ENTERPRISE — Eastern Oregon Search and Rescue will hold an annual training at Salt Creek Summit from Friday, June 25, through Sunday, June 27, according to a press release.

Travelers taking the U.S. Forest Service 39 Road to Halfway or Hells Canyon this weekend can expect some delays, along with all-terrain vehicles, pickups, people and maybe even extra help if trouble occurs. Search and rescue units from across Eastern Oregon will hold their annual training exercise in the Salt Creek Summit area this weekend.

“This training is a huge value to all of our volunteers to be able to network and train with multiple agencies from Northeast Oregon,” Wallowa County SAR Capt. Brent Neely said. “Participating counties frequently call on each other for mutual aid for specialized rescues or extended searches and having experience training with each other’s teams is invaluable.”

There may be significant traffic and utility vehicles and ATV congestion in and around the Salt Creek Summit parking area during the training time. The parking lot will be open to the public, but parking may be limited due to the volume of SAR equipment and tents staged there.

About 100 search and rescue volunteers from 10 Eastern Oregon counties (Baker, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Malheur, Morrow, Union, Umatilla, Wallowa and Wheeler) are expected to take part in the exercises. Most will be camping in the Salt Creek Summit area, near where most of the training will take place. Wallowa County SAR volunteers are hosting the event.

The training includes work in fast-tracking, responding to a swiftwater (water rescue) emergency, advanced incident command, land searches, K-9 land searches, civil air patrol searches and searching using a drone.

“If you plan to recreate or travel in this area, please be aware of this training,” Wallowa County Search and Rescue event coordinator Paige Sully said. “However serious it may appear, we are not engaged in an actual search and rescue incident response.”

The Wallowa County SAR volunteers have developed the training exercises that also include equine packing and rescue.

“There are thousands of volunteer hours that go into planning and training at this event,” Neely said. “I want to say ‘thank you’ to all the SAR members for the personal time, energy, and money they donate to make our Northeast Oregon SAR teams the best they can be.”

For more information, contact Ellen Morris Bishop, Wallowa County SAR public relations, at 541-398-1810 or paleobishop@gmail.com; or Paige Sully, Wallowa County SAR, at 541-426-0535.