FROM PAGE ONE
TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2021
THE OBSERVER — A5
TRAIN
Continued from Page A1
The train, which has
three passenger cabs, can
usually fi t 150 passengers,
but the current capacity
is 100. This is likely to
increase as COVID-19
restrictions continue
to lessen, according to
Spaulding.
A ride through history
The excursion takes
place on the Joseph Branch
— also known as the Wal-
lowa Union Railroad —
between Elgin and Minam,
which used to be part of the
Oregon Railway & Navi-
gation Company. Between
World War I and the Great
Depression, this section
was used for hauling logs
to sawmills and operating
a daily passenger train
between La Grande and
Portland.
Both freight and pas-
senger trains operated fre-
quently on the railroad until
1993, when Union Pacifi c
sold the Joseph Branch to
Idaho Northern & Pacifi c.
After several years of
uncertainty regarding the
railroad’s future, the Oregon
Legislature approved $2
million to Union and Wal-
lowa counties to purchase
the Joseph Branch.
In 2003, the counties
bought the railroad sec-
tion and the Wallowa Union
Railroad Authority was
formed to maintain the
excursion line. In 2012, a
Connect Oregon grant was
given to the organization
to build the Elgin Depot,
which has a gift shop and
train artifacts dating back to
Carlos Fuentes/The Observer
Riders enjoy the fi rst Eagle Cap Excursion Train ride of the year on Saturday, July 3, 2021. Seats were spread out to accommodate social dis-
tancing, which is still required on public transportation.
Carlos Fuentes/The Observer
Carlos Fuentes/The Observer
The Eagle Cap Excursion Train rounds a curve on Saturday, July 3, 2021. The fi rst excur-
sion of the season took passengers along the Grande Ronde River for a 3-1/2 hour round
trip.
The Eagle Cap Excursion Train sits outside the Elgin Depot on Saturday, July
3, 2021. The train has not given any public rides since the 2019 season, due
to COVID-19.
RIVERS
Continued from Page A1
chance to have discussions
with Wyden and Merkley
or their staff s about the
legislation.
“We want a seat at the
table,” she said.
Hank Stern, Wyden’s
Oregon press secretary,
in an email said Wyden’s
staff met with elected offi -
cials in Union County ear-
lier during the process of
determining which por-
tions of rivers and creeks
in Union County would be
designated as wild or scenic
under the proposed River
Democracy Act.
Stern said Wyden is
encouraging all Oregonians
to provide input regarding
modifi cation in the legisla-
tion and the river and creek
segments proposed for
inclusion.
“Sen. Wyden strongly
encourages folks in Eastern
Oregon and statewide to
take up that off er and bring
forth substantive ideas to
make the bill even better,”
Stern said. “Senator Wyden
believes strongly in the
‘Oregon Way,’ namely that
community input is a must
for legislation.”
He said that it is in the
‘Oregon Way’ spirit that he
wants the introduction of
the proposed River Democ-
racy Act to now open a
new round of conversations
among Oregonians about
preserving and protecting
rivers and streams.
Pace slowdown
requested
Beverage is worried that
if the River Democracy Act
is pushed through Congress
too quickly, it would not
give people a chance to give
input.
“What is the big hurry?
We should not rush through
this,” she said.
Beverage said Union
County has received very
limited information about
the potential impact of the
River Democracy Act.
“We are in the dark,” she
said.
Commissioner Matt
Scarfo said he is disap-
pointed in the lack of infor-
mation that has been pro-
vided by Wyden and
Merkley about the River
Democracy Act, especially
because it could have such a
big eff ect on Union County.
Some of the only infor-
mation Union County has
been provided includes a
the railroad’s early days.
Now, the Friends of the
Joseph Branch hope to
expand the excursion train’s
programs.
“There’s so many tour-
ists that come through this
area, so there’s all kinds of
things that we want to do
to bring more people out
here,” Spaulding said. “For
example, there’s been talk of
a path for bikes and people
to travel along the rail-
road, and they could take
the train one way if they
wanted to. Also, fi shermen
have expressed interest in a
shuttle system so the train
could bring them back from
a fi shing trip.”
The Eagle Cap Excur-
sion Train runs almost
entirely through volunteers,
who spend much of their
time preparing the train and
ensuring that passengers are
having a good experience.
“I’ve been volunteering
here for a few years, and
it doesn’t get old,” Sir-
rime said. “This stuff just
gets in your blood. We love
doing this.”
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
The Wallowa River passes by Minam on Saturday, July 3, 2021. The Union County Board of Commissioners
has opposed a bill called the River Democracy Act, which would add protection to 135 miles of rivers and
streams in Union County, though the bill does not specify their location.
list of 26 stretches of rivers
and creeks that have been
proposed for wild or scenic
designation under the River
Democracy Act. The pre-
cise locations of the desig-
nated portions are not iden-
tifi ed but their length is.
The longest stretches,
according to information
provided by Merkley’s
offi ce to Union County,
would be: 11.6 miles on
Beaver Creek, 10.8 miles on
Five Points Creek, 9.5 miles
on Indian Creek, 8.7 miles
on the south fork of Cath-
erine Creek, 8.2 miles in
the “lower upper’’ Grande
Ronde River, 7.9 miles on
the “upper upper’’ Grande
Ronde River, 7.6 miles on
Mottet Creek, 7.4 miles on
Clear Creek and 7.3 miles
on Lookingglass Creek.
Each section of river
and creek designated as
wild or scenic by the River
Democracy Act would have
a half-mile buff er off each
side of its bank, meaning
about 86,000 acres of land
in Union County would be
in a buff er zone where there
could be signifi cant land
use restrictions, Beverage
said.
The buff er areas might
be off limits to the county
when it comes to removal
of trees and vegetation to
prevent the buildup of wild-
fi re fuels. Beverage said
she fears this would give
the county less options for
making buff er zones less
vulnerable to wildfi res.
Impact on grazing
feared
Beverage is also worried
that designating more miles
of rivers and streams for
wild and scenic status could
have a negative impact on
ranchers who might not
be able to graze their live-
stock in the half-mile buff er
areas.
“We do not want to shut
down grazing,” she said.
Stern wrote that these
concerns are addressed by
the River Democracy Act
bill. He said grazing would
not be a concern because
representatives of the Forest
Service have testifi ed that
the River Democracy Act
bill “gives land managers
suffi cient fl exibility to work
with grazing permittees to
allow for future grazing to
increase.”
Stern also noted that
some of those who nomi-
nated stretches of rivers for
wild and scenic status are
ranchers. The press sec-
retary also said the River
Democracy Act bill would
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sary funding to do tree and
vegetation thinning work in
buff er zones.
Passage of the River
Democracy Act would
boost the number of miles
of rivers and creeks in
Oregon that are part of the
Wild and Scenic system to
6,857, according to Stern.
This would be about 6% of
Oregon’s 110,994 miles of
rivers and streams.
No rivers or creeks in
Union County are currently
part of Oregon’s Wild and
Scenic system, Beverage
said.
The 2,173 miles of rivers
and creeks Oregon cur-
rently has in its Wild and
Scenic system are among
more than 12,700 miles
of rivers and creeks pro-
tected in the United States
not increase fi re risks.
“This bill requires the
Forest Service and BLM to
do as much fi re risk reduc-
tion around rivers as pos-
sible, specifi c authorizations
for treatments that don’t
often get done,” he said.
Stern added the bill
requires the Forest Ser-
vice and BLM to establish
fi re management plans and
cooperative agreements
with states and local gov-
ernments to allow thinning
and treatments in riparian
areas. Stern said that would
reduce the risk for cata-
strophic fi res, including
those that threaten homes
and other structures.
Still, Beverage fears that
fi re risk could be height-
ened by the passage of
the River Democracy Act
because federal agencies,
such as the Forest Service,
might not have the neces-
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by the national Wild and
Scenic Rivers Act Congress
passed in 1968, according
to the U.S. Forest Service’s
website.
Rivers and creeks
selected for wild and scenic
status must be bordered by
federal land and are sup-
posed to have special ele-
ments that wild and scenic
status would help protect.
Beverage said she doesn’t
know of any unique fea-
tures, such as a monument,
that wild and scenic desig-
nations would help secure
in Union County. Beverage
added she also does not
know of any problems such
a designation would help
address.
“I do not see any prob-
lems that need to be fi xed,”
she said.
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