EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, July 9, 2025
Morrow County declares drought emergency
By Andrea Di Salvo
Morrow County has
again declared a drought
state of emergency, effec-
tive July 2.
While conditions in the
county aren’t that bad—
yet—the decision was
apparently prompted by
individuals who had been
approaching the Morrow
County Board of Commis-
sioners.
Commissioner Gus
Peterson said he started
getting calls in early June
from concerned citizens,
especially in the north end
of the county.
“So this does not sur-
prise me that we are at this
point,” he said.
Morrow County Coun-
sel Justin Nelson said he
reached out to Kevin Payne
at the Morrow County Soil
and Water Conservation
District, and Payne support-
ed the drought declaration.
In a letter dated July 1,
Payne said about 35 percent
of Morrow County is cur-
rently under a D1 (moderate
drought) designation. The
rest of the county is D0
(abnormally dry), as of June
24, per the U.S. Drought
Monitor.
The National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Adminis-
tration (NOAA) forecasts a
50 to 60 percent chance of
above-normal temperatures
through August, as well as a
33 to 40 percent chance of
below-normal precipitation.
Payne said NOAA’s
drought outlook predicts
all of Morrow County will
experience either drought
development or persistence
between July 1 and Sept.
30.
In addition to declaring
the drought emergency, the
commissioners approved a
letter asking Oregon Gov-
ernor Tina Kotek for an
executive order declaring
drought in Morrow County.
A drought declaration
opens the way for potential
aid to those financially
affected by abnormally dry
conditions, such as farmers
and ranchers, among others.
The county issued similar
drought designations in
2024, 2022, 2021, 2020
and 2018.
The board approved the
declaration unanimously,
though Peterson declared a
potential conflict of interest
in his role as a landowner
and producer.
ODFW to host online meetings about 2026 Big
Game Regulations proposals
SALEM, Ore.—
ODFW will host a series
of online public meetings
in July with district wild-
life biologists presenting
proposed changes to next
year’s big game regulations
and getting feedback.
Each meeting will in-
clude a presentation on
2026 proposed regulations,
a Q&A and opportunity for
public comment. Proposed
2026 tag numbers and regu-
lation changes are available
on the ODFW website. The
main topic of the meetings
will be potential changes
coming for deer hunts in
Eastern Oregon in 2026,
an outcome of the new
Mule Deer Management
Plan adopted in 2024. Deer
hunts in the region will be
structured based on Deer
Herd Ranges, not WMUs,
to reflect mule deer biol-
ogy and allow for more
accurate monitoring and
management. This change
will align hunting effort
and associated harvest with
Oregon’s mule deer pop-
ulations and management
goals, improve monitoring
of population trends, and
allow for quicker manage-
ment responses/accurate
evaluation of management
actions.
To learn more, visit
the Eastern Oregon Deer
Hunts page. https://myod-
fw.com/articles/eastern-or-
egon-deer-hunts
ODFW encourag-
es people to use https://
o d f w. w u f o o . c o m /
forms/2026-big-game-reg-
ulations-meetings/ to sub-
mit questions and com-
ments in advance of or after
the meeting. Questions can
also be asked during the
Teams meeting by using the
chat feature.
Final 2026 Big Game
Hunting Regulations are
scheduled to be adopted at
the Sept. 12 Fish and Wild-
life Commission meeting
in Ontario.
The meeting schedule
is as follows:
Northeast Region
(Pendleton/La Grande/John
Day/Baker/Enterprise/Hep-
pner) - July 10, 6 p.m. - 730
p.m.
Southeast Region (The
Dalles/Prineville/Bend/
Klamath Falls/Lakeview/
Ontario/Hines) - July 16, 6
p.m.-8 p.m.
To join the meeting
virtually go to the odfw
website and click on join
meeting.
h t t p s : / / w w w. d f w.
state.or.us/news/2025/07_
Jul/070325.asp
Forest plan public meeting in
Heppner July 14
Blue Mountains national forests Announce
Forest Plan Revision 2025 public meetings
The first of a series of pub-
lic meetings about newly
revised land management
plans for the Blue Moun-
tains forests is planned
for July 14 in Heppner.
The meeting regarding the
Umatilla National Forest
will take place from 5-8
p.m. at the Gilliam and
Bisbee Event Center, 106
E. May St.
The U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s Forest Ser-
vice is revising the Land
Management Plans for the
Malheur, Umatilla and Wal-
lowa-Whitman National
Forests (Blue Mountains
National Forests). As part
of the process, the forest
service is hosting a series
of public meetings to bring
awareness to the upcoming
National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) process.
These public meetings are
scheduled this July 2025 to
align well with the timing
of the upcoming Federal
Register Notice of Intent
(NOI). They will be offered
in person and virtually.
As the plan revision effort
transitions into the NEPA
process, the forest service
invites the public to attend
informational public meet-
ings about the important
upcoming scoping period
to occur July 2025.
The Blue Mountains Na-
tional Forests aim to pub-
lish a NOI in the Federal
Register to prepare an en-
vironmental impact state-
ment (EIS) and release a
draft Land Management
Plan addressing the need to
change from the 1990 Land
Management Plans.
The NOI will initiate a
formal scoping period for
the public to review the
materials and provide input.
Land Management Plans do
not authorize any specific
projects or actions on the
ground but instead guide
future decision-making on
the Malheur, Umatilla and
Wallowa-Whitman Nation-
al Forests.
The meetings will cover the
draft Preliminary Need to
Change from the 1990 Land
Management Plans, the
development of the Prelim-
inary Draft Land Manage-
ment Plan, updates on the
National Wild and Scenic
Rivers review, the prelim-
inary Species of Conserva-
tion Concern lists, and the
review of lands that may
have Wilderness character-
istics, among other topics.
Additional meetings for the
Umatilla National Forest
will be from 5-8 p.m. on
July 15 at the Pendleton
Convention Center and July
16 at the Columbia County
Fairgrounds in Dayton,
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