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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (April 18, 2018)
SAFE AT HOME Wallowa Valley Eagles player Flynn Nave dives into home plate for a run during the team’s 12-2 victory over Irrigon in the lower end of a April 13 home double header. | MORE PHOTOS ON PAGE 16 AND AT WALLOWA.COM Enterprise, Oregon Wallowa.com Issue No. 1 April 18, 2018 $1 Wallowa epicenter of state’s wolf population Livestock depredations have decreased By George Plaven For the Chieftain Oregon wildlife officials counted at least 124 wolves at the end of 2017, an 11 percent increase over the year end total for 2016, according to the latest annual report released last week. The survey, which is conducted by the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, is not a true population Bed tax hike still in play Additional funds would go to sheriff’s office, improving fairgrounds By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain No decisions have yet been made on increasing the Wallowa County Transient Lodging Tax. County Commissioners discussed the matter briefly at an April 16 hearing. The tax brings in around $360,000 per year. A collection of hoteliers and other inter- ested parties have now met twice, along with County Commissioner Todd Nash, to discuss the idea of raising Wallowa County lodging taxes to nearly 15 percent. Nash emphasized that the tax was merely being discussed and that commissioners had made no plans or formal proposals. The idea has been floated in an effort to come up with funds for both the Sheriff’s Office and the Wallowa County Fairgrounds. There are obstacles to raising the tax in addition to gaining the support of the lodging community. Oregon Statue prohibits the use of lodging tax money for anything but “tourism promo- tion,” support of “tourism related facilities” and city and county services. Can the fairgrounds be considered a “tour- ist related facility?” “We don’t know,” said Wallowa County Commissioner Susan Roberts. “Not enough research has been done.” The Association of Oregon Counties has said they are not aware fairgrounds qualify as tourist-related facilities. No specific reference to fairgrounds is found in Oregon Revised Statutes related to transient lodging tax, but a decision made by the Oregon Attorney Gen- eral in 2008 specifically disallows any facil- ity that is used by the community as much as by tourists. Linn County is looking at imposing a transient tax as a way to help fund tourism throughout the county and to help support the Expo Center in the city of Albany — but the Expo center is “unquestionably a tourist related facility, a business, and is not a fair- grounds,” explained Linn County Commis- sioner John Lindsey. “We (free) lease that facility to the fair board for two weeks,” he said. “In Linn County the fair is an event, not a location.” The second obstacle is that Wallowa County ordinance has already earmarked tran- sient lodging tax money and “fairgrounds” does not have a notched ear. The allocations estimate but documents the mini- mum number of wolves across the state based on verified evidence such as visual sightings, tracks and photographs. ODFW will present an overview of the findings at the next Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting April 20 in Astoria. “The wolf population continues to grow and expand its range in Ore- gon,” said Roblyn Brown, ODFW wolf program coordinator. “This year, we also documented resident wolves in the northern part of Oregon’s Cas- cade Mountains for the first time.” Most wolves in Oregon remain clustered around the northeast cor- ner of the state, though several packs and known wolf territory can also be found in Wasco, Klamath and Lake counties. Statewide, Oregon now has 12 wolf packs, 11 of which were suc- cessful breeding pairs, meaning that at least two adults and two pups sur- vived to the end of the year. Wolf reproduction was the high- est recorded in 2017 since the spe- cies returned to Oregon, with pups being born in 18 groups — a 50 per- cent increase over 2016. Though they did not meet the definition of a breed- ing pair, reproduction was confirmed in the Chesnimnus, Harl Butte, Mea- cham, North Emily and Shamrock See WOLVES, Page A8 Schreiber named CJD Queen 2018 Rylee Goller, left, was named Chief Joseph Days 2018 princess and Deidre Schreiber queen during ceremonies held April 14 in Joseph. Stock contractor John Growney will be grand marshal By Paul Wahl Wallowa County Chieftain eidre Schreiber was named Chief Joseph Days 2018 Queen and Rylee Goller Princess at ceremo- nies held April 14 in Joseph. The two raised $55,000 for the rodeo, which will be held July 25-29 at Harley Tucker Rodeo Grounds in Joseph. D Schreiber is the daughter of Debera and Charlie Warnock, and Goller is the daughter of Curtis Goller and Joe and Linda Estes. Rodeo stock contractor John Growney of Red Bluff, Calif., was announced as grand marshal for the 2018 rodeo events. Growney, a lifelong rodeo contestant, started Growney Brothers Rodeo in 1979 with his brother Mike. In 2000, Growney Brothers was named the Stock Contractor of the Year by the Professional Rodeo Cowboy’s Associa- tion. Growing to produce some of the big- gest professional rodeos, Tim Bridwell was added as a partner in 2005, managing the bucking horse program. Growney served on the PRCA’s stock See CJD, Page A8 See TAX, Page A9 County support for wellness center sought Legislative ‘ask’ being prepared By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain Wallowa Valley Center for Wellness is moving forward with its plan to complete a $6.8 million integrated health services building in Enterprise. Representatives of the non- profit appeared before Wal- lowa County Commissioners this week to request a letter of support to accompany the $2.5 million request it will present before the legislature in 2019. That number was originally $2 million, but prevailing wage costs raised the ante. “We’ve been working with Sen. Hansell and Rep. Barreto since last summer,” said Chan- tay Jett, executive director. Fundraising consultant Mike Wilson of Westby Associ- ates Inc of Vancouver, Wash., informed commissioners that a legislative tour of the project was possible later this summer. “If there is any financial capability (by the county) to offer financial support for this project, that would be great, too,” Jett added. Although foundations are expected to contribute sig- nificantly to the cause, “many foundations won’t lend money on something that is not already 50 percent funded,” said Jett. We are very cautious about asking for money from the state ....” — Todd Nash county commissioner So, in addition to seeking state aid, the center plans to sell its older buildings to raise money. They have already sold one building and listed another, Jett said. Members of the Wal- lowa County community also raised more than $350,000 at the group’s first-ever fund- raiser Feb. 4. Wilson contin- ues to work at securing private donations. Winding Waters Clinic CEO Nic Powers also appeared to encourage com- missioners to support the proj- ect and perhaps lend financial support, emphasizing that the integrated care facility was a need, not a showpiece. “This is a project Winding Waters Clinic is committed to as well,” he said. “We’ve been talking to the center about this project for five years. We’re out of space, and we’re excited about this integrated health model. We’ve worked really hard to make sure there is community support, so the Wallowa Memorial Hospital is certainly supportive, Building Healthy families, a number of agencies.” Commissioners said they would study the issue. “For right now, given the constraints of Wallowa Coun- ty’s budget, we’d likely hold off on anything from there,” said Commissioner Todd Nash. “We are very cautious about asking for money from the state ... and considering the large amount that we would be asking from the state ... we need a little more time to think about it.”
