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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 9, 2015)
A8 News ZDOORZDFRP ,668(6 ¿FLDOV WKH 2UHJRQ 6WDWH )LUH 0DUVKDO¶V RI¿FH DQG RWKHU stakeholders and will advise 2') LQ GHYHORSLQJ D ³ORQJ Continued from Page A1 term strategic view,” Cum- The new committee will mings said. Among the many members attempt to create a “complete DQGFRRUGLQDWHG¿UHSURWHFWLRQ DUH 6WDWH 6HQDWRU %LOO +DQVHOO system,” according to Kenneth (R-Athena), Nils Christoffersen Cummings, Vice Chair of the of Wallowa Resources, Jerome 5RVD RI WKH 2UHJRQ &DWWOH- committee. The committee is made up PDQ¶V$VVRFLDWLRQ 5H[ 6WRUP of forest landowners, wildland RI WKH $VVRFLDWLRQ RI 2UHJRQ ¿UH SURIHVVLRQDOV HOHFWHG RI- Loggers and Amanda Rich of 5(17$/6 Continued from Page A1 Whittaker said he employs property managers and thor- RXJKO\ VFUHHQV KLV UHQWHUV +H argued that his renters con- WULEXWHG¿QDQFLDOO\WR-RVHSK¶V HFRQRP\GXULQJWKHLUVWD\+LV rentals are registered with the county. Judy Kinsley, a teacher’s DLGHDW-RVHSK&KDUWHU6FKRRO said the lack of affordable hous- ing in Joseph has led to a num- EHU RI -&6 VWXGHQWV DWWHQGLQJ school in Enterprise because of the housing shortage. Tom Clevenger of the Jo- VHSK )LUH 'HSDUWPHQW VDLG WKH lack of local housing at Wal- lowa Lake Village had reduced WKHSRRORI¿UH¿JKWHUVWKDWOLYHG in that area down to one, which KDVOHGWRDVWHHSLQFUHDVHLQ¿UH insurance premiums. Cleveng- er said he worried Joseph could experience a similar fate. Corey Roberts, a Joseph resident who rents long-term, voiced her concerns that the va- cation rental phenomenon and lack of local affordable rentals eventually could force her fam- ily to move elsewhere. Many of the others who WHVWL¿HGVKDUHGFRQFHUQVDERXW 'HFHPEHU the Nature Conservancy. 6HQ +DQVHOO VDLG KH ZDV pleased to have been appointed to the committee. ”We have a tremendous re- source that continues to go up LQ VPRNH HYHU\ \HDU´ +DQVHOO said. “I view this as a very important committee. I am hopeful the committee will tackle the issues — including management of the resource ²EHIRUHWKHQH[W¿UHVHDVRQ occurs.” The committee will focus RQWKH¿UHVHDVRQDVZHOO DVORQJWHUPJRDOVIRUZLOG¿UH management and budget devel- RSPHQW ,W VWDUWHG ZRUN 'HF 1 with an overview of trends LQ WKH 2UHJRQ ¿UH VHDVRQV DQ examination of the evolution RI 2UHJRQ¶V ODUJH¿UH IXQGLQJ system, and discussion of the UROH RI (PHUJHQF\ )LUH &RVW &RPPLWWHH()&DQG2UHJRQ )RUHVW/DQG3URWHFWLRQ)XQG The program ended with a summary of key issues iden- WL¿HG DQG WKH GHYHORSPHQW RI working groups. The committee will meet again Jan. 21 to discuss the ZRUNLQJ JURXS¶V ¿QGLQJV WKH (PHUJHQF\)LUH&RVW&RPPLW- tee report on 2016 Catastrophic ,QVXUDQFH )XQGLQJ DQG WR UH- ¿QHNH\LVVXHV Interested parties are wel- come to attend. There will be opportunity for public com- ment at the meeting. property tax increases, unruly renters who avoided account- ability and the loss of the sense of community with a revolving door of neighborhood guests. “You won’t have people with a vested community inter- HVW´6KHOOH\&XUWLVVVDLG Council member Tyler Ev- ans suggested allowing a few of the residential vacation rent- als to pursue business with ap- propriate regulation and taxes, with the council having the op- tion to discontinue the practice if it had negative effects on the community. “If you buy a home in a residential zone, it means resi- GHQWLDOQRWDEXVLQHVV´6DQGV said. “The housing market is tight, and this will just make it worse.” &LW\ $WWRUQH\ %DXP VDLG many cities dealing with the issue let current businesses stay open due to fear of litigation over private property rights. “The council needs to ad- dress this,” he said. A preliminary council vote VKRZHG RQO\ 6DQGV ZLOOLQJ WR ban the rentals outright. The council scheduled a communi- ty/city council workshop on the LVVXH ZLWK WKH ¿UVW ZRUNVKRS scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednes- GD\'HFDWWKH-RVHSK&LW\ Library. 2WKHU WRSLFV FRYHUHG LQ- cluded presentations by several local organizations applying for grants from the city’s share of the county hotel tax. The council also discussed the Wallowa Valley Arts Coun- FLO¶V UHMHFWLRQ RI WKH 6WXEERUQ 0XOH 6DORRQ DQG 6WHDNKRXVH owner’s request to install a bronze motorcycle sculpture outside his business. “The decision was not made ÀLSSDQWO\´ :9$& SUHVLGHQW 6KHOOH\&XUWLVVVDLG³:HWRRN it very seriously, like jurors of an art show. The quality of the art work, the size of the artwork compared to the location and ZKHWKHU RU QRW LW ¿W LQWR WKH JHQHUDOWKHPHRI0DLQ6WUHHWLV the standard we applied to the application.” The council also approved RUGLQDQFH ZKLFK bans the sale or processing of both medicinal and recreation- al marijuana within the city limits. The council previously had a similar ban on marijuana within 1,000 feet of any desig- nated area children were known to assemble, which the council thought effectively blanketed the city, but concern over some citizens looking to squeeze in a marijuana facility in areas that didn’t overlap led to the com- plete ban. The council also approved the hanging of banners from FLW\ ¿[WXUHV WR SURPRWH WKH %URQ]H %OXHV DQG %UHZV IHV- tival and decided to advertise for the city’s public works su- SHUYLVRUSRVLWLRQIRU± SHU\HDUGHSHQGLQJRQ experience. ELECTRICAL & WATER SYSTEM CONTRACTOR ELECTRICAL & PLUMBING SUPPLIES • PUMPS IRRIGATION • HARDWARE • APPLIANCE PARTS 208 S. RIVER ST. • ENTERPRISE, OR www.jbbane.com 541-426-3344 CCB#187543 EC# 32-14C WALLOWA COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY SANTA PAWS PET SELFIES WITH SANTA! BRING YOUR OWN CAMERA! NEW LOCATION ! WCHS INFO CENTER • 104 N RIVER STREET, ENTERPRISE NEW DATES & TIMES ~ DECEMBER SATURDAYS • DEC 5 - DEC 12 - DEC 19 11 AM TILL 3 PM !! BRING YOUR CAMERA ! WE WILL HELP WITH POSING PETS , CHILDREN, AND PEOPLE !! LOTS OF STOCKING STUFFERS FOR SALE WE HAVE SANTA HERE FOR PICTURES ~ FREE REFRESHMENTS !! PETS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION TOO !! WWW. WALLOWACOUNTYHUMANESOCIETY. ORG • A NON-PROFIT CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION INFORMATION: 541-432-1630 WINE, BEER, CIDER, VERMOUTH & APERITIFS 112 W Main St. Enterprise, OR • 541-426-0285 Mon-Fri 11-6 and Sat 11-5 • dandelionwines.com :DOORZD&RXQW\&KLHIWDLQ ),5(6 Continued from Page A1 The devastation to com- munities, homes, livestock, wildlife, forests and even the OLYHVRI¿UH¿JKWHUVPDNHWKLV year particularly damaging. )LUHV UD]HG DFUHV RI2UHJRQODQGZKLOHFRVWLQJ the state more than $240 mil- lion in suppression efforts this year. At least 62 homes and numerous outbuildings were lost as well. Wallowa County’s largest EOD]HWKH*UL]]O\%HDU&RP- SOH[¿UHEXUQHGVRPH DFUHVLQ:DVKLQJWRQDQG2UH- gon, nearly taking the town of Troy with it. Residents in the +XUULFDQH &UHHN DUHD ZHUH put on a Level 2 evacuation alert because of an Eagle Cap :LOGHUQHVV¿UH All of that led to the most expensive year yet for wild- ¿UH ¿JKWLQJ IRU WKH 86 )RUHVW 6HUYLFH DQG %XUHDX of Land Management, with expenditures in the range of ELOOLRQ7KH86)6VSHQW SHUFHQW RI LWV EXG- JHW RQ ¿UH¿JKWLQJ LQFOXGLQJ funds earmarked to prevent IRUHVW ¿UHV$FFRUGLQJ WR 86 'HSDUWPHQW RI $JULFXOWXUH ¿JXUHV WKRVH VDPH FRVWV WDO- lied at 16 percent just two de- cades ago. And according to statistics cited on the the Na- WLRQDO,QWHUDJHQF\)LUH&HQWHU website, at the current rate of LQFUHDVHWKH86)6ZLOOVSHQG 67 percent of its budget on ZLOG¿UHVE\ The effects of climate change coupled with increas- ing fuel loads from a lack of management are causing our forests to burn at ever higher rates. Congress, the only group with the power to change forest management policy, is mired in gridlock. Congress is currently con- sidering three bills addressing forest management or wild- ¿UH IXQGLQJ ± RU LQ RQH FDVH ±ERWK$OOWKRVHELOOVDUHFXU- UHQWO\ PLUHG LQ HLWKHU 6HQDWH RU+RXVHFRPPLWWHHV 2I WKH WKUHH ELOOV WZR ± +5 +RXVH DQG 6 6HQDWH ± DUH VSRQVRUHG E\ 2UHJRQ¶V 5HS *UHJ :DOGHQ DQG 6HQ 5RQ :\GHQ UH- VSHFWLYHO\ %RWK ELOOV FDUU\ WKH VDPH QDPH7KH:LOG¿UH )XQGLQJ'HIHQVH$FW +5ZDVLQWURGXFHGLQ WKH+RXVHLQ-DQXDU\E\,GDKR 5HS0LNH6LPSVRQ,WVROHO\ addresses changing the way ZLOG¿UH VXSSUHVVLRQ LV IXQG- HG2IWKHWKUHHELOOVLWKDVWKH most bipartisan support and the most co-sponsors, includes all ¿YHRI2UHJRQ¶V865HSUHVHQ- WDWLYHV7RGDWHWKHELOOKDV FRVSRQVRUVLQFOXGLQJ'HP- ocrats, as well as initial support IURPWKH:KLWH+RXVH\HWLWKDV QHYHUPDGHLWWRWKH+RXVHÀRRU on a vote. 6 ZDV LQWURGXFHG E\ 6HQV5RQ:\GHQRI2UHJRQDQG Mike Crapo of Idaho on Jan. 22. The bill outlines a plan to fund ¿UHVXSSUHVVLRQWRDOORZDIIHFW- ed agencies to apply for disaster funding once they have spent 70 percent of their 10-year average RI¿UHVXSSUHVVLRQIXQGLQJ7KH bill has 20 co-sponsors, includ- LQJ 2UHJRQ 6HQ -HII 0HUNOH\ and four Republicans. Intro- duced in January, it currently re- VLGHVLQWKH6HQDWH%XGJHW&RP- mittee, where it arrived in July. +5 LV ELOO WRXWHG E\ Rep. Walden as a major cure for national forest woes. It address- HVDQXPEHURIERWKZLOGODQG¿UH funding and forestry manage- ment issues and has 13 co-spon- VRUVLQFOXGLQJRQH'HPRFUDW,W WDFNOHVZLOG¿UHIXQGLQJWKURXJK FUHDWLRQRID)HGHUDO(PHUJHQF\ Management Agency subac- count and also calls for much more aggressive timber harvest- ing and salvage. This includes time constraints to accomplish those tasks and requires envi- ronmental groups to post a bond ZKHQ ¿OLQJ ODZVXLWV UHJDUGLQJ forest restoration projects. +5LVWKHRQO\ELOOWKDW has passed through a branch of Congress and it is currently IUR]HQ LQ WKH 6HQDWH $JULFXO- WXUH 1XWULWLRQ DQG )RUHVWU\ Committee, where it landed LQ-XO\'XULQJD1RYFRP- mittee hearing a majority of members of both parties as well DV ¿YH VWDNHKROGHUV YRLFHG DS- SURYDORIWKHELOO+RZHYHUWKH committee’s press secretary, Meghan Cline, recently told The Chieftain that the bill will QRWUHDFKWKH6HQDWHÀRRUIRU a vote in the near future be- cause it is not time-sensitive.