Enterprise, Oregon
Wallowa.com
Issue No. 31
November 21, 2018
$1
Wallowa County medical pioneer retires
Kathy Siebe spent more than three decades serving patients here
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Kathy
Siebe hung up her stethoscope Nov.
13.
She was a pioneer –– the first
woman practitioner in Wallowa
County. She has served for more than
30 years, was instrumental in estab-
lishing Winding Waters Clinic, the
Wallowa Valley Health Care District
and bringing rotating residents to the
county. She cared for hundreds of
Wallowa County children and youth.
Back in the day, as all of these pro-
grams and entities were being devel-
oped, folks like Kathy and her hus-
band Dr. Scott Siebe worked 80-hour
weeks.
Siebe initially was part of a small
crew of four doctors, four registered
nurses and office support personnel
who covered the entire county.
“We did the work that needed to
be done with health care and saw lots
of patients,” she said. “It’s been very
satisfying for the last 30 years.”
The scale of care has increased
over the decades.
Now Winding Waters Clinic
employs more than 70 practitioners,
medical providers, residents in the
rotating rural care program, a dentist,
behaviorists, mental health counsel-
ors, acupuncturists and more.
“It’s more of a team approach now,”
Siebe said. “We have an understand-
ing of each other’s patients because we
cover for each other. Also, in this day
See SIEBE, Page A9
Kathy Siebe
Firefighters
from county
on the job in
California
WALLOWA FOOTBALL
Camp Fire is still at less
than 60% containment
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa County firefighters have been
on the front lines of the Camp Fire in north-
ern California. Although they are all safe,
they have sent back terrifying reports.
Dean Brown from Enterprise Fire
Department and Amanda McHatton from
Joseph joined Oregon Dept. of Forestry Pro-
tection Supervisor Matt Howard as part of
the Northeast Oregon Taskforce Strike Team
earlier this month.
See FIRE, Page A9
Paul Wahl/Chieftain
Wallowa’s Gus Ramsden meets up with a St. Paul player determined to block his pass. On this play, Ramsden chose to scram-
ble and picked up yardage.
IT’S
OVER
Cougar season concludes as
St. Paul wins second match-up
Wallowa Varsity Football Team finished its season the way it
began –– with a loss to St. Paul. This time it was in the semi-fi-
nal round of the State 1A Championship Playoffs in Hermiston
Nov. 17. The Cougars fought valiantly but came on the bottom
of a 16-46 score. Complete story and photos on Page A10.
Senior living
center thriving
under new
management
Enterprise facility is full
and has a waiting list
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa Valley Senior Living Center is
thriving under its new management said Lisa
Hilty, president of Vitalita, the company that
manages the facility. Vitalita took over July
1. Hilty addressed the Rotary Club of Wal-
lowa County Nov. 14.
After a brief introduction from Nick
Lunde, chairman of the Wallowa County
Health Care District Board, Hilty gave the
crowd a rundown of how the community
support from a number of groups, along with
the professionalism of the center’s staff, put
one idea into her head: “This is the place I
needed to be.”
Hilty, who contracts with Wallowa County
Health Care District, manages several other
senior centers and an addiction center.
See SENIORS, Page A9
Schreder named new Wallowa County Extension Agent
Wallowa County will shortly have a
new OSU Ag Extension Agent.
Pete Schreder has been named to the
post effective Jan. 1, 2019. He replaces
John Williams who retired June 30.
The plan is that Schreder will begin
a half-time appointment in Wallowa
County then move to full-time on July
1, 2019.
In the sixth-month period, he will
divide his time between Lake County,
where he has served as an extension
agent for more than a decade, and Wal-
lowa County, an OSU spokesman said.
Schreder has several projects in
southern Oregon he will be finish-
ing before going full-time in Wallowa
County. However, even when he is in
Lake County, he will be available to
Wallowa County residents, the spokes-
man said.
According to his biography,
Schreder has worked in the agriculture
and natural resource industry for the
majority of his career. He began as a
rangeland manager for the U.S. Forest
Service where he dealt with the regu-
latory issues facing resource managers
and livestock producers.
Returning to graduate school, he
focused his education on rangeland
ecology and, following the completion
of his graduate degree at Texas A&M
University, he returned to the industry
as a county extension agent with Ore-
gon State University.
Schreder has spent the past 18 years
of his career working to provide live-
stock producers the tools they need to
be as successful as possible in the natu-
ral resource and production agriculture
industry.
He has been instrumental in devel-
oping reliable rangeland monitoring
protocols for livestock producers to
implement on their ranches and allot-
ments. Other notable programs he has
worked on include sage-grouse habitat,
drought management and mitigation,
juniper and upland restoration, noxious
weed control and herd health.
For the past eight years, Pete has
been part of an international rangeland
management team instrumental in pro-
viding the U.S Department of Defense
guidance in managing the open space
on several U.S. military bases in
Europe.
He has provided leadership to the
Lake County Extension Office as staff
chair and county leader for the past
12 years. In 2017-18, he was selected
to attend Real Oregon, a five-month
Leadership Development Program
where he enhanced his leadership
skills. He is an active member in the
Society for Range Management and
recently served as the Pacific North-
west section president.
MEET AND GREET
To welcome Peter Schreder
to the community, OSU
Extension will hold a
public meet-and-greet 6
p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29,
at the extension office in
Enterprise. Schreder will
share his experiences and
answer questions. Sam
Angima, OSU’s Extension’s
agricultural and natural
resources program leader,
and Natalie Kinion,
Extension’s eastern region
director, will also be there.