FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Local teen competes at state
fair, brings home top honors
Above: Ivy Sandford with Reno, her rodeo and 4-H gelding.
Below: Morrow County 4-H State Champions Ivy Sandford,
Ione, winning grand champion in Ready to Wear and Model-
ing, Intermediate and Isabella Ganvoa, Boardman, winning
grand champion in Construction and Modeling, Intermediate.
–Contributed photos
WEST NILE
-Continued from PAGE ONE headache associated with
-Wear long-sleeved
shirts and long pants in
mosquito-infested areas.
-Make sure screen
doors and windows are in
good repair and fit tightly.
Because of the number
of mosquito pools testing
positive in any area could
lead to infection, Shelley
Wight, Morrow County
Health Department Health
Educator/Communicable
Disease Coordinator, rec-
ommends people and ani-
mals be protected against
mosquito bites.
Eighty percent of peo-
ple infected with West Nile
virus exhibit no symptoms.
Of the remaining 20 per-
cent, most have very mild
symptoms, such as fever,
headaches and nausea last-
ing from three to six days.
In a few cases, more se-
vere symptoms may occur
including convulsions or
disorientation. The central
nervous system also may
be affected, resulting in a
IONE—Ivy Sandford
of Ione has had a busy few
weeks.
Sandford, who is a
member of the Paint’d Hills
Horse 4-H Club and Cooks
and Notions club, was one
of the 4-H members who
represented Morrow Coun-
ty at the Oregon State Fair
in Salem recently.
She competed in Horse
Gaming, Figure 8 Race,
Gaming Showmanship and
Clothing—Ready to Wear
and Modeling.
She received a white in
showmanship, a blue and
third overall in Intermediate
Gaming, and grand cham-
pion in Ready to Wear.
Aside from her 4-H
involvement, Sandford also
toured the fair as the Or-
egon High School Rodeo
Queen, signing autographs
and taking pictures with
many young children who
were in the livestock barns.
She said her favorite
part of state fair were all the
people who wanted to pet
her horse, Reno, while she
was in the barn and talking
to them about her events.
This was Sandford’s
first time to state fair, and
she says she is looking for-
PORTLAND, Ore.—
ward to hopefully attending
Over the next four years,
next year.
Oregon ranchers will have
even more opportunities
to restore and protect sage
grouse habitat on private
lands, thanks to a renewed
commitment by USDA’s
Natural Resources Conser-
vation Service (NRCS) to
-enhance child devel- invest in the newest round
opment, including through of the Sage Grouse Initia-
tive (SGI), termed “SGI
mentoring;
-services must be pro- 2.0.”
Agriculture Secretary
vided in a culturally com-
petent and gender-specific Tom Vilsack recently an-
manner that reflects the nounced the new strategy,
population, needs and re- following a roundtable dis-
sources of the community. cussion with state and na-
The grant process be- tional sage grouse partners
gins by visiting the Blue in Portland. The strategy
Mountain Early Learning will invest $211 million
Hub website at www.blue- through 2018 in habitat
mountainearlylearninghub. conservation projects in
org. Under the Grants sec- Oregon and 10 other West-
tion, there is information ern states.
“The Sage Grouse Ini-
about eligibility and a Re-
quest for Assistance (RFA) tiative has proven itself as a
form to be completed. In- model for how wildlife and
formation is available about agriculture can coexist and
how the grant funding may thrive in harmony, and that
be used in your county. is why we are announcing
There is also a self-assess- steps today that will expand
ment quiz to ensure a proj- this important initiative
ect aligns well with the Blue throughout the life of the
Mountain Early Learning 2014 Farm Bill,” said Vil-
sack. “I applaud America’s
Hub focus and goals.
All RFAs are due Sep- ranchers for their initiative
tember 25, 2015. RFAs will in improving habitats and
be screened and then sent outcomes for sage grouse
to the appropriate county and other wildlife, and for
Early Childhood Partner- their recognition that these
ship Team (ECPT). During efforts are also good for
their October meetings, cattle, good for ranching
the ECPTs will make fund- operations, and good for
ing recommendations to America’s rural economy.”
As in past years, the
the BMELH Governance
Board. Final approval will strategy will continue to ad-
be made during the No- dress removing encroach-
vember Governance Board ing conifers such as ju-
niper; but SGI 2.0 also
meeting.
For questions or more adds additional focus areas
information, contact Ali geared toward a holistic,
VanHouten at alexandria. whole-ranch planning con-
vanhouten@imesd.k12. cept. Those additional focus
areas include reducing the
or.us or 541-966-3157.
fever, aseptic meningitis or
encephalitis.
West Nile is spread to
humans through the bite of
an infected mosquito. Most
infected people will show
little or no signs of disease.
About one in five in-
fected people may show
signs of West Nile fever.
People at risk include those
individuals over 50 years of
age, people with immune
compromising conditions,
or those people with diabe-
tes and high blood pressure.
Symptoms may in-
clude fever above 100º F
and severe headache, stiff
neck, mental confusion,
muscle weakness, shak-
ing, paralysis or rash. It is
important that you contact
a health care provider if
you experience any of these
symptoms.
The fever syndrome
may last from a few days
to several weeks. The in-
cubation period is usually
2-14 days.
Consult your health
care provider if you have
these symptoms. Health
care providers may contact
the Morrow County Health
Department for information
on West Nile virus testing
services that the Oregon
Public Health Lab offers.
Additional information
about West Nile virus is
available at: Oregon Health
Authority website, http://
public.health.oregon.gov/
DiseasesConditions/Dis-
easesAZ/WestNileVirus/
Pages/survey.aspx; U.S.
Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention, http://
www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dv-
bid/westnile/ index.htm;
Oregon Department of Hu-
man Services, http://or-
egon.gov/DHS/ph/acd/dis-
eases/wnile/survey.shtml;
Morrow County Health
Department, http://www.
oregon.gov/DHS/ph/lhd/
county_directories/Mor-
row.pdf; and North Morrow
Vector Control District,
http://nmvcdmosquito.org.
New sage grouse strategy offers
more conservation options for
Oregon ranchers
Early learning HUB announces
grant availability
The Blue Mountain
Early Learning HUB
(BMELH) invites organi-
zations to apply for funds
through Great Start and
Family Support grants for
Union, Umatilla and Mor-
row counties.
The Family Support
and Great Start grants focus
on projects that serve at risk
children ages zero to six and
their families. Any agency
or program that serves chil-
dren ages zero to six can
apply for these grants.
Grant funds may be
used for community-based
services intended to:
-increase the strength
and stability of families
(including adoptive, foster
and extended families);
-increase parents’ con-
fidence and competence in
their parenting abilities;
-afford children a safe,
stable and supportive fam-
ily environment;
-strengthen parental
relationships and promote
healthy marriages;
Ladies Night
Thursday, September 10th
BAKED PORK CHOPS,
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Senior Sunday Dinner
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Veterans & Spouses
TOWN HALL
Friday, September 18th
9a.m. Heppner CityHall
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call541-922-6420
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someinformationmayapplytoseniors
threat of wildfire, protect-
ing rangeland from devel-
opment, protecting mesic
habitats like wet meadows,
and reducing fence colli-
sions.
Under the SGI 2.0 strat-
egy, NRCS will also pro-
vide technical and financial
assistance to help ranchers
reduce the threat of wild-
fire—and the spread of
invasive grasses following
fires—to restore wildlife
habitat and quality live-
stock forage.
SGI 2.0 also plans
to leverage the full suite
of NRCS Farm Bill pro-
grams—from its more
commonly-used cost-share
programs (such as the En-
vironmental Quality In-
centives Program and the
Conservation Stewardship
Program), to its easement
programs, which offer long-
term or permanent protec-
tion of private lands.
Oregon successes
Since SGI launched
in 2010, NRCS Oregon
has invested $18.4 mil-
lion to help 117 ranchers
remove invasive juniper
trees—the primary threat
to sage grouse habitat. This
juniper removal covered
322 square miles of Oregon
sage grouse habitat—an
area larger than Crater Lake
National Park. These pro-
active efforts on private,
agricultural lands have ad-
dressed more than two-
thirds of the early phase
conifer threat on core sage
grouse strongholds in Or-
egon.
“SGI 2.0 builds on the
tremendous public and pri-
vate conservation efforts
made since 2010 to further
improve sage grouse habi-
tat in Oregon,” said Ron
Alvarado, NRCS Oregon
state conservationist. “This
strategy represents a new
paradigm of strategic and
proactive at-risk species
conservation that succeeds
through partnerships, vol-
untary incentives, and com-
munity support. We are
fortunate to have an active,
robust sage grouse partner-
ship here in Oregon.”
Oregon ranchers such
as John O’Keeffe have
seen tremendous progress
on their land through vol-
untary conservation with
NRCS. The O’Keeffe fam-
ily grazes beef cattle in
prime sage grouse habitat
near the small town of Adel
in southeast Oregon.
O’Keeffe was an early
adopter of SGI and sees the
value of restoring habitat
for both sage grouse and
livestock on his 18,000-acre
property. He has worked to
enhance sage grouse habitat
by removing invasive juni-
per trees on 4,500 acres of
his ranch.
“We have truly changed
the landscape here in a few
short years,” O’Keeffee
said. “It’s helped make our
ranching operation more
sustainable. It has allowed
us to positively affect our
watershed function and
showcased the value of
engaging working ranches
in landscape-scale conser-
vation.”
Nationally, by the end
of 2018, NRCS and part-
ners estimate a total invest-
ment of $760 million for
SGI, conserving eight mil-
lion acres—an area more
than seven times the size of
the Great Salt Lake.
To learn more, visit
www.or.nrcs.usda.gov or
contact the the local USDA
Service Center.
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