Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (July 20, 2016)
A2 News/Announcements wallowa.com July 20, 2016 Wallowa County Chieftain O BITUARIES F IVE G ENERATIONS Julie Ann White July 23, 1966 to July 16, 2016 Courtesy photo A local family recently enjoyed a gathering of five generations: Elvira Engeldorf Sims, far right, her son Dennis Engeldorf, center, granddaughter Rashana Strong, great-grandson Terran Hatch, front, and great great-grandson Kaiden Hatch. Environmentalists shut out of forest litigation By Mateusz Perkowski Capital Bureau Environmental and fi sh- ing groups will be shut out from high-stakes litigation over Oregon’s forest man- agement policies, according to a judge’s order. Linn County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Murphy has denied a request by sev- eral non-profi t organizations to intervene in the lawsuit, which seeks $1.4 billion from Oregon on behalf of multiple counties. “Passionate concern about something does not qualify an applicant for in- tervenor status,” Murphy said in the ruling. The proposed intervenors included the Wild Salmon Center and its policy director for Oregon and California, Robert Van Dyk, as well as the Association of Northwest Steelheaders, Association of Northwest Guides and Anglers and Pacifi c Rivers Council. Linn County fi led a com- plaint against the State of Oregon earlier this year, ar- guing that 15 counties turned over 650,000 acres of their forestlands in the early 20th Century to the state in ex- change for promises of future revenues. In addition to Linn Coun- ty, Benton, Clackamas, Clat- sop, Columbia, Coos, Doug- las, Josephine, Klamath, Lane, Lincoln, Marion, Polk, Tillamook, and Washington counties turned timberland over to the state. Oregon has since breached that contract by en- acting a “greatest permanent value” forest policy rule that prioritizes wildlife, water and recreation over logging, cost- ing the counties $1.4 billion in past and future timber rev- enues, the complaint said. The non-profi t groups ar- gued they should be allowed to intervene in the case be- cause they have an interest in Recent lightning activity across the Blue Mountains has sparked several news fi res, according to a USFS press release issued Tuesday morning. Both lookouts and aerial reconnaissance have report- ed a total of eight new light- ning-caused fi res across the Wallowa-Whitman National Dwane Marshall Burch July 31, 1939 to July 5, 2016 Dwane Marshall Burch was born July 31, 1939, in Oklaho- ma City, Okla. He passed away July 5, 2016 in Sun City, Fla., with his wife and son by his side. Dwane was a very successful businessman in Enterprise and Wallowa County. He was the owner/operator of Burch Plumb- ing & Heating, Burch Enterprises and the Last Gate Ranch. He had the honor of being nominated as “Tree Farmer of the Year” by the State of Oregon. Upon his retirement in 1997 he and wife Shirley moved to Sun City. He was preceded in death by his parents, his beloved grand- mother and grandfather and brother Charles Michael Burch. Survivors include his wife of 50 years, Shirley Renee’ (He- fl ey) Burch; brothers William Lewis Burch and Gregory Lynn Burch (both of Celina, Tenn.); children Shelly Marie (Burch) Bell (Durant, Okla.) and Marshall Scott Burch (Durant, Okla.); seven grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. A celebration of life will be held from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, July 31 in the dining room at Eagle’s View Inn, 1200 Highland Ave. in Enterprise. D EATH N OTICES James May James May died July 18 at his home in Lostine at age 74. A complete obituary will be published at a later date. Barbara Prince Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press Linn County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Murphy has denied a request by several non-profit organizations to intervene in the lawsuit filed on behalf of 15 counties that seeks $1.4 billion from the State of Oregon for allegedly insufficient timber harvests from state forests Barbara Prince died July 18 at her home in Enterprise at age 81. A complete obituary will be published at a later date. Elizabeth Thompson forest health and Linn Coun- ty was effectively trying to increase logging in state for- ests. However, the judge has held their participation is unnecessary in the litigation, which is focused on wheth- er Oregon has violated con- tractual obligations to maxi- mize timber revenues for the counties. “Therefore the applicants have no unique ability to offer evidence to the court concerning the breach of contract issues,” Murphy said. Intervenor status would have given the non-profi ts the full rights of defendants in the litigation. The judge also said they wouldn’t be allowed to submit friend- of-the-court briefs on legal issues in the case. These arguments would focus on “consequences to third parties” of any poten- tial ruling that shouldn’t be considered in a breach of contract dispute, he said. Linn County opposed the proposed intervention of the non-profi t groups because they could stand in the way of a possible settlement deal or challenge a ruling favor- able to the counties. “All they were seeking to do is be obstructionists,” said John DiLorenzo, an at- torney for Linn County. The role of the court in this case is to resolve a contractual dispute, not to “micromanage” the state’s forest management policy, DiLorenzo said. To that extent, the non-profi t groups have no more interest in the lawsuit than any other member of the public, he said. Oregon can’t re-write its regulations without approv- al from legislators or state agencies, so the non-profi ts would have the opportunity to infl uence that process re- gardless of the lawsuit’s out- come, DiLorenzo said. Ralph Bloemers, attorney for the non-profi ts, said he’s disappointed they’ve been excluded from the case be- cause a possible remedy for Oregon would be to increase logging to the detriment of his clients. The groups offered a dif- ferent perspective than the State of Oregon because they don’t believe its forest- lands are being managed in compliance with the federal Endangered Species Act or Clean Water Act even un- der current logging levels, Bloemers said. Several timber groups are currently footing the legal costs for Linn County, which makes them represented in the litigation, he said. The non-profi t groups haven’t yet decided wheth- er to appeal the denial of their intervention request, Bloemers said. Lightning sparks new forest fi res in Blue Mountain region Wallowa County Chieftain Julie Ann (Keffer) White, 49, of La Grande passed away unexpectedly at her home July 16, 2016. Julie was born July 23, 1966 in Spring- fi eld, Ore., to Gail and Janice (Gipson) Kef- fer. She resided in Springfi eld, Enterprise, Klamath Falls, Portland and La Grande. She attended Springfi eld High School freshman and sophomore years and Enter- prise High School junior and senior years. She participated in basketball, cheerlead- ing and track and fi eld. After graduating, she earned her bach- elor’s degree in dental hygiene through the Oregon Institute of Technology. She married Sean White on Aug. 15, 1987. Julie was employed as a dental hygienist. She was an out- standing art student at Enterprise High School. She was the FFA sweetheart, and the senior prom queen. Julie was an amazing mother, wife, daughter, sister, teacher and friend. She enjoyed gardening, landscaping, woodworking, fi shing, mushroom and huckleberry picking, rafting, hiking, playing cards, all arts and watching her children play sports. She was a member of the American Dental Hygienists’ Association and Oregon Dental Hygienists’ Association. Julie is survived by her husband Sean; children Connor of La Grande and Haley of La Grande; parents Gail and Janice Keffer of Joseph; siblings Deborah Johnson of Prineville, Ore., Ingrid Bornstedt of La Grande and Mark Keffer of Enterprise; and four nieces and three nephews. A viewing will be held from 5-7 p.m. Friday, July 22 at Loveland Funeral Chapel. A celebration of life will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 23 at the Nazarene Church in La Grande. In lieu of fl owers, memorial contributions can be made to support scholarships for dental hygiene students in memory of Julie White to the Oregon Tech Foundation, 3201 Campus Drive, Klamath Falls, OR 97601. Or visit https://alumni.oit. edu/donate and enter Julie’s name. Online condolences may be made to the family at www. lovelandfuneralchapel.com. Forest and the Northeast Or- egon Department of Forestry protection areas. The largest of the re- ported fi res, being called the Warm Springs Fire, was contained at approximate- ly 18 acres in size and was burning 16 miles Southwest of La Grande in the vicinity of Spool Cart Campground. The fi re burned in a mix of grass and timber. The fi re was contained on Monday afternoon with the help of the Union Interagency Hot- shot Crew and four engines. The other reported inci- dents have all been held to under a half acre at this time. Additional hold-over fi res are possible as the warm, dry conditions con- tinue throughout the week. Isolated thunderstorms and increasing winds are expected over the next two days. Visit the Blue Mountain Interagency Dispatch web- page at www.bmidc.org or contact a local Oregon De- partment of Forestry or For- est Service offi ce for more complete information. Additional Blue Moun- tain Fire information can be found at: http://bluemoun- tainfi reinfo.blogspot.com. Elizabeth “Betty” Thompson of Enterprise passed away at her home on July 17, 2016 at age 66. A complete obituary will be published at a later date. Bollman Funeral Home is entrusted with arrangements. About Obituaries News obituaries are a free service of the Wallowa County Chieftain. The paper accepts obituaries from the family or fu- neral home. Information submitted is subject to editing. Weather Forecast Courtesy of Weather Underground. www.wunderground.com High Low Conditions July 21 84 48 Clear July 22 78 45 Clear July 23 83 47 Clear July 24 87 51 Clear July 25 85 50 Clear July 26 85 50 Clear Phases of the moon July 26 Aug. 2 Aug. 10 Aug. 18 1st Quarter Full Moon Last Quarter New Moon WALLOWA COUNTY SUNRISE AND SUNSET JULY 20-26 (from the U.S. Naval Observatory) WED THUR FRI SAT SUN MON TUES July 20 July 21 July 22 July 23 July 24 July 25 July 26 Rise: 5:21 Rise: 5:22 Rise: 5:23 Rise: 5:24 Rise: 5:25 Rise: 5:26 Rise: 5:27 Set: 8:30 Set: 8:29 Set: 8:28 Set: 8:27 Set: 8:26 Set: 8:24 Set: 8:23