LATEST UPDATES ON TUESDAY NIGHT’S
ELECTION AVAILABLE ONLINE AT
WALLOWA.COM
Due to the post offi ce being closed on Wednes-
day, Nov. 11 for Veterans Day, subscribers will receive
their copy of the Nov. 11 Chieftain on Nov. 12.
$1.50
THE WEEK
IN PHOTOS
THE BACK PAGE, A16
136th Year, No. 30
WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Wednesday, November 4, 2020
Wallowa
County
Voices
Lynne
Gross
Lostine
Hopes for peace
after election
LOSTINE — Lynne Gross occasion-
ally moves away from Wallowa County,
but keeps coming back, largely because
it’s home.
“I have been in the county since
1983. I come; I go for work. I just came
back in March.”
Gross has taught at Treasure Valley
Community College in Ontario and also
at Olympic College in Bremerton, Wash-
ington. She teaches computer drafting
and geographic information systems.
“I’ve retired three times, but it
doesn’t stick,” she said. “So, this is home.”
She’s raised four sons in the county,
who all graduated from Enterprise High
School. She also has two granddaugh-
ters and her youngest grandchild, a
grandson, is due to graduate this year
from Joseph Charter School.
She recently shared her thoughts on
living in Wallowa County.
What’s your favorite thing about
Wallowa County?
It’s family, it’s home. I’ve lived a lot of
places in the country and this is home. I
don’t know if I would be here if my family
wasn’t here — the cold sure gets to me.
Are you concerned about
catching COVID-19?
No. I think a lot of it’s hype. I don’t
think it’s a lot worse than a lot of other
things that have gone around. They’re
using it politically.
Are you glad to see a return of
winter?
I’m not too fond of tourists and I like
the fact that it’s mainly local people in
the winter. But the cold winters kind of
get to me anymore.
What are you hoping for after
Election Day?
What I really hope for is for the vio-
lence in the cities to end, one way or
another, either be stopped or voluntarily
stop. It’s more than protests; it’s rioting
and destruction.
What have you learned from
living in Wallowa County?
Be prepared. I lived in Imnaha for
over fi ve years, so make sure you have
alternative heat sources, food stocked
up and hobbies and things to do to keep
yourself busy in the winter months.
What’s your advice for people
who are thinking about moving
here?
Don’t move here unless you respect
rural values. Too many, from say Cali-
fornia and Portland, come and try to
change the county into what they just
came from. Just like any relationship, if
you are expecting the other person to
change to accommodate you, it doesn’t
work.
—Bill Bradshaw,
Wallowa County Chieftain
Ellen Morris Bishop/For the Wallowa County Chieftain
The new conservation easement will preserve the Wallowa River’s eastern channel and wetland areas from future development.
Closer to reality
Nez Perce Tribe
investment
critical for the
reintroduction
of sockeye
By ELLEN MORRIS BISHOP
For the Wallowa County Chieftain
W
ALLOWA LAKE — A long-
held dream of reintroducing
sockeye salmon to Wallowa
Lake is one step closer for the
Nez Perce Tribe.
On Thursday, Oct. 22, the tribe secured a
conservation easement on the 9.22 acres at the
head of the lake and along the Wallowa River
owned by Wallowa Lake Lodge, LLC. The
move guarantees that sockeye spawning and
rearing habitat will be ensured for posterity.
“The main reason we have wanted this
easement is for protection of the inlet for sock-
eye salmon and protecting the waters and the
habitat around that area expressly for sock-
eye reintroduction and for the fi sheries,” said
Shannon Wheeler, Nez Perce Tribal Executive
Committee chairman. “The other reason —
it’s a place that’s very meaningful to the tribe.”
The area is known to the Nez Perce as
Waakak’amkt, or “where the braided stream
disappears into the water,” Wheeler said.
The conservation easement covers all 9.22
acres of the lodge grounds. It maps out three
conservation zones, each of which occupy
about one-third of the property. One, around
the lodge and cabins, allows for expansion
of the lodge and cabins in areas that will not
impact habitat or old-growth trees.
Ellen Morris Bishop/For the Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa Lake Lodge, LLC, managing partner James Monteith and conservationist Rob Peterson
discuss the kinds of activities permitted on the lawn area according to the new conservation
easement.
The second zone includes the lodge’s
renowned lawn, shaded by old-growth trees,
and a small wetland to the east. This is desig-
nated open ground/habitat. Here, the easement
allows weddings, parties and general access
that will not negatively impact the habitat val-
ues of the site.
The third zone is the wild and wet west side
of the property. It includes the river, springs
and wetlands that provide spawning habitat.
This zone is designated as an aquatic habitat,
and will remain undeveloped.
The specifi cs will be spelled out in a man-
agement plan that is under development,
Wheeler said.
“For me, the easement’s everything
because it cements together both the reality of
buying the lodge and everybody’s hope that
the tribe would be able to protect the head of
the lake,” the lodge’s managing partner, James
Monteith, said.
The Nez Perce Tribe purchased the con-
servation easement for about $686,000,
which was less than the original appraisal of
$941,300. The funds will allow Wallowa Lake
Lodge, LLC, to retire most of the bridge-
loans from Craft3 Bank and the Bank of East-
ern Oregon that helped acquire the property
in 2016.
“That turned out to be the right amount for
See Nez Perce, Page A7
Feds announce fi nal rule to delist wolves in Lower 48 states
Move won’t have an impact in Wallowa
County, where the animal is already delisted
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
The Trump administration is mov-
ing forward with a controversial
decision to lift endangered species
protections for gray wolves across
the Lower 48 states.
Interior Secretary David Bern-
hardt made the announcement Thurs-
day, Oct. 29, at the Minnesota Valley
National Wildlife Refuge in Bloom-
ington, Minnesota.
“After more than 45 years as a
listed species, the gray wolf has
exceeded all conservation goals for
recovery,” Bernhardt said. “Today’s
announcement simply refl ects the
determination that this species is
neither a threatened nor endangered
species based on the specifi c factors
Congress has laid out in law.”
Western ranchers and agricultural
groups supported removing wolves
from the list of federally endangered
species.
Don Schiefelbein, vice president
of the National Cattlemen’s Beef
Association, said the decision was
the culmination of decades of work
by cattle producers and landown-
ers nationwide to protect habitat and
ensure wolf recovery was success-
ful — despite facing impacts to their
own livelihoods from wolves prey-
ing on livestock.
“The recovery and delisting of
the gray wolf is an outstanding vic-
See Wolves, Page A7
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Photo
A collared gray wolf is shown. The federal government on Thursday, Oct. 29,
2020, announced it is moving forward with a decision to lift endangered
species protections for the animal in the Lower 48, though the move won’t
impact Wallowa County as the gray wolf has been delisted for years.