Enterprise, Oregon
Wallowa.com
Issue No. 50
March 30, 2016
$1
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End of scrap metal boom has county looking for new ways to fund facility
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
Tipping fees at Wallowa Coun-
ty¶s only lanG¿ ll are set for a steep
climb this spring and summer.
The county recently noti¿ ed
local contractors that the cost of
tipping refuse at $nt )lat /and¿ ll
Courtesy of ODFW
OR-3, a male wolf from the
Imnaha Pack, is shown in this
image captured from video
taken by an ODFW employee
on May 10, 2011, in Wallowa
County.
Imnaha
3ack
strikes
again
outside of Enterprise will rise from
$26 a ton to $36 a ton. The hike will
take place in two increments — $5
in April and another $5 in July —
and amount to about a 40 percent
increase.
In recent years, the county had
a lot of scrap iron and prices were
high, so a windfall of scrap helped
keep the land¿ ll budget aÀ oat.
Scrap no longer sells for “much
of anything,” according to Interim
County Commissioner John Law-
rence, and without the added in-
come from scrap, the land¿ ll cannot
make its bills.
The rise in fees does not entirely
address the income problem for the
facility, but it will help, Lawrence
said.
“We began operating in the red in
February,” Lawrence said. “And the
2016 budget process forecast that
we’d operate in the red by $60,000
in 2016.”
See FEES, Page A8
FOREST
REVIVAL
”
COMPARED TO
OTHER COUNTIES
IT’S BEEN PRETTY
LOW. I THINK IT’S
WORTH THE EXTRA
COST.
Chris Borgerding,
contractor
WALLOWA
MAN FINDS
HIMSELF
AT THE
INTERSECTION
OF HEALTHY
FORESTS, JOB
CREATION
Local ranchers
request lethal
action after
two more
depredations
confirmed
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Wallowa County Chieftain
State wildlife of¿ cials on
Monday con¿ rmed two more
wolf depredations on private
land in the Upper Swamp
Creek area of Wallowa Coun-
ty, bringing the total number
of con¿ rmed Imnaha 3ack
kills in the area to four in
March.
The most recent incidents
were reported and investigat-
ed Monday and involved a
pair of dead calves in range-
land pasture. Wildlife of¿ cials
determined that one calf was
killed sometime Saturday
night or Sunday morning,
while the other likely was
killed Monday morning and
was still warm when an inves-
tigator arrived on scene.
Both heifer calves weighed
approximately 700 lbs., ac-
cording to ODFW incident
reports, and each had signs
of numerous bite wounds and
scrapes.
See WOLF, Page A8
Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain
Ed Sparks of Wallowa watches as one of his poles, deemed of too small a diameter for commercial milling, is peeled by his 1965 peeler. Sparks
says he gets enough call for thinning and forest restoration to put two more crews in the woods, but has enough work for himself to take him to
retirement and would rather recommend other local guys.
WASTE-FREE FOREST MANAGEMENT PROTECTS LAND
FROM WILDFIRES WHILE SUPPLYING LUMBER MARKET
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
E
d Sparks of Wallowa has all
the work in the woods he can
handle. He’s working a portion
of Galen Williams’ 1,880-acre
timberland in the Shell Resourc-
es Management Area north of
Wallowa.
“Williams’ property alone has enough work
to take me to retirement,” Sparks said.
What Sparks and Williams are doing is ex-
actly what lumbermen and ranchers have been
begging the Forest Service to do for decades.
They’re replacing wild¿ re with forest manage-
ment.
Sparks is protecting the land from ¿ re by
removing less valuable overstory, and thinning
and removing understory so the sun can get
through the canopy and let the grasses grow,
allowing cattle and wildlife to graze and assist
in ¿ re control.
In the process Sparks is turning Williams’
forestland into a park — one that may help
stop catastrophic wild¿ re from destroying not
only Williams’ valuable timber, but the timber,
homes and livestock of his neighbors. Sparks
also is removing and utilizing diseased trees,
burnt trees and even rotted trees.
“I couldn’t ask for a better job,” said Wil-
liams. “What Ed’s done will increase grazing
and improve my timber stands. It’s also going
to release other species of trees besides the
lodgepole pine. And I’m basically getting my
timber stand improved for free because I let
him have the wood he takes out.”
As an added ecological bonus, Sparks’
method wastes nothing. Gone are the days
when monstrous slash piles burned on dozed
timberland. When Sparks is done, all that’s left
is a little pile of twigs and needles and some
sawdust.
Biochar turns
wood waste
into valuable
soil amendment
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For The Chieftain
Improving soil health is a high priority
for local farmers, but it can be challenging
to ¿ nd soil amendments that are economi-
cal and sustainable. Biochar appears to be
both. As an added bonus, biochar is gener-
ated from waste products like wood slash,
manure, and leaves.
In Wallowa County, forest byproducts
from thinning and fuel reduction—gener-
ally burned off as slash—are an abundant
potential source of biochar.
See BIOCHAR, Page A8
“I generally do all of (my work) on the
mountain,” Sparks said. “I cut it, I peel it and I
bring it in all ¿ nished out.”
Back at his 7-acre yard in Wallowa his posts,
poles, stakes, retaining wall timbers and more
are treated with non-toxic preservation and are
sold.
It’s the forest managers’ dream. And it could
be the realization of a dream for a few men and/
or women who love working in the woods and
making lumber products.
Because Sparks has a big problem — the
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Rockford, Wash., farmer David Gady holds
up biochar made from bluegrass screenings
Jan. 15 on his farm. Gady is partnering with
a Spokane company interested in possibly
commercializing the process Gady uses to
produce biochar, which may show benefit
when used as a soil additive.
work he does is so in demand that he keeps
getting calls from other timberland owners ask-
ing him to come work for them. And he keeps
getting orders for his products he can’t ¿ ll.
“I’ve got 300 acres to thin and I can’t do it
alone — 160 to 320 acres will keep a two-man
crew with small equipment busy for years,”
Sparks said. “What makes that possible is total
utilization of material, right down to one to
3-inch-diameter wood.”
See SPARKS, Page A8