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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (July 27, 2016)
A6 News wallowa.com DEVICE Scot Heisel/Chieftain Welted thistle may be from North Dakota The explosive device was discovered underwater in the small channel (background, right) that feeds into the Wallowa River. other explosives were used to initiate detonation. However, he agreed that it certainly was more powerful than an M80 and closer to a stick of dynamite. “In my opinion, it proba- bly was some teenagers who made this and left it there,” Sheriff Rogers said. “Our main concern was the safety of the public. There was con- cern that this thing would be dragged out onto the bank, dry out and then detonate.” The device was discov- ered just east of the public beach and boat launch area at the north end of the lake. It was in the small channel that feeds into the Wallowa River. By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain Earlier this spring, Wal- lowa County Vegetation Department Manager Ryan Oberhelman called rancher Todd Nash about spraying some Musk Thistle on Pratt Road. The spraying was ar- ranged and then, before he rang off, Nash dropped what proved to be a bombshell. By the way, he told Ober- helman, there’s a weird thistle on the corner of Brock and Eggleson Roads out on Alder Slope south of Enterprise. He sprayed it, Nash said, but Oberhelman might want to take a look at it because it didn’t look like anything Nash had seen before. “It looked like plumeless thistle,” Oberhelman said. “That’s an A-List, worst-of- the-worst thistle.” Only it didn’t look exactly like plumeless thistle. Oberhelman pulled a sam- ple of the weed up and then sprayed the remaining plants for a second time. He showed his sample to Mark Porter, Oregon De- partment of Agriculture In- vasive Weed Management Coordinator, and both agreed they might have something “weird” here, all right. They sent the thistle to Or- egon State University, where Youth Art workshops at the Josephy Center. July 11-14 “The Art of Nature” Clay for 7-13 year olds. 12-2pm. $40. July 12-13 “The Art of Nature” Painting for your 5-8 year olds. 10-11:30am $35. July 18-21 “Exploring Self & Bliss.” Clay and painting for high school students. 9-4pm $45. July 25-28 “Bliss expanding.” Clay and painting for high school students. 9-4pm $45. Scholarships available. Details at www.josephy.org T HE B OOKLOFT AND S KYLIGHT G ALLERY Finding books is our specialty 541.426.3351 • 107 E. Main • Enterprise • www.bookloftoregon.com m n o p q r mo s ns om nt or oo oq ot ou po pq qp ol op pn ql np nu os pm mn nm no on mm mt nl nr ml mq nn pu u ms mu nq t mp mr Wallowa County Chieftain New-to-Oregon invasive weed discovered in county Continued from Page A1 notiied state and federal au- thorities. An FBI dive team was then assembled and tasked with removing the device. Representatives from the Multnomah County Sher- iff’s Ofice and that county’s dive team also participated as backup for the federal dive team. Members of the Ore- gon State Police also were brought in to handle the de- vice once it was removed from the water. OSP Ex- plosives Specialist Dennis Wagner from the Hermiston ofice described the device as a cylinder “about one inch in diameter and eight inches long and wrapped in black tape.” Wagner and another OSP trooper took the device to a safe location outside of Jo- seph and detonated it soon after it was removed from the lake. Wagner said it was difi- cult to estimate how power- ful the pipe bomb was since July 27, 2016 pr qm pp ps qn qq pl pt qo qr qs rl rm ro rp rq rr rs rt ACROSS 1. Dried corn kernals (pl.) 6. A dog is one 9. Medieval feline 13. Appeal emotionally 14. Uncommon 15. Chinese currency 16. Gain as interest 17. Habitat 18. Ribosomal ribonucleic acid 19. 2015 NL batting champ 21. Makes wet 22. Discounts 23. Beavers build this 24. Between south and east 25. Promotional materials 28. Arbiter 29. Ancient Greek ruler 31. Ruse 33. Where coaches spend their time 36. LA landmark __ House 38. Nothing 39. Chickpea plant 41. Revolutionary War militia member 44. Civil rights organization 45. Fathers 46. Carries things 48. Frequently 49. Location of White House 51. Small amount 52. A structure forming a covered entrance 54. Soothes 56. Shameless 60. Middle Eastern nation 61. Footsteps 62. Russian river 63. Once-influential student organization 64. Jags owner Khan 65. Bura-__: Nigerian language 66. Small boy 67. Belonging to a thing 68. Mosses qt qu rn DOWN 1. Went too fast 2. Protruding ridge on worms 3. Insignificant 4. Pains 5. South Dakota 6. Greek island 7. Emerald Isle 8. Golfers know this well 9. Desire to set fire to things 10. A glow 11. Levels 12. Enzyme 14. Explains again 17. City in South of France 20. Paddle 21. Salian 23. Split pulses 25. Consumed 26. Small drink of spirits 27. Indigenous people 29. Elaborated 30. Painting technique 32. Repentance 34. Not bright 35. Kansas hoops coach 37. Koran chapters 40. Dead end 42. Foul-mouthed bear 43. Nostrils 47. Game Cache File 49. One who believes in a supreme being 50. Carnival worker 52. Gnawing animals 53. German town 55. Conquer 56. Thai money 57. Taxis 58. __ Clapton 59. A form of Persian 61. Pounds per square inch 65. Nighttime Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain Wallowa County Vegetation Manager Ryan Oberhelman and his helper “Metchka” examine a big welted thistle at the edge of an alfalfa field on Alder Slope. it was genetically tested. “The answer came back July 19,” Oberhelman said. “It is a Carduus Crispis, or welted thistle, also sometimes called a curly plumeless this- tle. It’s never been seen in Oregon before. The nearest its ever been reported is North Dakota and British Colum- bia.” Wallowa County just got famous in the worst weedy- way possible. The welted thistle is an A-List weed in its own right. “We need to get on top of this thistle because we can,” Oberhelman said. “It hasn’t had time to spread widely and get out of control.” Porter and Oberhelman immediately began search- ing for more of the thistle, sprayed the edges of Mark Vanderzanden’s alfalfa ield where it was discovered, ar- ranged with Vanderzanden to destroy any baled hay up to 15 feet into the ield, and walked the irrigation ditch. “It’s all along Lower Alder Slope Ditch,” Oberhelman re- ported. “It appears upstream to the fence line of Vander- zanden’s ield and abruptly stops, but it goes downstream to Aspen Grove Road.” All discovered sites have been sprayed, but Porter and Oberhelman estimate the weed has been in Wallowa County for about four years and may have gone out in bales of hay to other locations. The weed warriors, with the assistance of Vanderzan- den and other farmers, are tracking down any folks who bought hay from the immedi- ate area to make sure no weed seed traveled to a new loca- tion. Fortunately, Oberhelman said, Vanderzanden has excel- lent records and the weed only appeared at the very edge of his ield. What’s more alarming, Oberhelman said, was that they have no idea how it got here. It most likely started in the ditch, as ditches are com- mon vectors for weed seed. But how did it get into the ditch? “Who is bringing in ditch equipment from North Dako- ta?” Oberhelman mused. “We will probably never know for sure how it got here. But we’ll get in touch with every single person on this ditch system and warn them to watch out for it. We’ll be monitoring this weed for a long, long time.” The weed is not poison- ous to livestock, but grazing is not a reliable control. If it is grazed early in the spring, it will have time to re-lower and spread. If you see a “weird thistle,” please contact Ryan Oberhel- man at roberhelman@co.wal- lowa.or.us or 541-426-3332. WOLF Continued from Page A1 ODFW wildlife biologist Mike Hansen suggested that a wolf or wolves from a new and unnamed pack — or even remnants of the Imnaha Pack — may have been responsible for the depredation. He said wolves from the Snake River or South Snake River packs may be expanding their terri- tory. “We just don’t know enough about them,” Hansen said. “We don’t have radio collars on them, so we don’t have reliable or consistent enough information about them yet.” So far this year, state ofi- cials have determined 14 pos- sible depredation incidents as either “conirmed” or “proba- ble,” and nine of those cases occurred in Wallowa County. Wallowa Lake, OR 541-432-4940 Dine-In or Take Out Fresh Sourdough Crust Daily New Novelties Open Memorial Day to Labor Day 7 Days A Week