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.
LA GRANDE â Snow is proving to be a friend and foe this winter for Jesse Reed of Union as he helps reduce the odds of a catastrophic wildfire someday striking the Grande Ronde Valley.
Reed is the co-owner of ReedCo Forestry, a company Union County contracted with to help build one of two major firebreaks in the Mount Emily Recreation Area north of La Grande. The firebreak Reedâs company is creating is about 6 miles long on MERAâs Mainline Trail, which runs north-south starting from the recreation siteâs parking lot off of Fox Hill Road.
ReedCo is creating the firebreaks through a tree thinning process that involves the use of heavy equipment. Winter is the best time to do this work because much of the area is on rocky terrain, which is hard on equipment, such as blades. The snow and ice now in MERA are covering the rocks, providing a buffer for the equipment, Reed said.
LA GRANDE â A section of trail in the Mount Emily Recreation Area got a facelift last week thanks to the generosity of some local outdoor enthusiasts.
Volunteers with the Blue Mountain Singletrack Trails Club chipped in their time to improve a section of the Red Apple Trail, notorious for becoming swampy in the spring months.
âThereâs a section that goes through a meadow, and in the spring and the fall, itâs just like a mud pit,â said Sean Lerner, a member of the clubâs board of directors. âItâs been something thatâs on the list of things to fix for a long time.â