TROY RESORT UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
Page 6
Enterprise, Oregon
Wallowa.com
Issue No. 25
October 4, 2017
$1
River plan would boost fi sh habitat, prevent erosion
See RIVER, Page A18
Part of the Upper Wallowa River habitat restoration
and bank stabilization project includes replacing the
bridge at Marina Lane with a new 32-foot span. The
new bridge would be more than twice the length of
the existing structure.
Ma
a L ane
WALLOWA
LAKE STATE
PARK
351
32-foot span
Engineered
fill
Remove
existing
culvert
Existing
grade
us e
Marina
Lane
roadway
Roa
d
Proposed bridge
Streambed
material
The Upper
Wallowa River
project area
encompasses
approximately
1.5 miles
Concrete
footing and
abutments
wa
500 feet
Source: GeoEngineers, Inc.
ALPENFEST
CELEBRATION
Alan Kenaga/EO
a/
Media Group
Library district
push faces hurdle
Enterprise
having second
thoughts
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
ABOVE: Members of the Tirolean Dancers of
Oregon go airborne during Saturday night’s
performance at Alpenfest 2017 at Edelweiss
Inn at Wallowa Lake. Members of the
band come from across Ore-
gon and Washington.
Alpenfest opened
Wednesday and
concluded Sunday
afternoon.
RIGHT: Linda White
and Joan Blaser, origi-
nal members of the Pol-
katones dance band,
perform during Saturday
evening’s celebration of
Alpenfest 2017. The Polk-
atones are regulars at Alpen-
fest and have been perform-
ing since 1971.
MORE PHOTOS ON PAGE 8
AND AT WALLOWA.COM
Wallowa
Lake
rin
v er
Pow
er H
o
$100,000. The project itself
will cost a million dollars.
Funding will come from pub-
lic and private sources, accord-
ing to King.
Conditions on the stretch
of the river have been deterio-
rating for years. According to
one report, to prevent fl ooding
of Wallowa Lake Park, riprap
was installed along portions of
the stream bank. “This solution
did not correct the fl ooding
problem but shifted the stream
bank erosion problem to the
other side of the river,” the
report said. “From the late ‘60s
and onward, OPRD would
bulldoze the river to dike the
gravel deposits and deepen the
channel.”
Street
River
Around the time the inva-
sion of two-legged visitors to
Wallowa County begin leaving,
a red legless species arrived.
Kokanee salmon have been
spawning in the Wallowa River
for several weeks in large
numbers.
Their presence could grow
signifi cantly with the imple-
mentation of the Upper Wal-
lowa
Restoration
proj-
ect. Increasing the amount
of Kokanee and Bull Trout
spawning grounds is one aspect
of the plan, which was released
in February.
The goal is to restore the
alluvial fan where the river
meets the lake, splitting it into
multiple and braided channels
as it enters the lake for fi sh hab-
itat and assisting with erosion
control on 1 1/2 miles of the
river and West Fork Wallowa
River.
Funding to implement the
plan likely won’t be in place
until next spring or summer,
according to Matt King, who
has been shepherding the proj-
ect for its sponsor, Wallowa
Resources, the past two years.
The project will also
undergo a federal permit pro-
cess required for stream resto-
ration under Section 404 of the
Clean Water Act, King said.
In addition, a state
Removal/Fill Permit issued by
the Department of State Lands,
will also be required.
The initial study cost
Ri
By Paul Wahl
Wallowa County Chieftain
Marina Bridge replacement plan
Wallo
Million-dollar project could begin next fall
Photos by
Paul Wahl/Chieftain
The newly formed Wal-
lowa Valley Library Founda-
tion is facing a serious hurdle
in the race to meet the Nov.
6 deadline to put a special dis-
trict request on the May 2018
ballot.
The fi rst of the several
steps required to form a dis-
trict is resolutions of support
from the county and the four
cities.
Susan Roberts, County
Commission Chairwoman,
has told the foundation that
the county would initiate the
process with its own reso-
lution, once the boundaries
of the proposed district have
been determined.
The county commission
is poised to do this as early
as Oct. 16 but are await-
ing the boundary resolutions
from Enterprise and Lostine.
The Joseph City Coun-
cil has approved a resolu-
tion and the city of Wallowa
has agreed to do so.
Lostine and Enterprise
have concerns.
Lostine, which has no
library, held a community
meeting Monday, Oct. 2 and
a council decision is expected
Oct. 11.
“We need to fi nd out if the
community wants a library or
if they don’t want the taxes,”
said City Recorder Toni
Clary.
Enterprise’s decision will
take longer. A survey seeking
the input of all property own-
INFO SESSIONS
PLANNED
The Wallowa County
Library Foundation
is hosting a series of
public meetings to
inform voters about
the proposed Library
District that will be
on the ballot in May,
2018. The purpose of
these meetings is to
share the Economic
Feasibility Study and
other facts, as well as
answer questions.
• Enterprise: 5:30 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 9, at
Cloverleaf Hall
• Lostine: 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 10, at
the Grange Hall
• Wallowa: 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 11, at
Wallowa Senior Center
• Joseph: 6 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 12, at
Josephy Center
All residents are
welcome at any of the
meetings.
ers went out with city water
bills this week and answers
are expected by Oct. 16.
“Our council fi nds Enter-
prise in an unusual position,”
explained City Administra-
tor Michele Young. “This is a
county issue, and all of a sud-
den we’re thrown into this
district. Our library hasn’t
been through any budget
cuts.”
The foundation empha-
sizes that city resolutions are
a formality for setting the
See LIBRARY, Page A18
Commissioners fi nd ears open to forestry issues
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
The overall consensus seems to be
that a breath of fresh air is blowing
across the landscape of forestry issues
in Eastern Oregon.
County commissioners from six
eastern Oregon counties discussed the
changes and other topics with U.S.
Rep. Greg Walden (R-Hood River) in
Enterprise recently.
The consensus is the worm had
turned particularly with regard to views
of forest fi re management due to cat-
astrophic fi res this summer and their
impact on more urban areas and urban
values.
“I don’t think Oregonians want
their forests destroyed by runaway
fi res every summer and their air-sheds
choked to the point that they can’t
breathe,” Walden said. “I think we
have real momentum to do good pub-
Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain
Representative Greg Walden ex-
plains the details of county/forestry
relationships at a meeting of East-
ern Oregon County Commissioners,
Sept. 19, in Enterprise.
lic policy.”
The public policy changes sought by
commissioners is centered on address-
ing dangerous natural disaster situa-
tions before they become catastrophes
and getting the right people to the table
to discuss forest management.
Commissioners have long been
frustrated when agreements reached
with the U.S. Forest Service are dis-
carded by other agencies that were not
present when discussions took place.
Wallowa County Commissioner
Susan Roberts said she recently wrote
to Regional Forester Jim Penya com-
plaining that the USFS was not work-
ing with the county on the Blue Moun-
tain Forest Plan as originally promised.
Forest plans describe the social, eco-
nomic and ecological goals of National
Forests and provide frameworks for
future management decisions.
“In January, when we met in Pend-
leton, they handed us a grazing por-
tion of the forest plan that looked work-
able,” she said. “When we got it in
June, it was totally changed; nothing in
it was like it was in January.”
Roberts is not the only commis-
sioner fed up with the process.
“I’ve told Penya I’m not going to
make a decision until the regulatory
agencies (such as National Incident
Management System and U.S. Fish and
Wildlife) put their rules on the table,
because every time you wait until the
regulatory puts in their rules, you have
an entirely different document,” said
Union County Commissioner Steve
McClure.
But the last few weeks have seen
an abrupt change in the attitude of for-
est managers. Commissioners reported
that in August, Penya was uninterested
in their issues and let them know that
conversations were over and USFS
was moving forward with forest plans
re-written by agencies.
Just two weeks later, commissioners
reported, Penya seemed in the mood to
negotiate.
“He called me and asked me about
See FORESTRY, Page A18