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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (July 10, 2019)
A8 NEWS Wallowa County Chieftain Wednesday, July 10, 2019 Moraine: New ways for the public to contribute Continued from Page A1 That phone number belongs to the Wallowa Land Trust. They and their partners want to invite you to contribute any amount, large or small, to help the Wallowa Lake Moraines Partnership complete the purchase of the Yanke Prop- erty—1800 acres on the southern portion of the East Moraine and Mount How- ard. The partnership is a public/private non-profi t collaboration that includes the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners, Wal- lowa Resources, the Wal- lowa Land Trust, along with the Oregon Parks and Rec- reation Department. “The Land Trust and our partners have been focused on large contributions and grants to get the project started in the right direc- tion with the right momen- tum,” said Wallowa Land Trust Conservation Pro- gram Manager Eric Green- well. “But we invite every- one who loves the moraines and Wallowa County to sup- port this project at a level they can afford. This is a community effort. The property will belong to us all—to Wallowa County — and be managed both as a working landscape and for recreation. And we encour- age everyone to be part of its purchase.” In addition to contribut- ing through the moraincam- paign.org site, donors can also provide funds through the Ben Boswell Memo- rial Fund. “Ben’s fam- ily wanted to set up a fund that would support a wor- thy cause,” said Wallowa ABOUT THE EAST MORAINE Wallowa County Chieftain- The moraines of Wallowa Lake are among the most accessible and best preserved glacial moraine features of the Ice Age in North America. Their preservation from further development is critical to ongoing and future research about the Ice Age, and the geologic history of the Northwest. Wallowa Land Trust The Yanke property consists of 1800 acres on the East Moraine. Property is outlined in yellow. For years, the Yanke family has permitted hikers to go through their green gate and follow a roadway to the top of the moraine. Purchase of the property by the Moraines Partnership would ensure public access. HOW TO CONTRIBUTE TO SAVING THE EAST MORAINE’S YANKE PROPERTY How to help save the East Moraine’s Yanke Property: 1. Contribute any amount to the Campaign for the East Moraine: www.morainecampaign.org 2. Contribute any amount to the Ben Boswell Memorial Fund at Wallowa Resources: https://www.wallowaresourc- es.org/index.php/support-us/boswell 3. Send a check to the Wallowa Land Trust or call them with credi card information: The Wallowa Land Trust P.O. Box 516, South River Street, Enterprise Oregon 97828 541- 426-2042 4. Send a check made out to the Ben Boswell Memorial Fund to Wallowa Resources, 401 NE First Street, Suite A, Enterprise, Oregon 97828 541-426-8053. 5. Contact either of these organizations if you have questions about their role in the campaign and/or future management and public access to the moraine. Resources Executive Direc- tor Nils Christoffersen. “They asked us to determine what that might be and we all decided that saving the moraines would have been one of Ben’s highest prior- Do you have a passion to care for have older a adults Do you passion and to care for with older disabilities? adults and people people with disabilities? Care for adults in your home or as a separate business. Lisa Barlow, 541-889-7553 Ext 655 or Tony Boyd 541-963-7276 Ext 342 Adult Foster Home Licensors ities.” Boswell, a teacher at Joseph middle school, believed in optimizing use of local resources for the benefi t of the local econ- omy, and mixed uses of landscapes, including har- vest, grazing, recreation and education. Donations of any amount can be made to the Ben Boswell fund through Wallowa Resources Boswell Memorial Fund website: https://www.wallo- waresources.org/index.php/ support-us/boswell The Yanke Property, which sprawls across the top of the moraine and laps up onto the densely for- ested north slope of Mount Howard, is a critical compo- nent of protecting the East Moraine from development, and providing public access to the spectacular East Moraine landscape. But the Wallowa Lake Moraines Partnership has only until January 3, 2020 to raise the 6.5 million dollars to cover the purchase price as well as establishing a fund for plan- ning and perpetual manage- ment. If they cannot pay About 20,000 years ago, the area we know as Wal- lowa Lake was a mass of moving, grinding, groaning glacial that towered more than 100 feet above the barren gravel deposits that we know today as the moraines of Wallowa Lake.) A ‘moraine” is a deposit of gravels and large rocks known as “erratic” that have been eroded by glaciers and deposited as the ice moves or melts. The mo- raines along the sides of Wallowa Lake are “lateral” moraines. The lower mo- raines at the north end of the lake, including most of Iwetemlaykin Natural Area, are “terminal” moraines— gravels deposited at the front of the glacier as the ice there melted. Cosmogenic dates that tell how long a freshly polished rock has been exposed to the sun indicate that both the east and west moraines were barren pole of gravel in the final stages of formation about 19,000 years ago. The spectacu- lar moraines are among Ellen Morris Bishop Balsam root blooms in profusion on the East Moraine. the best-preserved and certainly most accessi- ble Late Pleistocene (Ice Age) glacial features in North America, and rank high on the scale of such features globally. They are important because of their aesthetics and habitat, and they also preserve geolog- ic records of Pleistocene glaciation and climates. To the east of the young, steep-sided East Moraine, the corrugated landscape includes older moraines that record the gradual erosion and unroofing of the Wallowa Mountains over perhaps the past 1.5 to 2 million years. The geologic history of this larger Ice Age landscape is currently a research project of the University of Oregon geology field camp. By ex- amining the rocks in these moraines, geologists can begin to craft a picture of what the Wallowa Moun- tains might have looked like 2 million years ago. The older moraines may also preserve pollen and other clues to past climate and vegetation. off the purchase price by 6.5 million dollar price tag needed, and time is short. that date, this prime part are funds so that Wallowa The partnership continues of the scenic and geologi- County can hire a manger to seek grants. And they are cally important east moraine for the property in perpetu- planning additional fund- risks development: up to 15 ity who will ensure that the raising events, including homes, a conference cen- fi nal management plan is a possible presentation in Portland later in the sum- ter and associated facilities, carried out. mer, said and a private Wa l l o w a dock. Public County Com- entry would ‘…IT’S THE SMALLER DONATIONS THAT missioner likely be FOSTER COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT John Hillock. barred. And “ W h a t ’s the moraines AND OWNERSHIP. THAT’S WHERE important to landscape THE HEART OF THE PROJECT LIES.’ the county as we know is that the it would be Wallowa Resources Executive Director Nils Christoff ersen moraines lost. remain a W h e n working the Partner- ship succeeds in purchas- Wallowa Resources landscape,” he said. “It’s a ing the land, ownership will would develop the man- place we can demonstrate transfer to Wallowa County. agement plan for sustain- how a working landscape The partnership is work- able timber harvest on the can support a community as ing together to establish a forested portion. The Wal- well as wildlife and habitat comprehensive manage- lowa Land Trust would help and recreation.” And once ment plan, with each mem- develop a plan for sustain- the Yanke property purchase ber contributing time and able grassland grazing and is complete, the county will expertise. Included in the management. They would establish several commit- also ensure compliance tees that provide oversight with the conservation ease- management of forestry, ment requirements. Oregon grazing, and recreation. “If Parks and Recreation would people want to get involved plan human recreational in one of those committees use. Wallowa County would once we acquire the land,” provide a manager, funded Hillock said, “that would be by the money raised to one great way to help.” “Every contribution, purchase and manage the moraine, to keep things run- no matter what the size, is important”, said Chris- ning smoothly. To date, Greenwell said, toffersen. “To help ensure the partnership has raised success, it’s important to almost $3.9 million, includ- capture large grants and ing a $3.6 million dollar funders. But it’s the smaller grant from the U.S. For- donations that foster com- est Service’s Forest Legacy munity engagement and Program. But that is only ownership. That’s where the about 60% of the amount heart of the project lies.” Chris Dunn, PhD Research Associate, College of Forestry Oregon State University Thurs, July 11 7 pm • FREE! Biological Impacts Series Preparing Ourselves for the New Wildfire Reality Dr. Christopher Dunn has spent eight years in fire suppression and fuels management prior to pursuing research on contemporary fire effects and ecosystem response to mixed severity fires. Today his research focuses on the safety and effectiveness of large fire management through collaborations with the Wildfire Risk Management Science Team of the Human Dimensions Program at the Rocky Mountain Research Station. This allows him to leverage his operational experience and research training to bridge the gap between science and management in an effort to better prepare land and fire managers for the changing fire environment. Natural History Discovery Center 508 N. Main • Joseph • 541-263-1663 • wallowology.org