DEVIN OLSEN A FLY FISHING WORLD MEDALIST.
PAGE A9
www.wallowa.com
Enterprise, Oregon
July 8, 2015
$1
Plan afoot to keep historic lodge local
‘I welcome this development enthusiastically’
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
A group of local investors
is interested in preserving the
history and ambiance of Wal-
lowa Lake Lodge by keeping
it in the family — so to speak.
Private investors have be-
gun to gather into a group,
coalescing around the lead-
ership of the nonpro¿ t group
Wallowology in Joseph.
Wallowology is an educa-
tional project of Eastern Ore-
gon Legacy Land Funds, and
is dedicated to a mission of
supporting the preservation
of natural resources through
education.
The Lodge, says Wal-
lowology Director James
PATRIOTISM
ON PARADE
Red, white and blue rule the day
P
blue.
There were slightly fewer entries
in the popular community parade
since scheduling conÀ icts kept sev-
eral usual entries out of the running,
but there was no shortage of patriotic
spirit on the parade route and the
Wallowa County Thunder Motorcy-
cle Club made up the difference with
three times the riders as last year.
The City Choice Award for an
C HIEFTAIN
WA L L O WA
See LODGE, Page A7
Wyden defends
TPP at town
hall meeting
By Steve Tool
Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain
entry, and check for $200, went to
Kevin’s Tire Shop.
First place in the adult division
and a check for $150 went to Bill
Henke’s festive mule pack.
Second place in the adult division
and a check for $100 went to the
Wallowa County Thunder Motorcy-
cle Club.
Third place went to the VFW
Enterprise Post.
Fourth place went to Peggy Gen-
tle and Ann Marie Scott, two ladies
who have been walking together
since 1999.
venue; connect local groups
like Wallowa Resources and
The Nature Conservancy
with events at the lodge,” he
said.
Wallowa County Chieftain
Little Karly Woods on her patriotic (and very patient) horse took second place in the children’s division of the
parade entries at the 2015 Wallowa City 4th of July Parade.
eople in Wallowa got their
patriotism on in a big way
over the 4th of July and even
mules wore red, white and
Monteith, is the perfect set-
ting for an educational expe-
rience in preservation.
“The interest is both in the
lodge and the land around the
lodge — to keep the lodge as
is and be more an educational
Montana and Lilee Post mixed
their cultures by taking their two
horses Hawaiian with their Hot
Hulas on Horses entry and won the
children’s division.
Karly Woods’ horse wore a patri-
otic hat and took second place.
Wallowa Library Kids’ “Every
Hero has a Story” entry took third.
Safe Kids Northwest Oregon La
Grande Group took fourth.
Community Bank’s Most Patri-
otic Award went to Wallowa River
RV Park and their ¿ sherman’s de-
light À oat.
JOSEPH — Despite the
competing allure of balmy
weather on a holiday weekend,
a crowd ¿ led into the Josephy
Center to attend a town hall
meeting featuring Oregon’s
senior U.S. Senator, Democrat
Ron Wyden. County commis-
sioners Mike Hayward and
Susan Roberts attended the
town hall, as did Joseph Mayor
Dennis Sands.
The town hall is part of a
promise Wyden made to Or-
egonians to hold meetings in
each county of the state every
year. Wyden was also doing
his part to promote the “Seven
Wonders of Oregon” tourism
campaign. The Wallowas are
one of the Seven Wonders.
Wyden, dressed casually
in white shirt and jeans, an-
swered questions on subjects
as diverse as logging, health
care, the Trans Paci¿ c Part-
nership and Trade Promotion
Authority (“fast-track”).
Wyden opened the meeting
by saying he applauded the
community’s appreciation of
veterans, noting the new “We
Honor Veterans” sign outside
of Joseph. After a brief report
by a U.S. Forest Service of¿ -
cial on the Dennis Creek Fire
in Union County, Wyden talk-
ed about legislation that he and
Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo have
proposed to pay for the very
largest ¿ res through federal
disaster funding rather than
borrowing from ¿ re preven-
tion funds.
One question from the À oor
came from Bruce Dunn of the
county’s Natural Resources
Advisory Committee. Dunn
asked about a bill designed to
expedite timber sales and cur-
tail lawsuits by environmen-
tal groups. Although Wyden
voiced support for harvesting
more timber from federal
Steve Tool/Chieftain
Sen. Ron Wyden listens to a
question from an audience
member at a town hall
meeting held at the Josephy
Center on July 3.
lands, he indicated he did not
approve of some of the pro-
posed restrictions to curtail
lawsuits.
Jean Falbo of Joseph asked
Wyden about the cost of med-
ication under the Medicare
program and restrictions on
using collective bargaining to
lower prices, and the import
of medication from Canada
(Canadians pay less for U.S.-
made medication than Ameri-
cans do).
Falbo also asked if the
TPP bill would promote
overseas companies manu-
facturing medication, some-
thing she questioned.
Wyden replied he’s been
at the forefront of easing
restrictions on collective
bargaining for medication
as well as re-importation
of medication from Canada
and other countries.
See WYDEN, Page A7
C O U N T Y
Wallowa County’s
Newspaper Since 1884
Volume 133 Issue No. 12
© 2015 EO Media Group
County OKs tram-area development
Corporation plans to create 16 residential, 4 commercial lots
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
The Wallowa Lake Tram-
way Corporation has received
approval from the county
planning commission to begin
to develop its property at the
foot of the tram. Formal ap-
proval is expected July 28.
Bill Whittemore of La
Grande and Mike Lockhart of
Joseph own the corporation
and were represented by re-
tired engineer Steve Anderson
of Anderson Consulting Ser-
vices of La Grande.
Preliminary plans showed
subdivision of the property
into 20 building lots ranging
in size but not less than 7,500
square feet each. The proper-
ty lies to the north and east of
the lower Tram Terminal and
just behind the old Edelweiss
Building.
The preliminary plat of the
subdivision showed an inten-
tion to create 16 residential/
recreational lots positioned
Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftainw
Overflow parking for the tram at the head of the lake with the
old Edelweiss building in the background.
around circular courts on the
upper portion of the property
and four commercial and rec-
reational use lots near High-
way 82.
The property is zoned Re-
sort Commercial Recreation,
and is open to residential de-
velopment, according to Wal-
lowa County Planner Harold
Black.
Sewer and water services
are provided by the Wallowa
Lake County Service District,
electrical service is provided
by Paci¿ c Power and Light,
and telephone and cable ser-
vices are provided by Frontier
Communications and Crystal
Broadband Networks. The in-
tent of the owners is to place
all of these service lines under-
ground.
The owners intend to begin
improvements on what they are
calling “South Lake Terrace”
in 2016, provided all legal hur-
dles have been cleared.
Persons with legal interest
may still appeal the planning
commission’s decision, in
which case the issue goes to the
board of commissioners.
Several individuals with
legal interests have already
made concerns known. The
planning commission received
letters of concern from Mark
Thornberg, owner of nearby
Matterhorn Village; Duane and
Jane Wiggins, local property
owners; and heard an oral com-
plaint from Joe and Rita Ehrler
of Joseph.
Their concerns, in a nut-
shell, were related to ambiance
and parking.
“We owned that property
for 50 years at one time and
own property either side of
it and we’d like it to stay the
same,” Duane Wiggins said.
See LOTS, Page A7
Bowlby
Bash
Saturday
ENTERPRISE — It’s
time for Bowlby Bash, this
Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. in downtown Enterprise.
The Bowlby Bash Soap
Box Derby is just part of the
fun. Enterprise’s Main Street
will be closed to auto traf¿ c
and event goers will have the
entire downtown district to ex-
plore. There will be sidewalk
shopping, vendors, exhibitors,
artists and artisans along the
street and the Wallowa County
Farmers’ Market will be open.
Local restaurants and
food booths will be cook-
ing-up those good ol’ favor-
ites. There will be demon-
strations from the early
pioneering days to pres-
ent-day activities in Wal-
lowa County.
Art demonstrations are
scheduled and sidewalk
chalk art is encouraged.
See BOWLBY, Page A7