Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1973)
I - tsxm sm. mif MtMIHMMi By DALEBONEK General information on soils of the county is periodically needed by people of many different professions and with many varied interests. Last fall the Morrow Soil & Water Conservation District initiated the action for fulfilling this need. A publication was printed which contains a general soil map along with soil interpreta tions for Morrow County. The general soils map shows the location and extent of soil associations in Morrow County. A soil association is a grouping of soils which geographically occurs in a repeating pattern. It consists of one or more major soils and at least one minor soil. The soil association will be named for one of the major soils. The map showing the soils associations can be useful to people who want a general idea of the soils in the county; who may want to compare one part of the county with another; or who may want to locate some particular tract of land for a certain kind of land use. The Morrow County Planning Commission can use the infor mation for their work in land use planning. Users should remember that this is a general soil map. The general soil map is too broad for specific planning of a small farm or field, for designing foundations or for building roadways. These require more detailed mapping and often an onsite investigation. Written information in the publication include descriptions of each of the soil mapping units as well as interpretations for their use. Also, included is a map showing soil suitability for irrigated crops. The printing of the publica tion was financed through contributions from Morrow County, Port of Morrow, Bank of Eastern Oregon, First Na tional Bank of Oregon, Colum bia Basin Electric, Umatilla Electric and Morrow County Grain Growers. Copies can be obtained at the Morrow County Courthouse and from the Port of Morrow office in Boardman. " - j - i . '"t t'-. ......... Luna Pubescent Wheatgrass waterway. WORK 20 PERCENT COMPLETED IN COUNTY Continued From Page t The much talked about Willow Creek dam would solve the flood threat in Heppner from Balm Fork and Willow Creek. Coupled with the Willow Creek dam should be a conser vation land treatment program. This program should include diversions, small silt dams, grass waterways, grass seed ings and proper grazing use on rangeland. Without this con servation program, tons of silt will be deposited in the reser voir which will begin a trend of reducing its attractiveness and recreational value. The Morrow Soil & Water Conservation District has always concentrated their efforts on the air and water pollution problems in the county, including the Willow Creek Watershed. Finally, during 1972 the accomplishment in conservation work really began to increase. The primary reason for the sudden increase was because of the 80 percent cost sharing and the $2500.00 limit per farm made available from the ASCS office under the Rural En vironmental Assistance Pro gram (REAP). During 1972, 760,000 feet of diversions were constructed, which is nearly one third of the total of that previously built within the district. , , I I seeding work on Shobe Canyon IT MmitlHMtllfflMMMM vHillHmaaiiHMHM niiimiHl r s s S I if s : E : Herb Yet, just as the work began to gain momentum, the funds for cost sharing on conservation work under the REAP program has been eliminated. Without this cost sharing program the farmer will not be able to do as much, possibly cutting the amount accomplished by ninety percent. An estimate has been made by district officials that only twenty percent of the cropland in the district has been ade quately protected from erosion. This means a great deal is left to be done and it will take the continued support of everyone to keep conservation work progressing. Shobo Canyon, a Good Example Heppner sleeps more soundly now, with the knowledge that 29 miles of diversion terraces and 26 silt retention dams along with established grass stands cover the cropland of the watershed above town. The entire project has been widely heralded as a showcase of cooperation within a com munity and among Service Agencies. Making it all work required coordination from the Heppner SWCD, the Columbia Blue-Mt. R C & D, and City and County officials carried heavy work loads. Farmer - Landowners in the Shobe watershed showed com mendable concern and cooper ation by putting together a special REAP assisted conser vation plan. The actual conser vation practices were complet ed the same year, a remarkable feat. Heppner residents responded by forming a Water Control District which is now a legal 1 entity under State law. Hard work and persistence must be cited here as outstanding. itiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiilliniiiiiiil lu....i..mmiui.HHmimHlllllhlilH mm PLANT.. FOOD. lone, Ore. FERTILIZER AI'D CIJOCALS Tel. 422-7209 Ekstrom, Jr., Manager Funds from the special ASCS REAP project along with a lot of engineering from SCS was the nucleus of the success story. A lot of leg work by the extension service must be cited. Extensive channel work up to the confluence of Willow and Shobe Creek within the city was made possible by emergency Flood Prevention funds of the Army Corps of Engineers. r'HA loan funds assisted the City in replacing sewer and water mains and a Grant from the Bureau of Outdoor Recrea tion assisted in rebuilding the near destroyed swimming pool. Local Men Honored Dale Boner, District Conser vationist; Dave McLeod, ASCS director; and Harold Kerr, County Agent, received the Oregon Chapter's 1972 Out standing Service Award for their respective efforts that made the project in Shobe Canyon a reality. The Award is made annually by the Soil Conservation Society of America. Our thanks to our advertisers who made this issue possible itimininiiHinHiiiMHiiiiiiiiiniiiii miiuniiiiiiHHiiiiMiiMiiuiiiMfiiil iilll.
