A group of state lawmakers from the Willamette Valley will fly out to Eastern Oregon later this month with a stop in Joseph and Hermiston. The plan is to showcase natural resources and other issues of local importance.

Some of those issues could be the subject of legislation in 2016 and beyond.

Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, said the idea for the trip arose when Sen. Edwards, D-Eugene, was in town for the Pendleton Round-Up.

“Chris Edwards came out for the roundup, and we had just a great time together at the roundup,” Hansell said. “As part of our conversation, I said, ‘We’ve love to invite you out here.”

Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, told Hansell she wanted to participate and would provide her airplane to transport lawmakers. Edwards, Sen. Ginny Burdick, D-Portland; Sen. Lee Beyer, D-Springfield; and possibly state Sen. Mark Hass, D-Beaverton, will travel to northeastern Oregon Oct. 26 through 27. Rep. Greg Barreto, R-Cove, will also join the group.

Brett Brownscombe, a natural resources adviser to Gov. Kate Brown, will attend, as will representatives from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Forestry and Department of Agriculture, according to Preston Mann, a spokesman for the Oregon House Republican Caucus.

It’s not the first time Hansell facilitated a visit by lawmakers from west of the Cascades. In 2014, Hansell invited state Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, to visit the area in 2014 to learn about the economic importance of agriculture.

The lawmakers might spend the first day in the Hermiston area, learning about the transfer of family farms from one generation to another and a project to store water from the Columbia River to use for irrigation.

On the second day of the trip, lawmakers will fly to Joseph and meet with people in the area about forest, wildfire and wolf issues, Hansell said.

Hansell is exploring legislation to address three wolf-related issues in 2016: a possible removal of wolves in northeastern Oregon from the state endangered species list, the renewal of a tax credit for people who lost livestock to wolves and a bill to allow people to kill wolves that threaten people. Although the federal government has delisted Oregon wolves in the area, they are still protected under Oregon’s endangered species law.

“If they sue over particular wording in the wolf plan, we may be able to do a wording fix to shore that up,” Hansell said. “If there’s no suit, then there’s no need for legislation.”

As for the livestock loss income tax credit, Hansell said it was “lost in the shuffle” at the end of the legislative session, and lawmakers allowed it to expire. Hansell said the idea for the human safety bill stems from a probable wolf attack on two dogs named Scooter and Tom at a ranch in Troy.

“They have toddlers in that family and if they’d been out there on the front porch, what would have happened?” Hansell said.