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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (March 11, 2015)
G OVERNOR ’ S HUSBAND RECALLS COUPLE ’ S W ALLOWA C OUNTY BEGINNINGS - page A3 www.wallowa.com Enterprise, Oregon March 11, 2015 $1 Snowpack low here, worse elsewhere Nearly half of the monitoring sites in state show lowest levels on record As Oregon’s snowpack levels are generally measuring terribly low for a second straight year, the bad news locally is that, as of March 1, condi- tions here aren’t as good as they were Rob Ruth/Chieftain last March, when the local snowpack A view of some of the Wallowa was the only bright spot in an other- Mountains bordering Alder Slope wise bleak statewide report. on Monday morning, March 9. Oregon’s mountains continue to Commission OKs Hayes Ranch partition Director received decision appeal By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain After years of contested attempts to subdivide the Hayes ranch near Joseph, the Wallowa County Plan- ning Commission gave the green light to the estate of Mary Louise Hayes and Eastern Oregon Property Development LLC to create two two-acre parcels from the approximately 150-acre ranch. Some interested par- ties promised fireworks at the Feb. 24 meeting of the planning commission, but although interested parties nearly packed the room, scarcely anyone raised a voice during the discussion. Planning Department Di- rector Harold Black opened the meeting saying the plan- ning commission at its Jan- uary meeting had asked him to answer two questions: first, whether an access road to a Measure 49 parcel can be allowed to pass through a non-Measure 49 parcel; and second, if there are any requirements for setbacks and/or easements to provide access and maintenance to the Cove (irrigation) ditch. Black answered the first question by referencing a reply from the Oregon De- partment of Land Conserva- tion and Development that stated no regulations pro- hibit the access road. See HAYES, Page A8 C HIEFTAIN WA L L O WA Planners apologize for input snafu experience record low snowpack levels, according to snow survey data from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Statewide, warm February tem- peratures generally resulted in more rain than snow in the mountains. While February brought a few snow events across the state, the snow accumulation was not enough to VLJQL¿FDQWO\ LPSURYH FRQGLWLRQV )RUW\¿YHSHUFHQWRI2UHJRQ¶VORQJ term snow monitoring sites are at or near the lowest snowpack levels on record. “Without snowpack in the moun- tains to support spring runoff, many streams and rivers across Oregon will likely experience below normal ÀRZV WKLV \HDU´ VDLG 6FRWW 2YLDWW NRCS Oregon snow survey super- YLVRU ³/RZ ÀRZLQJ ULYHUV LQ WKH summer have many implications DIIHFWLQJ ¿VK ZLOGOLIH LUULJDWLRQ livestock, city municipalities and hy- dropower operations. Reservoir op- erators have at least been able to take advantage of the rain by increasing UHVHUYRLUVWRUDJHLQPDQ\ORFDWLRQV´ The Wallowa Basin’s snowpack was reported to be 73 percent of av- erage in the March 1 report, as com- pared to 102 percent in March 2014. See SNOWPACK, Page A7 CHANGE IN DIRECTION By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain Wallowa County citi- zen Katherine Stickroth wanted to express her concerns on the Hayes Ranch partition by letter to the Wallowa County Planning Commission. According to the public notice, the commission planned to accept public input until 5 p.m. on Feb. 23. Stickroth attempted to submit her letter to the planning department at approximately 2:30 p.m. on the end date, only to have someone in the of- ¿FH WHOO KHU WKH SXEOLF comment period passed the month before. The person refused to accept the letter although Stick- roth pointed out the no- tice on the planning com- mission door. Stickroth attended the Feb. 24 planning com- mission hearing on the Hayes partition because of her interest in the mat- ter, as well as to voice her concerns about public in- put. See APOLOGY, Page A8 MODEL WATERSHED CUTTING BACK ON LOCAL PROJECTS By Rocky Wilson Wallowa County Chieftain T he La Grande-based Grande Ronde Model Watershed (GRMW), which has invested more than $4.8 million in Wallowa &RXQW\¿VKHQKDQFHPHQWSURMHFWV in the past 10 years, is redirecting its top priority to two watersheds in Union County through 2018 where “populations of Chinook salmon are LPSHULOHG´ So says Jeff Oveson, a 1970 Wal- lowa High School graduate and exec- XWLYHGLUHFWRURIQRQSUR¿W*50:IRU the past 15 years. Oveson estimates that at least LQ*50:UHODWHGSURM ects will be invested in Wallowa County between now and 2018. This SURMHFWHGGROODUDPRXQWZRXOGEH well above the $480,000 spent here on average through those previously PHQWLRQHG\HDUV\HWVLJQL¿FDQWO\ below annual investments here in WKHSDVW¿YH\HDUVZKHQ*50:¶V budget expanded dramatically. See PROJECTS, Page A7 C O U N T Y Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884 Volume 132 Issue No. 47 © 2015 EO Media Group PROFILE Bob Jackson: Forester, conservationist ” By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain Bob Jackson uses a walk- er, wears a knee brace and resides at Wallowa Valley Senior Living, but he’s one of those people you can tell spent a lifetime outdoors. He still wears the flannel VKLUWV DQG MHDQV DQG VSHDNV enthusiastically about his former professions. Jackson, a former long- time forester and surveyor in the Wallowa Valley, said his birth took place 12 hours into 1926 on a farm on the edge Mason City, Iowa. “From the fifth grade on, I grew up in Dunbar (Iowa) in Marshall County. It was in Dunbar that I had polio. That’s why I’m in here now, WKHSROLRKDVJURZQ´-DFN son said. Jackson contracted the GLVHDVH MXVW VKRUW RI KLV 12th birthday. Unlike many of his era who suffered de- Steve Tool/Chieftain Wallowa Valley Senior Living resident Bob Jackson is the center’s resident storyteller and prankster as well as a link to the county’s past. bilitating effects, Jackson made a nearly full recovery as his family utilized the “Sister .HQQ\´WUHDWPHQWRIPDVVDJ ing and engaging paralyzed muscles rather than immobi- lizing them as standard treat- ment of the time dictated. “The only time I ever knew of my father fainting was when I STILL HEAR PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT THE BATES MILL, AND IT DIDN’T HAVE AN S AT THE END. Mother told him she thought I KDGSROLR´-DFNVRQVDLG He credits polio for giving him the idea to do something special, which for him meant forestry. He began by wander- ing the creek near his home and birdwatching. He said the experience helped him realize a life of desk work did not in- terest him. After graduating from high school, Jackson at- tended Iowa State Univer- sity, earning a forestry de- gree. He spent a summer at a college work program in the Priest River country of northern Idaho where he learned a logger’s way of navigating rivers. “We lived at a summer forestry camp about 11 miles above - BOB JACKSON Priest River, and when we’d come down from Priest Lake to about a mile north of the camp, we’d get a log and roll it into the river and ride it down into the camp. I came closer to getting a good suntan that year than DQ\ \HDU RI P\ OLIH´ -DFN son said. After graduation Jackson made his way west. “I took WKHILUVWMREWKDWZDVRIIHUHG to me, in Heber, Arizona with the Forest Service. From there they promoted PH WR D SHUPDQHQW MRE LQ )ODJVWDII´ -DFNVRQ VDLG He spent most of his time marking trees for cutting and handling timber sales. See JACKSON, Page A7