Wallowa County Chieftain
WOLF
Continued from Page A1
Earlier this year, the Or-
egon Legislature passed
House Bill 4040 which rati-
ied ODFW’s decision. Gov.
Kate Brown signed the bill
on March 14, and the Appel-
late Commissioner dismissed
any further judicial review as
moot.
But in a new twist, the
court reinstated the challenge
on Tuesday, with Chief Judge
Erika Hadlock describing the
issues as “complex matters of
public importance.”
“Without deciding what,
if any, effect HB 4040 has on
this judicial review, the court
determines that the issues of
possible mootness and the
validity of HB 4040 are more
appropriately decided by a de-
partment of the court follow-
ing a full brieing,” Hadlock
wrote in the court’s ruling.
The announcement was
met with cheers from environ-
mentalists and exasperation
by Eastern Oregon ranchers.
Nick Cady, legal director for
Cascadia Wildlands, said they
are conident in their case,
with wolves currently occu-
pying just 12 percent of their
suitable habitat statewide.
“In no way should manage-
ment of Oregon’s small popu-
lation of recovering wolves
be dictated by the livestock
industry and its anti-wolf al-
lies in Salem,” Cady said in
a statement. “This ruling is
a hopeful irst step to ensure
politics do not trump science
when it comes to managing
our treasured wildlife.”
Steve Pedery, conservation
director for Oregon Wild, said
the passage of HB 4040 has
only helped to turn the focus
away from science and on to
politics.
“Now this gets us into a
constitutional issue in Ore-
gon,” Pedery said. “It’s really
just a mess.”
The groups will have until
Aug. 23 to ile their opening
brief with the court.
Ranchers,
meanwhile,
have long argued they need
to be able to kill wolves that
make a habit of preying on
livestock in order to protect
their operations. Since wolves
were delisted under Phase II
of the state’s management and
conservation plan, ODFW did
follow through with shooting
four wolves from the Imnaha
News
wallowa.com
Pack in Wallowa County.
Enterprise rancher Todd
Nash serves as chairman of
the wolf committee for the
Oregon Cattlemen’s Asso-
ciation. He said ranchers
breathed a sigh of relief over
the spring, feeling like the
wolf plan was inally work-
ing. Now facing another law-
suit, he said they’re becoming
exhausted.
“It just goes on and on,”
Nash said. “At some point, I
hope everyone can see what
these groups are doing, in that
they’re litigating because they
can.”
HB 4040 was championed
by local Rep. Greg Barreto,
R-Cove, in the House, and
Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athe-
na, in the Senate. Cady, with
Cascadia Wildlands, had also
iled an ethics complaint in
May against Barreto, claim-
ing he knowingly misled the
Legislature about the bill be-
fore it was passed.
In particular, the complaint
alleged Barreto made false
claims that the bill would not
block a legal review of the
wolf delisting in court. The
Oregon Government Ethics
Commission dismissed the
complaint on July 1.
Barreto said he was nev-
er really concerned about the
complaint leading to an eth-
ics investigation. He did not
comment further on the new-
ly reinstated legal challenge
against HB 4040.
Hansell said the bill’s pri-
mary purpose was never to
dodge a lawsuit, but rather to
go on record stating ODFW
had followed the letter of the
wolf plan. He said the de-
partment presented evidence
showing the wolf population
is on the rise, and met the re-
covery thresholds that were
approved by all parties under
Phase I of the plan.
“Everybody was at the ta-
ble when we worked out the
plan,” Hansell said. “The plan
is working. I just wanted to
get on record that the Legis-
lature, in fact, supports the
decision.”
Gov. Brown signed the bill
and, in a letter to Secretary
of State Jeanne Atkins, said,
“The trajectory of wolf pop-
ulations in Oregon remains
strong, with available habitat
and prey to support continued
growth.”
A
representative
of
Brown’s ofice said they
would not comment on pend-
ing litigation.
July 13, 2016
A7
Oregon Humanities nature
discussion coming to Josephy
‘What We Want
from the Wild’
talk July 14
Wallowa County Chieftain
Oregonians across the polit-
ical spectrum place a high value
on the diverse natural resources
of our state, but we are divid-
ed about how these resourc-
es should be used and talked
about. What do we want from
nature? What do we understand
nature to be, and how do we see
ourselves itting in?
This is the focus of “What
We Want from the Wild,” a free
conversation with Adam Davis
at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 14 at
the Josephy Center for Arts
and Culture. This program is
hosted by Wallowa Land Trust
and sponsored by Oregon Hu-
manities. The event is part of
Oregon Humanities’ statewide
ARBOR
Continued from Page A1
Swinehart said the CJD
committee always wanted a
covered arbor, but the pre-
vious structures weren’t de-
signed to take the stress.
Plans for the steel beams
that support the structure in-
clude wrapping them with
either logs or timbers to give
them a more natural look. For
the same reason, the structure
also has a shake roof rather
than metal. Semi vertical logs
fanned out over the west end
will be covered with a tarp or
canvas to resemble a half-te-
pee that the Native Ameri-
can drummers will sit under.
Swinehart said he’s pleased
with the looks of the building
as well as the progress toward
its completion.
Hillock tried to minimize
his part in the building’s con-
struction.
“Wellens-Farwell is do-
ing the construction,” Hill-
Steve Tool/Chieftain
The arbor prior to the placing
of shingles on the roof.
ock said. “They and Stangel
Industries are working on
the metal fabrication; Terry
Jones is doing the excavating;
Casper is doing the roof and
Ralph (Swinehart) did the de-
sign – I’ve just been coordi-
nating it.”
Even though the arbor is a
project of the CJD board, they
remain respectful of the struc-
ture’s purpose and encourage
input from Native American
tribes, including the nam-
ing of the area as well as the
structure. Members of the
Nez Perce tribe and the CTU
are planning a future christen-
ing event, Hillock said.
In addition to serving as
an arbor for the Friendship
Conversation Project.
Davis is the executive di-
rector of Oregon Humanities.
His previous roles include di-
recting the Center for Civic
Relection, where he helped the
Aldo Leopold Foundation de-
velop their Land Ethic Leader
training, and the United States
Forest Service, where he led
backcountry trail crews and oc-
casionally fought wildland ire.
He has taught courses and led
workshops on the human rela-
tionship to nature.
Through the Conversation
Project, Oregon Humanities
offers free programs that en-
gage community members in
thoughtful, challenging con-
versations about ideas critical
to their daily lives and Oregon
state’s future. For more infor-
mation about this community
discussion, please contact Wal-
lowa Land Trust at 541-426-
2052 or info@wallowaland-
trust.org.
Feast, Hillock also envisions
the structure as a community
gathering place for other oc-
casions, especially picnics.
“We’ll get some picnic
benches and a barbecue in
here so people can pull in
here and have a picnic. It’ll
be like another city park, but
it’ll be owned by the rodeo
committee.”
The area also is a possible
site for the farmers market,
wedding banquets and could
serve as a campsite for wild-
land ireighters during ire
season.
Hillock said the volunteer
spirit in Joseph has helped the
project immensely.
“I’ve got a lot people who
just show up and offer to
weed eat,” he said.
Despite the construction
progress and community
support, money to complete
the project still needs to be
raised.
“(Grant writer) Lynn Craig
has raised about $32,000 in
grant money,” he said. “We
still have the outstanding of-
fer of $10,000 in a matching
grant. The city of Joseph also
helped by partnering with the
committee to obtain grants
as well as facilitating rezon-
ing for the structure. We’re
working extensively with the
city of Joseph and we really
appreciate their cooperation.”
Hillock said he expects the
arbor should be usable and
about 90 percent completed
before the end of this year.
A volunteer work day at
the arbor site is slated for
9-11 a.m., Saturday, July 16.
Volunteers are asked to bring
work gloves, rakes, wheelbar-
rows, weed eaters and clip-
pers.
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