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