BESS I E WETZELL
U OF ORE
NEWSPAPER LIB
EUGENE OR 97403
Board earmarks acreage for Boardman school
: W I L S O N ROAD .
Future school site at Boardman
During a regular board
meeting of the Morrow County
School District in Heppner
Monday night, Feb. 21, the
board voted to enter into a
$44,000 contract for the pur
chase of 11 acres in Board
man. The land is earmarked
as a future site for a new
elementary school.
The board, following an
executive session, voted to ex
tend earnest money to Colum
bia Furman Land Company to
hold the property. The motion
calls for the development of a
contract for the 11 acres and
calls for sewer and water to be
provided before the trans-:
action is closed.
The land for future building
is located in Section 17,
Township 4. The property is
south of Wilson Road about
one-quarter mile west of the
junction of Main Street and
Wilson Road.
In other action, the board
approved regular bills totaling
$21,777.89. They accepted the
resignations of three teachers,
including Robert Beitel, com
mercial teacher at lone High
School; Jackie Downie, kin
dergarten teacher at A.C.
Houghton Elementary; and
Pauline Miller, special read
ing teacher at Heppner Ele
mentary. The board approved the
hiring of Alice Vance as
deputy clerk in the school
district office. Jeanne Sumner
was hired as a secretary.
The board tabled action on a
classified employees contract
agreement until the next
meeting. The move was made
to allow time to clarify one
sentence regarding health and
insurance benefits. The two
year contract covers salaries,
leave, health and insurance,
and substitute pay.
500 expected here
for 81st Elk's Annual
The 81st Heppner Elks'
Annual, B.P.O.E. 358, is ex
pected to draw more than 500
local members and out of town
guests to Heppner this Satur
day. The big event gets
underway at the Lodge with
registration at 11 a.m. (
Heppner Elks have sub
stantially completed remodel
ing work on the Lodge in time
for the Annual. Remodeling of
the building upstairs has
made space for Lodge activity
and larger school or commun
ity functions.
Completion of the upstairs
allows double the dining area
in the first floor of the build
ing, officials said.
Ladies' tea and card party
activity will move to the first
floor now that remodeling is
complete. A tea and card
party for ladies will be held at
Hope offered for
pine beetle control
Allen Nistad, general man
ager of Kinzua Corporation,
said this week that forest
users in Morrow County could
successfully combat the en
croachment of pine beetles in
ponderosa stands if all users
would cooperate in the identi
fication of spot infestations.
He said that the forest
service has already allowed
removal and clearing of many
County
wide
elections
set
Nominations or declarations
. of candidacy for 28 directors
of rural fire protection dis
tricts, cemetery maintenance
districts, park districts, the
Port of Morrow and the Hep
pner Water Control District
will be accepted through Mar.
15, Sadie Parrish, Morrow
County clerk, announced this
week.
An election to fill the 45
expiring terms has been
called for Tuesday, Apr. 19,
between the hours of 2 p.m.
and 8 p.m. in the 11 districts
concerned.
All petitions of nomination
or declarations of candidacy
. must be filed in the Morrow
County Clerk's office not later
than Mar. 15. Office hours for
the county clerk are 8:30 a.m.
unti5 p.m.
The 28 directorships open
for nomination or candidacy
include rural fire protection
districts in Heppner, Board
man and Irrigon.
Directorships will also be
open on cemetery mainten
ance districts in Heppner,
Boardman, Irrigon and the
lone-Lexington maintenance
district. Other directorships
are up for election in the
Irrigon Park District, Port of
Morrow and Heppner Water
spot infestations in more ac
cessible areas of forest in the
county.
Nistad was asked to com
ment in response to a Cham
ber of Commerce presentation
made Monday by Orville
Cutsforth of Heppner. Nistad
said Kinzua is willing to work
with the chamber, smaller
independent logging contract
ors and other forest users in
seeing that the infestations
are controlled.
There are a number of small
independent logging contract
ors who are capable and have
the equipment to harvest the
spot infestations, he said.
Nistad added that Kinzua will
work with the chamber in
presenting suggestions at a
Forest Service unit planning
session scheduled in Heppner
Mar. 1 at the grade school.
This is a project which will
require backing from cattle
men, hunters, rock hounds,
foresters and the community,
Ni&tad said.
Nistad noted that the smal
ler independent logging con
tractors could use the work at
this time. Arrangements for
marketing the timber har
vested from spot infestations
can be worked out between
several logging interests, he
said.
Richard Graham, chief for
ester for Kinzua, said that
Morrow County timber stands
consist of about 65 per cent
ponderosa, 30 per cent Doug
las and white fir and 5 per cent
lodgepole.
The devastating outbreak of
mountain pine beetles in the
lodgepole pine of Northeast
. Oregon is nature's way of
handling thick stands of weak
trees. These are mainly stag
nant growths of over-age trees
which over the years have
received no management be
cause of inaccessibility and
lack of a commercial market,
Nistad continued.
New logging systems and
newly installed plant facilities
will allow us to concentrate
intensive management prac
tices in the future if all sectors
of forest users move together
in the effort, he said.
1:30 p.m. Saturday.
For the first time in the
history of the Heppner Elks'
Lodge, there will be two bands
for dancing at the Annual. The
bands are Marty Davis and
the Nelson Duo.
Lodge activity will begin at'
2p.m. Saturday with "Ritual"
by Condon officers. Expected
to be on hand for the day are
state officers, including the
president, two vice presidents,
secretary, sergeant-of-arms
and past district deputies and
other state officers.
Dinner at the Lodge for local
members and out of town
guests will be served from 6
p.m. until 8 p.m. Saturday.
Dancing to both, bands will
start at 9 p.m. Heppner Lodge
officials said the cost for the
dinner and dance will be $8.00
or $15.00 per couple.
Land use
planning
meeting set
Discussion of land use
planning for the Heppner
Planning Unit of the Umatilla
National Forest has been
scheduled Mar. 1 at 7 p.m. The
public meeting will be held at
the Heppner Elementary
School.
Persons attending the ses
sion will be able to discuss
various issues of concern such
as timber management, rec
reation, grazing and wildlife.
Results of the meeting will
be used by the planning team
as they construct manage
ment alternatives for the unit,
officials said.
The meeting has been billed
as a workshop to answer the
question, "How do you want
your forest managed?"
Other topics of concern will
be wilderness area and off
road vehicles.
TH1B? jS
V
Em I I 1 1
Vfc Will
VOL. 94, NO. 8
HEPPNER, OREGON
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1977
12 PAGES
15 c
Pine beetle could destroy
most of county's pine trees
Unless conditions change,
Morrow County stands a 95
per cent chance of losing
every Lodgepole pine tree in
the countv. The dire pre
diction was laid out Monday
before the Heppner Chamber
of Commerce by Orville Cuts
forth of Heppner. Concern now
centers around both Lodge
pole and Ponderosa pine.
Cutsforth said that work in
the forest is running two years
behind the insect infestation.
He indicated that the Forest
lone voters asked to
ok $100,000 water bond
By Eva Hamlett
The City of lone will hold a
special election for the pur
pose of submitting to the legal
voters a charter amendment
authorizing the sale of
$100,000.00 in bonds to procure
funds for improvements, re
conditioning, and extension of
the water supply system of the
city. Election will be held Feb.
28 at the City Hall from 8:00
a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
The city well is failing and
something must be done. The
upcoming bond issue will pro
vide funds for drilling a new
well, a new pump, a pump
house and waterline to con
nect into the existing water
system, and electrical wiring,
circuit panel and any other
necessary electrical supplies.
The actual cost is unknown
due to rising costs and final
depth of the well. Because of
state regulations, the city is
required to hire city and
bonding attorneys, certified
engineers, and meet all state
health rules, regulations and
inspections, which add to the
cost of the water system.
Considering these facts, the
City Council is asking both
voter approval of the
$100,000.00 bond issue and a
good voter turnout on Feb. 28.
The city will start reading
water meters beginning Mar.
1. The reading will reflect on
March water bills. This will
give the City Council an idea
of the amount of water used.
Due to the shortage of
water, the following lawn and
garden watering schedule is to
be followed effective immedi
ately. The following streets may
water between 8:30 a.m. and
5:30 p.m. as per schedule:
Monday Main Street
Wednesday North 2nd Street
Thursday South 2nd Street
Saturday 3rd and 5th Streets
This schedule will be follow
ed until further notice.
Riverside student
3rd in Leadership
Scott Witt of Riverside High
School, Boardman, took third
place in public speaking dur
ing the recent Blue Mountain
FFA Leadership Skills Con
test hosted by the Blue Moun
tain Community College FFA
chapter.
Heppner High School won
third place in the advanced
parliamentary procedure con-
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Two sections of brick wall at the "Woolery Home" in lone were knocked down by vandals in
recent days. The ornate and attractive fence was the work of former lone resident Oscar
Lundell. The vandalism has disturbed several lone residents. (See Letters to the Editor, page
2.)
test. Also participating from
Morrow County was Julie
Grieb, who participated in the
public speaking contest.
The leadership skills contest
is one of many FFA activities
involving 110 chapters in
Oregon. The chapters observe
National FFA Week during
February.
FFA was organized in 1928
to promote leadership, co
operation and citizenship
among high school vocational
agriculture students. The FFA
Foundation awards program
provides recognition for ac
complishments from the chap
ter level.
The theme of the FFA ob
servance this year is "Agri
culture's New Generation."..
Reminder
The Morrow County 1
Assessor, Everett:;
Harshman, would like to j
remind all owners of ::
Personal Property that::
their returns must be:
mailed by March 3rd.:;
Also, any aircraft not :
registered by Feb. 28th j
is subject to both regis-:-tration
fees and Person-:-:
al Property tax.
Service was not only slow in
responding to the infestations,
but intimated that infestations
were all but ignored by
government employees who
work in the timber.
Speaking of a special Prine
ville timber harvest program,
Cutsforth noted that aerial
photos were taken last fall.
Apparently, the forest service
employees walking through
this timber before never saw
the infestations, he said.
The prediction of a 95 per
cent chance of loss was at
tributed by Cutsforth to Herb
Rudolph, head of the Umatilla
National Forest Service office
in Pendleton.
Cutsforth said the forest
service wants to combat the
infestations with application
of pesticides and has given
little consideration to spot
felling of dead and infested
trees.
"I have found spots that I
could clean up in two hours,"
Cutsforth said. He told the
chamber that he had dis
cussed the situation with Allan
Nistad of Kinzua Corporation.
"Kinzua wants a hunting
license to go in and clean out
these infested patches," Cuts
forth said.
Mrs. Arnold (Avon) Melby,
Eastern Oregonian reporter,
made a motion that the
chamber "back whatever Kin
zua wants done." Mrs. Mel
by's motion and another mo-.
tion died for lack of a second.
A consensus was reached to
send Cutsforth and Harold
Kerr, county agent, to a Mar. 1
Forest Service unit planning
session in Heppner to air the
concern and suggestions of the
chamber and the suggestions
WEATHER
Wed , Feb. 16 67 36
Thurs.,Feb. 17 66 39
Fri.,Feb. 18 62 34
Sat., Feb. 19 53 28
Sun., Feb. 20 66 28 .01
Mon.,Feb.21 52 34 .08
Tues.,Feb.22 53 36
Feb. measurable to date .13
hundredths. Normal for Feb
ruary 1.16 hundredths.
GRAIN MARKET
Wednesday grain prices re
ported by Morrow County
Grain Growers, f.o.b. Lexing
ton, found white wheat $2.87
bu., red wheat $2.87 bu.,
barley $103.00 per ton.
from Kinzua officials.
Gene Pierce said that the
proposal for spot cutting
would probably require the
presence of 50 forest service
people to mark the trees. This
is one of those things which
"has to go to the Great White
Father in Washington,"
Pierce commented.
"I don't figure the Forest
Service thinks they can do
much," Cutsforth said of the
situation. He also commented
that the "Forest Service boys
are so bound up in paper work
that they haven't got time to
do it."
As Cutsforth sees the situa
tion, the cutting of green
infected trees could stop the
bugs. "Fell the trees and the
larva starve to death without
sap." Cutsforth said the in
sects needed the sap to de
velop. They fly for about two
weeks in June. If spot felling
in infested areas is going te
work, now is the time to do it.
Ray Boyce, chamber presi
dent, appointed Cutsforth and
Kerr to represent the chamber
Monday, Mar. 1, when a
Forest Service planning unit
meeting is scheduled at the
grade school in Heppner at 7
p.m.
The news of a 95 per cent!
chance of loss of every pine
tree in Morrow County comes
on the heels of an estimated
loss of 40 per cent of the
county's dryland wheat crop
due to drought conditions.
Rain during the past week ,
brought the first hope for
expecting that losses in wheat,
hay and livestock production
would not be even greater.
Hundreds of cattlemen in
Eastern Oregon must see
some quantity of rain or snow
during March in order to stay
in business.
Morrow County would noi be
alone in an economic disaster
from the loss of both timber
and agricultural production of
wheat and hay.
Statewide, Governor Bob
Straub already anticipates a
loss of nearly 5,000 jobs in
agriculture and forest prod
ucts industries. Crop losses
into February have been peg
ged at $100 million for the
state and could reach $400
million without more rainfall.
If drought conditions con
tinue, restrictions on logging
to prevent fires could hit
Morrow County directly in the
pocket book. With significant
rain or snow, the insect In
festation and dead and dying
timber is still a problem to be
faced.
41
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