NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, May 5, 2021
A9
Contributed photo
When it comes to fi rewood, it’s better to have it and not need it
than to need it and not have it.
SHOOTING THE BREEZE
Woodpile lessons
was 8 or 9 years old when
doesn’t hold a fi re for very
my father bequeathed me
long compared to the others.
Each night I would
the chore of get-
ting the family fi re-
load up a toboggan
wood from the stack
and drag a few loads
to the porch each
of wood to the front
night. Dad had been a
porch of our home in
timber feller for a long
Spray. I would stack
time until an accident
the fi rewood about
nearly left him crip-
chest high there,
Dale Valade
pled. After almost
and that would typ-
two years of crutches,
ically last the night.
casts, braces, surgeries and
One time I got lazy and didn’t
physical therapy he was prac-
stack as much as normal. Dad
tically the six million dol-
inquired if I was going to put
lar man. All joking aside, he
more wood on the porch, to
found other employ to support which I replied that we had
our family, and I was given the suffi cient. Around 1:30 or 2
chore of fi rewood.
that morning, the old man
Dad’s Collins number 4
came and got me out of bed as
ax, which he formerly used
we had ran out of fi rewood on
to drive wedges, being as it
the porch. Sleepy-eyed and all,
was so small, was perfect in
I was persuaded to drag my
my young hands. As I grew,
toboggan out to the stack and
I graduated to the splitting
wrangle more to the porch.
maul and eventually received
From then on I always stacked
tutelage on the proper use
it a little taller — better to
of a chainsaw. Sometimes I
have too much than too little.
lamented not having an elec-
Wood heat always works.
tric or oil stove as our primary You aren’t reliant upon solar
source of heat. As many if
panels, power grids, stove oil
not most of our readers know,
or gas to stay warm. It’s some-
gathering your winter fi re-
thing to keep in mind even as
wood is quite labor intensive.
an auxiliary heat source for
Depending on where you
your homes. While not the
live, and how bad the winters
case everywhere, here in Grant
are, you could get by with as
County there is practically an
little as three or four cords or
endless supply of dead trees to
you’ll need as much as seven
be cut up and used. Start early
or eight cords of fi rewood.
getting your wood in. Winter
A cord is a volumetric mea-
might be over, but the next one
surement of a stack of fi re-
is always just down the road.
wood that is 4 feet by 4 feet
It’s better to have it and not
by 8 feet, or 128 cubic feet. I
need it, than to need it and not
learned quickly that, although
have it.
red fi r held a fi re longer than
Have a wood stove? Write
pine or tamarack, it was also
to us at shootingthebree-
harder to split. Juniper, gnarly
zebme@gmail.com!
as it was, unless properly sea-
Dale Valade is a local
soned, could also be a night-
country gent with a love for
mare to split. Tamarack splits
the outdoors, handloading,
easy, and pine burns hot but
hunting and shooting.
I
Blue Mountain Eagle
The May 15 deadline to
apply for a controlled or pre-
mium hunt falls on a Saturday
this year.
The online licensing sys-
tem will process applications
until 11:59 p.m. on May 15,
and license vendors will also
be selling applications. But
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife licensing staff
will not be available to help
hunters who wait until Satur-
day and encounter problems
accessing their account.
“We are urging hunters to
not wait until the last minute
this year,” said Michael Haw-
kins, ODFW Licensing Ser-
vices manager. “The major-
ity of applications come in
during the last few days before
the deadline and our hold and
email response times peak.
But because the deadline falls
on a weekend, ODFW cus-
tomer service staff will not be
able to help you if you wait
until Saturday to apply.”
It’s easy to apply online
at MyODFW.com (click the
green “Buy a License” but-
ton at top right corner). People
without an account can use the
“Verify/ Look Up” feature to
fi nd their account.
Once logged in, go to “Pur-
chase from the Catalog/Big
Game Hunting” to fi nd the
application for each series.
An annual hunting license is
required to apply and can be
purchased at the same time as
controlled hunt applications.
Directions on how to apply
online are available at https://
myodfw.com/articles/how-ap-
ply-controlled-hunt, and more
tips on using ODFW’s elec-
tronic licensing system are
available at https://myodfw.
com/ELS.
For problems, call Licens-
ing at 503-947-6101 or email
odfw.websales@odfw.oregon.
gov.
People can also apply at a
license sale agent.
Forest opening solicitation for
blanket purchase agreement
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Malheur National For-
est announced it will be open-
ing the Eastern Blues Solici-
tation for a blanket purchase
agreement.
The BPA will be open for all
interested contractors the week
of May 15 for one month and
then not again until next year.
The solicitation will be posted
on https://beta.sam.gov/ and is
open to viewing by the public.
In order to receive a BPA
award, contractors must be
registered on https://www.sam.
gov/SAM/ in order to do busi-
ness with the government
The solicitation for the BPA
will be for the following service
activities: commercial timber
harvest, pre-commercial thin-
ning, grapple piling, hand thin-
ning, hand piling, road mainte-
nance and mastication.
For those who fi ll out the
solicitation, contact Nikki Lay-
ton at nikki.layton@usda.gov
when the process is completed.
Name and contact information
will need to be provided. Reg-
ister immediately in SAM to
begin this process. Any ques-
tions regarding this process
can be directed to Layton 360-
891-5080 or Ingrid Anderson
541-549-7731.
Full-spectrum Dermatology for both adult and pediatric
patients is now available in Grant County.
Blue Mountain Hospital District has partnered with
Dermatology Health Specialists in Bend, and they will be
seeing patients monthly in John Day at BMH.
Oliver Wisco, DO, FAAD, FACMS
Dermatologist
MOHS Micrographic Surgeon
Melanoma Specialist
Samuel Christensen, PA-C
Adult & Pediatric Dermatology
Jill Conway, PA-C
Adult & Pediatric Dermatology
Matthew Clark, MD, FAAD
Dermatologist
MOHS Micrographic Surgeon
Lindsey Clark, PA-C
Adult & Pediatric Dermatology
To make an appointment, contact your primary care
provider for a referral or call 541-575-2060.
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT:
WWW.BLUEMOUNTAINHOSPITAL.ORG/DERMATOLOG
Y
S241906-1
Controlled hunt application
deadline is Saturday, May 15
NOW AVAILABLE AT BLUE MOUNTAIN
HOSPITAL DISTRICT