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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 28, 2016)
Eagles roll at Wallowa Sports Page A9 Enterprise, Oregon Wallowa.com Issue No. 24 September 28, 2016 $1 Magazine spotlights county allowa County made the Big Time, again. The September issue of Sunset magazine features Wal- low Lake on the cover along with the headline “Secret Lake Escape: the Tiny Oregon Town on the Verge of Discovery.” Feelings about such fame are mixed in the county. It’s good for business to be noticed and compli- mented — but we knew what we had here all along. It’s good when the writer “gets” the unique mix of art/music/tourism and agricul- W BIZ BUZZ Kathleen Ellyn ture that is Wallowa County, but then part of what makes a Wal- lowa Countian is that love of the high lonesome, the small town, the shared values of local folk. Recreation for tourists helps keep the county afl oat, and Wallowa County is friendly toward its tour- ists and enjoys sharing talents and amenities at the various festivals. But a look at local winter events shows bedrock county values: those events, attended mostly by locals, are supported by an army of volun- teers, make enough money to put on the event the following year, and nobody is getting rich in dollars — just rich in cultural experiences. The events that make a surpris- ing amount of money are the bene- fi ts for schools and scholarships, the hospital and the NRA. Todd Nash, head honcho at Marr Flat Cattle Company and soon-to- be county commissioner, admitted he heard mixed reviews throughout the county. He doesn’t want to say much, given his daughter is men- tioned in the article, but he wor- ries that we’ll become like Jackson Hole, Wyoming, if we keep grow- ing. His response is typical and good politics, too. For many Wallowa Countians, good press for the coun- ty goes in the good news and bad news columns simultaneously. See BUZZ, Page A5 TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT ODFW says unsecured food, garbage led to removal of two black bears each from Lostine and Wallowa Lake Chicken plant rises in Wallowa By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain ear complaints from Wal- lowa Lake and members of a homeowners association in the Lostine River corridor have resulted in the death of four black bears this year, according to Mike Hansen of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, who put down the bears. Hansen said the killing of bears is preventable, for the most part. The ODFW no longer attempts to relocate bears because they either make their way back to the original trouble area or they become problems in their new area, according to Hansen. “If a bear becomes enough of prob- lem that we need to catch it, then we’re directed to kill it,” Hansen said. Hansen fi rst received complaints from the head of Wallowa Lake on June 20 and July 3. Those complaints revolved around bears getting into trash cans. Katy Nesbitt/For Capital Press Mary Hawkins raises Cornish cross chickens on her family’s farm in Wallowa County. This month she opened a processing plant, the first ODA-licensed facility in Eastern Oregon. B New ODA rules open door for small processing facility By Katy Nesbitt For EO Media Group Stock photo The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has taken lethal action against four Black Bears in Wallowa County this year because of complaints of their intrusion into human habitations. “Securing your garbage against bear access is a big part of it,” he said. “If you take the food away, they’ll go away.” Hansen said some people simply didn’t want to go to the expense or trouble to obtain bear-proof containers or keep trash in a garage or other secure location. Two bears were put down in response to the complaints at the lake. In a second string of com- plaints, a member of the High Lostine Homeowners Association, a subdi- vision consisting of about 40 small-acre- age lots, fi led a com- plaint Aug. 25, claiming a bear had attacked his horse and that the horse had to be put down. The homeowner did not provide any evidence supporting his claim. DEALING WITH BEARS By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Mike Hansen has a few tips to help homeowners avoid bear interactions and offers his sug- gestions for what actions to take in an unavoidable bear encounter. • Feeding other wildlife: With birds, wait until the bears are hibernating or put the feeder high enough that bears can’t get to it. Consider hanging a catch container under the feeder so that the feed does not fall to the ground and entice bears into the area. See BEARS, Page A16 See TIPS, Page A16 Following a growing national trend, state licensing is making it easier for small farms to bring locally raised chickens to market, and Mary Hawkins is ready to give it a go. As of Sept. 1, Hawkins Sisters Ranch in Wallowa is the only Oregon Depart- ment of Agriculture processing facility in Eastern Oregon. ODA-licensed facil- ities are exempt from FDA regulations and allow up to 20,000 chickens to be processed a year. Hawkins said she and her sisters moved with their mother to Portland when they were in elementary school and spent summers on the farm. She started raising chickens on her own not long after she graduated from Smith College. “I came straight home after college, had various jobs and raised and sold chickens,” Hawkins said. After a few years she said she took what she called a “walkabout”; she left Eastern Oregon and worked on farms in New York. While raising and preserv- ing food was still the norm back home, it was becoming a movement across the country in the late 2000s. See CHICKEN, Page A16 Brown, Pierce clash on rural issues “ We cannot cut our way toward a better Oregon.” By Claire Withycombe Capital Bureau BEND — In their fi rst public spar- ring, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Republican gubernatorial candidate Dr. William “Bud” Pierce went head to head on three topics: the economy, land use and the “urban-rural divide.” The debate was intended to focus on rural Oregon. Although the candidates agreed that rural communities needed a say in land use issues, better access to healthcare and more jobs, they disagreed on taxes and state expenditures. “We cannot cut our way toward a bet- ter Oregon,” Brown said, summarizing a key difference in messaging between the two campaigns. Brown reiterated her support for Ballot Measure 97, the proposed tax on certain corporate gross sales receipts, Gov. Kate Brown “ Pamplin Media Group EO Media Group GOP candidate Bud Pierce, in his first debate with Gov.Kate Brown Saturday, said prosperous rural economies would have ripple effects in areas such as education and healthcare. Saturday Gov. Kate Brown, in her first debate with challenger Bud Pierce, defended her support for Measure 97, a corporate gross receipts tax that will raise $3 billion a year. saying that additional investment was needed in basic services, while Pierce said more broadly that promoting pros- perous rural economies would have rip- ple effects in areas such as education and healthcare. In her opening statement, Brown said her vision for the state encompassed im- All the great words in the world from the governor will not provide affordable insurance.” Bud Pierce proving educational outcomes, invest- ing in infrastructure and preserving “the beauty and bounty of Oregon.” See DEBATE, Page A12