H ATT W A S PO O PPIN ATT O W LB BY A SH H Derby results and more, page A10 Enterprise, Oregon www.wallowa.com Issue No. 13 July 15, 2015 $1 Ponds, lakes cooking fish day, July 9, Wallowa County’s rain luck was holding. The 1DWLRQDO 2FHDQLF DQG $WPR VSKHULF $VVRFLDWLRQ 12$$ SUHGLFWHG ÀDVK ÀRRGV LQ WKH county, which Bates said could be a real boon to stock SRQGV³7KRVHFDQ¿OOULJKWXS in this situation,” he said. The mystery of dead ¿VKÀRDWLQJLQWKHVPDOOHU lakes and ponds of Wallowa County has been solved. 7KH¿VKKDYHEHHQSUH cooked, so to speak, as water OHYHOVIDOODQGWKHWHPSHUD ture in the ponds rises. $V D UHVXOW 2UHJRQ 'H SDUWPHQW RI )LVK DQG:LOG OLIH ¿VK ELRORJLVW -HII <DQ NH KDV DQQRXQFHG WKDW ¿VK managers are suspending summer trout stocking in Wallowa County ponds. ³8QGHU FXUUHQW FRQGL tions it’s unlikely that trout stocked in these ponds would survive to be caught E\DQJOHUV´<DQNHVDLG See DROUGHT, Page A6 See FISH, Page A6 Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain After three days of rain and a NOAA flash flood warning, the trickle on the left is the best Bear Creek can muster as it flows into the Wallowa River. Drought now critical in county By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain 'HVSLWHVRPHXQLTXHÀDVK es of good luck, Wallowa County teeters on the edge of a drought worthy of a state of emergency designation. The U.S. Drought monitor reports Wallowa County in a VWDWHRIVHYHUHGURXJKW²HO evated from just a week ago ZKHQ WKH PRXQWDLQRXV UH gion’s drought status was still designated as drought. “We DUH VHHLQJ VWUHDP ÀRZV ZH normally see in the middle of August,” said Diana Enright, water policy analyst for the GLUHFWRU¶VRI¿FHDWWKH2UHJRQ Water Resources Department. ³&RQGLWLRQV DUH ZHHNV ahead of schedule across the state.” In Wallowa County VWUHDPVDQGULYHUVDUH³GURS SLQJ UHDOO\ IDVW´ VDLG :DO ORZD&RXQW\:DWHUPDVWHU'D vid Bates. “We’re way ahead of where we should be and QRQH RI WKH ORQJUDQJH IRUH FDVWVDUHJLYLQJIDYRUDEOHSUH GLFWLRQVDERXWVWUHDPÀRZ´ It is true, Bates said, that Wallowa County has enjoyed normal rain patterns, and even D VHULHV RI UHDO JXOO\ZDVKHUV on Mt. Howard in late spring. “We had 10 inches of rain RQ0W+RZDUGWKH¿UVWZHHNLQ 0D\WLOOWKH¿UVWRI-XQH7KDW¶V unique. No one else got that big storm like we did,” he said. (YHQDVUHFHQWO\DV7KXUV THE MEMORY PROJECT TELLS THE STORY OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN LOGGERS Dam rehab on track By Rob Ruth Wallowa County Chieftain said Mary Hawkins of the Wallowa Band Nez Perce Trail Interpretive Center, Inc. Wallowa Lake Dam owners’ plan WRIXQGWKH\HDUROGVWUXFWXUH¶VUHKD bilitation by selling water downstream FRXOGEHZLWKLQPHUHPRQWKVRIJDLQ ing state regulators’ approval of water releases. 2Q -XO\ WKH 2UHJRQ :DWHU 5H VRXUFHV'HSDUWPHQW¶V:DWHU5LJKW6HU YLFHV'LYLVLRQLVVXHGDSURSRVHG¿QDO order on the March 2014 application from Associated Ditch Companies Inc. $'&WRDOORZUHOHDVHRIDFUH IHHW DQQXDOO\ IRU ÀRZ DXJPHQWDWLRQ SXUSRVHV,VVXDQFHRIWKHSURSRVHGRU GHUPDUNVWKHVWDUWRIDGD\SHULRG for lodging protests against the plan. 3UHYLRXVO\ WKH DSSOLFDWLRQ XQGHU ZHQWGD\VRISXEOLFFRPPHQWFRQ cluding in May 2014. Submitters of ZULWWHQFRPPHQWVLQFOXGHGUXUDO(QWHU prise rancher Chad Nash, Wallowa city FRXQFLORU*DUUHWW/RZH5REHUW5HDG ing of Wallowa’s Future Foundation, Enterprise resident Robert J. Hipple, Joseph city attorney Wyatt Baum, and Enterprise resident Marc Stauffer. As summarized in the proposed order, issues the commenters raised concerned “water availability, release monitoring, how releases will affect other water right holders, how releases will affect the downstream bionomics, the effect these releases will have on the ÀRRGSODLQDQGUHFHQWO\DQQRXQFHGUHJ ulations from the Department of Land Conservation and Development, WKH )HGHUDO (PHUJHQF\ 0DQDJH ment Administration, and National Marine Fisheries Service, and the impact this application may have on other uses.” WRD determined, however, that “the proposed use will not impair or be detrimental to the public interest” DV SURYLGHG LQ 2UHJRQ ODZ RQH RI WKHNH\SRLQWVLQFOXGHGLQIRXUSDJ HVRI¿QGLQJVHQXPHUDWHGZLWKLQWKH newly released draft permit. 6RPH RI WKH ¿QGLQJV DUH EDVHG on work of an Interagency Review 7HDP ,57 PDGH XS RI UHSUHVHQ WDWLYHV IURP :5' DQG 2UHJRQ GH partments of Environmental Quality '(4)LVKDQG:LOGOLIH2'): DQG$JULFXOWXUH2'$ ³2'):IRXQGWKDWWKHSURSRVHG XVH ÀRZ DXJPHQWDWLRQ ZLOO OLNHO\ EHQH¿W VHQVLWLYH HQGDQJHUHG DQG WKUHDWHG ¿VK VSHFLHV E\ LQFUHDVLQJ available habitat and potentially cooling waters of the Wallowa and Grande Ronde Rivers,” states the proposed order, which also notes RWKHUEHQH¿WVIURPWKHSODQ :KLOH DSSURYDO RI WKH GUDIW SHU mit would basically clear the way for ADC to further pursue its plan of transferring stored water to users GRZQVWUHDP7RP%XWWHU¿HOG$'&¶V SUHVLGHQWSRLQWVRXWWKDWHDFKVSHFL¿F transfer of water rights will require its RZQ DSSOLFDWLRQ $'& IXUWKHU HQYL sions transferring rights through lease rather than through outright sale. See EVENT, Page A3 See DAM, Page A6 Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain ” Pearl Alice Marsh, daughter of African-American logger Amos Marsh, Sr. of Wallowa talks about the history represented in the many photos she has collected of former Wallowa city residents of African-American heritage. This project is showing in the Wallowa City Hall through July 20. I WANT PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THERE IS A STORY OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN WALLOWA AND IT IS A STORY OF MIGRATION, OPTIMISM, LABOR AND COMMUNITY AND IT’S A POSITIVE STORY. the Wallowa area. They are featured along with dozens of others in “The Memory Project” which will remain on display through the 20th of July KHSKRWRH[KLELWRI$IULFDQ$PHULFDQORJ – along with Marsh herself, available to answer gers inside Wallowa City Hall is the result questions. RI³2I¿FH'HSRWDQGP\FRPSXWHUFRPLQJ Marsh was president of the Maxville Heritage together,” said organizer Pearl Alice Marsh. “It Interpretive Center for a number of years before needs to be professionalized, but it’s a good story, her desire to create an oral history in a broader a positive story.” context led her to her own work. Marsh is the daughter of Amos Marsh, Sr. and 7KH 0D[YLOOH +HULWDJH ,QWHUSUHWLYH &HQ the granddaughter of Joseph “Pa Pat” Patterson, WHUZKLFKKDVDQRI¿FHLQ-RVHSKLVFHQWHUHG 6UZHOONQRZQ$IULFDQ$PHULFDQORJJHUVIURP around the experience of loggers in the tiny By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain T Maxville village. “Maxville is a brief part of this history,” 0DUVKVDLG³,¶YHEHHQFROOHFWLQJDOOWKHVHDQ cestors — many of them were in Maxville, but many more lived in other locations around the area.” Marsh, for instance, lived with her family in Wallowa until she was 12 when the family followed Mike Holloran’s logging company to N. San Juan, Calif. See MARSH, Page A6 Tamkaliks celebrates past, future This year’s event will showcase dancers and the longhouse plans By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain 7KHWK$QQXDO7DPNDOLNV&HOHEUDWLRQDWWKH+RPH land Project grounds outside of Wallowa will see special presentations, the top dancers in the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla, and a celebration of both past and future. )LUVWO\WKHHYHQWZKLFKLVVFKHGXOHGIRU-XO\ZLOO FHOHEUDWHRQHORQJDZDLWHGDFFRPSOLVKPHQW²WKH¿QDOL]D tion of the longhouse plans. It’s taken a decade of development, but the Tamkaliks Longhouse Project at the Nez Perce Homelands Project in :DOORZDLV¿QDOO\JRLQJRXWIRUELGV ³)LQDOSODQVKDYHFRPHLQIURPDUFKLWHFW5DOSK6ZLQH KDUWDQGZLOOJRRXWIRUELGVYHU\VRRQ´VDLG0DU\+DZ kins. The plans for the public gathering place on the site of the DFUH+RPHODQGV3URMHFWRXWVLGHWKHWRZQRI:DOORZD had to be approved by the elders in three dispersed Nez Perce Reservations in Lapwai, Idaho, Colville, Wash., and 8PDWLOOD2UH,WWRRNDORWRIFRQYHUVDWLRQEDFNDQGIRUWK Kathleen ELlyn/Chieftain Ralph Swinehart of Enterprise and Joe McCormick of Joseph worked together to reset the hot water heater for the showers at the Homeland Project site prior to Tamkaliks Celebration in Wallowa.