Fortunately, FEMA changes direction for Siskiyou County

Oct. 21, 2020

Liz Writes Life

Shockingly, the federal agency FEMA changed its mind after denying aid for fire-stricken Happy Camp residents.

Dogged-persistence by Siskiyou County officials, working with the right people, saved the day. And the unusual flip by FEMA also shows the concern President Donald Trump has for rural Americans out West. He heard Siskiyou’s cry for help!

Last week, (actually the past five weeks) has been a roller-coaster ride for Siskiyou County Supervisors and county administration officials as they worked overtime to secure FEMA funding to aid residents that were burned-out by the Sept. 8, 2020 Slater Fire.

Depression hit late Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, when word was received that FEMA had denied the funding for Siskiyou and six other fire-stricken counties.

Happy Camp lost nearly 200 houses and many residents are still unable to return to live in their homes that survived the Slater Fire. Complaints and frustration has been mounting. The town of Happy Camp is in Siskiyou Co. Supervisor Ray Haupt’s district. He knew without FEMA support the residents’ situation was dire indeed.

Since the Slater Fire started, Ray, along with Siskiyou Co. CAO Angela Davis and Siskiyou Co. Director of Emergency Services, Jason Vela, has been hustling to contact various agencies and fill out applications and forms to facilitate any kind of funding through the state and to obtain FEMA’s support. Ray told me that FEMA mandates and high mathematical thresholds are tough to meet. Utilizing the available state monies would not meet the needs of Happy Camp.

“We have been addressing funding as best we could with the known funding at the time,” Ray told me, knowing it was far from sufficient.

After FEMA’s denial, last week, the seven counties knew there was an appeal process that the state Office of Emergency Services could utilize, but it would take at least 30 days. Urgency was the key to beat the upcoming bureaucratic paper chase regarding an appeal, Ray explained.

So, on Friday morning, Ray, CAO Davis, EOS Director Vela, and Siskiyou Co. Supervisor Dist. 2, Ed Valenzuela, joined a phone call with officials from the six other counties. Their goal was to quickly address any short comings in the original application submitted to FEMA -- for re-submission.

Additionally, U.S. President Donald Trump needed to declare a State of Disaster in California. Trump had declared States of Emergency in California, but not a specific disaster declaration for these fire-damaging events in the seven counties.

Because of his frustration and desperation, Ray also wrote a one page letter to his recent contacts of the agencies in the White House. It needed to be easily read and quickly understood. Ray explained the magnitude of the fire disaster in the realm of a small community with a population of 750 and the displacement of 525 residents, including the death of two people. Without federal help the town could become extinct. He copied the emailed letter to Congressman Doug LaMalfa, Siskiyou County officials and the Regional FEMA Director – not knowing if any eyeballs would read it, grasp it and do something productive.

Congressman LaMalfa did. He immediately contacted his counterpart, Tom McClintock, who is Congressman for the 4th CA. District. His wildfire-hit Fresno County was included in this FEMA application. McClintock quickly contacted U.S. House Republican Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who has Pres. Trump’s private cell phone number. Realizing the seven CA. counties were desperate for FEMA support, McCarthy contacted Trump to plead their case.

FEMA denial reversed

So, it was with a shout of joy, when later Friday morning Ray and county officials heard from Congressman LaMalfa’s office. Pres. Trump was going to reverse FEMA’s denial and it would be official as soon as FEMA got the paper work in front of Trump. An hour later he signed it. Late Friday afternoon, all seven counties received the official FEMA approval.

This included the president’s approval of a Major Disaster Declaration for the State of California regarding the devastating wildfires beginning on September 4, 2020 and continuing. The President's declaration makes available additional federal resources for eligible counties of Fresno, Los Angeles, Madera, Mendocino, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Siskiyou and individuals; and supplements ongoing State, Tribal, and local recovery efforts.

“Everybody was working their tail off finding every channel they had to affect a change in FEMA’s decision before it had to go through the (long) appeal process,” Ray told me. “This has been such a long hard fight. We have been working on getting this in place since the second day of the Slater Fire. It was a ‘thank God’ moment!”

The first thing Ray did was to write a letter of gratitude to the White House agencies and to the FEMA Regional Director for adequately re-considering and approving the aid for a very small rural town in the West.

Congressman LaMalfa released a statement thanking President Trump and his administration for listening to the North State’s calls for additional disaster assistance.

“Working with our contacts at the White House and with House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, we were able to impress on the President and his team to take another look at the FEMA denial,” LaMalfa said. “A Major Disaster Declaration will help address the high cost of recovery. My office will continue to assist with the federal and state response to wildfires across the North State.”

CA. Governor Gavin Newsom also sent a “grateful for his response” to Pres. Trump.

Problem dead trees

Other immediate good news for Happy Camp, according to Ray, is that the residents in The Meadows have been able to return to their homes and the four homes that survived up Indian Creek Road. Also, Siskiyou Co. Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue has been letting residents in to check-out their homes as evacuation orders for some areas are still in place.

Ray told me the only thing keeping residents out, at this point, is the removal of the many dangerous and dead trees along the Indian Creek Road. Loggers have begun work through a cooperative project between the USFS Klamath National Forest and Siskiyou County to remove the blackened trees, but the enormity is mind-boggling. The State of CA. will do much of the hazardous material clean-up from the burned homes, but that work cannot start until the threat from the dead trees is gone.

So, here is feel good story that beat the bureaucratic odds. For sure, I am voting Trump for president and LaMalfa for congress. They have shown their empathy for rural Americans in little ol’ Siskiyou County. Thank you!

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

 

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Liz Writes Life 10-14-2020

October 14, 2020

Liz Writes Life

She got caught! Early Sunday morning, I watched through my bedroom window as the doe walked purposely past the wimpy morning glories she has been munching and up onto the porch. By the time I walked into the kitchen to peek out the sliding glass door, she had already jumped the three-foot porch railing and was eating the tomato plants. Last week, I noticed hoof prints inside the garden, but couldn’t find a spot that looked like she was jumping the six-and-a-half tall fence, so I had eyed the porch and railing as an entrance.

I spied her also munching green tomatoes and then she enjoyed several mouthfuls of the maroon amaranth, which I also previously noticed was missing branches. Dodging and darting, a yearling was outside the fence looking for a way into the garden. She just ignored the youngster. Thinks she is pretty smart, she does.

Gotta say, I really didn’t get irritated as I did pick a bunch of green tomatoes and the plants are about done. Heaven knows there isn’t much deer food out in the wilds in this dry old October. But, she must not be overly hungry, cuz she didn’t munch on the zucchini. (Neither have I.) And, I pulled-up the bedraggled cucumber plants early last week.

About 10 minutes later, she jumped back over the railing, her hooves clunking on the wooden porch. Hum, yep, that was the noise I have heard a few times – usually well before 7 a.m. The herd must have slept-in after the bit of rain we received on Saturday.

Well, at least the mystery is solved. Now to figure out a plan to keep her out of the garden next year. I know, I know, an outside dog would be helpful to bark away deer and other wild varmints. But, I will likely resolve to the use of netting.

Smiling, I opened the door to see some sprinkles descending around 9 on Saturday morning. I didn’t even bother to put on a jacket as I trotted out to do a little jig and I certainly didn’t get wet. But around 11 a.m., I noticed a steady dripping from the house roof. This time, I did put on a light jacket (no hood) and did a dance of joy. Nope, didn’t get soaked, just a little damp. But, so very grateful for whatever we received. And I did get the typical frost (after an autumn rain) on Sunday morning.

Feel good story

A month ago, a farmer in North Dakota suffered cardiac arrest, while trying to put out a fire that had started on his combine. Lane Unhjem, 57, then spent several weeks in ICU in a Minneapolis hospital. Because harvesting his grain meant economic survival for the Unhjem family, about 60 farmers came together with 11 combines, 11 semi-trucks with trailers, grain carts and tractors to get the job done. With that many workers, 15,000 bushels of canola and 35,000 bushels of durum were harvested from 1,000 acres in about seven hours on Sept, 12, 2020.

The “Harvesting Bee” was organized by a family friend, Jenna Binde, who said that helping out the family was simply the right thing to do. Of course, all the farmers and workers missed a day of their own work. Oh, and Unhjem is also a rancher with cows and horses that need feed. So, about 19 ranchers hauled 714 large round bales on Sept. 19^th for the family.

A week later, friends held a pancake breakfast and silent auction at the local Moose Lodge, in the community of Crosby, raising over $19,000 and set-up a GoFundMe page. Also, neighbor ladies made months worth of meals and filled a freezer for when the family returns home. Another family friend said Lane Unhjem is currently on dialysis with a long recovery ahead.

The Unhjem story was posted to facebook and it went viral with 5,000 likes and comments from people throughout the world.

Told you, this was a feel good story! There certainly are lots of good people in the world!

Fire solutions

I chatted with Ray Haupt, our Dist. 5 Siskiyou Co. Supervisor, last week about follow-up from his meeting with President Trump, in September, on solutions to the devastating wildfires. He said the White House administration set-up a phone meeting, for Oct. 2, 2020, that included high-up federal agency directors, so he prepared a four-page outline on the urgency of policy changes regarding firefighting, fire management, leadership issues, budget distribution issues and cohesive frame work strategies for Cal-Fire and USFS to adopt.

“I started talking and didn't stop for 40 minutes,” Ray related. He described in detail the strengths and weaknesses of on-the-ground practices that must change, the enormity of the problems and included the impractical aspects of the Endangered Species Act that has not improved ESA-listed species populations and destroys their habitats.

He said initial attack response, especially from the air, must be beefed-up; federal contracts need to be multi-year, so resources are available when needed; and the Wilderness areas must receive much more fire suppression techniques.

“I know of no Wilderness that is not a threat to a community,” he explained.

So, Ray asked the White House administration and the USFS Chief to immediately stop “managed fire” in the Wilderness. In other words -- put those fires out, because Wilderness fires are a long-term drain on firefighting resources, not to mention the smoky affect to air quality.

Ray then described three focus points.

First: Resilient landscapes must be made and managed – meaning forest density must be greatly reduced to natural-sized stands.

Second: He wanted to dispel the myth of Forest Adapted Communities. Comprehensive landscape work must be achieved, because the forest and brush is so thick that “defensible space” is not doing the job.

Three: Safe and effective wildfire response must be better coordinated and swift. He emphasized that the safety of the public must be the #1 priority.

So there you go, the Trump administration is actively seeking help to stop the destructive wildfires and listened to a Siskiyou Co. Supervisor, who is also a well-experienced forester. Pretty neat! And actively thinning the forests would certainly boost local rural economies.

 

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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Liz Writes Life 10-7-2020

 Oct. 7, 2020

Liz Writes Life

The higher temperatures did not seem too bad last week. I guess that is the difference between the first high temps of summer (yuck) and months later, when we are much more accustomed to hot temps. Sure do hope we get a rain this weekend – at least a few drops, so we can do a dance of joy! Hope I get soaked! Ha, ha.

It is so nice the rhubarb is doing OK with only being irrigated every other day. Once, I went three days. I am also watering the five tomatoes, one giant zucchini, 30 purple onions, the ratty-looking cucumbers and flowers that are still blooming on the every-other-day schedule.

A skunk has gotten in the garden and half-eaten a few ripe tomatoes, but the season is about over so I am not declaring “war”. Heard noise the other night and flipped the light on to see the skunk checking things out on my porch. He or she probably finished off the cat’s food and was looking for more. My fault for leaving out extra cat food.

I finished canning another 10 pints of stewed tomatoes and need to pick some green tomatoes to make Green Tomato Sweet Relish. So bring-on the rain and a good frost!

Giant pumpkin

The Sacramento Bee ran an article about the Elk Grove Pumpkin Weigh-Off winner as part of the social distanced – and without spectators – annual festival. The winning giant pumpkin weighed a whopping 2,089 pounds and was grown by Madison Thomson of Newcastle. This one came in close to the record-setting giant pumpkin that won the 2018 festival. It weighed 2,138 pounds and was grown by Jose Ceja of Napa. Wow, I can’t imagine the process of moving and weighing those monsters.

When asked for her secret to growing the heavy-weight pumpkin, Madison said it was lots of water and to monitor the soil’s nutrients. She also admitted to lots of fertilizer. So, there you go giant pumpkin growers. Tips for next year!

Election

I was so sorry to hear U.S. President Donald Trump and the First Lady, Melania, tested positive for the covid-19 virus, as well as several of their staff and U.S. senators. Yes, I am a Trump supporter and fervently pray for his and everyone’s recovery. Siskiyou Republicans have held several rallys in Yreka, Mt. Shasta and Fort Jones; and last Saturday, they joined with a national Trump car rally displaying banners and signs driving local highways and byways.

The Republicans invite everyone to visit their campaign headquarters located on Yreka’s Broadway St. across from the old Siskiyou Daily News office. It is open Tues., Wed. and Thurs. afternoons. Hats, campaign signs and bumper stickers are available along with election information.

The Siskiyou Conservative Republicans are holding an open meeting tomorrow, Oct. 8, 2020, at the campaign headquarters on 308 Broadway. It begins at 11 a.m. A sandwich lunch can be ordered by calling (ahead) to Annie Ohlund at 530-842-2350. Siskiyou Co. Dist. 5 Supervisor Ray Haupt and Erin Ryan, staff for Congressman Doug LaMalfa, have been asked to speak and will bring folks up-to-date on a number of local and national issues.

Voting

Last week, I said I would share my opinions on candidates and the California Measures. After reading each one, I agree with the suggestions offered by the Siskiyou Republicans. Here goes.

I will be voting for Donald J. Trump as president. The same goes for our current U.S. Dist. 1 Representative, Doug LaMalfa. I personally know Doug and he goes to bat for Siskiyou County time and time again, especially regarding saving the Klamath dams and changing forest policy to stop the brutal wildfires.

Brian Dahle is my choice for state senator and his wife, Megan Dahle, who is communicating quite well with constituents as state assemblywoman.  The Dahles, along with Congressman LaMalfa, drove to Siskiyou a few weeks ago to see the devastation from the Slater Fire in Happy Camp. Their involvement helps the county find state and federal resources to help residents who were burned-out. It is significant, when our elected officials visit us and learn of our needs and issues.

Most of the Measures will receive a “no” from me. The only two that will get a “yes” are numbers 20 and 22. At first, I was undecided on 20, but after reading about it, I went for a “yes”. If approved, this Measure will amend several criminal sentencing and supervision laws passed between 2011 and 2016. It will make specific types of theft and fraud crimes, including firearm and vehicle theft and unlawful use of a credit card as misdemeanors or felonies. These three things, especially unlawful use of a credit card, sold me.

I will also vote “yes” on what is called the “gig” initiative -- Measure 22. It allows a variety of workers to continue to be independent contractors, instead of mandating them as employees. Many workers need the flexibility to work on their own as contractors, both in the amount of time they put in and deciding on their own type of health insurance. To me, a vote against 22 will drastically hurt small business.

So, Measures 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24 and 25 will receive a “no” from me.

Siskiyou Patriots

Siskiyou Patriots have changed their meeting days to the second and fourth Thursday evenings at 6:30 p.m. at the Covenant Chapel Church on 200 Greenhorn Rd. in Yreka. This Thursday, the speakers will be Mark Baird on the status of the 2^nd Amendment lawsuit and Supervisor Ray Haupt on his meeting with Pres. Trump, wildfires, illegal marijuana grows and the process for electing the new sheriff after previous Siskiyou Co. Sheriff Jon Lopey resigned last month. The meeting is free.

Pray for rain!

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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