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Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
University of Oregon
y
Eugene, OR 97403
Health district signs three-year
contract with Nichols; reports
great month in June
By April Sykes
At th e ir reg u lar
meeting in lone Monday
night, the Morrow County
Health District Board ap
proved a new three-year
5(K
VOL. 130
NO. 30 8 Pages
Wednesday, July 27,2011
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
SWCD welcomes new
staff member
By Andrea Di Salvo
*
Jake Gelineau is the
latest addition to the staff at
the Morrow County Soil
and Water Conservation
District. The 27-year-old
joined the Morrow SWCD
early in July as the office’s
new habitat technician.
Gelineau was bom
in Wenatchee but raised in
Burlington, in Washington’s
Skagit Valley. He graduated
from Burlington-Edison
High School in 2002 and
went on to attend Wash
ington State U niversity
in Pullman. He graduated
from WSU in 2007 with a
bachelor of science degree
in wildlife ecology.
After college, Ge
lineau moved to Lewiston,
ID, where he worked for the
Idaho Department of Fish
and Game. While there, he
worked to accomplish habi
tat improvement on public
lands, as well as working
closely wjth landowners to
improve habitats on private
lands.
About three years
ago, he moved from Lewis
ton to Kamiah, ID, where he
continued to work for Idaho
Fish and Game as a wild
life technician. One of his
main duties in Kamiah was
to conduct ongoing stud
ies o f elk/wolf predation.
Basically, Gelineau says,
he used collared popula
tions of wolf, elk and other
contract with Dr. Russ
Nichols with no salary in
crease. The board, however,
approved four additional
vacation days for Dr. Nich
ols, from 20 to 24, to bring
his contract more on par
with the district’s contract
with Dr. Betsy Anderson.
Drs. Nichols and Anderson
work at Pioneer Memorial
Clinic and Hospital in Hep
pner and also at the lrrigon
Clinic.
The board also
heard from Chief Financial
Officer Nicole Mahoney,
who reported that the dis
trict had “a great month” in
June with $665,192 in gross
revenue for the month and a
$49,237 monthly gain. The
district rebounded from a
$160,036 loss the previous
month.
Also at the meet
ing, MCHD CEO Mike
Blauer told the board that
the first cardiology clinic
scheduled in Heppner, coor
dinated through MCHD and
Oregon Health Sciences
University, went well. A
proposed schedule for a
monthly cardiology clinic
at Pioneer Memorial Clinic
for the next year and a half
is already in the works.
Blauer also report
ed that the federally man
dated change from paper to
electronic medical records
is progressing. He said that
MCHD staff training by
Healthland, the company
selected by MCHD to pro
vide hardware and software,
is planned this fall. Blauer
said the district is working
on Phase 1 of the federal
plan, but, he noted that the
federal government may
back off on the deadline for
compliance in Phase II be
cause of complaints and un
certainty over what the fed
eral government is actually
requiring. Mahoney said
that one big question that
has not yet been resolved is
what the feds determine is
actually reimbursable in the
plan. Blauer said that issue
will not impact MCHD’s
current anticipated federal
reimbursement.
In other business,
the board:
-heard from Blauer
that the sidewalk renova
tion at Pioneer Memorial
Clinic has been completed
and “looks good.”
-learned from Blau
er that he has spoken to an
architect concerning plans
and costs for a proposed
renovation of the lrrigon
Clinic.
-discussed a plan
ning meeting to be held this
fall, which would include
providers and department
heads.
-learned from Blau
er that he recently attended a
Hospital Association meet
ing that included discussion
on topics such as bills in the
legislature, funding for ru
ral hospitals and a managed
care program, Coordinated
Care Organizations, which
has been passed by the
state legislature. Through
this program, hospitals,
for example, would get a
-See HEALTH DISTRICT/
PAGE FIVE
Harvest continues to
meet expectations
SWCD’s newest staff member, Jake Gelineau, says he’s anx
ious to get out from behind the desk and interact with the
community...especially if it means getting to use new tools like
this no-till drill. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo
species to study the effects
the wolf population had on
other wild animal popula
tions.
“ We did a lot of
helicopter trapping, wolf
management,” he says.
His duties at the
M orrow SWCD will be
somewhat different, deal
ing mostly with creating
wildlife habitats.
“ My main job is
to improve and increase
upland bird habitats,” Ge
lineau says. “I’ll work with
organization like SWCD,
NRCS (Natural Resources
Conservation Service), the
ODFW (Oregon Depart
ment of Fish and Wildlife),
Pheasants Forever, hunting
organizations and landown
ers to get better bird habitats
established in and around
Morrow County.”
Part o f that will
involve working on CRP
contracts for the NRCS and
getting more hunting access
on private lands, which he
says will be accomplished
partly through incentive
programs being developed
by the ODFW and NRCS.
While much of the habitat
will be on CRP ground,
he says he will also work
with landowners who have
range land or other acreage
they would like to improve
as wildlife habitat. H e’s
also excited about some
of the equipment he has at
hand, especially a tractor
and no-till drill and a truck
Harvest is well underway throughout Morrow County. Some growers anticipate a possible
record-setting harvest, with 60 to 80 bushels per acre expected. -Photo by Anne Morter
Field fire contained on
Pettys Canyon Lane
«
A wheat fire that
occurred on Pettys Canyon
lane outside of Lexington
last Saturday was quickly
contained.
The fire started
about 4 p.m. on land owned
by Myrtle McMillan and
farmed by Chuck Nelson.
According to Tim Holtz,
who was doing custom
-See SWCD STAFF/PAGE cutting on the property, the
FOUR fire was started by a tractor
pulling a grain wagon. He
theorizes that a hot brake
may have been the cause.
The fire destroyed
about 40 acres o f wheat
before the harvest crew
and several neighbors were
able to put it out. I’he crew
called the fire department
but, since the fire went
within a couple of yards of
Myrtle McMillan’s house,
protecting the house was
the department's first prior
ity, said Holtz. He said that
was all right, since they had
all the help they needed.
“ The n eig h b o rs
showed up with a couple
discs, and it didn’t take
Summer fun in full splash at
Willow Creek Water Park
A wheat fire that raged on Myrtle McMillan's land outside of
Lexington was quickly contained when neighbors gathered to
help. -Photo by Jason Thompson
long to put it out at all,” weapon you need to fight a
said Holtz. “The disc is the [field] fire.”
L'lHWH
With hot weather finally here, kids and adults alike are beating the heat at Willow Creek
Water Park. -Photo by Megan Futter