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Vol. 81, No. 27 • Feather Publishing Co., Inc. °
i
nd all of the Indian Valley Area
J,•
530-284-7800 • Wednesday, May 25, 2011
5O¢
Supervisors choose new district boundaries
Greenhorn and Cromberg
along the Highway 70 corri-
dor as far east as Feather
River Cabins.
Supervisor Jon Kennedy in
District 5 currently repre-
sents those areas.
Meacher, who joked at the
May 10 public hearing about
"needing a helicopter" to
serve his sprawling district,
was the lone "no" vote to
Thrall's motion to adopt the
new district plan.
"Can I do a protest 'no'
vote, just because?" Meacher
asked the other board mem-
bers. "Not like it's going to do
anything other than, you
know, I wish the world was
different."
Meacher's district also will
grow southward to include
the portions of American
Valley north of Quincy and
along Chandler Road, areas
currently in Supervisor Lori
Simpson's District 4.
Dan McDonald
Staff Writer
dmcdonald@plumasnews.com
It took literally just a few
minutes for the Plumas
County Board of Supervisors
to pick the new boundaries
of the districts they could
govern for the next 10 years.
There was very little dis-
cussion. No controversy. And
no questions from county
residents during the last of
the two required public hear-
ings Tuesday, May 17.
It was quick and easy.
By a 4-1 vote, the board
adopted one of the three re-
districting options presented
by the county's planning
department.
The plan labeled "Option
C" was the winner.
Under that plan, the county's
20,007 residents are divided as
equally as possible among the
five supervisors.
All five districts changed,
but Supervisor Robert
Meacher's District 2 and
Supervisor Sherrie Thrall's
District 3 were adjusted the
most due to declining popula-
tion in those areas.
District 3, which included
Chester and most of the Lake
Almanor area, will be ex-
panded to the south and east
to include all of Lake A1-
manor including Hamilton
Branch, East Shore, Canyon
Dam and Seneca.
The expansion adds 731
people to Thrall's district.
That district, which features
many summer homes, has
lost population because of the
sagging economy and real
estate market.
District 2, which covers a
wide, sparsely populated re-
gion between the county's
eastern and western borders,
will now include the commu-
nities of Spring Garden,
One equine herpes case confirmed in county
Suggested guidelines for minimizing
risk of disease transmission
Restrict movement of horses
from the premises.
Physically isolate exposed
horses a minimum of 30 feet
away from other horses for 21
days.
Horses that are new to
premises should also be
isolated, as above.
If you suspect a horse may
have been exposed, monitor
the horse's rectal temperature
twice a day for 14 days and
call your veterinarian immedi-
ately if a fever develops (102
degrees F or higher).
Use protective barrier clothing
that can be changed in be-
tween horses when handling
isolated or quarantined
horses. Protective barrier
clothing includes gloves,
disinfectant foot baths with
impervious foot covers, and
coveralls or protective gowns.
Hands should be washed with
soap and water or alcohol-
based hand sanitizers (if
visibly soiled, hands must
be washed with soap first)
after handling each horse in
quarantine.
Provide separate equipment
for each horse and do not
See Risk, page 3A
Dan McDonald
Staff Writer
dmcdonald@plumasnews.com
State officials have con-
firmed one reported case of a
horse in Plumas County with
a very contagious form of
herpes.
As of Monday afternoon,
there were 17 confirmed
cases of equine herpes
myeloencephalopathy (EHM)
in California.
Local sources say the
Plumas C0inty horse is
under quarantine in the
Vinton area.
Tanya Balaam, a veterinar-
ian at the Large Animal Vet-
erinary Services in Chilcoot,
is advising horse owners to
keep their animals at home.
"At least until the end of
May," Balaam said. "Don't
take your horse anywhere
unless you absolutely have
to."
The common denominator
in the recent outbreak is that
all but one of the stricken
horses attended the National
Cutting Horse Association's
Western National Champi-
onship in Ogden, Utah, April
30 to May 8.
The other horse participat-
ed in the Kern County Cut-
ting Horse Event on May 13
in Bakersfield.
According to the California
Department of Food and
Agriculture (CDFA), one
of the horses confirmed as
having EHM was euthanized
after showing severe neuro-
logical signs associated with
EHM.
Two of the confirmed posi-
tive horses are being treated
at the University of Califor-
nia Veterinary Medical
Teaching Hospital in Davis.
Six positive horses have
displayed neurological signs.
The other cases have only
been febrile, or showing only
symptoms of a fever.
All positive confirmed
EHM cases are under a state
quarantine.
Animal Health Branch vet-
erinarians investigated a sus-
pected case of equine herpes,
according to the state. This
mare did not attend the Og-
den event, nor did she partic-
ipate in the Kern County
event. This mare did partici-
pate in the Rancheros Vista-
dotes ride in Santa Ynez,
from May 5 to 12.
According to the state web-
site (cdfa.ca.gov) the mare is
exhibiting neurological signs
compatible with a number of
equine diseases or condi-
tions.
The report indicated she
tested positive for the com-
mon strain of EHV-1 that
most commonly causes respi-
ratory signs but may also
cause neurological signs in a
low percentage of these cases.
The state said this mare is
not associated with the ongo-
ing EHM outbreak.
EHM is highly contagious,
especially among younger
horses that travel a lot and
intermingle with other young
horses, according to informa-
tion from the CDFA.
See EHM, page 3A
Herger unveils fire safety measure in Concow
larry Mitchell
Chico Enterprise-Record
Special to Feather Publishing
Congressman Wally Herger,
R-Chico, talked to reporters
recently about a bill he said
would help protect communi-
ties from wildfires.
In the distance, as Herger
spoke, hillsides covered with
burned trees could be seen.
These were burned in the
2008 fires that destroyed
about 200 homes in Concow.
As the location-for his
press conference, Herger
chose the property of Concow
resident Pete Mock for a
particular reason.
In 2008, as fires threatened
Concow, Mock, who has been
a logger all his life, removed
brush and small trees for
about 50 yards around his
property. That saved his
home.
"This legislation allows
us to declare an emergency
and do what Pete did here,"
Herger said.
In many parts of the
country, national forests
have become so overgrown
that they are very susceptible
to devastating wildfires,
Herger said.
That's one problem for
mountain communities, he
said. Another is that it can
take a long time to win
approval to create a fire-
break, and even if approval
is given, the project can be
delayed by a lawsuit.
With his bill, Herger said,
under certain conditions,
communities would be able
to appeal to the U.S. Forest
Service and obtain a ruling
within 60 days whether they
could create fire breaks by
removing brush and small
trees.
In addition, he said, his bill
would allow such projects to
go forward even if lawsuits
were filed against them.
Besides Herger, several
other people spoke at the
press conference.
"I think this is necessary,"
See Herger, page 3A
Simpson shows support
Dan McDonald
Staff Writer
dmcdonald@plumasnews.com
Plumas County Board of
Supervisors Chairwoman Lori
Simpson was in Concow to
support Congressman Wally
Herger's bill.
"It was pretty sobering to
see how close the fire came to
(Concow resident Pete Moak's)
home," said Simpson, who
was invited to the event by
Herger. "Seeing what (Moak)
did showed how, if you can
get the work done (to remove
brush and small trees) around
your home, it can save lives."
The Plumas County super-
visors passed a resolutiorj,
authored by Simpson, at their
May 17 meeting in support of
Herger's Catastrophic Wildfire
Community Protection Act
(H.R. 1485).
See Simpson, page 3A
Holiday
deadlines
All Feather Publishing
offices will be closed Monday,
May 30, in observance of
Memorial Day. This will
affect the deadlines for the
June 1 newspaper.
Deadlines for the Wed-
nesday, June 1, Plumas-
Westwood editions:
All Display Advertising
and Legal (Public) Notices for
the classified and other news-
paper sections is due by
Wednesday, May 25, at noon.
News releases -- including
letters to the editor, births,
obituaries and cards of
thanks --are due by Thurs-
day, May 26, at noon.
Classified reader ads are
due Friday, May 27, at 9 a.m.
!!1[l!1!!1! ILl!! !1!
To subscribe to the Record,
call 530-283-0800
Local ranchers speak up at water meeting
Watershed group explains upcoming Upper Dotta project
Alicia Knadler
Indian Valley Editor
aknadler@plumasnews.com
When local ranchers were
upset because they felt that
their water rights were not
being considered in water-
shed restoration plans,
Plumas County supervisors
acted and demanded more
and better public outreach.
So, planners from Plumas
Corporation conducted their
first public meeting just
three weeks after that April 5
resolution.
Before this, project plan-
ners had never applied to the
State Water Quality Control
Board Water Rights Division,
believing restoration projects
are excluded.
Watershed project plan-
ning and implementation
leaders Jim Wilcox and
Leslie Mink discussed resto-
ration Planning, provided in-
formation about the Upper
Dotta Project and listened to
public comments.
The Upper Dotta Project
area is located between
Frenchman Reservoir and
Lake Davis in the Red Clover
Creek watershed.
Several Indian Valley and
Genesee ranchers were in
attendance, and joining them
in concern was Bill Copren of
Trout Unlimited.
He expressed concern
about the lack of fish reloca-
tion permits from the Depart-
ment of Fish and Game.
Project manager Leslie
Mink said that they haven't
seen any fish in the project
area.
"But if we do, we'll move
them," she said. "As a mitiga-
tion, it's allowable."
Where water rights are
concerned, no contingency
plans were made.
In her water-rights
analysis, Mink concluded
there would be no effect to
downstream users, because
there was so little water in
the project area to begin
with.
The stream banks there are
eroded, with steep gully walls
between four and 11 feet
high.
The channel is now so
deep, the landowner can't
irrigate anymore, she said.
One rancher wanted to
know how much of that
erosion could be natural.
Mink responded that the
crown in the valley means, in
this case, the eroded Channel
is due to an irrigation system
gone awry.
These eroded stream chan-
nels are all over the place,
and they're getting worse,
she added.
"In some places it's
natural," she said. "But for
the most part, it would
not have happened without
human involvement."
Although the Upper Dotta
Project is already in late
planning stages, she assured
ranchers that public out-
reach efforts will be made
earlier in the process for
future projects.
Future projects
Scoping for the Last
Chance Project will begin
soon, with work proposed in
about two years.
Wilcox, Mink, Plumas
County planners and other
members of Feather River
Coordinated Resources Man-
agement will compile a
comprehensive list of future
projects.
The list will include pro-
jects "faintly on the horizon,"
in order to give them more
time to think about things
like water rights, mitigation
and contingency plans.
For more information
about the projects of Feather
River Coordinated. Resources
Management, see the Wed-
nesday, June 1, issue of your
Feather Publishing home-
town weekly newspaper.
Ranchers' Q & A
Q: Who is liable if a ranch-
er's water disappears?
A" "With more an.alysis,
like we're doing now, we
should know ahead of time
and be able to mitigate that,"
Mink answered, adding that
plans include reserves of 10
percent for contingencies.
"Our intent is to benefit the
upper watershed and down-
stream users," she finished.
Q" Could ranchers put
a monetary value on lost
irrigation days?
A: The cowboy arithmetic
for this equation would be
complex.
The grass would die, the
cattle would lose weight and
some would have to be sold,
while hay would have to be
purchased for the others.
Q: If money were set aside
to compensate ranchers,
would they feel more com-
fortable?
A: "I don't want the
money," one rancher an-
swered. "I want my water."
Q: How is flow data
collected and by whom?
A: Restoration staff
See Dotta, page 4A