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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (May 18, 2016)
News May 18, 2016 A5 Wallowa County Chieftain wallowa.com Lightning sparks 1st wildire of season County hires new vegetation manager ” A LOT OF WHAT I’LL DO IN THE COMING YEAR IS MAKE THE PROGRAM MY OWN. I’LL DO MORE OUTREACH, HIRE A VEGETATION COORDINATOR TO REPLACE ASHLEY SPAUR AND GET A TECHNICIAN FULL TIME TO GO OUT AND HELP TREAT LANDOWNER PROPERTIES. Ryan Oberhelman Oberhelman comes with energy and experience East Oregonian Wildire season has be- gun on the Umatilla Nation- al Forest. Andrew Stinchield, ire management oficer on the North Fork John Day Rang- er District, said lightning has sparked a one-acre blaze in a remote area of the forest about seven miles northwest of Granite. No structures or private land are threatened at this time. With rain in the forecast and numerous hazards to ireighters, Stinchield said they will monitor the ire indirectly unless it gets out of hand. Ian Reid, district ranger, said that decision weighs the forest’s need to protect property and keep ire crews safe. “Given the ire’s location deep in the wilderness, rug- ged terrain, distance from private property and haz- ards with limited medical evacuation options, directly suppressing this ire would create unnecessary expo- sure to our ireighters,” Reid said. The ire is believed to have started during a storm that rolled over Eastern Or- egon on April 29, scatter- ing 2,000 lightning strikes throughout the region. Forest personnel will continue to monitor for addi- tional ires that might be left smoldering in the wilderness. SMITH Continued from Page A4 One can obtain sound science-based information on nutritional and lifestyle choices at reliable websites like NutritionFacts.org, “Physicians for Responsible Medicine” and “American College of Lifestyle Medi- cine”. Another great battle strat- egy is what Dan Buettner of STREET Continued from Page A4 By the way, Johnson also gave us Medicare. These presidents and pro- grams were not about dimin- ishing and denigrating gov- ernment, but about making it work for more people. And in each case it was an army of government workers — and not contractors vying for the biggest possible payday — who built the programs. Some time ago, Wen- dell Berry — or was it Gary Snyder — advised environ- mentalists that the most rad- ical thing they could do for the environment was to stay home. I would make a sim- ilar challenge to the armies of Obama and Bernie: go to work for the government and make it work. Forget, for a few years anyway, the condo in Sun Valley and the big new boat. Make government work better. I don’t blame it on any party or faction — anti-gov- ernment sentiments come from right and left. But the notion that government “is the problem” runs contrary to the American idea that a band of citizens can look past indi- vidual self-interest to create a better world for all of us. I can’t build highways or air- ports, manage a police force or run a university extension and research system by my- self. It takes an army of smart, committed government work- ers to make that work. And to give us the crop insurance program, the highway, inter- net or Medicare program that we will need in the future. Columnist Rich Wand- schneider lives in Joseph. Editor’s note: This column was submitted for last week’s edition and was intended to appear in print before Ore- gon’s May 17 primary. By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain They’ve got him hid- den down Marr Pond Lane, tucked in behind some build- ings in the Road Department compound. His ofice is next to a garage door that says “hazardous materials.” But there’s nothing haz- ardous or hidden about Ryan Oberhelman. He’s a fresh- faced young man with an im- pressive set of skills he hopes to put to good use. Oberhelman is the new county vegetation depart- ment manager. He replaced Alan Schnetzky, who recent- ly retired after 13 years on the job. Schnetzky developed a solid program for ighting weeds in Wallowa County, so Oberhelman knows he’s got some big shoes to ill. The Wallowa County ight against noxious weeds is a nearly $2 million-per-year ight. The county’s part of that budget is $357,386. Individual farm- ers programs and work by Wallowa Resources and oth- ers account for the rest of the money spent. “A lot of what I’ll do in the coming year is make the pro- gram my own,” Oberhelman said. “I’ll do more outreach, hire a vegetation coordinator to replace Ashley Spaur (who quit to take care of a new baby) and get a technician the “Blue Zones” advocates — changing your environ- ment so that you can “make the healthy choice the easy choice.” Finally, the JAMA article points out that as citizens we “can vote in two ways; with the ballot, for politicians who place priority on food pol- icies in the public interest; and also with the fork. With Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain Wallowa County Vegetation Manager Ryan Oberhelman. full time to go out and help treat landowner properties.” Helping treat landowner properties is high on his list. As bad as funding for pro- grams can be in a small coun- ty, Oberhelman has money left over in one particular project that he’d like private landowners to take advantage of — the co-share of weed control costs on private land. The Vegetation Department will kick in up to $500 on every food purchase, the food industry can be incentivized to market healthful food in- stead of commodity-based industrial products.” Together we can make a difference in this battle and stem or forestall this looming social and economic catastro- phe by effectively addressing the epidemic of obesity and other chronic diet-related dis- those costs and will provide consultations for free. Another program Ober- helman really wants private landowners to use is the up- coming weed tour. The tour is held every year in con- junction with farmers and ranchers and weed warriors from Asotin County, and this year the tour is all in Wallowa County and recertiication for applicators is one beneit of taking the tour. The 13th an- nual Weed Tour is May 27, and they’ll meet at 9 a.m. at Cloverleaf Hall in Enterprise. There will be four Oregon and three Washington pes- ticide recertiication credits available for this training. Another beneit this year is the opportunity to see how a drone can be used to police weeds in the county. The subjects being cov- ered include weed identi- ication, calibration, drone inventory, Common bugloss herbicide test plots and new chemical formulations. A lunch will be provided. RSVP Oberhelman at 541- 426-3332 ext.206 or email : roberhelman@co.wallowa. or.us if you plan to attend. Also over the next two years Oberhelman will be overseeing the ight against Wallowa County’s Most Wanted — meadow hawk weed — from Bear Creek to Lostine in 2015-2016 and from Lostine to Wallowa Lake in 2016-2017. It’s a big job but Oberhel- man has a lot of energy and has spent 10 years working in conservation and weed man- agement in Wyoming and other areas. “My educational back- ground is in communications and outreach. My natural interest is in rural develop- ment.” Oberhelman has earned three degrees: a bachelor of arts from Reed College in Portland, a masters in Great Plains studies and English from the University of Ne- braska and a masters from the University of Wyoming in environment and natural re- sources and creative writing. Oberhelman knew about Wallowa County long before his arrival. “My parents live in Walla Walla, so every time I came down we’d go to Terminal Gravity, the lake, ride the tram and hike around. I knew this was a beautiful place. I thought, ‘Man, I lucked out,’ when I got asked to do this job.” MEDICARE BIRTHDAY RULE If you have a Medicare Supplement Plan you have 30 days after your birthday to compare & apply for a new Supplement Plan. Call Kathleen or Katie TODAY to discuss your options for a lower Medigap premium. eases in our society that are killing us. Kenneth D. Rose, MD, is a general surgeon at Mountain View Medical Group in En- terprise. Dr. Emily Sheahan, MD is Family Medicine/Ob- stetrics specialist at Moun- tain View Medical Group. 541-426-4208 Locally owned & operated 616 W. North Street, Enterprise 4QSJOH 5SBJOJOH +PJOVTGPSUXP'3&&FWFOJOHQSFTFOUBUJPOT CFGPSFUIFPóDJBMTUBSUPGPVS4FBTPO 5VFT.BZUIt QN .BUUIFX.PSSJTT &BSUIRVBLF.BQQJOH 5&203$&7 5 & 2 0 3 $ & 7 7 75$&725 5 $ & 7 2 5 Have you ever wondered what was under your feet? Not just 10, but 100, or even 10,000 ft below your shoes? Scientists from the University of Oregon, Whitman College, and the California Institute of Technology are asking that very question in Wallowa County. 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