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LOCAL Wallowa.com Wednesday, May 26, 2021 A17 Wallowa County Chieftain, File The East Moraine provides a commanding view of Wallowa Lake. The management plan for the public lands on the south end of Wallowa Lake’s East Moraine is one step closer to reality after the county commissioners approved two documents Wednesday, May 19, 2021. Commissioners OK documents for moraine plan Baseline report, governance document approved By BILL BRADSHAW Wallowa County Chieftain ENTERPRISE — Prog- ress continued toward devel- oping a management plan for the East Moraine above Wallowa Lake as the Wal- lowa County Board of Com- missioners approved a base- line documentation report and a governance document for the moraine Wednesday, May 19. The East Moraine is largely a 1,791-acre parcel acquired by Wallowa County in January 2020 from the Ronald C. Yanke Family Trust. More recently, another 33 acres were donated to the county by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, bringing the total to 1,824 acres. The northern end is mostly grassland, while the southern end is forested. The county is in the pro- cess of developing a man- agement plan for the moraine, along with partners in the eff ort. Eric Greenwell, a con- servation program manager with the Wallowa Land Trust — one of the chief partners — explained the report at last week’s meeting. “The Baseline Docu- mentation Report is a report that’s compiled by Wal- lowa Land Trust in consul- tation with a lot of diff erent professionals,” Greenwell said. “What it’s intended to do is document the base- line condition of the East Moraine at the time it was purchased. So it includes a lot of diff erent information about land use, land-use law and regulations, any struc- tures that were existing on the property. It takes a look at the habitat. There’s a list of plants and animals as an appendix to that document … and a lot of other diff erent things. It’s designed to cre- ate a comprehensive report on the condition of the prop- erty at the time of purchase and at the time that a con- servation easement would be conveyed to Wallowa Land Trust and the (Ore- gon) Department of Forestry. That is the intention of that document.” He said the profession- als involved in compiling the report included retired wildlife biologists who’ve worked for Oregon Depart- ment of Fish and Wild- life, foresters, silvicultur- ists, knowledge-bearers and cultural resource spe- cialists with the Nez Perce Tribe, county planners “and a whole array of planners and professions I’ve had the opportunity to work with.” The commissioners were impressed with the scope of the report. “I might add there’s a tre- mendous volume of work here, and we really appreci- ate it,” Commissioner Todd Nash said. “You dug in and did the hard work, so kudos to you. Good job.” Commissioner Susan Roberts agreed, noting the long-time eff ort involved in the documents. “We’ve seen this multiple times and we’ve provided input back and forth with Eric,” she said. Holding up the inch-thick report, she said, “It’s a big read; I think it should be required big reading.” Governance document As for the East Moraine Governance Document, it’s a more nuts-and-bolts part of the plan. “It’s a much shorter doc- ument that identifi es how we operate as a partnership,” Nash said. “It’s been ban- tered back and forth a num- ber of times and it’s to a spot where we think it’s ready for us here today.” Greenwell said the two documents are only part of the plan. The governance document is an essential part, he said. “The actual management plan is still being worked on by the various profession- als, but this would be the very beginning of the man- agement plan that puts into the concrete process of how management decisions are made with the county as the owners … and the profes- sionals on a management committee to help make decisions about the prop- erty to support the commis- sioners and have a property manager to help make sure the property is managed,” he said. “It’s a document that’ll be incorporated into the management plan to pro- vide structure for decision making.” The commissioners had some questions about the details of the fi nal plan, par- ticularly that it will ensure the “land (is) used the way it’s always been used,” Com- missioner John Hillock said. “That was our intention.” One concern — that of trail maintenance — was addressed by Franz Goebel, the county’s director of planning. He said fi rst, the county must adopt a master plan. Then comes the permit- ting process. “The county, in 1988, adopted a nonconforming uses article which allows the continuation of a use that’s been in place since prior to the adoption of that plan,” he said. “That’s what allows the county to continue the use regardless of ownership and also to repair or do anything to make it comply with cur- rent laws.” Possible changes Trails fall under that category. “Our stance on it is that trails that are a preexist- ing, nonconforming use which, by right, can con- tinue and be repaired and there can be work done on them to make them com- ply with current law, such as ADA (Americans with Dis- abilities Act) requirements, etc. These existed prior to the land-use rule. But there would need to be a minis- terial review for the repairs or the upgrades that would be legally required to allow access prior to doing the actual work. That’s my rec- ommendation for the coun- ty’s stance on how the pro- cess should work.” Goebel also addressed the possibility that a structure might be erected. “If we build a structure, like a ranger station, then we need to go through a pub- lic permitting process,” he said. “It depends on each zone, actually, so it depends on where the ranger sta- tion would be. But as far as any of the trails that have already been in place for so long, we don’t need to do anything. If we’re widening a trail for somebody who’s more mobile challenged or needs to drive somewhere or an approach to meet ADA requirements, then we’d get a zone permit for that.” Greenwell said the mas- ter plan should address such questions. “Diff erent zones are going to aff ect how you do work in diff erent areas,” he said. “So if there’s an exist- ing trail that you wanted to do work on, that might require a ministerial review you’d have to seek out with the Planning Department. If you do it in a diff erent zone — say, you wanted to make a new trail — that would BARGAINS OF THE MONTH ® be a diff erent process and it would depend on what zone you’re in to show you what process to take.” Mildred O’Callaghan, who created a wildlife over- lay for the management plan, expressed concerns about increased residential density and that the plan couldn’t be changed to address it once approved. Roberts assured her that there will be many oppor- tunities to make changes to the plan — including a pub- lic input process — prior to approval. She also said most parts of the plan are to be reviewed annually and the entire plan reviewed every 10 years. “Once the plan is com- pleted and we have approved it, it will go out for public comment before we adopt it — I just wanted to clear that up,” Roberts said. SAVE $ 7 While supplies last. 17.99 Kingsford® 2 pk. 20 lb. Charcoal Made with natural ingredients and real wood for a rich, smoky flavor. T 250 987 1 M-F 8AM-5:30PM • SAT 8AM-5PM • SUN 9AM-3PM Hurricane Creek Road Enterprise, Oregon 541-426-3116 Sale Ends 5/31/21 Honoring those who served! Coleman Oil Wallowa Cardlock is NOW OPEN • Conveniently Located • Accepting all Major Credit/Debit and CFN Cards • Easily Accessible for Semi trucks, Campers and RV’s • Non-Ethanol Premium • 24/7 Fueling 71051 HWY 82 Wallowa, OR 97885 888-799-2000 www.colemanoil.com EARLY ADVERTISING DEADLINE 12:00 PM - Thursday, May 27 The Chieftain office will be CLOSED Monday, May 31 for Memorial Day