Union County Board of Commissioners hear Mount Emily forest plan update

The Union County Board of Commissioners received an update on Mount Emily Recreation Area (MERA) forest management activities during its Feb. 4, 2026 meeting cycle. County staff discussed planned treatments and operational work at MERA, including ongoing planning for sanitation/salvage harv

Parks Coordinator Josh Ford presented the MERA briefing to the board at the Joseph Building Annex Conference Room in La Grande. The meeting began at 9 a.m. and was open to the public, with the county publishing information on how to attend virtually. Kane Lester, transit manager with Community Connection of Northeast Oregon, also appeared on the agenda to discuss the agency’s Title VI plan. The county board planned to meet in executive session at the end of the meeting to consider information or records exempt from public inspection; executive sessions are not open to the public.

The update provided to commissioners was described in county materials as addressing planned treatments and operational work at MERA, with a fragmentary staff note indicating ongoing planning for sanitation/salvage activity. The available excerpts do not include technical specifics such as acreage, treatment prescriptions, timelines, funding sources, contractors, environmental review status, or maps. Those details appear to be contained in the full Feb. 4 agenda packet and staff presentation, which the county lists alongside virtual-attendance instructions.

MERA sits within a longer history of county parks and wildfire planning. In 2006 Union County adopted a Parks and Recreation Comprehensive Master Plan update that set strategies for parks and recreation through 2015 and named Jesse Helms Park among county facilities. County planning documents also reference community trail goals, including targets to develop a minimum of 1.5 miles of greenways each year for a decade and then 3 miles per year thereafter. On wildfire planning, the county’s record shows a revision process for the Community Wildfire Protection Plan that began with a project steering committee in January 2014 and produced the Union County Wildfire Protection Plan dated June 30, 2016. That effort prioritized actions such as updating wildland-urban interface boundaries, developing fire risk assessments, and coordinating risk-reduction projects while noting the plan is not regulatory and does not place mandates on jurisdictions.

For Union County residents and frequent MERA users, the commissioners’ briefing signals possible upcoming on-the-ground work that could affect trails, access, and forest character as well as wildfire mitigation. The county’s full agenda packet and the MERA staff report should contain the maps, scope, and timelines necessary to assess impacts; those documents and the Feb. 4 meeting record are the next sources to watch for clearer detail on how planned treatments will be implemented and coordinated with existing wildfire and parks plans.