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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 5, 2018)
Wallowa County Chieftain CORRIDOR Continued from Page A1 The suit alleged that the USFS improperly used a categorical exclu- sion that allowed for the curtailing of environmental analysis. It also alleged the project violated aspects of the for- est plan, lacked collaboration with the two groups as well as violated some regulations regarding the river’s des- ignation as Wild and Scenic. Wallowa County Board of Com- missioners filed as an intervenor in the lawsuit last summer. Commissioner Susan Rob- erts wasn’t surprised that Simon upheld Sullivan’s findings and recommendations “Some very astute people have worked on that project for a long time,” she said. “It’s a fire, life and safety project if there ever was one.” Roberts said that numerous people JAM Continued from Page A1 One of the most intrigu- ing bands was Anita Lee and the Handsome Three, who have been perform- ing together for a year. The act featured Lee trading fear- less lead guitar with her gui- tarist, Tate Peterson. The band’s music defied genre, although Lee called it “psych (psychedelic)-country.” The act got a tremen- dous reaction from the crowd, although they were one of the few groups without a CD release. Lee writes the band’s music and said the group is working hard to prepare for recording their first album this winter. Lee is familiar with Wallowa County. “I really like to come and spend time here,” she said. Headliners JK and the Holy Know-Nothings also proved an eclectic act. Though they took the stage wear- From A1 wallowa.com use the corridor for recreation and it hadn’t been tended to in quite some time. “This isn’t about saving some- one’s personal tree, it’s about saving lives and the landscape itself,” she said. The commissioner added that in her opinion the project wouldn’t do anywhere near the damage to the intrinsic value of the corridor a fire would. She also said the project would also make it easier to access the backcountry, which is one of the primary reasons people visit. Commission chair Todd Nash said he was pleased with Simon’s ruling. He also noted that Caroline Lobdell, the county’s counsel, thought that Simon’s upholding of Sullivan’s find- ings and recommendations essen- tially opened the gate for the project to move forward although an appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is possible. ing traditional country-west- ern garb, the lack of Fender Telecaster guitars pointed to an act that was anything but traditional. Combining elements of punk, rock, pop and country, the band elicited numerous dancers and listeners to the edge of the stage, and every song ended with thunderous applause. The finale included a jam that included a number of the evening’s performers, an audience favorite. Not surprisingly, perhaps, Carper said that the festi- val has no problems recruit- ing performers. Although the music alliance board hires the bands, the festival’s reputation as a unique performing expe- rience along with the county’s scenery make it a top-notch attraction for northwest bands. “Most of the bands come to me,” Carper said. “It’s not like we ever have a shortage, and after 10 years of doing it, the word gets out that it’s a great place to play.” STILSONS Continued from Page A1 Jim was in college, and in 1966, they married. “I’ve ridden horses all my life,” Judy said. “I think he only dated me because he wanted to ride my horse. He didn’t know which end of the horse the saddle went on before he met me.” “That’s the truth,” Jim agreed. They got their big break into ranch- ing when Judy’s dad and uncle bought a ranch near the bridge in Imnaha in 1967. Jim and Judy came down to help out temporarily, and then became part- ners in the family endeavor. They ran about 500 cattle on grazing permits in the forest and operated a home ranch. Three active kids (one a Chief Joseph Days princess) and 10 years Summer is in the air! Nash noted that a former Forest Service employee had recently visited the area and saw trees he had person- ally marked for harvest more than 40 years ago were still standing. “Unfortunately, this is the way we do business anymore, Nash said. “It takes forever to get anything done, and it’s unfortunate. Categorical exclusions were made to get things done on the fly. They’re slower now than what full NEPAs [environmental review] were quite a few years ago.” He also said projects involving forest health and public safety need to be fast-tracked. Nash also expressed puzzlement as to the reason for delays in imple- mentation of similar forest projects. He said that at a recent Portland meet- ing composed of Forest Service per- sonnel and included the region for- ester as well as the state’s natural resource adviser, U.S. Fish and Wild- life officials, county commissioners BIOMASS Continued from Page A1 Three years later, woody biomass fuel continues to pro- vide a heating savings over propane, fuel oil or electricity –– so the project is back on. Construction on the downtown Enterprise project could con- ceivably begin next spring or summer, Petrocine said. The proposed design is for a biomass boiler that runs on wood pellets. The boiler plant would generate 1 million BTU per hour and use about 150 tons of pellets. That’s equivalent roughly 11 gallons of propane per hour. The original plan called for the plant to be set in the back parking lot of city hall, but the new city hall and fire hall foot- print consumed that space. The latest plan has the boiler in the basement of a nearby building. Ralph Swinehart, owner of the EM&M Building and Andy McKee, owner of the newly later, their older partners wanted to retire, so Jim and Judy decided to make the move to private land and operate a smaller herd of 200 on private property on Liberty Road out of Joseph. They had their fourth child there. There were lots of “town jobs” for the full-time ranchers, too. Judy worked part time for Crestview Cable Company for 20 years. Jim worked at the Blue Ridge Cattle Company feed lot and at the Enterprise Sale Yard. Over the years they had four chil- dren: David, Jill Huffman, Shellie Paparazzo and Adam. Jim had been training horses part time all along and folks took note and started asking him if he would take a horse and start it. “It just kind of happened,” Jim said. It was 1994 before Jim’s unadver- tised reputation had grown to such September 5, 2018 from both sides of the state all wanted to increase the pace and scale to improve forest health and better pro- tect against catastrophic fires. “At the same time, I’m getting emails from Senator Merkley, Senator Wyden and Representative Walden all wanting to clean up the forest,” Nash said. “Everyone wants to move quicker. You wonder about the holdup when you have that lineal drive to do what’s appropriate, and you’re still at a snail’s pace and squabbling over cat- egorical exclusions, which are minor in the bigger scheme of things.” Nash directly linked the imple- mentation of natural resources man- agement to the county’s overall employment and economic future. “Integrated Biomass depends on some of those projects,” he said. “There’s no reason we couldn’t have a viable sawmill in Wallowa County with a reliable source of timber com- ing off our federal lands, but we have an extent that he was training cutting horses and worked two different train- ing facilities at Potlatch and Coeur d’Alene in Idaho. “That was an accident,” Judy said. “It just happened. Well, my dad had something to do with that. Dad never went to a horse auction without bring- ing something home. Once Jim got started training horses dad thought ‘I can go to an auction and buy a horse and it doesn’t matter if they’re not broke because Jim can train them.’” So, Judy’s dad started shopping for a horse training facility and one thing led to another, she said. “It’s an awful hard job to make a living at,” Jim said. Judy laughed. “Well, I don’t think we ever sold anything, we traded.” One way or another, by hard work and by accident, they built a good ranch a long way to go to instill confidence in people who would invest in such an endeavor.” In an Aug. 21 email, Darylin Perry Brown, executive director for the Greater Hells Canyon Council, said she believed her group had a good case and said her organization was weighing their options. “We ... are of course disappointed that he adopted Magistrate Sullivan’s findings and recommendations with- out meaningful analysis of our legal claims,” she said. “We have a strong case and remain committed to pro- tecting special habitats in our mission area.” Kris Stein, the district ranger for the Eagle Cap Ranger District, also named in the lawsuit, said the judicial decisions allow the project to begin. “The project will forward -- until it doesn’t,” she said. The plaintiffs have until mid-Oc- tober to appeal Simon’s decision. Christoffersen was also able to offer the experience of Wal- lowa Resources office complex, where a biomass system has supplied heating for nearly six years. There has been no prob- lem with fuel supply, Christof- fersen said. Pellets are readily available from Strawberry Mountain Pel- lets of John Day, Malheur Lum- ber Co., Blue Mountain Pellet Co. of Pendleton and another supplier in Lewiston. Further- more, the price has not changed significantly, holding steady at approximately $175 per ton. Petrocine said that the proj- ect study indicated that down- town Enterprise customers of the biomass system would save 3.5 to 10 percent on their heat- ing. If propane, electricity or fuel oil prices increase, that savings could be significantly higher. A 2018 study of fuel costs showed that pellet-fed biomass heating costs were $12.94 per million BTU, Propane $27.46; fuel oil, $26.96; and electricity $35.93. remodeled Burnaugh Building, have expressed a willingness to consider putting the plant in their basements. Originally biomass boilers burned wood chips, but experi- ence with boilers showed wood pellets to be “the most bullet- proof, lowest operation and maintenance systems,” Petro- cine said. As an example, three East- ern Oregon biomass heating plants, at John Day Hospital, John Day Airport and Burns Hospital, were built to use wood pellets and all three customers are happy with their operation and significant energy use sav- ings, Petrocine said. Early concerns over consis- tent delivery of fuel have since been answered as thinning and other reclamation projects in the forest increase the pellet supply. “There is an oversupply of pellets, and everybody is trying to figure out how to create more demand for pellets,” said Nils Christoffersen, executive direc- tor of Wallowa Resources. life. They enjoyed their children, and now their grandchildren, and made nota- ble contributions to their community. Judy was active in Wallowa County Stockgrowers Association and Oregon Cattlewomen, and was past president of the Cowbelles and did “everything” in the organization. She was second vice president of Oregon Cattlewomen, Beef Education Chair Person for the state and State Chairman of Adopt a School Program, a precursor to the cur- rent Ag Exchange program and more. Jim was a 4-H leader, a past pres- ident of the Wallowa County Stock- growers Association, was active in both Stockgrowers and the Oregon Cattle- man’s Association and more. “Then, I don’t know, I got old,” Jim said. Not that he quit working. He became lead Wallowa County brand inspector in 2009. A7 The Enterprise project would supply hot water heat to at least nine downtown build- ings. The new city hall forced air propane system is compat- ible with the hot water system while still allowing propane to remain as a backup-heating source. Other buildings considered for service are the Burnaugh Building, Pioneer Guest House, EM&M building, Oddfellows Hall, Enterprise City Library, Knapp Law Office and Abun- dant Life Assembly of God. The system is expandable and other nearby businesses could be included. Wallowa Resources and Community Solutions Inc. will own, oper- ate, finance and build the bio- mass plant and enter into con- tracts with customers. There are plenty of details to be ironed out before construc- tion begins. An official zoning application will be made to the city at which time the city will make a decision as to whether to participate in the project. But they consider themselves semi-retired; the cattle dwindled down to a few Scottish Highlanders the grand- children like, and the horse trainer in the family is grandson Cody Arbogast. “He’s got that affliction,” Jim said. “If Jim decided to buy a horse now, he could just say, ‘here, Cody,’” Judy said. There’s a twinkle in Jim’s eye at this comment. He’s ready to carry the family tradition a little farther — and that’s family tradition on both sides the family. Jim would be happy to be the same bad influence at horse auctions as his father-in-law, Dean, was — if Cody would like to go to a horse sale. Retired, semi-retired, whatever they call it, the Stilsons will always be active and relaxed about how life is going at the same time. “It kinda just happened,” Jim said. ELECTRICAL & PLUMBING SUPPLIES ELECTRICAL & WATER SYSTEM CONTRACTOR WALLOWA COUNTY PUMPS • IRRIGATION HARDWARE• APPLIANCE PARTS Health Line Get out and enjoy it! Ed Staub & Sons Energy Community Service. 201 East Hwy 82 Enterprise, OR 97828 541-426-0320 519 W. North Street, Enterprise 541.426.3413 208 S. RIVER ST. • ENTERPRISE, OR www.jbbane.com • 541-426-3344 Mon-Thurs 9 to Noon/1-5pm; Fri. 9-1 Remember... Patriot Day September 11 SPACE RESERVATION DEADLINE for weekly advertising is 5pm Friday for the following week. Ad copy is due on Monday at 10am. Ads must be approved by Tuesday at 12pm. 209 NW First St., Enterprise • 541-426-4567 Contact Jennifer Cooney today for all your advertising needs! jcooney@wallowa.com • 541-805-9630
