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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 2018)
PICTURE THIS! Nonagenarian’s artwork to be featured | Page A7 Enterprise, Oregon Wallowa.com Issue No. 46 February 28, 2018 $1 Groups fighting Lostine: ‘We can’t be faulted’ They claim Forest Service tells each entity something different By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain Latest in a series T he battle between the U.S. For- est Service and environmen- tal groups Oregon Wild and Greater Hells Canyon Council over the Lostine Corridor Public Safety Project is headed to oral arguments on March 20. USFS maintains the project is meant to mitigate fire danger in the ❧ corridor. Its detractors say it is a thinly veiled attempt to justify a major com- mercial logging project in an environ- mentally sensitive area that is also of spiritual importance. The groups allege that the USFS skirted collaboration with them through a legal loophole called a cat- egorical exclusion. They also contend that much of the proposed treatment area, which is designated as wild and scenic, con- tains rare flora and fauna that will be negatively impacted. After filing the lawsuit May 31, 2017, Oregon Wild posted frequently asked questions on its website. Wal- lowa Resources and Professor James Johnston of Oregon State University, who has worked for environmental groups, responded and questioned a number of the assertions, including statements regarding the fire efficacy of the project. One representative of each group filing the suit agreed to an interview with the Chieftain. Rob Klavins, who holds a bache- lor’s degree in biology and ecology, is Northeast Oregon Field Coordina- tor for Oregon Wild. Veronica War- nock, conservation director of the Hells Canyon group holds a degree in environmental and land use pol- icy from Evergreen State College in Washington and a juris doctor from Vermont Law School. Klavins and Warnock claim many of the statements for which they have been criticized are quotes from state- ments made by USFS personnel. The environmental groups content the project is a major industrial log- ging project including aggressive log- ging of mature trees. Klavins said he was told that during an October 2015 field trip to the area. 13TH ANNUAL BIG READ KICKOFF POTLUCK DINNER “The Forest Service has been tell- ing different people different things,” Klavins said. “We can’t be faulted for publishing what the Forest Service told us just because they told some- one else something different. I think the fact that people don’t understand, or have been told different things, is reflective of the plan and the poor job the Forest Service did in communi- cating it to the public.” He also mentioned that no trees over 21 inches in diameter will be logged unless they’re declared haz- ard trees. According to Klavins, since See LOSTINE, Page A8 State looks into crash of county vehicle ❧ By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain The stage of the Hurricane Creek Grange was packed with performers for the Big Read Kickoff Potluck Dinner. The ranks of dancers, which began with Kellee Sheehy’s Dance Class, swelled until children from around the county were performing. Oth- er presentations included a student-made film, a chorus, actors in a play and more. BIG READ, BIG KICKOFF Month-long event begins with potluck By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain H urricane Creek Grange was packed for the 13th Annual Big Read Kickoff Potluck Dinner Feb. 22. The stage was graced by spirited youth performers as the assemblage chowed down. Among the presentations was the pre- miere of the film made by Lorri Fisher’s Enterprise fourth and fifth grade class — an homage to “The City of Ember” by Jeanne DuPrau, the youth book Fishtrap introduced as a companion read to Emily St. John Man- del’s post apocalyptic “Station Eleven.” ❧ In the film, produced by Fishtrap Story Lab Leader Cameron Scott, young people from the future discover a history of Enter- prise Courthouse and learn about the lives of the people who came before them and what was important to them. The kickoff celebration itself, celebrat- ing art, performance, community, family and shared experience, was also a nod to the themes of “Station Eleven,” which fol- lows artists of several kinds and examines what value the past holds and what makes survival worth sustaining. Short readings from the book inter- spersed the home-grown entertainment and kept curiosity about the book and the subject matter high. The novel moves between two realities, pre-apocalypse and post-apocalypse, linking the lives of those characters. The post-apocalyptic troupe of actors are on their way to the Museum of Civ- ilization when they encounter dramatic dangers. The book won the 2015 Arthur C Clarke Award, was nominated for a national book award, was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and won the 2015 Toronto Book Award. Copies of the book were raffled and were available for folks just getting a start reading the book at a table set up by The Bookloft. Copies of “Station Eleven” are also avail- able at the public libraries in the county. The next installment of Big Read dis- cussions will be the March 1 presenta- tion of “What if? Disaster Preparedness: How Does Setting Contribute to Sur- vival?” at 7 p.m. at Wallowa Memorial Hospital. ❧ See WALLOWA.COM for more Big Read photos Treatment Court Weekly program works to reduce impacts of addiction SECOND IN A TWO-PART SERIES By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain Wallowa County’s Treatment Court is simi- lar to district court. A judge dressed in robes sits on the bench and one or both district attorneys sit at the prosecutor’s table. The remainder of the bar is filled with mem- Oregon state Police are investigating a minor noninjury vehicle accident involving a member of the Wallowa County Sheriff’s Office. The incident occurred on the morning of Feb. 16. An outside agency usually investi- gates these types of incidents. According to preliminary information, Lt. Kyle Hacker, 49, was involved in a near head-on collision on Crow Creek Road near Dobin Road. Jeremiah Moffit, 42, of Lostine, who was driving a Moffit Brothers utility truck, was also involved. According to OSP reports, the south- bound sheriff’s vehicle, for undetermined reasons, drifted over the centerline toward Moffit’s northbound vehicle Both vehicles were towed from the scene to the WCSO yard at the request of the sher- iff’s office. Further details will be reported once they become available. Land Trust unveils plan Second open house set March 7 in Lostine By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain Wallowa Land Trust’s conservation plan focuses on conserving ecological and geo- logical integrity particularly on the Wallowa Lake east moraine. As the lead entity in the Wallowa Lake Moraines Partnership, several important easements have been obtained in order to preserve the moraine’s natural integrity. More easements are in the works, See LAND, Page A8 bers of the treatment court team. The people in treatment sit in the gallery. Around 10 people participate weekly. As the participants’ names are called and they stand, they begin by telling the group how many days of sobriety they’ve maintained. Whether it’s seven or 300 days, applause is genuine and heartfelt. The judge asks them how their week went. It isn’t small talk, he cares and wants to know. Sometimes the participant had a good week. Other times they tell of their struggles with everyday life that threaten their sobriety. Everyone is empathetic offering helpful sug- gestions and directing them to where they can receive help. It’s not all rosy, though. Woe to them who are untruthful or don’t follow protocol. At times, treatment counselors report missed sessions or participants fail to bring in a note saying they completed an assigned task. One woman is assigned extra peer group meetings for failure to attend those assigned. See COURT, Page A9