September 14, 2011 11:47 am
By JAYSON JACOBY
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A property near Northeastern Oregon’s youngest ghost town will officially become the newest state park during a public ceremony Sept. 20.
The grand opening of Bates State Park, in Grant County about 50 miles southwest of Baker City, is set for 10 a.m. to noon.
The park, which includes a 28-site primitive campground, vault toilets and more than three miles of hiking trails, is along the Middle Fork John Day River.
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September 09, 2011 09:17 am
 The Smithson family from Baker City at a pass in the Eagle Cap Wilderness. The whole family went on a three-night, four-day backpacking trip during Labor Day Weekend. Kneeling in front, with Hunter the dog, is Thomas, 6, the youngest of the five Smithson boys. From left to right: Dan, his wife, Elizabeth, Brady, 11, James, 19, Timothy, 17, and Scott, 13.
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Elizabeth Smithson is that rare mother whose treasured family memories involve an avalanche.
And a boulder-strewn scramble disguised as a hike.
Also tears shed over a lost dog.
This is not as strange as it sounds.
Not after you’ve listened to Elizabeth explain how a backpacking trip in the Eagle Cap Wilderness this Labor Day weekend tightened the bond between she and her husband, Dan, and their five sons.
Then you’ll understand.
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October 18, 2010 02:13 am
By RUSSELL VINEYARD
Baker City Herald
They’ll kill what they can.
That was one of the points of emphasis made by Timmothy Kaminski, who works for the Mountain Livestock Cooperative in Jackson, Wyo., during a presentation in September at the Eltrym Theatre.
The Cooperative’s vision, according to its Web site (www.nrccooperative.org/), is to “develop a practical ‘working model’ to reduce large carnivore-livestock conflicts across foothill and mountain landscapes in Western North America.”
“My interest in doing this is to help folks understand some of the things that go into wildlife conservation,” Kaminski said during his presentation.
About 50 people attended the event.
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June 02, 2010 05:55 am
It also saved her 22-pound catfish
With the grudging aid of a 22-pound catfish, Marne Baines added to the already rich legend that is duct tape.
Glue was involved too.
But, as is so often the case, it was the duct tape, and not some lesser adhesive, that really binds this story together.
It all started just after dawn Monday.
Baines drove out to the Highway 203 Pond, just east of the freeway a
few miles north of Baker City, with her husband, Tom Baines, and her
son, Ron Skipper.
They hoped to hook some of the rainbow trout that the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Department recently dumped into the pond.
“It’s my favorite spot,” said Baines, who moved to Baker City eight years ago.
She tried worms and PowerBait for a while, but had no bites.
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April 02, 2010 03:19 am
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The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) is accepting comments
through April 30 on an environmental assessment included as part of a
Land and Water Conservation Fund grant application for Bates State Park
in Grant County.
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April 02, 2010 03:18 am
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The south section of the Wallowa Mountain Loop Road (Forest Road 39)
will be plowed of snow from its junction with State Highway 86 to the
junction with Forest Road 3965 (the Hells Canyon Overlook road) for
emergency repair of a downed high-power transmission line.
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February 10, 2010 03:10 am
The color orange has Oregon hunters seeing black and white.
At issue is the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission’s plan to take a
serious look at making blaze orange mandatory for hunters to prevent
accidental shootings. The commission is directing the Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife to look into the pros and cons of mandatory hunter
orange and present its findings at its June 4 meeting. The ODFW will
also be collecting input from the public about the issue at the annual
big game tag meetings conducted in each of its districts.
Sparks may fly at some of the sessions.
“There is a lot of passion associated with (the hunter orange
issue),’’ said Richard Hargrave, information and education division
deputy administrator for the ODFW.
Many hunters see this as a black and white issue — they either support or object to mandatory blaze orange.
Walt Blackman of La Grande, a former hunter safety instructor, is in the pro mandatory orange camp.
“I taught hunter safety classes for 20 years and we always preached
about wearing hunter orange,’’ Blackman said. “I totally agree that it
should be worn.’’
La Grande outdoorsman Phil Gillette opposes mandatory hunter orange, arguing that the issue is becoming a political football.
“I don’t want the government making it mandatory to appease a
certain group,’’ said Gillette, the owner of Phil’s Outdoor and More.
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October 30, 2009 03:58 am
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More than 50 members of the Powder River Pistolettes club received
marksmanship certificates during a season-ending awards dinner Oct. 23.
Sponsored by the Powder River Sportsmen’s Club, the Pistolettes
formed in May after Buck Buckner, a certified pistol instructor,
proposed women-only shooting sessions twice a month at the Sportsmen’s
Club’s range at Virtue Flat east of Baker City.
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October 30, 2009 03:56 am
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Registration for the Youth Hunter Education Challenge program is set
for Nov. 4 starting at 4 p.m. at the Powder River Sportsmen’s Club at
Eighth and Broadway streets.
The program, sponsored by the National Rifle Association, started locally 10 years ago.
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October 23, 2009 03:46 am
 Matea Huggins, 12, shot this mountain goat on Oct. 18 in the Elkhorns.
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
Matea Huggins isn’t even a teenager yet but already she’s the star of a
hunting tale that would enchant listeners at any Oregon campfire.
It’s even true, this story.
Truth being a quality which is, well, a bit scarce in many of the yarns spun after dark has come to an autumn hunting camp.
On Sunday Matea, who’s 12, pulled off a feat that fewer than 100
hunters in the state, almost all of them at least twice her age, can
boast about.
Matea bagged a mountain goat.
It was no average billy, either.
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