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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 2015)
“Out of the Past” special section in today’s issue! www.wallowa.com Enterprise, Oregon January 28, 2015 $1 ODFW blasted for deer issue By S.F. Tool Wallowa County Chieftain JOSEPH — An ex- panding deer population in the city of Joseph is caus- ing a multitude of prob- lems in the city, according the Joseph City Council and Mayor Dennis Sands. The city attempted to enlist the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for aid in the matter. ODFW ambiv- alence to the request led the city to send the wildlife management agency a let- ter effectively putting the ball into ODFW’s court to address the matter. In essence, the letter states that the city is ab- solving itself of using its own resources to combat a problem it says is ODFW’s responsibility. “We’ve had this deer problem for years,” said Mayor Sands in a Jan. 22 interview. “A lot of deer came into town at night or early morning and the ODFW trapped them at a place on the edge of town. See DEER, Page A5 Gala fetes county’s contributors By S.F. Tool Wallowa County Chieftain The Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce held its annual Citizens Awards Banquet Jan. 25 at the Cloverleaf Hall in Enterprise, honoring Wallowa County citizens who make outstanding contributions. Awards categories include: business, em- ployee, arts, educa- tion, natural resources, non-profits/events and unsung hero. Winners of the awards, in the order listed above, were Kent Lozier, Marnee Norton, Beth Gibans, Mary Ed- wards, Rhonda Shirley, Lee Daggett and Ken Coreson Citizens nearly packed the hall wall-to- wall to enjoy a prime rib dinner and lounge music. David Nelson and Jon Rombach emceed and earned a multitude of laughs while Marc Stauffer, as outgoing president of the chamber, gave a prayer invocation. C HIEFTAIN WA L L O WA The art of MAKING Standing behind his product: Saddlemaker Ray Wilson and his latest Wade tree creation. Coreson The Chief Joseph Days Rodeo Court led the crowd in the Flag Invo- cation. The Citizens Awards started with nominator Randy Morgan awarding Kent Lozier of Thomp- son Auto Supply with the “Leader in Business” award sponsored by the Chieftain. Lozier’s nom- ination cited him for his selfless dedication to the community, including basing his parts invento- ry according to vehicles registered in the county. ot everyone is able to turn their hobby into a way to make a living, but Ray Wilson of Wilson’s Saddlery in Joseph managed to do it. The visitor to the saddlery, located at 84142 Al- pine Lane, is immediately greeted by the welcomed smell of newly-worked leather. The next thing a visitor notices are the Wade saddles lined up on sad- dle racks and the tack, much of it made by Wilson himself, lining the walls – along with a dozen or so game animal heads. See HONORS, Page A5 See WILSON, Page A8 By S.F. Tool N Wallowa County Chieftain S.F. Tool/Chieftain Wilson shows the rigging on one of his custom built saddles. C O U N T Y Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884 S.F. Tool/Chieftain W INNER DOGS AND THEIR LEADING MAN Volume 132 Issue No. 41 © 2015 EO Media Group Divide Camp, Wallowa talks break down By S.F. Tool Wallowa County Chieftain Rich Rautenstrauch/Chieftain Musher Brett Bruggeman prepares his dogs for the long journey back to Ferguson Ridge Ski Area from Camp Ollokott on the Imnaha River, Friday morning during the 200-mile event in this year’s Eagle Cap Extreme sled dog race. Bruggeman, of Great Falls, Mont., set a new course record in winning the event, traversing the 200 miles in 30 hours and 3 minutes. A record high of 25 mushers competed in this year’s race. FOR MORE COVERAGE, SEE PAGE A9. A Jan. 20 Wallowa City Council meeting ap- parently brought an end to the possibility of a lease agreement between the city and Divide Camp for the abandoned U.S. Forest Service buildings sitting on 1.11 acres of land. Divide Camp, a healing refuge for the U.S. war veterans, provides these veterans wilderness recre- ation at a site about 20 miles east of Joseph. The city acquired the buildings in question from the federal government when the Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center expressed an interest in leasing WKHEXLOGLQJVIRU0+,&¶VRI¿FH,WWRRNDDFWRI Congress for the city to take possession of the build- ings, which also have strict requirements as to their use because of their place on the National Register of Historic Places. When Wallowa and MHIC did not reach accord with a lease agreement, the city wound up with the abandoned buildings on its hands. The potential relationship between Wallowa and Divide Camp started with high hopes but rapidly devolved as a mutually compatible lease agreement failed to materialize. See MEETING, Page A8