AGRIBUSINESS SECTION INSIDE
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
153nd Year • No. 17 • 16 Pages • $1.50
MyEagleNews.com
WOLVES
Grant County count
up by three as state
sees 9.5% increase
Eagle fi le photo
John Day Police Department.
John Day residents
will vote on tax to
maintain police
department
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
T
he number of wolves is
increasing in Grant County
and Oregon as a whole.
The Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife reported
a 9.5% statewide increase in wolves at
the end of 2020 in the Oregon Wolf Con-
servation and Management 2020 annual
report.
ODFW reported 173 wolves in the
state at the end of 2020, up from 158 at
the end of 2019.
According to the report, there were
22 packs in the state. The report said
17 of those packs met the criteria as
breeding pairs.
A breeding pair is an adult male
and an adult female with at least
two pups that survived to Dec. 31
the year of their birth, and a pack
is four or more wolves traveling
together in winter.
“The actual number of wolves in
Oregon is actually higher because not
all wolves present in the state are located
during the winter count,” the report states.
“The numbers could increase if evidence
is collected during 2021 of additional wolves present
during 2020.”
If vote fails, city plans to
transition police to sheriff ’s offi ce
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
Getty Images
Grant County increase
In Grant County, at the end of 2019, ODFW counted two wolves
in the Northside wildlife unit, fi ve in Desolation and no wolves in Murder-
BY NO MEANS DO WE THINK THAT THIS IS THE
EXACT NUMBER OF WOLVES IN THE COUNTY AT
ANY TIME. BUT THIS IS WHAT WE’D CONSIDER
A MINIMUM POPULATION.
Ryan Torland, John Day ODFW District Biologist
ers Creek, according to John Day ODFW District Biologist Ryan Torland.
At the end of 2020, Torland said Desolation had six, Northside
had three and Murderers Creek had one.
He said there is probably a second wolf in Murderers Creek that
showed up after winter, but it would not be included until next
year’s count.
Torland said the count of the 2020 population is an estimate
of the wolves present in a pack or in the area in 2020 that sur-
vived through the winter and into 2021.
See Wolves, Page A16
Voters will decide the fate of the John Day Police
Department.
The John Day City Council and Budget Commit-
tee met on April 20 to discuss the proposed budget for
fi scal year 2021-2022 and agreed that the residents of
John Day should have the opportunity to vote on a
fi ve-year levy to fund the police department.
If the levy does not pass, the city plans to tran-
sition the department to the Grant County Sheriff ’s
Offi ce in September.
Budget Committee member Mark Miller said the
people at the town hall meeting on April 8 voiced
their support of the police department and should
have their say by voting.
“I think the people of the town gotta have their
say,” Miller said. “My comment is: Put it to the
people.”
The plan is to fi le for an emergency election Aug.
3 to request approval of John Day voters for a levy
of 35 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.
Although the original estimate was only 10-15 cents
per $1,000, the police department’s modernization
expenses discussed at the budget meeting led to the
increase, according to the agenda.
“There’s a lot that has to happen in the lead up to
the election and afterward,” said John Day City Man-
ager Nick Green.
Green said they are coordinating with their legal
counsel on the ballot measure language for the local
option levy.
The council will need to approve that language
prior to submitting it to the county clerk for process-
ing. The approval will need to happen at the May
11 city council meeting, according to Green. The
city will then submit the ballot measure to the Grant
County Clerk by May 14.
Green said the schedule is tentative until the city
fi les the ballot measure.
Councilor Paul Smith said he was informed that
the special election would cost the city between
$3,000 and $5,000, and the measure would need a
double majority for the levy to pass.
A double majority means that more than 50% of
registered voters need to vote with more than 50% in
favor of the measure to pass.
“If we waited until November, the election would
not cost us anything, but we would not be able to
collect any assessment until 2022,” Smith said, 10
months later than if they held the vote in August.
See Police, Page A16
House panel ponders linking fi rearms storage, narrower ban
Republicans oppose
both original bills
By Peter Wong
Oregon Capital Bureau
Legislation that combines
proposed requirements for
fi rearm locks and safe stor-
age with a narrower ban on
fi rearms in public buildings is
gaining political momentum
in the Oregon House.
The House Rules Com-
mittee heard a proposal to
combine elements of two
bills, one awaiting a vote
of the full House and a sec-
ond that has already passed
the Senate. If it happens, the
House would have to take
only one vote, instead of
two, on a fi rearms regulation
bill — and the Senate would
have to vote only on whether
to accept the fi nal version.
PMG fi le photo
Oregon legislators are considering combining two gun proposals.
“In this legislation we
kind of mash them together,”
House Republican Leader
Christine Drazan of Canby,
who sits on the committee,
said during a presentation
April 21.
Republicans were already
dead set against House Bill
2510, which awaits a vote
of the full House scheduled
April 26. The House Health
Care Committee advanced
it March 30 on a party-line
vote.
That bill would require
the storage of firearms with
trigger or cable locks, in
a locked container or in a
gun room. An offense is a
Class C violation, which
carries a maximum fine
of $500, unless some-
one under age 18 obtains
access, in which case it is
a Class A violation with a
maximum fine of $2,000.
No jail time is imposed for
violations.
Its chief sponsor is Rep.
Rachel Prusak, D-West
Linn, who has advocated it
on behalf of a constituent
since her election in 2018.
She said she would sup-
port it becoming part of a
broader bill.
See Firearms, Page A16