TUESDAY, SEPT. 19

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s recommendation to President Donald Trump recommending downsizing the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument has several errors, one of the people who was behind the creation of the monument said Monday.

A memo from Zinke to the president justifying his recommendation that the boundaries of the monument, which lies mostly in Oregon and crosses over into California, be “revised” says motor vehicles aren’t allowed in it.

“There are hundreds of roads inside this monument. I live on private land inside the monument. Do we walk or ride horses?” asked Dave Willis, the chairman of the Soda Mountain Wilderness Council.

He also wondered why Zinke’s memo referred to protecting hunting and fishing rights, saying those activities are already allowed in national monuments.

“These factual errors make it look disinformed,” Willis said in a phone interview. “It’s sloppy work or an attempt to make something that’s unacceptable acceptable to people who don’t know better.”

Bob Rees, founder of the Northwest Guides and Anglers Association, said: “Rolling back protections on Cascade-Siskiyou would be the worst attack on Oregon hunters and anglers I’ve seen in my 20 years as a fishing guide. American outdoor enthusiasts should have more access to public lands, not less.”

But counties that rely on logging revenues according to an old pact have objected to the monument’s expansion by President Barack Obama, and a group applauded the reported recommendation.

“Congress already set aside these lands eighty years ago for the specific purpose of sustainable timber production in the O&C Act, and the president — regardless of party — doesn’t have the authority to rewrite the law,” said American Forest Resource Council President Travis Joseph.

Lawson Fite, of the Portland-based council, said the monument’s expansion caused these counties to lose revenue “as future timber sales have been cancelled.”

“These funds are used to support important local services,” Fite said.

Willis said that given scientific studies into the monument’s expansion and numerous public hearings, “it would be sad if this quickie, error-filled report was used to diminish the monument’s boundaries and protections.”

The future of Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument remains cloudy despite the details revealed in a recent leaked report from the Trump administration.

The memorandum to President Donald Trump from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke includes recommendations for 10 national monuments, including the Cascade-Siskiyou, which was nearly doubled in size by the Obama administration early this year.

Originally, the monument consisted of 53,000 acres, with private property purchases incrementally adding 13,000 acres over the years. In 2017, the monument expanded onto nearly 48,000 acres of public land.

While Zinke says the monument’s boundary “should be revised” to remove so-called “O&C Lands” that are dedicated to timber production and “to reduce impacts on private lands,” the report doesn’t state exactly how many acres should be cut, or where.

Critics and supporters of the expansion agree it’s unclear what action Trump may take on the recommendations, given the disputes over management of 0&C Lands.

The federal government initially granted those 2.4 million acres to a railroad connecting Oregon and California, but then repossessed the property in 1937 when grant conditions were breached.

The Oregon & California Revested Lands Act required that the property be permanently managed for a “sustained yield” of timber harvest. For this reason, critics of the expansion say O&C Lands can’t be included in the monument, where commercial logging is prohibited.

Zinke’s report notes that roughly 16,600 acres of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument consist of O&C Lands “harvest land base.” However, the timber industry claims 40,000 acres of O&C Lands within the monument’s boundaries should be open to logging.

The American Forest Resource Council, which represents timber companies, alleges a resource management plan that limits harvest to those 16,600 acres violates the O&C Act, said Lawson Fite, the organization’s general counsel.

Though it’s uncertain whether the Trump administration would remove all 40,000 acres from the monument, or just 16,600 acres, AFRC is encouraged the expansion is being scrutinized, he said.

“We think that by including any O&C Lands in the monument, the previous president overstepped his authority under the Antiquities Act and violated the O&C Act,” Fite said.

The Antiquities Act permits U.S. presidents to establish national monuments, but whether later administrations can shrink their boundaries remains a point of contention.

Zinke believes that Trump can make such revisions, citing 18 such changes made in the past, but monument supporters argue that an attempt to decrease the Cascade-Siskiyou’s boundaries would be unlawful.

“It would be a sad waste of the Department of the Interior’s resources and taxpayer money,” said Dave Willis, executive director of the Soda Mountain Wilderness Council, an environmental group.

Zinke’s report wrongly indicated that motorized travel within the monument is prohibited and that hunting and fishing are disallowed, Willis said.

It’s unclear whether these errors were due to sloppiness or an attempt to spur support for shrinking the monument, which is opposed by a wide swath of the public, he said.

“It looked like pretty shoddy work,” Willis said.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 20

SALEM — Fighting Oregon wildfires this year so far has cost state, federal, local, tribal and private entities more than $340 million and consumed 678,000 acres, state authorities said Monday.

All of that activity manifested into smoke-filled air and limited visibility for many Oregonians.

The “sheer volume of fires all at the same time and continuous days of growth up through Washington and Idaho” created the oppressive conditions, said Doug Grafe, fire protection division chief at the Oregon Department of Forestry.

More than 8,000 personnel from different agencies have been deployed to fight 1,903 separate wildland fires across the state. That’s more than one-third of the personnel deployed to combat wildfires nationwide, Grafe said.

The most dangerous fires started in late July and early August. The region has been dry since mid-June, with no significant rainfall until Sunday. Tens of thousands of lightning strikes contributed to the severity of the fire season.

Smoke had already captured the attention of most of the state, when the human-caused Eagle Creek fire sparked in the state’s scenic gem, the Columbia Gorge, Sept. 15, trapped 150 hikers and threatened the City of Portland’s water supply, the Bull Run Watershed.

Fire crews kept the fire from that crucial water supply and from the Multnomah Falls Lodge, where flames came within 40 feet of the historic structure.

“A lot of what this fire was doing was spotting out ahead of itself within communities, and they were just having to go after it, and catch it,” said Oregon Fire Marshal Jim Walker. “They did that hand-in-hand with all of the resources, partnering together.”

Rain on Sunday evoked widespread excitement in the Gorge, where firefighters continued to battle flames visible from Interstate 84.

“I think we are in good place with the rain and the conditions,” Grafe said.

Gov. Kate Brown deployed the Oregon National Guard Aug. 2 to respond to several severe fires. National Guard helicopters assisted with the rescue of trapped hikers and poured 1.3 million gallons of water on burning land and structures. ODF has released the helicopters after 45 days of duty.

The conditions on air personnel are as bad, if not worse, than combat, said Dave Stuckey, deputy director of the Oregon Military Department.

The state placed 950 National Guardsmen on state active duty, a high for any year since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when 1,979 Oregon National Guard personnel were deployed, Stuckey said.

Fire crews have suffered no fatalities, but there have been about 34 injuries among National Guard personnel and 23 among ODF personnel.

The governor’s order to deploy the National Guard covered four fires: Eagle Creek, Nena Springs, Milli and Chetco Bar.

Those four fires alone threatened 19,978 residences and destroyed 10. Nearly 8,000 people were evacuated in those areas. The cost of fighting the fire was about $15.3 million, said Oregon Fire Marshal Jim Walker.

Oregon is one of the few states with a wildfire insurance policy but that will cover only 42,000 acres, or about 6 percent of the affected areas in the state, Walker said.

DIXONVILLE, Ore. — At just 21 years old, Trent Pynch is already a couple years into the responsibility of carrying on his family’s ranching tradition.

Both his grandparents, Jim and Bonnie Pynch, and his parents, Jamey and Heidi, had sheep. Trent Pynch has purchased those animals and is now making the decisions regarding their care.

“Since he was 3 years old, all he wanted to do was to get into sheep,” Jamey Pynch said of his son. “He’ll always have livestock, it’s in his blood. My dad had always done this and I’ve always done it.”

Trent Pynch does get help from the older members of his family and from his girlfriend, Arica Hunter, because he has several other responsibilities in addition to his 180 ewes and 12 mother cows. He’s a full-time employee at the Douglas County Farmers Co-op in Roseburg, Ore., in the spring he’s a leader of the Dixonville Livestock 4-H Club and he’s possibly one of the youngest-ever board members of the Douglas County Livestock Association.

“I do sleep occasionally,” he said with a smile. “I’m busy, but that’s how I like it. It keeps me out of trouble.”

Roseburg area rancher George Sandberg said he is not surprised by the young rancher’s involvement in agriculture.

“What I saw in Trent was a lot of ambition, working his way into agriculture by showing sheep, talking to adults and always looking for something to get involved in,” Sandberg said. “He’s in an industry that’s not known for having young people. To be 21 and doing what he’s doing is pretty exceptional.

“There’s just not very many young people in agriculture and Trent is already doing what seasoned people in agriculture are doing,” the rancher added.

Trent Pynch grew up on the family sheep ranch. At age 4, he and his grandmother Bonnie worked together to nurse a sickly, cold bummer lamb back to health. The lamb was then given to Trent and 17 years later his flock has offspring from that ewe lamb.

In the first grade, Trent, with his father’s help, picked out and purchased two ewes at a Roseburg sale. Offspring from those two are also in his flock.

In the fourth grade, the boy became a member of the Roseburg Stockman 4-H Club. Three years later as a seventh-grader, he and his lamb earned grand champion honors in the Douglas County Lamb Show.

In his sophomore year at Glide High School, Trent Pynch got into the sheep business full-time. He took out a loan and purchased 40 ewes from his parents and grandparents. A year later, he diversified his livestock operation by taking out another loan and purchasing 12 mother cows.

In his senior year, he concluded his lamb showing career as a 4-H member with the reserve champion at the lamb show. That same year, he was named the Round Robin Master Showman for both 4-H and FFA, having been judged the best at showing his sheep, pigs and goats. He celebrated by taking out another loan and purchasing 40 more ewes from the family ranch.

Pynch’s success with his livestock operation was recognized in 2015. He had utilized the USDA’s Youth Loan Program and he was named the program’s most successful youth in the nation. He was the first Oregon participant to win that honor.

“He’s really good at being organized and detailed with his animals,” Jamey Pynch said of his son. “He’s got the history of most of his ewes in his head.”

Trent Pynch learned by listening to older ranchers and now, even at a young age, he’s already sharing what he knows. He does that by raising show lambs for purchase by 4-H and FFA members, by being a 4-H club leader and answering questions posed by customers at the co-op.

The young rancher said his realistic goal is to have 200 ewes and 15 mother cows, and to work his way up and to take on more responsibilities at the farmers co-op.

“It’s not just the business aspect, but I enjoy doing this,” he said of ranching. “I don’t picture myself anywhere else. I love it here.”

Federal authorities will soon be sharing preliminary findings of a water study of Oregon’s Upper Deschutes Basin with landowners and other affected parties.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and regional partners will use the input to complete their analysis of water management in the basin, whose water supply demands are eventually expected to exceed supplies by 230,000 acre-feet a year.

One component of the report, which is due in mid-2018, will examine the feasibility of expanding water storage in the region.

The possibilities being studied include raising an existing dam to expand the Haystack Reservoir south of Madras, Ore., or building a new upstream facility.

The study is also looking at creating a new “Monner” reservoir east of Madras or restoring storage in the Prineville reservoir that’s been lost to sedimentation.

Water conservation and water transfers are also being examined in the study, said Mike Relf, project manager with the Bureau of Reclamation’s Pacific Northwest regional office.

“Storage is just one part of the basin study,” Relf said.

The goal is to lay out the benefits and challenges of potential storage options, rather than make any recommendations, he said.

“The idea is not to promote any particular idea,” Relf said.

Building or expanding water reservoirs would entail environmental studies and funding processes that would likely require decades to complete, he said. “Storage would by far be the longest-term idea out there.”

It’s worthwhile to take a closer look at storage possibility, the likelihood of actually starting construction is a long shot, said Mike Britton, general manager of the North Unit Irrigation District, which is one of the partners participating in the $1.5 million study.

Aside from bureaucratic and financial hurdles, storage projects are often unrealistic because they’d flood existing infrastructure, such as gas pipelines and power transmission lines, he said.

“Those types of obstacles are potential deal stoppers,” Britton said.

California, for example, has a long list of potential storage options that haven’t been built for decades, he said. “I doubt we’d be that much different here, unfortunately.”

The prospect of expanding the Haystack Reservoir, however, is making at least one landowner nervous.

Kenny Reed, who owns a ranch abutting the reservoir, worries an expansion would disrupt habitat for bald eagles that he’s conserving under an agreement with the federal government.

Reed has expressed his concerns to the Bureau of Reclamation, which has acknowledged there’s a conservation plan for the area.

“The entire ranch is designated as bald eagle habitat,” Reed said. “We didn’t go through a 20-year process to say it doesn’t matter anymore.”

WELCHES, Ore. — State wildlife officials made more than 50 changes so far to a draft wolf management plan and hope to have it ready for public and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission review by the end of the year.

Conservation groups have criticized what they consider a delay in updating the plan, especially as five wolves have been legally shot since August due to repeated attacks on livestock. Groups such as Oregon Wild argue that ODFW should not authorize lethal action on wolves while a management plan review is pending.

Commission Chairman Michael Finley defended the process.

“I will say there is no intention to delay or pause for the sake of delay,” he said by email. “We have a responsible wolf plan in place and are working to replace it with an updated plan that reflects lessons learned and works to recover the wolf.”

At a Sept. 15 commission meeting at Resort at the Mountain, on the flanks of Mount Hood, ODFW wolf program coordinator Russ Morgan said most of the changes are based on input from the public and from commission members.

“To me that strengthens this document,” said Morgan, who is retiring effective Oct. 1 and was making his last report to the commission.

Commission members thanked Morgan for his work in managing a controversial species, a process in which conservation groups and livestock producers hold opposing and hotly debated points of view.

Commissioner Greg Wolley said people recognize “what a tough spot” Morgan has been in.

“What I’ve found is respect for your professionalism and objectivity,” Wolley said. “It reflects on the whole department and on all of us.”

Morgan was questioned about Oregon’s wolf population. The state confirmed a minimum of 112 wolves at the end of 2016, only one more than the previous year after many consecutive years of rapid population increases. ODFW officials maintain the population survey late last year was hampered by extreme weather and that Oregon has more wolves than were counted.

Morgan said new wolves have shown up this year, ODFW placed more tracking collars on wolves than ever before, and he is encouraged by the numbers.

“There was talk of a stalled population, but one data point doesn’t make a trend,” he said. “I think we will see a promising increase in wolves. Oregon wolves, I’m confident, are doing well and will continue to do well.”

The majority of Oregon wolves remain in the northeast corner of the state, but Morgan said they will continue to disperse into the Cascade Mountains and elsewhere.

Tuesdays

TUESDAY, SEPT. 19

The Langlois Public Library would like to thank the following members of the community for the excellent service toward the 2017 Summer Reading Program: Jake Pestana and the Langlois Market, Cairehn McGowan, Kathleen Schaefer, Aimee Fletcher, John Hieda, Jean Shank,…

Overall Winners — Female: 1. Sierra Brown, 22, Jacksonville, 36:16. Male: 1. Rob Pope, 38, Liverpool, United Kingdom, 33:53.

Name;Age;Sex;Hometown;Time

COOS BAY — Steve Prefontaine’s reach is as long as ever. It reaches across both oceans to inspire runners from far away locales like England and Australia, as well as all across the United States who journey to Coos Bay…

SATURDAY, SEPT. 16

BOISE — Irrigation water will flow until the middle of October in many parts of the Treasure Valley of Idaho and Oregon and many irrigation districts will finish the year with a lot more carryover water than normal.

Mountain snowpack reached near-record levels in many basins in southwestern Idaho and Eastern Oregon last winter and the result was a plentiful water supply this year and ample supplies heading into next season.

“It’s been a pretty good water year,” said Tim Page, manager of the Boise Project Board of Control, which provides water to 167,000 acres and five irrigation districts in southwestern Idaho.

Page said the project plans to cease deliveries on Oct. 16, which is about a week later than in recent years.

The project will also finish the year with about 220,000 acre-feet of carryover water, depending on how much demand there is on the system between now and Oct. 16. That’s about 75,000 acre-feet more than last year.

The Owyhee Project, which supplies water to 1,800 farms and 118,000 irrigated acres in Eastern Oregon and part of Idaho, will shut off about the middle of October, depending on demand, said Bruce Corn, a farmer and member of the Owyhee Irrigation District’s board of directors.

The Owyhee Reservoir will end the season with more than 400,000 acre-feet of carryover water for next year, Corn said. The reservoir hasn’t had that much carryover water since 2011.

“That pretty much assures us of a normal water supply for next year,” Corn said. “If we have a dry winter, we’ll still have an adequate amount of irrigation water for next year.”

Pioneer Irrigation District tentatively plans to cease water deliveries to its 5,800 patrons on Oct. 6, although the actual date will be confirmed during a board meeting next week, said PID Manager Mark Zirschky.

As of now, it looks like the district will carry over about 50 percent of its total reservoir storage water into next season, well above the normal 20-25 percent total, Zirschky said.

He said the district was able to get by on natural flow in the Boise River much longer than normal this year and therefore didn’t have to use as much of its reservoir storage as usual.

The Payette River system, which provides irrigation water to about 160,000 acres, will end this year with its reservoirs about 70 percent full, as opposed to about 50 percent in a typical year, said watermaster Ron Shurtleff.

“We’re going to go into this winter very healthy,” he said. “We could weather a real short water year and still come out fine on the Payette.”

The Weiser Irrigation District plans to cease water deliveries on Oct. 15, it’s normal cutoff date, said chairman Vernon Lolley.

The district will finish the year with about 30,000 acre-feet of carryover water, which is “way ahead of where we normally are,” Lolley said.

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Eugene and surrounding area wood products companies are tallying the damage as Oregon wildfire season dwindles.

The Register-Guard reports both Eugene-based Seneca Jones Timber Co. and Springfield-based Roseburg Forest Products lost thousands of trees last month in a fire in Douglas County, which has burned through private and federal forests.

Fires throughout the state and extremely hot and dry conditions prompted authorities to impose complete or partial restrictions on logging and other work on public and privately owned lands, hampering timber output.

With recent cooler weather, however, complete bans have been lifted, allowing loggers to return to work.

Firefighting should improve starting this weekend as rain and cooler temperatures are expected to return to much of Western Oregon.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Recently released state records say at least 43 children and seven adults reportedly suffered health problems after they were exposed to powerful insecticide at a Coos Bay day care facility.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the insecticide incident occurred April 29 at the Coos Bay Children’s Academy Inc. The owner voluntarily shut down the day care in May. The newspaper obtained state records and information that have not been publicly shared since the incident.

An Oregon Department of Agriculture investigation found that the day care improperly applied an insecticide inside the facility to exterminate fleas. The state suggested this month fining day care owner Elizabeth Ewing and her husband, Gerald, $1,628 for the incident. The state’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed a separate $720 fine for workplace safety violations.

Oregon’s largest wildfire, the Chetco Bar Fire in Southwest Oregon, is still creating smoke and poor air quality around Brookings and Grants Pass.

The fire has covered 185,000 acres so far — that’s five times more than the Eagle Creek Fire along the Columbia River Gorge.

When air quality is poor, even healthy people may experience problems. The best thing to do is limit exposure by staying inside, keeping windows and doors closed, drinking plenty of water, and avoiding vigorous exercise.

About two dozen wildfires are burning around Oregon now. Most areas of the state east of the Willamette Valley have moderate or poor air quality.

The Chetco Bar Fire was started by lightning in July. It’s been burning for nine weeks and was 8 percent contained as of Sept. 13.

Approximately 1,600 firefighters are fighting the fire.

The last 48 hours have been a challenge for firefighters in the Columbia River Gorge.

Warm, dry winds have pushed the blaze over Herman Creek, allowing the Eagle Creek Fire to make a 3-mile run. But authorities say they’re still able to protect nearby communities.

Multnomah County Sheriff Mike Reese has reduced evacuation orders, which includes lifting Level 1 evacuations for all areas of Troutdale, west of the Sandy River.

People living in about 100 homes closer to the fire have also been allowed to return. But they will have to check in at the Corbett Community Church first to get a permit.

The fire is 13 percent contained and about 1,700 people remain under evacuation orders near Crown Point and in Cascade Locks.

The Oregon Department of Transportation said it will be assessing the threat of landslides for months after the fire. That’s because the roots of vegetation and trees killed won’t be able to hold the soil together.

ODOT said crews are using snow plows to clear fallen rocks and trees from the Historic Columbia River Highway. It’s not yet clear when Interstate 84 will reopen.

One person has been cited for hiking into the area and flying a drone to collect video footage.