Ed Guzman, Terry Corning-Sevey, and Shilo Burton-Harper of the U.S. Forest Service attended the regular meeting of the Harney County Court on Aug. 1 to discuss the Cliff Knox Project, which would span 40,000 acres in the Prairie City and Emigrant Creek ranger districts in Grant and Harney counties.

In a letter addressed to interested readers, Guzman, who is the Prairie City district ranger, explained that the purpose of the project is “to improve forest health and increase resilience to drought, fire, insects and diseases, and other disturbances by moving the project area toward its historical (natural) range of variability in forest structure, tree density, species composition, and associated wildlife habitat. Additionally, there is an opportunity to contribute to the economic stability of local communities that depend on timber resources for their livelihood and move the forest transportation system toward a more environmentally and fiscally sustainable state.”

Proposed activities include vegetation and fuels treatments, wildlife habitat designations, and road activities.

Vegetation and fuels treatments would include thinning the number of trees on an acre, promoting and maintaining old forest structure, altering the species of trees growing on a site, and creating more natural forest patterns using variable density thinning. Treatments would also include creating fuel breaks along strategic roads and creating conditions for more historical fire behavior and effects within the project area. Western juniper may also be removed to reduce or eliminate encroachment into upland forest stands. To help the trees survive, thinning would occur around large ponderosa pine that is stressed by drought, pine beetle damage, or the recent pine butterfly outbreak.

During thinning activities, dead lodgepole and ponderosa pine trees in excess of forest plan standards may be considered for salvage opportunities.

Wildlife habitat designations would include establishing connectivity corridors on approximately 4,950 acres to facilitate the movement of old-growth dependent species while allowing them to avoid predation. Acreage would also be designated as replacement old growth and for pileated woodpecker feeding.

Road activities would include maintenance, reconstruction, relocation, opening, closing, and decommissioning based on recommendations from travel analysis and resource specialist input.

The public is invited to share information, ideas, or concerns, and discuss the proposal with the project’s planning team during an open house on Wednesday, Aug. 15, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Harney County Chamber of Commerce, 484 N. Broadway Ave. in Burns.

For additional information regarding the Cliff Knox Project, contact District Planner Kathy Schnider at 541-820-3821 or kschnider@fs.fed.us. Project information can also be found online at https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=50433.

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Veterans Service Officer Guy McKay and Assistant Veterans Service Officer Tim Mosher attended the meeting to present the County Veterans’ Services Program Quarterly Report of Expenditures and the County Application to Receive Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs Funds.

Additionally, McKay reported that Harney County Veterans Office will be open five days a week, and outreach services will continue and expand.

Goals for this year include receiving suicide prevention training, accessing veterans home health programs, and assisting homeless veterans.

Another goal is to get involved with the Honor Flight Network Lone Eagle program. Honor Flight Network is a nonprofit organization that transports veterans to Washington, D.C. to visit and reflect at their memorials. A Lone Eagle is a veteran who doesn’t live within a 120-mile radius of the airport used by the closest hub.

McKay also reported that a Stand Down activity will be held Sept. 15 at Burns Elks Lodge. The event will feature free food, music, children’s activities, information about community resources, and fellowship with veterans.

“We’re trying to make people more aware that veterans aren’t out there by themselves,” McKay explained. “You can buddy up with each other.”

The event is intended to raise awareness about suicide, provide support, and connect veterans and other community members to prevention services.

“One of the things that they’re finding, specifically with suicide prevention and awareness, is if you can stall someone a minute from their plans, you increase their odds of survival by up to 75 percent,” Mosher said.

Mosher plans to meet with Harney County School District No. 3 Superintendent Steve Quick to get students involved in the event.

“One of the highest demographics of people committing suicide are 10 to 14-year-old girls,” McKay said.

“As a matter of fact, their rate of suicide in the last three years has increased 300 percent,” Mosher added.

McKay, Mosher, and the court also discussed Boise VA Medical Center’s decision to use telehealth in Burns’ Veterans Affairs outreach clinic.

Rep. Lynn Findley referred to the decision to move to telehealth as “a poor Band-Aid,” and Harney County Judge Pete Runnels said, “We can help [with] advocating to get a body in that clinic.”

Harney County Commissioner Patty Dorroh suggested reaching out to Harney District Hospital’s Jen Hoke, as she has experience recruiting medical staff to the area.

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In other business, the court:

• received an update from Harney County Commissioner Mark Owens regarding Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood issues.

Owens reported that FEMA lowered the 100-year event from 6,600 cubic feet per second to 5,190 cubic feet per second. He also noted that the county is putting together requests for proposals for hydraulics, hydrology, and modeling and to identify mitigation efforts;

• plans to submit objections to the Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision by the end-of-August deadline.

“There’s some things we can support in the plan that we helped develop, and there’s definitely some things we’re going to object on,” Owens said. He added that, “The objection process is not adversarial. It’s part of the process. Just because we object, doesn’t mean that we are being adversarial to the agency;”

• submitted comments on the sage grouse Resource Management Plan Amendment;

• submitted comments on the draft Environmental Assessment for wild horse spay feasibility and behavioral research;

• discussed a letter that Runnels wrote to the Eastern Oregon Visitors Association, recommending that Chelsea Harrison remain Harney County’s representative on the board for a one-year term.

Runnels noted that Harney County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lola Johnson and the majority of the Harney County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors support the decision;

• agreed to sign and send a letter supporting efforts to establish a Vietnam War Memorial on the Oregon State Capitol Grounds;

• approved Resolution 2018-14 in the matter of amending Resolution 2017-09, adopting policies for the sale of county-owned land;

• approved Resolution 2018-15, granting Harney County Roads Supervisor Eric Drushella the authority to pursue and make an offer to purchase an identified piece of land within the 2018-2019 fiscal year. The land has a shoulder rock source that would be an asset to the Harney County Road Department;

• discussed water use requests;

• received the Malheur National Forest Schedule of Proposed Actions for summer 2018;

• received a letter from Oregon Water Resources Department Hydrogeologist Jerry Grondin regarding quarterly groundwater level measurements at selected wells;

• was addressed by Paul Hyland regarding his continued concerns about the bridge replacement project on Embree Lane;

• learned from Dorroh that Eastern Oregon Workforce Board Executive Director William Rosholt was in town Aug. 1 to meet with new board members, Forrest Keady and Terri Hellbusch, and attend the Community Response Team meeting;

• held a work session with the Oregon Farm Bureau and Harney County Farm Bureau;

• held a work session with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife regarding the Malheur Lakes Redband Trout Conservation Plan.

The next meeting of the Harney County Court was rescheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 21, at 10 a.m. in Runnels’ office at the courthouse.