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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2012)
HeppnerGazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Hansell announces candidacy for Senate District 29 Bill Hansell, cur rent Umatilla County Com missioner, will run for State Senate District 29. Hansell was bom and raised in Athena, where his family has farmed for four generations. He and his wife, Margaret, raised their six children in the area and are currently active in the community. Senate District 29 now includes the counties o f Morrow, Union, Wal lowa, Gilliam, Sherman and a portion of Wasco County. The primary election is set for May 15. Hansell will be run ning to replace long-time Senator David Nelson, who is not seeking re-election and is an early supporter of Hansell’s. “I am proud to be an early supporter of Bill Hansell for State Senate, enthusiastically supporting and encouraged him to run. him in his campaign.” C u rren tly , H an Bill is an experienced and dedicated leader who un sell’s finance team is being derstands Eastern Oregon chaired by Senator Nelson, and I know he will continue Hermiston leaders Roger to build on the work that 1 Bounds and TJ Hansell, and Pendleton lawyer have accomplished Steve Corey. in the State Senate,” Also join said Nelson. ing in early support Hansell an o f H ansell’s bid nounces his cam for State Senate paign with strong are more than 25 local support and county and city of support of the State Bill Hansell ficials—represent Senate Republican ing all counties fully within Caucus leader. Senate Republican Senate D istrict 29— and Leader Ted Ferrioli said, “I both state representatives am looking forward to hav from the area, Bob Jensen ing Bill in the Oregon State and Greg Smith. Hansell Legislature. He is a strong says he expects additional fighter for conservative val supporters to be added to ues and, with over 30 years the coalition in the coming of local government experi weeks as the word of his ence, he will be an invalu candidacy spreads. able part of the team. I am Commission on transportation meets The N orth East Area Commission on Trans portation (NEACT) will hold its next meeting on Feb. 2 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) Region 5 headquarters at 3012 Island Avenue in La Grande. The NEACT, com prised o f transportation stakeholders from Morrow, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa and Baker counties, and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reser vation, helps identify and prioritize transportation- related projects in the five- county area. The meeting location is accessible to persons with disabilities, per the Americans with Dis abilities Act. The general public is invited to attend. On the agenda are: general updates on Oregon Transportation Commission and current ODOT projects; Byways Committee, Tran sit, League of Oregon Cit- ies/Association of Oregon C ounties updates; local program update; NEACT county/city roundtable; bike/pedestrian steering committee update; Jobs and Transportation Act (JTA) projects status and Con- nectOregon IV update; and speed study presentation Time has been set aside for public comments regarding project proposals and other transportation related topics. To schedule time on the agenda at future NEACT meetings, contact Lisa Hill at 541-963-3179. An Area Commis sion on Transportation is an advisory body chartered by the Oregon Transportation Commission to help address all aspects of transportation. More information about ACTs is available at the ODOT Web Site at http:// www.responsetrack. net. Meeting informa tion can be made available in alternate format upon request for persons with disabilities, such as sign language interpreter, etc. To request alternate formats, or for more information about this meeting, call Lisa Hill at 541-963-3179 or email at Lisa.A.Hill@odot.state, or.us. Please request al ternate formats at least 48 hours prior to meeting. CIG pre-proposal deadline January 31 Reprintedfrom Or that help farmers and ranch in NRCS policy, technical egon Wheat Newsletter ers run sustainable and manuals, guides and refer Agriculture Secre tary Tom Vilsack reminds applicants that January 31, is the last day to submit project pre-proposals for fiscal year 2012 Conser vation Innovation Grants (CIG) from the U.S. De partment o f Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conser vation Service (NRCS). Pre-proposals sup port large-scale demonstra tion projects that test and prove original approaches to conserving A m erica’s private lands. “These conserva tion grants continue to gen erate exciting new ideas profitable operations and address high-priority natu ral resource concerns,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “We are proud to encourage the advancement of innovative conservation methods that will benefit producers, the public and the economy for years to come.” This y e a r’s CIG projects focus on nutri ent management, energy conservation, soil health, wildlife and CIG projects assessment. Results of success ful projects will be included ences. CIG funds will be awarded through a com petitive grants process. At least 50 percent of the total cost of CIG projects must come from non-federal matching funds, including cash and in-kind contribu tions provided by the grant recipient. To apply electron ically, visit http://w w w . grants.gov/ or contact a local NRCS office. To view the complete announcement o f program funding, visit http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/ technical/cig/. Wednesday, January25,2012 -F IV E Report hunt results by deadline to win special tag Penalty for not reporting will begin in 2013 H unters need to report the results of most big game and turkey hunts by Jan. 31, 2012. Hunters should complete a report for each and every deer, elk, bear, cougar, pronghorn and turkey tag purchased, even if they didn’t fill their tag or go hunting. The par ticipation and harvest rate information is critical for setting tags and seasons. Report online or by phone at 1-866-947-6339. To complete the report, hunters need the following information: -H u n te r/A n g le r ID# (ODFW ID#), which is printed on all licenses and tags -Number o f days hunted -If they mentored a youth during the hunt -Wildlife manage ment unit where hunted -Num ber o f ant ler points on the side of their animal with the most points So far, only about 37% of 2011 tags have been reported. The Jan. 31 report ing deadline is for hunts that ended between April 1 and Dec. 31, 2011. April 15, 2012 is the deadline for reporting hunts ending between Jan.l and March 31,2012. Hunters that meet the appropriate Jan. 31 or April 15 deadlines will be entered into a contest to win one o f three special big game tags. Winners choose the tag (deer, elk or pronghorn) and may take an either-sex animal during an extended season and in an expanded hunt area that allows them to hunt nearly statewide. Reporting hunt re sults has been mandatory since 2008 and is meant to eventually replace phone harvest survey calls that determined hunter partici pation and harvest rates. Oregon was one of the last Western states to adopt mandatory hunt reporting. Reporting rates were low in other states until penalty fees were introduced. Since 2008, report ing rates have been too low and ODFW has con tinued to call a percentage of hunters by phone to get the needed data. To bring hunter reporting rates up, ODFW will begin charging a penalty fee to hunters who don’t report on time. The fee will be set by the Fish and Wildlife Commission in October 2012, during the 2013 big game regulation setting process. ODFW’s proposal to the commission is to charge a fee o f up to $25 to hunters who fail to report on deer and elk tags, as these tags have some o f the lowest reporting rates. The fee will take effect for unreported 2013 tags, with hunters facing the penalty when they purchase their 2014 hunting license. Year 2014 licenses go on sale Dec. 1,2013. “We were hoping a penalty fee would not be necessary but despite all our efforts to get the word put, reporting rates are still too low to phase out phone surveys,” said Tom Thorn ton, ODFW game program manager. “It only takes a few minutes to report, and the information is critical to setting big game seasons.” “We do thank all the hunters that have re ported on time,” Thornton added. Since reporting be came mandatory in 2008, ODFW has gotten the word out through press releases, on the front page o f the regulations, postcards to hunters, advertising online, in the regulations and by offering the chance to win a special big game tag. Hunter reporting rates av eraged 58 percent in 2010, 37 percent in 2009 and less than 15 percent in 2008. Chance to win Sports Pac Apply early for controlled hunt Apply fora fall big game controlled hunt by January 31 and you will be entered into a draw ing to win one of 50 2013 Sports Pacs, each a $ 164.75 value. ,i For the third year, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is awarding a total o f 100 Sports Pacs am ong the pool of hunters who apply for and are issued a fall big game controlled hunt ap plication before April 15. While residents receive a Sports Pac, non-residents selected in the drawing will win a hunting license (a $140.50 value). The purpose of the drawings is to encourage hunters to apply for con trolled hunts early, well before the May 15 deadline. The sooner hunters apply, the better their chances of winning one o f the three drawings: 50 Sports Pacs (or non-resident hunting li censes) will be awarded among the pool of hunters who apply between Dec. 1, 2011 and Jan. 31. 30 Sports Pacs (or non-resident hunting li censes) will be awarded among the pool of hunters who apply by March 15. 20 Sports Pacs (or non-resident hunting li censes) will be awarded among the pool of hunters who apply by April 15. A Sports Pac in cludes a combination an- gling/hunting/shellfish li cense, a combined angling harvest tag, a validation for upland bird and waterfowl hunting, plus a general or controlled deer, general or controlled elk, general cou gar, general or controlled bear and spring turkey tag. The drawings will take place Feb. 1, March 16 and April 19; winners will be notified by mail. Hunters unsuccessful in the first or second drawing will be re-entered into future drawings. Only one entry per hunter is allowed, so hunters who apply for sev eral controlled hunts will still only be entered once. Controlled spring bear hunt applicants are not eligible for the drawing. H unters can ap ply for controlled hunts online, at a license sales agent, at ODFW offices that sell licenses, or by mail or fax order using the fax or mail order application (also found on page 17 of the 2012 Oregon Big Game Regulations). Mail order/fax ap plicants should allow 7-10 days for their applications to be processed and issued. Remember, to be eligible for the drawing, the controlled hunt application must be issued, not just received, by the drawing deadlines. Controlled hunt applica tions can be processed and issued immediately online, at license sales agents or ODFW offices. The deadline to ap ply for a controlled hunt is May 15 each year. In 2011, 79,481 out of 380,639 total applications, or almost 21 percent, were processed by April 15, 2011. That com pares to 21 percent in 2011 and 16 percent in 2010. “Most controlled hunt applications are re ceived during the last few days,” said Deanna Erick son, ODFW license sales services manager. “How ever, these drawings have increased the number o f early applicants.” In the past, the high volume of sales activity in the last few days prior to the deadline led to long lines and slowed or crashed the system. The vendor that manages the license sales system is purchasing the Sports Pac and non-resident hunting licenses for the winners. Some of Oregon’s big game hunts are limited entry, including almost all rifle hunting o f deer and elk east o f the Cascades and pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, and Rocky Mountain goat hunts. These hunts require a controlled hunt application. Firewood permit reminder Vinyl Lettering for windows Magnetic Door Signs Heppner Gazette-Times 541-676-9228 Send news stories to: editor@rapidserve.net With the lack o f snowfall this winter, many areas of the forest are still accessible for firewood gathering. Many folks are taking advantage o f the weather and are out cutting firewood. It is a new year, which means it time to purchase a new Personal Use Firewood Permit for 2012. Permits purchased before January 1,2012 have expired and are no longer valid. A 2012 permit may be purchased in person at Malheur National Forest offices in John Day, Prairie City and Bums. A minimum o f four cords ($20) per transaction is required; each cord thereafter is $5. Begin ning this year, the Malheur National Forest has raised the maximum number of cords per household from 10 to 16. Firewood cutters are reminded that the cut ting o f Tamarack is not allowed from November 1 through April 30. Your perm it and related documents must be with you at all times while cutting or transporting fire wood. A new load tag must be validated by completely removing the month and day that you are removing the firewood. The validated tag must be attached to the back o f the load prior to moving the vehicle from the cutting area, and tags must be clearly visible. One tag is required for every Vi cord of firewood, or any portion thereof. Load tags may not be re-used. Load tickets may not be sold, traded or used to remove fuel-wood under another permit. If you fail to prop erly tag your load or vali date your load ticket(s), you are in violation of the terms and conditions of your per mit and you may be subject to fines, penalties or further prosecution. For further infor mation, visit www.fs.usda. gov/malheur or phone 541- 5 7 5 -3 0 0 0 . 1
