LA GRANDE â The decision by the Union County Board of Commissioners on Monday, July 19, to enforce a burn ban â prohibiting everything but regulated agricultural burns and pellet or gas barbecues â put some people on edge.
A number of individuals, including Elgin Mayor Risa Hallgarth, contacted Union County officials to express their concerns about allowing agricultural burns when conditions are so dry, hot and smoky.
The worries of Hallgarth and others were alleviated after learning that the only agricultural burning allowed under Union Countyâs agricultural burning ordinance is highly restricted.
âWhen I learned how tightly regulated it is, it really eased my concerns about it,â Hallgarth said.
Jeff Crews, left, Jonah Lindeman, center, and Forrest Warren move wood chips Saturday, May 22, 2021, to the floor of a new shelter at the Mount Emily Recreation Area near La Grande. Dick Mason/The Observer
UNION COUNTY â Exhausted hikers and mountain bikers at the Mount Emily Recreation Area now can recharge in a new building at the edge of Caffeine Trail.
The structure is not a coffee shop but a large lean-to type of building that provides protection from the sun and rain. Forrest Warren of Summerville constructed the structure. He is a retired educator, a farmer and the Imbler Rural Fire Departmentâs assistant chief.
UNION COUNTY — Exhausted hikers and mountain bikers at the Mount Emily Recreation Area now can recharge in a new building at the edge of Caffeine Trail.