What we like most about our moms! Special Mother’s Day tribute, pages A6 and 7 www.wallowa.com Enterprise, Oregon $1.2M in timber money on its way May 6, 2015 O LD - FASHIONED WORKING HORSES Lee Carlson, 73, walks his championship team up to their plow. Left, Fjord mare Carmel, 9; right, Haflinger mare Bella, 8. The pair proved their quality at the 17th Lee Scott Memorial Plowing Bee, May 2, east of Joseph. Numbers not yet concrete, commissioner warns By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain Wallowa County got word that its “timber mon- ey” was on the way last week when Sen. Ron Wyden an- nounced that Oregon would receive nearly $61 million in Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determi- nation Act (SRS) money. Wallowa County does not share in the BLM payments, but its award is estimated at $1,223,032. Title 1 money makes up $1.039,577 of that and Title 2 money the bal- ance of $183.454. Title II money is ear- marked, by law, for resto- ration of public lands and nearby private lands. Weed control is an example of a program that benefits from Title 2 money. Approxi- mately $636,594 from the Title 1 money will go to roads. The balance of Title 1 money will go to schools $1 in the county. The numbers are still not concrete, said County Com- missioner Mike Hayward, because the amounts are dependent upon other con- siderations at the state level that have not yet been taken into account. “As a good example of just how uncertain these es- timates are, we already have a revision,” Hayward said. SEE STORY, PAGE A12. See MONEY, Page A9 TRAIL ENTRANCE CLOSED Homan JSD hires Homan as new super By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain See HOMAN, Page A9 C HIEFTAIN WA L L O WA C O U N T Y Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884 ‘NO PUBLIC ACCESS’ TO EAST MORAINE ” PART OF THE PROBLEM IS THAT PEOPLE HAVE HISTORICALLY TRESPASSED AND ASSUMED A SENSE OF COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP Kathleen Ackley executive director of Wallowa Land Trust By Steve Tool Wallowa county Chieftain T he Wallowa Valley’s uncharacteristic balmy spring weather has wrought not only the early bloom of ZLOGÀRZHUVRQWKH East Moraine of Wallowa Lake, but also the early start of home construction, as the main access trail from Wallowa Lake Highway to the moraine suddenly sprouted a “no public access” sign. Proper- ty owner Bruce Ham, a Portland surgeon, erected the sign because the main access trail runs close to the construction site. Despite Wallowa County’s cur- rent land development ordinance, Article 44, adopted in 2002, which curtails and monitors development along the lake and its moraines, building is possible and legal. The site meets the design review criteria of Article 44, according to Harold Black, the county’s planning director. Black said a previous planning director, Diane Daggett, signed off on the original permit in December of 1995. In December of 1999, Ham had a well and electricity installed on the property, which “perfect- ed,” or made permanent the opportunity to legally build on the site. Black said the Hams are very conscientious landowners who are careful to follow the stipulations of Article 44, and con- tinually consult with him during the construction process. See ACCESS, Page A9 Rob Ruth/Chieftain Joseph School District’s board of directors recently hired Joseph Charter School’s athletic director and sixth- grade teacher, Lance Homan, to take over the district’s su- perintendent position. Homan will take over the position July 1. The current JCS su- perintendent, Rhonda Shirley, is slated to retire at the end of this school year. Homan is a Wallowa County native, having spent grades 1-12 in the Enterprise school system. Upon gradua- tion, Homan attended Eastern Oregon University for a year before attending Southern Or- egon University in Ashland. Courtesy Photo Construction of the Ham home is well underway on the East Moraine of Wallowa Lake. A well-used trail which runs very close to the site is actually on private property. A sign next to the Wallowa Lake Highway informs the public of interrupted access to a trail on private land. Volume 133 Issue No. 3 © 2015 EO Media Group Biomass for downtown Enterprise studied again By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain Wallowa Resources Community Solutions Inc. (WRCS), of Enterprise, has won a $30,000 grant to design and engineer the conversion of three public buildings in downtown Enterprise from heating oil to regionally pro- duced woody biomass. The three buildings are the City Hall/Fire Station, the Enter- prise Carnegie Public Library and Pioneer Guest Home. It is the second study WRCS will have done on the feasibility of biomass heating for downtown structures. The company received $9,000 in 2013 to study the feasibility of swapping out the city hall boiler for biomass. The city WRRNQRDFWLRQRQWKH¿QGLQJV at that time. “At the time there was just Rob Ruth/Chieftain Pioneer Guest Home, Enterprise’s historic structure at N. River and E. Main streets that was originally the Enterprise Hotel, is the third structure currently under study for biomass heating. too much uncertainty to make a decision,” said Enterprise City Administrator Michele Young. &LW\ RI¿FLDOV HPSKDVL]H that the new, broader design project is no indication that any decision has been made one way or the other about the potential conversion; it UHÀHFWV WKH RQJRLQJ GHYHO opment of a potential market for biomass that is one of WRCS’s goals. In fact, the U.S. Forest 6HUYLFH¶V &RKHVLYH :LOG¿UH 6WUDWHJ\ JUDQW LV VSHFL¿FDOO\ designed to stimulate bio- mass businesses and create a higher demand for biomass, according to Marcus Kauff- man, Oregon Department of Forestry biomass resource specialist. “The grants are designed to provide business the resources to jump-start QHZYHQWXUHVWKDWZLOOXWLOL]H the low-value material result- ing from forest health treat- ments,” he said. The city’s involvement at this point is simply provid- ing the blueprints needed to create the options the council will view when completed, according to Enterprise May- or Steve Lear. See STUDY, Page A9