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in Enterprise | Page A11
Enterprise, Oregon
Wallowa.com
Issue No. 37
December 27, 2017
PRESERVING
AG LAND
Mr. Nash
goes to
Washington
County commissioner
tracks forest document
in halls of Congress
By Steve Tool
One rancher’s experience
with conservation easements
Wallowa County Chieftain
By Tracy Robillard
Contributing Writer
n a county without a single traffic light, the
threat of development is real.
Wallowa County is home to about 7,000
year-round residents. The area hosts more
than 700,000 visitors during the peak of
summer tourism season.
Vacation homes and cabins scatter communities
like Enterprise and Joseph, driving up real estate
prices and making an attractive investment oppor-
tunity for tourism development.
Many farmers and ranchers, especially those
with a view, can earn more capital by subdividing
their property and selling it for housing develop-
ment, rather than keeping it in production. This is
especially true when farms change hands between
generations.
Parcels of farmland are being subdivided and
sold into lots for housing and commercial devel-
opment. What was once large swaths of ranch
lands are being slowly converted into subdivisions,
mini-mansions and vacation homes.
And local farmers like Woody and Megan
Wolfe are determined to take a stand and protect
their way of life.
“It’s become much more profitable to sell off
farm land for development rather than to farm the
land,” Wolfe said. “You can drive around here and
see the ‘for sale’ signs popping up more and more.”
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Landowner Woody Wolfe works closely with the Wallowa Land Trust, the Nez
Perce Tribe, and other partners to protect and conserve natural resources on
the family’s century farm in Wallowa County.
“There’s very few great places left. And
the ones that are great — eventually
you get enough people coming in and it
will change things, and it becomes not
so great anymore.”
Woody Wolfe
See LAND, Page A9
Landowner
Wallowa County commissioner Todd
Nash has heard a lot of lip service from pol-
iticians and government officials who claim
they want to change management policies
on federal forest lands. He hasn’t seen much
action until now.
A 14-year collaborative effort that
resulted in the Blue Mountain Forest Plan
Revision has made its way to the nation’s
capital. The plan revision includes three
national forests: The Wallowa-Whitman, the
Malheur and the Umatilla.
Nash went personally to see at least some
of the process of debating the plan at the
federal level. The trip took place during the
week of Dec. 11-15.
Nash said that before the revision
departed Oregon, the plan saw some signifi-
cant revision, particularly in the area of graz-
ing. The original revision called for more
stubble height in grazing allotments, which
would have caused ranchers to pull their cat-
tle off allotments significantly earlier.
See NASH, Page A9
Adult rape charges
dropped; juvenile
charges substituted
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
The Agricultural Lands Easement on
the Wolfe Farm protects the property
forever from development while
sustaining ecological habitat and
agricultural production.
A Measure 11 charge of rape in the first
degree against a 16-year-old male Wallowa
County student was dismissed without prej-
udice in Wallowa County Circuit Court Dec.
6.
Wallowa County Deputy District Attor-
ney Rebecca Frolander filed the motion
for dismissal, which was granted by Judge
Russell B. West. The defendant in the case,
whom the Chieftain has not named, was
instead charged as a juvenile with sexual
abuse in the second degree along with sex-
ual misconduct.
According to court documents, the inci-
dent took place Sept. 22 when the defen-
dant allegedly had sex with the victim while
See RAPE, Page A16
A VETTED TEAM
Enterprise animal doc prepares for sled dog races
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
E
arly risers in Enterprise and
Joseph have seen it: a beanpole on
an orange contraption whisks by
their window as they’re getting their first
cup of coffee.
What was that? They step out on their
porch and in the early dawn light they
see not seven tiny reindeer but seven
husky dogs pulling the orange painted
framework of a dog sled on wheels. The
musher –– the beanpole –– is six feet tall.
The sled team has begun conditioning
for the Eagle Cap Extreme sled dog races
Jan. 17-20.
The musher is Dr. Jereld Rice of
Enterprise Veterinary Clinic. The team is
made up of his own dogs, some of them
purchased from other mushers well-
known to Wallowa County sled dog race
fans.
He has huskies from the “Skinny Leg
Sleddogs” kennel of two-time ECX 200-
mile winner Brett Bruggeman of Great
Falls, Mont.; the “Silver Sepp” kennel
of EXC contender Josi Thyr of Cataldo,
Idaho; the “Team Warren” kennel of
EXC competitor and winner of the 2017
300-mile “Race to the Sky,” Laurie War-
ren of Council, Iowa.
Some of his dogs trace lineages
back to the canines of Norwegian-born
Leonhard Seppala, one of the famous
1925 diphtheria serum run relay mush-
ers whose bravery inspired the Iditarod
and owner of “Balto,” the famous serum
See VET, Page A16
Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain
Dr. Jereld Rice of Enterprise Veterinary Clinic on a training run with his
team. Rice hopes to compete for the first time with his new dog team at
the 2018 Eagle Cap Extreme Jan. 17-20.