One of the most scenic driving routes in Northeast Oregon is open for the season.

Employees from Anthony Lakes Mountain Resort used a plow to shove aside lingering snowdrifts along the higher sections of the Elkhorn Drive Scenic Byway. The 106-mile paved route circles the Elkhorns. The section between the ski area and Granite is not plowed during winter, and snow typically remains on several miles of the byway into June.

https://www.bakercityherald.com/news/local/elkhorn-drive-scenic-byway-open-for-the-season/article_de3b42fa-282b-11ef-951a-5fa0fa26a7d5.html

After a three-year drought from 2020-22 that left Phillips Reservoir, an important source of irrigation water, nearly drained, in 2023 and again this year the reservoir near Baker City has reached about 73% of its capacity.

https://www.bakercityherald.com/news/local/phillips-reservoir-nearly-matches-last-years-level/article_1dcd0810-282a-11ef-aee4-4bbd4d8b6a3d.html

The U.S. Forest Service’s twice-stalled effort to write new long-term management plans for the three national forests in the Blue Mountains was restarted in 2023, and public interest in the process is significant. More than 750 people submitted written comments this spring to a draft assessment of conditions on the Wallowa-Whitman, Umatilla and Malheur national forests, and almost 600 people attended a series of open houses across the region.

https://www.bakercityherald.com/news/northeast_oregon_weekender/forest-plan-revision-prompts-hundreds-of-public-comments/article_6b626191-f2f4-516f-a40f-84398071ed7f.html

A plan to potentially use Baker City’s two ambulances, which have been parked since the city ended ambulance service through the fire department in 2022, might not move forward based on reactions by two councilors during the June 11 meeting. The idea is to use the vehicles as back ups for Pioneer Ambulance, the private company that operates ambulances in Baker City.

https://www.bakercityherald.com/news/local/baker-city-councilors-skeptical-of-plan-to-use-ambulances-as-back-ups/article_488f6570-2983-11ef-beef-f7b336145804.html

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