Location
The Rappel Base
60131 Pierce Rd.
La Grande, OR 97850
The Grande Ronde Rappel Base is in located at the airport in La Grande, OR. Positioned in the heart of the Blue Mountains. From our base, we respond to local fires on the Wallowa-Whitman and Umatilla National Forest, as well as neighboring agencies within the Blue Mountain Dispatch area. Our facility was built in 2019.
La Grande Oregon
La Grande, Oregon is a full service community with a population of approximately 12,000. It offers public and private schools ranging from preschool to Eastern Oregon University. La Grande is located in the Blue Mountains on the Historic Oregon Trail at 2700 feet. Situated on Interstate 84, La Grande is 3 hours from Boise, Idaho and 2 hours from Tri-Cities, Washington. La Grande has one hospital, many doctors, dentists, opticians and physical therapy clinics, churches of most denominations.
Recreational opportunities include; big and small game hunting, fishing, hiking in the Eagle Cap and Elkhorn mountains and proximity to Hell’s Canyon National Recreation Area. There are also two small-developed ski areas, snowmobile and ATV trails, and lakes with boating and water-skiing.
There are affordable and available house and apartment rentals starting at $350. Prices for homes range from $80,000 - $300,000. There is no Government Housing available in La Grande.
The Wallowa-Whitman National Forest is 2,521,280 acres ranging from 875 to 9,845 feet above sea level. The Wallowa-Whitman National Forest is one of the largest forests in Region 6 with four Ranger Districts and one National Recreation Area. The Forest covers public lands in three states and nine counties. The Wallowa-Whitman National Forest has a diverse program with high recreation use, several listed species, all or portions of four wilderness areas, grazing, mining, and a large fire program.
Plant life varies from desert-like countryside of Hells Canyon to the alpine vegetation of the Eagle Cap Wilderness and Seven Devils Mountains. Generally, winters are cold and snowy, spring and fall are mild, and summers are hot and dry. There are seven Ranger Districts with additional offices in Clarkston, Washington and Riggins, Idaho. The Forest lands include: Eagle Cap Wilderness, Hells Canyon Wilderness, Monument Rock Wilderness, North Fork John Day Wilderness, and Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest Photos
Umatilla National Forest, located in the Blue Mountains of southeast Washington and northeast Oregon, covers 1.4 million acres of diverse landscapes and plant communities. The Forest has some mountainous terrain, but most of the area consists of v-shaped valleys separated by narrow ridges or plateaus. The landscape includes heavily timbered slopes, grassland ridges and benches, and bold basalt outcroppings with elevations from 1,600 to 8,000 feet above sea level. Summers are generally warm and dry with cool evenings. Cold, snowy winters and mild temperatures during spring and fall can be expected.
The Blue Mountain Interagency Dispatch Center (BMIDC) was established in 2010 to provide for the safe and efficient mobilization of wildland fire resources. BMIDC is the focal point for coordinating the mobilization of resources for wildland fire, wildland fire use, prescribed fire and all other all-risk incidents throughout Northeast Oregon, Southeast Washington and a small portion of Western Idaho. The BMIDC footprint covers close to 7 million acres and we serve 5 federal and state agencies.
Additional information about Eastern Oregon can be found in the following links.