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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 2015)
Wallowa County Chieftain News wallowa.com September 16, 2015 A3 Rails-with-Trails concept plans presented to WURA By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain Courtesy photo Dr. Lowell Euhus (left) and Terri Bronson flank the honored birthday person, Wilda Zollman. Gathering marks Wilda Zollman’s 90th birthday Although her 90th birthday was Sept. 12, Wilda Zollman celebrated it the evening of Aug. 8 at the Wallowa Lake Lodge. In attendance were long- time friends and family, including: Dr. and Mrs. Lowell Euhus, Nola Gris- som and daughter Tera, Greg and Claudette Wieck, Herbert and Nadine Bork, and Terri Bronson as well as daughter Julia, and grandson David McCarver and his family. Wilda enjoyed a slide show of photos from her 90 years, listening to the music of Evelyn Swart and singing her own rendition of a song she composed about her love for Wal- lowa County to the tune of Red River Valley, which brought the house down! Wilda Irene Zollman, born Sept. 12, 1925, has lived 85 of her 90 years in Wallowa County. She grew up on a ranch at Shamrock Ridge north of Enterprise where her parents farmed 200 acres of hay. She at- tended school at Flora un- til 7th grade and then lived and worked for Marcel and Vera Norton, east of Flo- ra, milking cows for $5 a week. Wilda met Wilbur Zoll- man over at Uncle Ira’s at the age of 14. She worked at the cannery and lived at the Alder Slope place. They began dating and were married when Wil- da was 17 in Walla Wal- la, Wash. They moved to town and lived in a house with no indoor plumbing and water for four months. They celebrated when they got plumbing in! In 1948, Julia Ann Zoll- man was born, in the old hospital, adding much joy to Wilbur and Wilda’s life. Wilbur and Wilda were a hard-working team, cut- ting wood for a living and then buying a ranch on the outskirts of Enterprise and creating a living with farming, woodcutting, milk cows and hogs. The cream was sold and the milk fed to the hogs. It was hard work but a rewarding life. After Julia married Charles McCarver in 1965 and left home, Wilda worked at the potato har- vesting for several years. She was part of the Cow Belle club and attended church at the Enterprise Assembly of God. More joys came as daughter Ju- lia and Charles McCarver provided four grandkids: Helen, Kenneth, David and Kimberly. All the grandkids spent time on the ranch, but David and Kimberly spent several summers helping Grandpa and Grandma. Wilda enjoys reading and crocheting and makes a mean pie, according to local Enterprise resident, Keith Byrd. She loves peo- ple and has many friends in Wallowa County. In 2001, Wilbur passed away and Wilda continued to live on the ranch until 2010 when she moved to Nampa, Ida- ho, to be near family. She now lives with daughter Julia and near two of her grandchildren, and she has seven great grand-children just in the Nampa area that she enjoys seeing frequent- ly. Cards to Wilda can be mailed to 11106 Brassy Cove Loop #102 Nampa, ID 83651. Rails-with-Trails is still not a project, but the plan- ning process has achieved step three in a four-step process that leads to presentation of a concept assessment report to the Wallowa Union Railroad Authority (WURA). Step one was the kickoff of the idea and the creation of a team to carry the work through. Step two was the survey of stakeholders, assessments and public meetings. Step three was the presentation of options for construction of the 63-mile trail. Those presentations were made at three meetings in El- gin, Wallowa and Joseph on Aug. 18, 19 and 20. The entire document out- lining the steps, the goals and the ¿ndings is available for viewing at Enterprise Public Library and online at www. eou.edu/rails-with-trails. Throughout the process three basic tenets were set for- ward: the rails would remain in place, no funding would be provided by WURA, and a decision about whether or not to proceed would be made by WURA at the end of the con- cept planning process. The survey of residents affected by the project was open from April 14 to June 17. There were two surveys done at that time: one available to anyone on the website and one that was a statistical survey of Union and Wallowa County residents who lived within the zip codes where the rail passed through. The mailed surveys went out to 550 individuals and 150 responded. The ma- jority of respondents (59 per- cent of those who received paper surveys and 84 percent of those who used the online form) supported some type of trail. The percentages were different for the 16 adjacent landowners who ¿lled out pa- per surveys with 25 percent opposed to the entire trail, 19 percent approving the entire trail, and 38 percent support- ing certain portions of the trail. Responses of 47 landowners who accessed the online form Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain This bridge between Joseph and Enterprise is typical of the constraints the Rails-with-Trails planning group must deal with in designing the trail. On the Minam-to-Wallowa portion of the trail there are four bridges and a more than 2-mile section of canyon with no current shoulder for a trail. broke down this way: 57 per- cent support the entire trail, 21 percent oppose the entire trail, and 19 percent support parts of the trail. Concerns were very similar for all respondents with tres- pass, unleashed pets, illegal motor vehicle use, and loss of privacy (for adjacent proper- ties) being the top concerns. The research group con- ducted city and county land use reviews, checked the state- wide comprehensive outdoor recreation plan, identi¿ed 28 properties from Elgin to Jo- seph on the registry of Nation- al Historic Places in addition to historical cemeteries along the route, checked main street assessments and found that the trail project was compatible with all of these reviews and plans. The design team then broke the 63.5-mile distance into six sections of trail and did some more calculations before com- ing up with a $14.1 million price tag for the development of the whole project. Some parts of the trail will be more expensive than others, and alternatives to each devel- opment were presented. For instance, the Minam to Wallowa segment, 12.79 miles long, contains four bridges, 35 culverts and 15 road crossings. For that segment a primitive trail is proposed along the canyon for about 6.75 miles. The next two miles are very constrained, so a different path system would be needed. The team suggests that the trail run in the rail for that section. De- veloped and improved trails will be made closer to Wal- lowa and the Nez Perce Trail Interpretive Center to allow lo- cal users to make connections to recreational sites. An alternative to this is using low-traf¿c county and city roads for about 6.2 miles of the segment and the use of sharrows (shared lane bicycle markings) on the road within city limits. The ¿nal Concept Plan will T an be presented to WURA by De- cember 2015. WURA will then consider whether or not they wish to proceed to the actual design phase, where decisions will be made. Before design decisions are made, WURA will need to create governance to oversee fundraising, construction and maintenance of the rails-with- trail. There will most likely be a board, a Trail Advisory Com- mittee, a Trail Technical Advi- sory Committee, and perhaps other committees. The most prevalent gover- nance system for rails-to-trails or rails-with-trails is a govern- ment agency working with a Friends Group, according to a 2015 National Policy Consen- sus Center study. Questions about the pro- cess should be directed to Ter- ry Edvalson, tedvalson@eoni. com or Dana Kurtz at www. eou.edu/rails-with-trails. You The family of “Coach” Don Wilson would like to thank our extended families and friends who showed, helped, and supported us prior to and after the memorial service. We are very appreciative of all you have done. We espe- cially want to thank those who were a part of the memorial service and potluck after. Your assistance made the day very special, happy, sad, touching and memorable. The family thanks you for your cards, flowers, condolences and prayers. Donations to “Light the Night” for his favorite school, Wallowa High, are also appreciated. Don Wilson was loved as a Dad, Grandpa, Great-Grandpa, Coach, Teacher and Friend. He is already missed. 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