A4
Opinion
wallowa.com
October 10, 2018
Wallowa County Chieftain
Mass timber Counting down to kickoff
GUEST
movement F
COLUMN
aims high
A
mass movement is underway in Oregon — a mass
timber movement that we describe on this week’s
front page.
Mass timber is cross-laminated timber — called CLT
— mass plywood and other
types of engineered wood
that turn lumber into large,
strong building materials
that can support multi-story
Voice of the Chieftain
buildings. It’s been called
“plywood on steroids” and
is substantial enough to replace steel and concrete. It’s
“green” because it comes from a renewable resource —
trees — and sequesters carbon. It also emits less carbon
dioxide during its production than other materials.
While mass timber has been used in places like Europe
and Australia for decades — huge mass timber structures,
buildings and houses have been built across those con-
tinents — it’s just starting to catch on in the U.S. That’s
because U.S. building codes typically don’t include it.
Now, however, Oregon codes allow its use. National
codes could also allow it within a few years, opening the
door to wider use of mass timber.
The U.S. mass timber movement had its beginnings in
tiny Whitefish, Montana, in 2011, when a 4,863-square-
foot commercial building was constructed using CLT. It
was completed at a cost of $145 per square foot and took
five days to build, according to the Wood Products Council.
The CLT panels came from Europe — there are now sev-
eral sources for it in the U.S. and Canada — and the build-
ing was designed using international building codes.
A person doesn’t have to be a construction engineer to
see the value of CLT — and the potential of mass timber in
general. It is cost-effective, easy to install and strong.
Oregon State University and the University of Oregon
have created the TallWood Design Institute to take the lead
in mass timber research and development. The U of O Col-
lege of Design and OSU’s College of Forestry and College
of Engineering have a platoon of researchers working on
new products and designs, testing materials and helping to
chart the future of mass timber.
The institute’s new $79 million building is also made of
CLT, though a glitch in its production has set back the con-
struction schedule.
Elsewhere in the state, Freres Lumber Co. in Lyons has
patented a new type of mass timber called mass plywood.
The company’s owners say the plywood panels can range
up to 48-feet long, 12 feet wide and 24 inches thick, use 20
percent less wood and are as strong as CLT.
Other companies in the U.S. and Canada are also press-
ing ahead with innovations, making the future of mass tim-
ber virtually unlimited.
Already in the U.S., buildings as large as 156,000
square feet and eight stories tall have been built in Port-
land. Seattle allows the use of CLT in buildings up to six
stories.
But that’s just the beginning. A 270,000-square-foot
mass timber structure is proposed for Chicago, and a
220,000-square-foot seven-story apartment complex is
planned for Minneapolis. And a 100-story mass timber
tower has been proposed for London, England.
And Wallowa County stands to benefit if the mass tim-
ber momentum countinues to build. Let’s be ready.
EDITORIAL
Vote Diane Daggett
for county commissioner
ootball season usually begins at
every level of competition in the
month of September. Preseason
is over. The players are in shape, their
positions have been determined and the
playbook has been memorized. Teams
and the fans that follow them are ready
to go.
I am no exception. Some of my col-
leagues have named me Senator Duck,
because of my undying support for my
alma mater, the University of Oregon.
On Sept. 28, we legislators — Senator
Duck included — began what might be
called a preseason. The Oregon Legisla-
ture is scheduled to kick off Jan. 22, 2019.
Everything leading up to January is
like a preseason. We are getting ready to
compete. Sept. 28 was the deadline for
submitting legislative concepts we want
to introduce as bills in the 2019 legisla-
tive session. Each senator or represen-
tative can submit as many bills as they
wish, if they meet this deadline. My staff
and I have been working for months on
my list of bills. We held town hall meet-
ings, heard from constituents, worked
with associations, met with other legisla-
tors, and listened, listened, listened. At the
5 p.m. deadline, we submitted forms for
48 bills. These 48 bills will be my initial
playbook for the upcoming session.
A football team’s playbook will have
specific plays with specific player respon-
sibilities. Every player is unique with dif-
LETTERS to the EDITOR
We voters are truly fortunate to be able to
choose from such a great slate of candidates for
Wallowa County Commissioner. We can’t lose!
I will vote for Diane Daggett in November.
She has intelligence, competence, character and
determination. Over the last 23 years that I have
lived in our county, I have noted her success in
the areas of planning, management and mar-
keting. When someone with Daggett’s abilities
offers to serve the public in elected office I feel
it is an opportunity that should not be passed up.
Mike Koloski
Enterprise
Commissioner race
should remain nonpartisan
I was pleased when the Wallowa County
Commissioners’ election became nonpartisan.
Until then, I had felt that the county commis-
sioners did not represent people of their oppo-
site political party. When the election turned to
nonpartisan, I thought it was good that I and oth-
ers like me would be listened to.
Unfortunately, now I hear that some people
are still being encouraged to vote for local can-
didates because of their political affiliation. I
hope that someday our small county can come
together and pay attention to the needs of the
whole county.
Evelyn Swart
Joseph
Support Greg Walden
I am writing to support Greg Walden for
Congress because of what he did to help Dwight
and Steven Hammond when they were unjustly
imprisoned.
Ggreg Walden grew up in rural Oregon near
The Dalles and Hood River working in a cherry
orchard. He knows what it is like to be a farmer
or rancher trying to make a living off the land.
This gives him a great advantage when constitu-
ents need relief from actions of the federal gov-
ernment. Like the Hammonds did.
This is where having a representative like
Greg Walden is such an advantage. Greg imme-
diately gave an impassioned speech on the
U.S. House floor on their behalf. After that, he
worked tirelessly for their pardon. It was not
until Donald Trump became president that logic
was applied to the case. In July, justice won and
the Hammonds finally left prison for their ranch
in Harney County.
Who could be next? Will the imponderable
Blue Mountains Forest Plan ensnare one of our
ranchers? Support Greg Walden. He will helps
us.
Anita VanGrunsven
Wallowa
Support McLeod-Skinner
I have voted for Greg Walden in the past. But
this time I won’t and here’s why: Mr. Walden
has said numerous time he supports continued
health insurance coverage of pre-existing
conditions. Then, in 2017 he backed a bill that
would have allowed the dismantling of coverage
for pre-existing health conditions.
To put the importance of this issue into context,
consider the fact that more than 1.6 million
Oregon citizens — including almost one in four of
those younger than 65 — have health conditions
that are considered “pre-existing” by health
insurance companies.
I know many people in Oregon and across
the country, including family and friends, who
Sen. Bill Hansell
ferent players on the field for each play
and alignment. The one position on the
field usually remaining consistent is the
quarterback. And in the Senator Duck’s
play book, that would be me. I am the one
who has the responsibility to help make
the play successful or change it at the line
of scrimmage.
I am pleased and excited about the
plays we have. Here is a big picture
breakdown without going into a lot of
detail: 28 of the bills are what I call con-
stituent bills. Ten of those came from
town hall meetings attended by county
and city leaders. The remainder are from
citizens who asked for their issue to be
part of the senator’s play book, and I am
pleased to run with them.
One of the worst fires in Oregon, the
Substation Fire, burned 80,000 acres in
Wasco and Sherman counties this past
summer. As a result of a meeting with
farmers and fire districts, held in Sher-
man County in August, six bills are being
introduced. Eighteen of the bills have an
agriculture or natural resources focus,
from elk damage to estate tax reform.
fall into this category. Their lives would be
disastrously affected if they were denied coverage
because of a pre-existing health condition.
Walden has failed to keep his promise on
this crucial issue. His opponent, Jamie McLeod-
Skinner, has committed to fight for affordable and
accessible healthcare for all, and to refuse any
corporate funding. That’s unlike Walden, who has
received more than $400,000 from Big Pharma
and the health products sector in 2017-2018.
Carolyn Wisdom
Enterprise
defeated. Today it seems only the rich are ben-
efited by our Congress. Our system has been
degraded by big money, gerrymandered voting
districts and the suppression of voting. Our cur-
rent congressman no longer listens to the ordi-
nary citizen.
I’m voting for McLeod-Skinner. I believe she
will represent us in Washington, D.C., and sup-
port a government “of the people, for the people.”
Jean Grandi
Enterprise
Vote yes on Measure 106
Support Mona Williams
in circuit court judge race
According to state records, the death pen-
alty in Oregon has been carried out on almost
60 individuals since 1904 at taxpayer expense.
While these individuals have been found
guilty of murder, about 10 totally innocent,
future Oregonians are put to death daily at tax-
payer expense. That’s a figure of almost $2 mil-
lion a year.
Ballots will arrive in mailboxes next week,
on which we have the opportunity to vote yes on
Measure 106. This measure, while not prohibit-
ing a woman from seeking abortion, stops the
funding of killing future Oregonians with our
taxes. These dollars collected from taxpayers
could instead go to schools and veterans.
If you object to being coerced into paying for
killing unborn Oregonians, join us in voting yes
on Measure 106.
Jan and Lorraine Swift
Wallowa
What has happened
to our democracy?
I am a 75-year-old citizen. I was educated in
public schools. I was taught that our form of gov-
ernment was designed to prevent abuse of power.
Over my lifetime I have seen this plan
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VOLUME 134
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P.O. Box 338 • Enterprise, OR 97828
Office: 209 NW First St., Enterprise, Ore.
Phone: 541-426-4567 • Fax: 541-426-3921
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Two of the bills are being submitted at the
request of the Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reservation.
Will every bill we introduce be suc-
cessful? Probably not, but we are going to
try. We all know not every play produces
a touchdown every time it is run. Some
of our bills were unsuccessful in the pre-
vious session, but they were important
and we are going to try to run with them
again.
Part of the preseason is to get the
right players ready to go. Figure out what
opposition there might be and why, then
adjust your play accordingly. Sometimes
a pass play becomes a running play at the
line of scrimmage because of the align-
ment of the opposition. And we will add
plays as the season progresses.
But for now we have our playbook
being drafted, and later it will be refined
as we get ready for the season —I mean
session — to begin.
I am grateful for the different members
of the team, from throughout the district
who helped craft the plays that are in our
playbook. I believe we have a very good
chance of crossing the goal line with the
vast majority of them. I am looking for-
ward to kickoff.
■ ■ ■
Sen. Bill Hansell is a 1967 graduate
of the University of Oregon. He will root
for the Beavers, but not when they play
the Ducks.
Chris Rush, crush@eomediagroup.com
Paul Wahl, editor@wallowa.com
Stephen Tool, steve@wallowa.com
Kathleen Ellyn, kellyn@wallowa.com
editor@wallowa.com
Jennifer Cooney, jcooney@wallowa.com
Cheryl Jenkins, cjenkins@wallowa.com
I have practiced law in this community with
Wes Williams for almost 20 years. The voters
should know what they will be getting if he is
elected judge.
Wes Williams is a crusader for criminal
defendants. He is known for his extreme posi-
tions supporting criminal defendants which has
eroded his credibility. He very strongly identi-
fies with the accused and has shown little empa-
thy for victims of crimes. His support is gen-
erally from the most liberal element of our
community, especially those in the legal com-
munity who view his election as favorable to
their criminal clients.
Wes Williams has applied to be appointed
judge each of the last three vacancies and was
passed over by two different liberal-progressive
governors. Each time, the governor’s search
committee did an extensive investigation into
each applicant’s personal reputation, character
and abilities, and determined that another appli-
cant was better qualified.
Why does this matter to your average voter?
If Wes Williams is elected judge, the fair admin-
istration of justice will suffer.
See LETTERS, Page A5
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