LA GRANDE— Forty-five miles of trails are again available to hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders in the western Grande Ronde Valley.

The Mount Emily Recreation Area opened for day use on Saturday, July 31, for nonmotorized activities after having being closed completely the previous 10 days because of high fire danger due to hot and dry conditions.

The Union County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday, July 28, made the decision to partially reopen MERA via a 3-0 vote.

No motor vehicles of any kind are now allowed at MERA under the partial reopening rules, and smoking, campfires and overnight camping still will be prohibited. Smoking and campfires are banned under Oregon Department of Forestry regulations.

Mountain biking, hiking and horseback riding are among the nonmotorized activities people can enjoy at MERA.

The commissioners voted to partially reopen MERA after receiving emails from hikers and mountain bikers asking for it to be reopened for nonmotorized use. Commissioner Paul Anderes said mountain bikers and hikers campaigned the hardest to get MERA partially reopened.

Anderes, who proposed the partial reopening, said the input did not influence his decision. He said his decision was based on information he received from the Oregon Department of Forestry, the U.S. Forest Service and county officials. He said the guidance provided from them made proposing the partial reopening of MERA appear to be the right move.

The decision the county board made to close MERA completely on July 21 also was proposed by Anderes, who helps oversee MERA in his position on the board. He said his decisions to recommend the complete closure of MERA and then its partial reopening were very difficult.

“They have been the hardest I’ve made since becoming a commissioner,” said Anderes, who joined the Union County Board of Commissioners in 2019.

Emails read at the July 28 meeting said the MERA closure was hurting tourism in La Grande because travelers who would normally stop to visit MERA were traveling through the area and going elsewhere.

Other emails supported reopening the recreational area to motor vehicles. One stated that most wildfires are started by lightning and that only a small percentage are ignited by motor vehicles.

Sean Chambers, Union County parks coordinator, said since MERA was closed July 21 he knows of only one person who tried to use it.

“People have been very respectful,” he said.

MERA is two miles north of downtown La Grande and has a total of 3,700 acres, all forest land. MERA has 45 miles of trails for nonmotorized activities including mountain biking, hiking and horseback riding and 45 miles of trails for motorized vehicles including all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles.

The partial reopening of MERA will be reviewed by the Union County Board of Commissioners when it meets next on Wednesday, Aug. 4. The meeting will start at 9 a.m. in the east site conference room of the Joseph Building.