Enterprise, Oregon
Wallowa.com
Issue No. 25
October 5, 2016
$1
Prescribe burn declared a wildfi re
Winds push blaze near Lostine beyond containment area
Wallowa County Chieftain
A thunderstorm late Friday and ear-
ly Saturday helped spread a prescribe
burn west of Lostine beyond its estab-
lished boundaries, and Wallowa-Whit-
man Forest offi cials on Saturday de-
clared the burn as a wildfi re.
The fi re, 17 miles west of Lostine,
was 750 acres in size Sunday after-
noon and is being managed by a small
Type 3 Incident Management Team
lead by Nathan Goodrich, according
to a Wallowa-Whitman press release
issued Sunday. Resources include
two interagency Hot Shot crews and
one Type 1 helicopter and one Type
3 helicopter.
Firefi ghters initiated the Minam
4 Prescribe Burn on Thursday using
helicopter ignition due to challenges
accessing the planned prescribe burn
area — approximately 2,000 acres on
the east side of Big Sheep Ridge and
southeast 6 miles along the Minam
River.
The prescribe burn was planned as
an early fall ignition to take advantage
of dry fuel conditions and anticipat-
ed cooler weather with precipitation
in the forecast. The conditions were
ideal to help managers meet their ob-
For updates
For incident updates, visit inciweb.
nwcg.gov/incident/5050.
jectives of reducing heavy down and
decadent fuels, forest offi cials said.
A crew from the Wallowa Moun-
tain Zone hiked into the prescribe
fi re area on Friday to check the status
of the fi re and observed the burn to
be meeting management objectives
and staying within prescription area.
See FIRE, Page A5
Courtesy of Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
Beating
it before
having
to fight it
Lifestyle choices can
cut breast cancer risk
STAR
By Dr. Kenneth Rose
For The Chieftain
The dreaded “C” word is one that I
have had to say way too often in my ca-
reer — the hardest part of my profession
is telling someone that they have cancer.
While some cancers are “better” than
others, they all disrupt our lives, often in
terrible ways. Unfortunately, the reality
is that 50 percent of men and a third of
women will develop some kind of can-
cer in their lifetime.
Breast cancer is
the most common
form among women
in the United States.
But thanks to mod-
ern diagnostic and
therapeutic
treat-
ments, millions of
women survive the
Rose
disease. October is
Breast Cancer Aware-
ness Month, a time not only to increase
awareness, but also to share how many
breast cancer cases need never occur.
We don’t just want to “treat” breast
cancer; we want to prevent it from even
developing in the fi rst place. A women’s
genetic make-up does have a role in the
development of some breast cancer, but
ample studies are showing how we have
the power to turn on good genes and turn
off bad (BRCA) genes simply by mak-
ing healthy lifestyle choices. In fact,
phytoestrogens — the plant estrogens in
soy beans — can cut the risk of breast
cancer by a whopping 30 to 50 percent.
The dramatic benefi ts of soy also are
seen in women who already have breast
cancer.
Local 4-H archer
finishes third, earns
TV appearance at
Buckmasters shoot in
Alabama
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
Steve Tool/Chieftain
Cole Gomes displays the 7x7 rack from the elk he harvested from the Imnaha unit just before
the end of hunting season. Gomes said he got within 23 yards of the animal to make the kill
with his bow.
lder Slope resident Cole
Gomes, 14, is living proof
that hard work and determi-
nation pay off in spades no
matter your age. The Enter-
prise High School freshman
just placed fi rst in the seniors division
(14-18) national 4-H archery competi-
tion in Montgomery, Ala., on Aug. 26.
More than 120 archers participated in
the event.
Gomes, accompanied by his mother
Julie Gomes, made his fi rst airline trip
for the event and was the only Orego-
nian to compete. He said that in the
back of his mind he also was hoping
for a top-seven performance at the 4-H
tournament because it would secure
him an invitation to compete at the
Buckmasters World Champion youth
archery tournament, also in Montgom-
ery on Aug. 28.
When Aug. 26 rolled around,
Gomes, who had spent unending hours
of practice for the event, saw his dream
realized.
See STAR, Page A10
See BEAT, Page A5
Enterprise postmaster Mike Warner retires
“
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
Enterprise
Postmaster
Mike Warner had his go-
ing-away party Friday, cap-
ping off more than 38 years
with the U.S. Postal Service.
It’s been a great career, War-
ner said, but it’s time to do
something else.
Warner already does a lot
of “something else” as a di-
rector of Chief Joseph Days,
a member of Hurricane Creek
Grange and a fellow who has
been through Little League,
Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and
“all of that.”
“When you’re in a small
town, you’re involved in ev-
erything,” he said. “I hear
He’s a good
postmaster and
a good person.
He’s always
been just a
good guy and a
good boss.”
Lori Cooney
temporary postmaster
Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain
“Best Boss” Mike Warner cracks up his employees with a comment on how this photo angle
will make him look taller. Left to right: Linda Anderson, Mike Warner and Lori Cooney.
people complain about all the
activities and I say, ‘what else
you going to do in the win-
ter?’”
He and wife Kathy (they
were wed in 1982) raised three
children: Becky, a school
teacher in Washington, Mika,
a Forest Service fi refi ghter
and Tyler, who is an X-ray
technician in the Dalles/Hood
River and White Salmon area.
See WARNER, Page A5