Enterprise, Oregon
Wallowa.com
134th Year, No. 50
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
$1
Nez Perce conservation site a step closer to reality
By Ellen Morris Bishop
Wallowa County Chieftain
Ellen Morris Bishop
The Nez Perce conservation easement, occupies the eastern
side of the lake shore.
The Nez Perce Tribe,
Wallowa Lake Lodge,
and Wallowa Lake State
Park are one step closer
to permanently conserv-
ing a sacred Nez Perce cul-
tural site, Waalal’aamkt or
“where the braided stream
disappears into the water”
as a conservation ease-
ment. The ten-acre locale,
at the south end of Wal-
lowa Lake, also provides
premier habitat for fi sh,
wildlife, and birds. Grants
totaling $295,000 from the
Healy, Collins, and Meyer
Memorial Trust Founda-
tions have brought funding
to $449,000, or nearly half
of the $990,000 assessed
value of the easement. “We
expect the purchase to be
completed this year, hope-
fully by summer,” James
Monteith, Wallowa Lake
Lodge’s Managing Board
Member said. “Everyone
deeply appreciates the lead-
ership and generous sup-
port of these Oregon foun-
dations for the Nez Perce
Tribe’s fi rst conservation
easement in Oregon.”
When local investors pur-
chased Wallowa Lake Lodge
in 2016, protecting the
undisturbed portions of the
grounds through a conser-
vation easement was part of
their plan. Keeping a portion
of the grounds wild made
‘I JUST COULDN’T BELIEVE IT. IT’S NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE TO ME.’
Gary Marks , Imnaha rancher
TRIPLE SURPRISE
Gary and Vicky Marks /Capital Press
A cow gave birth to triplet calves on a northeastern Oregon ranch recently. The odds of having triplets are 1 in 105,000.
Wallowa County cow births rare triplets
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
W
allowa County’s very own
Imnaha rancher Gary Marks,
like many local ranchers is in
the midst of calving season.
Early on, Marks fi gured
his pregnant 4-year-old cow might be
having twins, considering how big she
was all winter.
But triplets? The thought never even
crossed his mind — even our most sea-
soned local ranchers catch a surprise
from time to time.
By 8 p.m. on March 23, the Charo-
lais-Angus cross had already given birth
to one calf. Sure enough, three hours
later there were two in the barn. When
Marks and his wife, Vicky, returned at
3 a.m. to check on the babies, they were
stunned to fi nd a third.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” said
Marks, 62, who runs a small family
ranch up the Imnaha River in Wallowa
County. “It’s never happened before to
me.”
Indeed, triplets are a rare occur-
rence in cattle. The odds are about 1
in 105,000, according to the Iowa Beef
Center at Iowa State University.
sense for habitat and aesthet-
ics. Honoring the Nez Perce
reverence for the site was
important. When complete,
the fi nancial contribution of
the easement purchase will
help retire the large majority
of the debt that investors and
Lake Wallowa Lodge LLC
incurred in purchasing the
Lodge, James Monteith, the
Lodge’s Managing Board
Member noted.
See Nez Perce, Page A9
Planning
commission
says it could do
some planning
of its own
By Steve Tool & Christian Ambroson
Wallowa County Chieftain
The Wallowa County Planning Com-
mission publicly revealed that it could
benefit from a little planning of its own
during its monthly meeting on March 26.
The meeting appeared to have little
direction. On the agenda was the vote to
ratify the reasoning behind the planning
commission’s Feb. 26 denial of the Joseph
Branch Trail Consortium’s conditional
land use permit for a trail accompanying
along the old rail line.
As the hearing commenced, Commis-
sion Chair Ramona Phillips said she would
do something “a little unusual.” Phillips
proceeded with a lengthy statement that
ultimately urged the commission either
to disapprove the prior findings, table or
reopen the record of the prior findings to
allow more testimony.
Phillips, who has admitted to owning
and managing land next to the tracks, in
an unchecked monologue said her con-
cerns lay not with what was included
in the findings, but rather what was not
included.
After listing a variety of concerns
from the prospective of some adjacent
land owners in a somewhat unorthodox
way of testifying for the record, Phillips
expressed concern over the lack of legal
counsel as well.
According to the chairperson, Planning
Director Franz Goeble advised Phillips
that county attorney, Paige Sully, would
recuse herself from the proceedings as
she was a former member of the Joseph
Branch Trail Consortium. Nevertheless,
the meeting proceeded without counsel.
Phillips continued to speak to questions
of liability issues on hunters or trail users
with hunting season on private property as
well as interactions with livestock.
See Planning Commission, Page A1
See Triplets, Page A9
Odds of cow
having triplets
RAILS WITH TRAILS PROJECTS
ALSO CONTROVERSIAL
ON WESTSIDE
1 in
105,000
Yamhill and Wallowa counties both
grapple with the thorny issue | A10
The perennial power of friendship
I
t was the summer of 2001 when my family
moved to Wallowa County. Undoubtedly
this would change my life forever. I was
prepared for that.
But how my life changed is astonishing
beyond comprehension. Approaching the situa-
tion, I knew that I had an uphill climb.
I was a quiet city kid from a family of art-
ists, now in rural Oregon. And I was shy and
self-conscious to boot. For the fi rst time in my
life I wondered if and how I would make any
friends.
It turns out I was lucky. After building up a
good deal of courage I gave football a chance
though I’d never played it before. Knew noth-
ing about it in fact. I pushed the limits of my
timidity. It didn’t seem to get me far.
But I’ll never forget the bus ride home—I
believe after playing Pilot Rock. Something
changed. The other students engaged me in
conversation. They welcomed me. In hindsight
I now know that it wasn’t moving from the
‘WE WILL TELL HIM OF
LANCE’S HUMOR AND
LOVE OF LIFE. WE WILL
REGALE HIM WITH STORIES
OF HIS STRENGTH AND
INTELLIGENCE.’
city to Wallowa County that would change my
life. It was the bus ride home that night.
Unbeknownst to me, a teammate, Lance
Strickland told everybody to give me a shot.
“Put yourself in his shoes,” were his exact
words… which I remember to this day. Lance
had one of those personalities that radiated
greatness. A quote from Thomas Merton comes
to mind whenever I think of Lance: “You are
certainly one of the joys of life for all who
have ever come within a mile of you.” That
was Lance.
And immediately I was surrounded by a
handful of ‘brothers’ that to this very day
remain my closest friends. Justin Bird, Kyle
Schoeningh, Ryan Barstad and Mikey Gam-
boa—just to name few. Like Lance, these men
stood by me and continue to stand with me
through pain. Through joy. Through Fear.
Lance left this world in 2005. And I speak
for all of us when I say that nothing on this
earth could fi ll that void in our broken hearts.
But together we moved forward, one slow step
at a time, piecing our lives back together just
as our friend would want.
I’m confi dent today that Lance, know-
ing my affection for Robert Kennedy, would
remind me of his words: “Tragedy is a tool
for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by
which to live.” Or perhaps he would remind
See Friendship, Page A9