LOCAL/REGION
2A — THE OBSERVER
TuESday, May 18, 2021
Today in New map of protected lands features two Wallowa County sites
History
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
Today is Tuesday, May 18, the
138th day of 2021. There are 227
days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN
HISTORY:
On May 18, 1896, the u.S. Su-
preme Court, in Plessy v. Ferguson,
endorsed “separate but equal” racial
segregation, a concept renounced
58 years later by Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka.
ON THIS DATE:
In 1642, the Canadian city of
Montreal was founded by French
colonists. (On this date in 1765,
one-quarter of Montreal was
destroyed by a fire.)
In 1652, Rhode Island became
the first american colony to pass a
law abolishing african slavery.
In 1910, Halley’s Comet passed
by earth, brushing it with its tail.
In 1933, President Franklin d.
Roosevelt signed a measure creat-
ing the Tennessee Valley authority.
In 1953, Jacqueline Cochran, 47,
became the first woman to break
the sound barrier as she piloted a
Canadair F-86 Sabre jet over Rogers
dry Lake, California.
In 1980, the Mount St. Helens
volcano in Washington state
exploded, leaving 57 people dead
or missing.
In 1981, the New york Native, a
gay newspaper, carried a story con-
cerning rumors of “an exotic new
disease” among homosexuals; it
was the first published report about
what came to be known as aIdS.
In 2015, President Barack Obama
ended long-running federal trans-
fers of some combat-style gear to
local law enforcement in an attempt
to ease tensions between police
and minority communities, saying
equipment made for the battlefield
should not be a tool of american
criminal justice.
Five years ago: donald Trump
released a list of 11 potential
Supreme Court justices he would
consider if elected president (not
included was Trump’s eventual first
pick for the nation’s highest bench,
Neil Gorsuch).
WALLOWA COUNTY
— A pair of preserved land
parcels within Wallowa
County are part of a new
map highlighting protected
lands throughout Oregon.
The Coalition of Oregon
Land Trusts released
its new “The Oregon I
Am” map, which “high-
lights 81 different loca-
tions throughout the state
that anyone can visit, all
of them made possible in
part by Oregon’s system
of nonprofit land trusts,”
according to a press
release from the coalition.
Among the land on
the map are the Zumwalt
Prairie Preserve and the
East Moraine above Wal-
lowa Lake in Wallowa
County.
The 33,000-acre pre-
serve is in the northeast
portion of the county,
while the moraine covers
about 1,800 acres near the
lake. A major part of the
project is awareness — let-
ting residents throughout
the state know about these
sites.
“Not a lot of people
know about (Zumwalt
Prairie). It’s been protected
for the public. Having it on
the map reminds people
it’s this vast, majestic
prairie that changes every
season. We wanted to cele-
brate that property,” Kelley
Beamer, COLT executive
director, told the Chief-
tain. And, he added, “The
East Moraine is a symbol
of community coming
Special districts
election is here
The Observer
Tuesday, May 18, is elec-
tion day for special dis-
tricts and local measures in
Oregon.
Voters will decide who
sits on the school boards,
cemetery districts and the
like. Union County voters
are considering a five-year
local levy of 12 cents per
$1,000 of assessed value to
fund the control of noxious
weeds.
It’s too late to mail your
ballots, but here are the
locations of ballot drop
boxes in Union and Wal-
lowa counties. The election
closes at 8 p.m.
UNION COUNTY
• Cove City Hall, 504
Alder St., Cove
• Elgin City Hall, 790 S.
Eighth Ave., Elgin
• Imbler City Hall, 180
Ruckman Ave., Imbler
• Island City City Hall,
10605 Island Ave., Island
City
• North Powder City
Hall, 635 Third St., North
Powder
• Union City Hall, 342 S.
Main St., Union
• Cook Memorial Library,
Ellen Morris Bishop/For the Wallowa County Chieftain
Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts/Contributed Graphic
The Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts created a map highlighting more
than 80 protected sites in the state people can visit, including a pair in
Wallowa County.
together to make sure that
landscape is protected.”
In all, the 81 sites
encompass more than
100,000 acres of land in
the state. The coalition
includes 30 nonprofits
from throughout the state,
including the Wallowa
Land Trust.
“Many of their proper-
ties, or properties they’ve
helped conserve, have
been open to the public for
years. But only now have
they been compiled in one
place and all of them vis-
ible on one map,” Beamer
said in the release. “This is
your go-to resource to dis-
cover a new family favorite
picnic spot, or walk, or riv-
erside hangout. And it’s
an invitation for everyone
living in Oregon to step
outside and to safely con-
nect to each other and the
wonder of our lands.”
Pendleton man’s body
pulled from Columbia
River near Kennewick
By CAMERON PROBERT
Tri-City Herald
alex Wittwer/The Observer
a union County ballot drop box
stands outside Elgin City Hall on
Thursday, april 29, 2021. This new
election box came in time for the
May 18 election. There are sever-
al ballot boxes throughout union
and Wallowa counties.
2006 Fourth St., La Grande
• Union County Clerk’s
Office, 1001 Fourth St., La
Grande
WALLOWA COUNTY
• Wallowa City Hall, 104
N. Pine St., Wallowa
• Joseph City Hall, 201
N. Main St., Joseph
• Wallowa County
Courthouse, 101 S. River
St., Enterprise
The land is a portion of
more than 350,000 acres
coalition members have
protected.
“What was included in
this map shows what we
felt ... was safe and acces-
sible to bring community
members,” Beamer said.
She noted that among
the land not included is
habitat that could be con-
sidered more sensitive,
such as wetland areas.
“These kind of rep-
resent the crown jewels
people can enjoy safely,”
she said.
The idea behind the
map was formulated about
a year ago from a desire to
introduce more places to
more people.
“After this last year, we
knew there was a thirst for
seeing some of Oregon’s
special places and sharing
our community with more
KENNEWICK, Wash.
— An Oregon man is
believed to have gone
into the Columbia River
at a park in Kennewick,
Washington.
The man found floating
near the Lampson hydro-
plane pits Friday, May
14, been identified as
Oscar Castaneda, 29, of
Pendleton.
He has family in Pasco,
said Benton County chief
deputy coroner Dennis
Morris.
It’s believed he
drowned sometime over-
night in the river and
floated a short distance
downriver to where he
was discovered near the
bank.
Investigators still are
trying to determine why
he was in the park and
how exactly he went into
the water.
Castaneda was fully
clothed, so it didn’t
appear that he was
swimming.
Foul play is not sus-
pected at this time,
Morris said. No autopsy is
planned.
Kennewick police were
called to the east end of
the park about 8:15 a.m.
May 14.
A woman reported
seeing what appeared to
be a body or mannequin
in the river, said Benton
County sheriff’s Cpl. Dan
Korten.
Columbia Basin Dive
Rescue divers were called
in to help bring him to
shore.
The river is 50
degrees, and people can
quickly be overcome by
the cold, explained Scott
Ruppelius, dive res-
cue’s public information
officer.
Sheriff’s detectives are
investigating the death
because the body was
found in the river rather
than in the park.
Anyone with infor-
mation is asked to con-
tact the sheriff’s office
through the nonemer-
gency dispatch number
at 509-628-0333.
Sunrise over the Zumwalt Prairie reveals a varied landscape in this
undated photograph. The Zumwalt is one of two locations in Wallowa
County the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts selected to show on its new
“The Oregon I am” map.
Oregonians,” Beamer
said. “This is a map, but
it is also a story about this
incredible community of
organizations.”
They are locations, she
added, that might not be
featured through other
state entities.
“They are often hidden
gems. They are not neces-
sarily found on the Travel
Oregon website,” Beamer
said. “I personally have
been astounded the last
eight years going to these
places that are so special.
It was the perfect moment
to launch something that
we could get out there and
connect them to local land
trusts.”
As for whether The
Oregon I Am adds to its
map, Beamer wants that to
be the case.
“My hope is that we
continue to expand it and
update it on a continual
basis,” she said. “I know
Wallowa Land Trust, The
Nature Conservancy and
other groups are always
looking at new places. I’m
assuming there will be
more.”
And she hopes the map
helps the communities
around these locations,
including in Wallowa
County.
“Anyone who lives in
Wallowa County knows
what a special place it is,”
Beamer said. “I think Ore-
gonians know there are
really incredible gems to be
visited. By having this on
this map it really brings (the
locations) to light — it’s
a call to adventure, come,
stay and invest in the com-
munity. Anytime a map is
produced and excites people
it’s an opportunity to sup-
port local businesses.”
Union County man
wins reelection to
OTEC Board
The Observer
BAKER CITY —
Incumbent G. Austin
Bingaman of Union
County won reelection
to his position on the
Oregon Trail Electric
Cooperative Board of
Directors.
Bingaman defeated
incumbent Charles
Gillis in a race for Posi-
tion 4 on the OTEC
Board, 2,569-806. Posi-
tion 4 is one of the
OTEC Board’s four
Union County berths.
Bingaman has served
on the board nine years.
Position 4 was one of
three positions up for
election. Incumbents
ran unopposed for Posi-
tions 5 and 6 and won.
Wayne Overton was
reelected to Position 5,
one of the board’s three
Baker County berths,
and Gary Miller was
elected to Position 6, the
board’s Grant County
berth.
Bingaman, Overton
and Miller each won
three-year terms. Miller
has been on the board
about 19-1/2 years and
Overton for six years.
Ballots for the election
were mailed April 15
and were due back at
OTEC headquarters in
Baker City by 10 a.m.
Saturday, May 15.
OTEC announced the
results of the election at
its annual membership
meeting, which was
conducted virtually and
started late the morning
of May 15.
OTEC members in
Union, Baker, Grant
and Harney counties
were eligible to vote in
the election.
Oregon Trail Electric
Cooperative is a not-for-
profit, member-owned
electric cooperative that
serves more than 60,000
residents in four coun-
ties in Eastern Oregon.
In addition to its head-
quarters in Baker City,
OTEC has district
offices in Burns, John
Day and La Grande.
Enterprise sixth graders ponder ‘If I Were Mayor’
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — The
Enterprise City Council
during its May 10 meeting
recognized youths who
could be the next generation
of political leaders in town
— the winners of the “If I
Were Mayor” contest.
“Things
would be dif-
ferent around
here,” wrote
Luke Pat-
terson, the
first-place
Herold
winner, in his
entry. “I would make sure
that we had a better way to
get your opinion heard.”
Luke, the son of Patrick
and Amy Patterson, recom-
mended a suggestion box
with a person designated to
read the suggestions.
“People need to be
heard,” the 12-year-old
Luke wrote.
Tyson Herold, 11, son
of Justin Herold and Eva
Barnes, was the sec-
ond-place winner, and
Celina Roberge, daughter of
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Enterprise Mayor ashley Sullivan stands with two of the three winners in the recent “If I Were Mayor” contest at
the Monday, May 10, 2021, city council meeting. at left is Celina Roberge, who won third place. at right is Luke
Patterson, who won first. Tyson Herold, who won second, was unable to attend the meeting.
Adam and Donna Roberge,
was the third-place winner.
All three are in Donna
Yost’s sixth-grade class at
Enterprise Middle School.
As first-place winner, Luke
will compete in the state
contest. Each of the chil-
dren won “Buckskin Bucks”
redeemable at businesses in
Wallowa County. Luke won
$100, Tyson got $50 and
Celina received $25.
The Oregon Mayors
Association sponsors the
contests and accepts entries
from three grade-level cate-
gories. Yost’s class was the
only local one to participate
this year.
First-place statewide
winners in each of the three
categories will win a gift
valued at $500, according
to the OMA website. These
students will receive their
prizes at an awards lun-
cheon held during the OMA
Summer Conference in
North Bend July 29-31.
“We haven’t actually
asked the Enterprise School
District to participate in the
‘If I Were Mayor’ contest for
some time,” City Adminis-
trator Lacey McQuead told
the council April 12. “This
year, I was contacted by the
Oregon Mayors Associa-
tion and asked if the city of
Enterprise would like to par-
ticipate again.”
Student efforts impress
Yost was proud of her
students’ achievements.
“I was impressed with
some of their ideas for
improving things in our
city, some of the improve-
ments that could be
made. They were really
insightful,” Yost said. “It
was one of those things
for kids in the sixth grade
where they could enter
writing contests and it was
good for them. They were
able to show patriotism and
have the freedom to express
themselves.”
Enterprise Mayor
Ashley Sullivan also was
impressed.
“I’d say Luke had me
feeling like he could teach
me a thing or two,” she
said. “It’s neat that these
kids know what they want
for their future and can put
it all into words with such
conviction. They’ll be great
leaders one day.”
Although the children
will have to wait until
they’re 18 to run for mayor,
Sullivan looks forward to
their contributions.
“I really hope we’re
lucky enough see one of
these students as Enterprise
mayor when they’re older,”
she said. “Local govern-
ment needs fresh, young
ideas to keep our small
towns thriving.”