Enterprise, Oregon
Wallowa.com
134th Year, No. 45
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
WHEAT FARMER FINALLY ABLE TO
MOVE
ON
Associated Press File
The Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River is
seen near Pomeroy, Wash.
Brown says to build
infrastructure, then
breach dams
Renewable power, water
and transport infrastructure
to be part of governor’s plan
By Ellen Morris Bishop
Wallowa County Chieftain
Unable to harvest, grower
gets settlement, can burn
Alder Slope farmer Erl McLaughlin holds some
stalks of wheat he was unable to harvest last fall
due to high moisture content. He’s waiting for
spring, at which time he’ll burn the crop prior to
planting this year’s grain.
Photos by Bill Bradshaw
By Bill Bradshaw
Wallowa County Chieftain
heat farmer Erl McLaughlin has fi nally gotten a settlement for his
unharvested crop, after fretting through the fall and early winter and
wondering what the next growing season will bring.
McLaughlin, who farms 550 acres on Alder Slope, was unable to
harvest 412 acres of dark northern spring wheat because of the high
moisture content caused by a wet fall.
W
In a letter widely interpreted as a clar-
ion call for the breaching of the four lower
Snake River dams, Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown called for improvements to support
communities, agriculture and renewable
power sources before removing the earthen
portions of the four Lower Snake River
dams.
“The science is
clear that remov-
‘…REMOVING
ing the earthen
THE EARTHEN
portions of the
four Lower Snake
PORTIONS
River Dams is the
most certain and
OF THE FOUR
robust
solution
LOWER SNAKE
to Snake River
salmon and steel-
RIVER DAMS
head recovery,”
the Feb. 11 let-
IS THE MOST
ter to Wash. Gov.
CERTAIN
Jay Inslee stated.
“This
option
AND ROBUST
reduces direct and
delayed mortality
SOLUTION TO
of wild and hatch-
SNAKE RIVER
ery salmon associ-
ated with the dam
SALMON AND
and reservoir pas-
STEELHEAD
sage and provides
the most resil-
RECOVERY.’
ience to climate
Gov. Brown, in a Feb.
change. …”
11 letter to Wash.
But she contin-
Gov. Jay Inslee
ued: “Much must
be done before
this is accom-
plished in order to help minimize and mit-
igate for potential harm to other sectors.”
Those tasks include “an affordable, nimble
power system …. Continued water supplies
for agriculture and municipalities; and effi -
cient, and affordable ways to get commod-
ities to market.”
Brown’s letter was written in response
to the recent draft report on public opinions
about the dams produced by Inslee’s offi ce.
Key public concerns in that report included
the need for infrastructure to transport large
volumes of grain to market, provide irriga-
tion and support for crop production, and to
replace the power generated by the dams.
It also expressed Oregon’s support for pro-
See Wheat, Page A7
See Dams, Page A7
Enterprise hopes to hire school resource offi cer
Building cop-
kid relationships
seen as critical
By Bill Bradshaw
Wallowa County Chieftain
The city of Enterprise is
in the process of applying
for grants that will help fund
a school resource offi cer
for the Enterprise School,
city Administrator/Recorder
Lacey McQuead told the
city council Monday, Feb.
10.
McQuead said she has
undertaken the application
process for the Community
Oriented Policing Services
(COPS) grant, specifi cally
for the Cops Hiring Pro-
gram (CHP), which helps
fund hiring of new offi cers
and rehiring offi cers. The
grant would provide 75% of
the entry level salary — with
benefi ts — for three years.
Police Chief Joel Fish said
he’s eager to be able to hire
a school resource offi cer. At
present, he performs some
of the tasks of a resource
offi cer, such as going to the
school and building relation-
ships with the kids.
“In the mornings, I go
and hold the doors for the
kids, but I don’t make it
every morning,” he said.
Fish said he learned of
the value of resource offi -
cers while working on his
master’s degree nearly 10
years ago.
“Kids seemed to trust a
resource offi cer. They see
counselors as more a part
of the school administra-
tion,” he said. “Sometimes
they’ll tell a cop things they
wouldn’t tell a counselor.”
He also cherishes his
opportunity to build rela-
tionships with the younger
kids. That is evident any
time he’s at the school, as
they come up to him and
tell him the latest news from
their worlds and even give
See School, Page A7
Bill Bradshaw
Enterprise Police Chief Joel Fish grins as he gets a hug from
6-year-old Joclin, a kindergartener at Enterprise Elementary
School during lunch Thursday, Feb. 13.