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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 2019)
A GLIMPSE OF FUTURE RIVALRIES JUNIOR HIGH EAGLE, COUGAR SQUADS BATTLE IT OUT WITH GRIT AND DETERMINATION | A9 Enterprise, Oregon 134th Year, No. 32 Wednesday, November 20, 2019 Wallowa.com Wallowa takes next step in school facilities assessment By Ellen Morris Bishop Wallowa County Chieftain In July, the Wallowa School District received a technical assis- tance program (TAP) grant to assess the condition of the elemen- tary school, high school, gymna- sium, and shop (block) building. On Monday evening, their consul- tants, Pivot Architecture of Eugene, presented preliminary fi ndings of needed and recommended work to the district’s school board. “The community is rightly proud of their schools,” said Pivot team member John Stapleton, “They view the school as the heart of this com- munity, and they want to make the school a place of excellence and a magnet for students and families.” Repairs and upgrades to school buildings, security systems, and other school facilities from kitch- ens to classrooms, identifi ed through TAP grants are eligi- ble for additional bond-matching grants of up to $4 million through the Oregon Department of Edu- cation’s Oregon School Capital Improvements (OSCIM) program, and another $2.5 million for a seis- mic upgrade for just one build- ing on a school district’s campus. “It’s a way to double your funds to preserve and improve the school’s buildings and functions,” said superintendent Jay Hummel. Pivot’s teams of mechanical and structural engineers, architects and other professionals spent sev- eral days evaluating the four main buildings in September. Their rec- ommendations at this meeting were not specifi c, but indicated which systems of the school were in most need of attention. All buildings are in need of seismic upgrades. Top recommendations for the elementary school included install- ing a standby generator or battery for use in an emergency, replacing worn fl ooring, painting the inte- rior, replacing the heating system, and improving ADA accessibil- ity. The high school building drew compliments from the Pivot archi- tects for its well-constructed brick exterior. But like the elementary school, the high school building is in need of upgrades and repairs, including a new heating system, new fl ooring, baseboards and ceil- ing tile, ADA accessibility compli- ance, and re-sealing the exterior of the building. To no-one’s surprise, the gym (Cougar Dome) could also use a new heating system, along with new lighting and a few other things, including some remodeling to make it ADA com- pliant. The building that appeared to need the most help is the shop, or block building. “It’s a building that houses a really superb shop and Ag program,” Stapleton said. “But it’s in tough shape. It’s sort of a high value program in a beat-up wrapper.” Among other problems, water is seeping into the build- ing’s walls, prompting a recom- mendation to reseal, and refl ash the building, and replace the doors See School, Page A7 FIRE CAMERA KEEPS EYE ON COUNTY Oregon Dept. Forestry A wildland fi re approaches a house near John Day in 2017. Governor’s wildfi re council releases report $4 billion in investment to help communities By Sam Stites Oregon Capital Bureau After revealing last month that it will take $4 billion to improve the state’s ability to respond to cata- strophic wildfi res, Gov. Kate Brown’s Council on Wild- fi re Response on Tuesday released recommendations on how the money should be spent. The 110-page report said the state should focus on cre- ating fi re-adapted communi- ties, restoring and maintain- ing resilient landscapes and effective wildfi re response. In Wallowa County, resi- dents of the Lostine River Canyon recently became certifi ed as a Firewise com- munity, one of the steps that is in tune with the report’s recommendations. The report contains 37 prioritized specifi c recom- mendations with short-term, mid-range and long-term solutions. The report notes that to create fi re-adapted communities, Oregon must leverage its land-use system to improve structural resil- iency to wildfi re, enhance defensible space surround- ing structures, and ensure adequate access and egress in the event of wildfi re events. Further, Oregon must ensure its electrical utili- ties implement best-practice risk mitigation strategies to reduce human-caused igni- tions. Emergency response, disaster recovery and health systems must modernize to fully consider wildfi re risks, particularly to Oregon’s most vulnerable communi- ties and populations. To restore and maintain resilient landscapes, the state must actively manage its forests and range lands, and prioritize treatments (thin- ning, prescribed burns, fuel removal) on 5.6 million acres of Oregon’s highest-risk nat- ural systems. The costs of such treatments are signifi - cant, estimated at $4 billion over 20 years, but warranted given the far-greater costs of inaction. Studies suggest the comprehensive costs of wildfi re (e.g., economic losses, lost taxes, damages to ecosystem services, destruc- tion of infrastructure, depre- ciated property values, etc.) on average, are 11 times greater than the immediate costs of fi refi ghting. With fi refi ghting costs exceeding $500 million during high- fi re seasons, comprehensive costs to Oregonians total several billion dollars – for a single year. Over a 20-year time span, comprehensive costs to Oregonians may easily total tens of billions of dollars. By investing in res- toration treatments, Oregon may avoid these costs while creating green jobs in rural Oregon. The council called for a new fi nancing system to pay for wildfi re suppression. “These are big costs, and they’re obviously big invest- ments, but the cost of inac- tion greatly exceeds the cost of action,” said Matt Donegan, council chair. The council presented its broad plan to Brown last month, outlining a need over 20 years for $4 bil- lion. At that time, Donegan explained that Oregon uses an antiquated model for fi re suppression and mitigation which was created for a state with a third of its current population and even less resources. See Wildfi re, Page A7 Courtesy of the Oregon Department of Forestry This close-up shows the high-defi nition fi re-detection camera mounted on a 110-foot tower atop Howard Butte that relays views showing smoke to the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center in Prineville. When smoke is seen, the center notifi es the appropriate crews to investigate. Howard Butte sends high-tech alerts when smoke detected By Bill Bradshaw Wallowa County Chieftain HOWARD BUTTE — Fire detection has come a long way in the 75 years since Smokey the Bear was fi rst created to remind us, “Only you can prevent forest fi res.” In fact, it now includes tech- nology almost unimaginable when Smokey was created in 1944. The fi rst Smokey was an imaginary bear for an ad campaign, but after an orphaned bear cub was found after a 1950 wildfi re in New Mexico, he was adopted by the USDA Forest Service to add life to the wildfi re prevention effort. In his original day, fi re look- out towers and public reports were the prime detection efforts. Today, alongside a wooden lookout tower built in 1946 on 4,319-foot-tall Howard Butte stands a 110-foot- tall metal tower topped by a 360-degree, high-defi nition cam- era. It gives a 20-mile view to detect smoke visible from its perch in western Wallowa County, said Matt Howard, unit forester for the Wal- lowa Unit of the Oregon Depart- ment of Forestry. The towers stand on 2 acres of land deeded to the ODF by what was then the Bowman-Hicks Lum- ber Co. for the purpose of establish- ing a lookout. Also there is com- munications equipment serving the ODF, state and county agen- cies powered by a line from Pacifi c Power and Light, Howard said. The ACTi i96 PTZ camera com- Bill Bradshaw Matt Howard, unit forester for the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Wallowa Unit, looks at a view transmitted from the fi re-detection camera on Howard Butte on a computer in his offi ce in Wallowa. pletes a full rotation in about 15 minutes. If smoke is detected, an alert is sent via a microwave sig- nal west to Mount Emily and down to La Grande, where the sig- nal is relayed to the Central Ore- gon Interagency Dispatch Center in Prineville. Once notifi ed of an alert, the center views the image sent by the camera and then contacts the appropriate response units to check it out. Howard said that since the cam- era was installed in July, there have been several alerts but all have proven to be legal burns. Although the state-of-the-art camera is the latest technology, it’s by no means a “silver bullet” and they won’t replace human eyes, he said. “We just like having it in our tool box of different tools” for detecting fi res, Howard said. That “tool box” includes a partnership the ODF has devel- oped with the U.S. Forest Service, Wallowa County and other state agencies. Paul Karvoski, fi re chief for the county and the city of Enterprise, works closely with the ODF and hopes to see additional cameras located in the county. “I can’t say enough about it,” he said on the one on Howard Butte. “I’d like to get three or four more in the county.” In particular, he’d like to see one established on Courtney Butte overlooking Troy, which was nearly destroyed by the Grizzly Fire in August 2015. Nathan Goodrich, U.S. Forest Service fi re management offi cer for the Wallowa Valley Ranger District of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest based in Joseph, said there are no such cameras in his area. Although there are lookout towers, See Fire Camera, Page A7
