed their mind and decided they
wanted the vaccine after all or had not received
or responded to the health department’s notifi -
cations that they could get the vaccine.
Anytime someone from a previous phase
decides to get the vaccine, they take priority,
Lindsay said.
Lindsay said they ended up having to turn
people away Friday, and she anticipates hav-
ing to turn people away at vaccination clinic
that was planned Tuesday past press time for
Construction of the
anticipated Dollar Gen-
eral store in John Day is
underway.
Angela Petkovic from
Dollar General Public
Relations said the store
opening is slated for sum-
mer 2021, but construction
progress may alter the date.
The construction of the
9,100-square foot store
is taking place across the
highway from Napa Auto
Parts, in between Timbers
Bistro and the John Day
Trailer Park, at 700 W.
Main Street.
“When completed, we
look forward to serving
the John Day community
in our new location and to
demonstrate our commit-
ment to being a positive
business partner and good
neighbor,” Petkovic said.
“Our customers are at the
center of all that we do, and
meeting customers’ needs
is Dollar General’s top pri-
ority when choosing store
locations.”
The store will employ
approximately six to 10
employees,
depending
on the individual needs
of the store, according to
Petkovic.
Along with the services
and items available at Dol-
lar General, they also pro-
vide communities with
access to The Dollar Gen-
eral Literacy Foundation.
“Dollar General is
deeply involved in the
communities it serves
and is an ardent supporter
of literacy and educa-
tion through the (DGLF),
which awards grants each
year to nonprofi t organiza-
tions, schools and libraries
within a 15-mile radius of a
Dollar General store or dis-
tribution center...” Petkovic
said. “Since its inception
See Vaccines, Page A14
See Store, Page A14
Eagle photos/Steven Mitchell
Cindy Baker, Grant County Health Department staff member, answers paperwork questions Friday as the health department and Blue Mountain
Hospital vaccinated educators and health care workers in the county.
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
G
rant County planned to have 400
people vaccinated for COVID-19
by Wednesday.
Kimberly Lindsay, Grant Coun-
ty’s public health administrator, said the
county would likely be out of fi rst doses of
the two-shot series this week.
“We will continue to receive more vac-
cines, but at this time, it looks like they will
be boosters shots only,” she said.
Lindsay said she does not know when the
county will receive more of the fi rst doses.
Jessica Winegar, health department clinic
manager, said the county vaccinated 88 peo-
ple Friday at the Grant County Fairgrounds
Pavilion.
Lindsay said the vaccine event was a
“closed pod,” meaning the event was not
public.
She said people in Phase 1a, including
health care workers, care center residents,
staff and medical providers showed up Fri-
day, along with county educators. She said
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle