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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 28, 2016)
A16 News/Sports wallowa.com BEARS Continued from Page A1 “We didn’t ever get to look at it ... two people tell us two different stories, and there’s no way to tell which one is more likely,” Hansen said. Two days later he trapped a bear in the area and put it down. The ODFW does not kill bears on site. Rather, the animal is trapped and transported to an ODFW facility. Many of the neighbors con- tinued to see bears, sometimes more than one, after that. “The bear exhibited no fear of people; it would walk by within 20 to 30 feet of them,” Hansen said. Some in the neighborhood are concerned there’s a threat to family members with dis- abilities, visiting children or their pets. Upon investigation, Han- sen said he saw some serious bear damage to fruit trees in one yard, which did present a safety issue. He brought anoth- er trap and eventually caught another bear. He said that al- though bears are not a contin- ual problem, the ODFW has removed them from the area in the past. After removing the two bears, Hansen met 15-18 mem- bers of the homeowners asso- ciation. “We talked for a couple of hours about the situation and what we could do about it and what they could do about it. Many of them expressed con- cerns about their safety. But at the same time, most of them didn’t want the bears killed. The problem is, we don’t have a lot of other options.” Hansen explained to the as- sociation that the bears moved into the area because they had found a food source. He told the group that the best way to stop the bears was to remove TIPS Continued from Page A1 • Trashcans: Either keep your trash in a bear-proof container, which is expen- sive, or consider keeping it in a locked storage area such as a garage, shed or cold room. Black bears are mainly vegetarians, with 80 to 90 percent of their diet consist- ing of vegetable matter. Despite media focus on man-eating grizzlies, more people are wounded or killed by black bears. If you meet a bear As far as Hansen knows, no grizzlies reside in the county. He said people tend to underestimate the danger the food source. The problem was that some of the members “baited” their yards in order to attract other wildlife such as birds, deer, etc. Bears like those foods as well. Both of the Lostine bears Hansen put down had an unnatural sweet, sticky substance resembling molasses in their stomachs, while one had corn in its feces. Despite Hansen’s sugges- tions, some of the group didn’t want to stop feeding the other animals. Hansen added that this is perfectly legal and only bears, wolves and cougars are off-limits for deliberate baiting. He said the question of banning such practices is left to city or county governments. County commissioners and County Attorney Page Sully are work- ing on a county-wide nuisance abatement ordinance that cov- ers a number of nuisances, pos- sibly including bears. According to Hansen, most of the people in the association understand they live in a forest of black bears because of their size relative to grizzlies. “The first thing to do is not to act like prey, so don’t run.” He recommends making yourself look large as possible while backing away and making loud but non-threatening noises and maintaining eye contact. “They’re generally not out to eat you, they’re generally just surprised.” In a study done of Alas- ka’s black bear attacks, about half of the people with firearms found themselves injured or killed while no deaths and only minor inju- ries were reported for those armed with bear spray. “A can of bear spray is a really great thing. I always tell people to use it with bears or the deer in town or at the state park that have be- come aggressive.” and expect a certain amount of interaction with wildlife. He said one association household definitely known to active- ly feed wildlife recently sold their home and moved, which should alleviate some of the problems. He said he has not heard any subsequent reports about bears in the area. Jeff Polk, president of the homeowners association, said about 20 people in 11 homes live in the area full-time, and he is the only association offi- cer who lives in the area full- time. He expressed dismay at the negative impact the asso- ciation had on bear survival in the area. Hansen wants to make it clear that sources of food are the prime reason for bear/hu- man conflicts. “The food can be garbage, it can be bird seed or animal feed, or even fruit trees ... taking away the food source is the best way to keep bears away from people.” Winding Waters is proud to announce Geoff and Annika Maly have joined our team! They visited, loved it and have moved here... Now accepting new patients 7AM7PM • MONFRI 2AM1PM SATURDAY 603 Medial Parkway Enterprise, OR 9728 541-426-4502 windingwaters.org FREE SOFTCLOSE UPGRADE WITH PURCHASE September 28, 2016 Wallowa County Chieftain CHICKEN Continued from Page A1 “My time in New York pushed me into the idea that sustainable, local food is a growing national concern,” Hawkins said. While on the East Coast, she worked in a chicken slaughterhouse. While Wal- lowa County is known for its beef, Hawkins decided to continue raising chickens when she returned to Ore- gon. “I thought meat process- ing was something practical that could work here,” Haw- kins said. With microloans from the USDA Hawkins bought chicks, feed, coops, feeders, water troughs and wire cag- es. She raised around 800 chickens a year, processing them at an ODA facility an hour’s drive away in Cove. But last fall the family that ran the processing plant moved to South Dakota. Hawkins said she pur- chased their scalder, plucker and vacuum sealer, took out a home equity loan and used some of her savings to buy a pre-fab, 14x40-foot shell made outside of Baker City. Once delivered, she and her partner Mark Kristiansen followed the ODA specifi- cations to install washable walls, hand and commercial sinks, proper lighting and ventilation, and to ensure the facility is insect- and ro- dent-proof. “I can’t believe how supportive ODA has been throughout,” Hawkins said. “If I had a question about what paint to use I could email them and get a quick reply.” On Sept. 1, with license in hand and two helpers, Hawkins butchered and packaged chickens in her new facility. She said she expects to process about 150 a day two times a week through Thanksgiving and will start getting chicks again in May. Hawkins said she sells her own chickens directly from the farm and at a lo- cal farmers market and pro- cesses birds for other farm- ers as well. She said her goal is to process 2,000 of her own and another 4,000 to 6,000 a year for custom- ers. For Hawkins, raising her chickens holistically is as important as creat- ing a viable business and part-time employment in a rural county. She said she gets her wheat and barley grown and milled from a local farm and can use the effluent from the process- ing plant on her compost piles or pump it onto her fields. She said Oregon De- partment of Environmental Quality permitting allows her to use up to 10 tons of effluent — mostly water, some bleach and detergent and guts and feathers — each year on her farm. In her second week in business Hawkins said she didn’t expect to be so busy right away. “The plant solves a problem for the area and it’s fun to be in there get- ting it done,” Hawkins said. Scot Heisel/Chieftain Travis Haga chases down an early Joseph fumble as teammate Chandler Burns goes to block the Eagles’ Gavin Baldwin. JOSEPH Continued from Page A9 on crutches from the sideline after suffering a broken foot the previous week against Crane. It’s unclear exactly how long Ramsden will be out, but a return this season seems unlikely. Junior running back Patrick Ritthaler also was sidelined Friday with an un- disclosed injury. With Ramsden out, the Cougars turned to senior back Chandler Burns to handle snaps, with sophomore Aaron Brockamp taking on more of the rushing duties and junior Chance Goebel moving to the slot. While the Cougars’ of- fense struggled with the re- vised lineup, the Eagles did something they hadn’t done in a long while — jump out to a big lead against a league opponent. After giving up a fumble on their first possession, the Eagles’ offense marched the field and found pay dirt on its next two. The first came on a DeLury pitch to Homan from two yards out. Next time down, DeLury faked the pitch and took it up the middle himself for a 14-0 lead. The Cougars answered on their next drive, thanks to an 87-yard TD run by Brockamp. The point after failed, leaving the Eagles up 14-6. Wallowa didn’t score another offensive touchdown until Travis Haga took a screen pass from Burns 8 yards for a score late in the fourth when the Eagles en- joyed a comfortable lead. Joseph owned the sec- ond quarter, with Welch and DeLury each scoring on the ground to give the Eagles a surprising 30-6 halftime lead. The changes on offense were an obvious challenge for Wallowa, which turned the ball over four times thanks in large part to botched snaps and hand-offs. With the passing game pretty much shelved — the Cougars completed three of 14 attempts for 17 yards — standout tight end Travis Haga made his presence felt most on defense. The senior recorded 19 tackles, including seven for a loss and two sacks. Wallowa also got interceptions from Brockamp and Goebel. Despite being down big in the third quarter, Wallowa fans caught a fleeting glimmer of hope on the night’s strang- est play. Still up by 24 points, the Eagles were forced to punt deep in their own territory midway through the quar- ter. The snap soared over the punter’s head. He recovered the ball and got the kick off, but it traveled straight up into the air and eventually landed at the feet of Haga, who glad- ly took the gift into the end zone. After holding on defense, the Cougars had a chance to again cut the lead but a prom- ising drive ended with a fum- ble recovery by Joseph sopho- more Trey Wandschneider. From there, DeLury scored again on the next Eagles pos- session to essentially put the game away. DeLury scored three touchdowns on the night, while Homan scored twice and Welch scored once. This win vaulted Joseph to No. 16 in the OSAA state 1A rankings, while the Cougars dipped to No. 26. Joseph hosts Powder Val- ley (3-1, 1-0) on Friday. Wal- lowa travels to Echo (1-2, 0-1). SWEEPS Continued from Page A9 Two of their three loss- es have been close matches against league foe Powder Valley, including a five-set marathon loss — 24-26, 25-9, 25-21, 18-25, 15-10 — on the road on Thursday. Against the Badgers, se- nior Haven Johnson led the team with 10 kills, while Cooney had nine and Emma Hite added seven. “Powder Valley is a good matchup for us,” Jill Hite said Friday. “We went to five sets with them, but we had way too many ball-handling er- rors.” The Eagles will get a chance at redemption when Scot Heisel/Chieftain Joseph’s Johnell Suto (3) sets the ball in front of Wallowa’s Jamie Johnston. they host the fourth-ranked Badgers (10-2, 4-0) at 4 p.m. Friday. Wallowa continues league play with a game at Echo (17- 4, 6-1) at 4 p.m. Friday. of BARGAINS the MONTH ® While supplies last. 19 800 S. River St. • Enterprise, OR 541-426-9228 9am-5:30pm Monday-Friday • 9am-noon Saturdays 99 YOUR CHOICE A. 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