LOCAL
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, June 9, 2021
A3
Joseph resident gives commission an earful on moraine
Urged to submit
input for public
comment period
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — During
an otherwise quiet meeting
Wednesday, June 2, the Wal-
lowa County Board of Com-
missioners had to revisit the
documents they approved
May 19 when Joseph resi-
dent Mildred O’Callaghan
returned to express concerns
about what she envisions are
too many types of activities
to be allowed on the now-
county-owned East Moraine
above Wallowa Lake.
Last month, the commis-
sioners approved the East
Moraine Baseline Docu-
mentation Report and the
East Moraine Governance
Document, both of which
are steps toward establish-
ing a fi nal management plan
for the East Moraine. The
land 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 Rec-
reation Department, bring-
ing the total to 1,824 acres.
The northern end is mostly
grassland, while the south-
ern end is forested.
O’Callaghan said she
was concerned there would
be too many people doing
too many diff erent recre-
ational activities on the land
under the agreements.
“The last time I was here
(May 19), I was concerned
about the grant for the con-
servation easement and that
there must’ve been some
kind of mistake about allow-
ing too much recreation,”
she told the commission-
ers Wednesday. “In the legal
summary that you approved,
I felt like there could be
some amendments made
before you do the real con-
servation easement at a later
date.”
She said she didn’t
believe the documents the
commissioners
approved
went along with previously
approved plans for the land.
“In the 1980s when I was
here, the county (took mea-
sures) to protect that space
up there as open space
because I knew there was a
wildlife corridor,” she said.
She said a map was made
for the U.S. Forest Service
IN BRIEF
Exhibit looks at
Nez Perce treaties
JOSEPH — An exhibit
examining the treaties
between the United States
and Nez Perce Indians will
be held at the Josephy Cen-
ter for Arts and Culture
on Wednesday, June 23
through Monday, July 26.
The exhibit will include
work by tribal artists
exploring the treaties and
treaty language in two and
three dimensions.
Most people come to the
Nez Perce story through
the 1,200-plus mile fi ght-
ing retreat that is known as
the Nez Perce War of 1877.
The Treaty of 1855, which
established the Nez Perce
Reservation in the Oregon,
Idaho and Washington and
the Treaty of 1863, which
shrunk the reservation
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
The moraines above Wallowa Lake, as seen from the Wallowa
Lake Tram on Saturday, June 5, 2021. The West Moraine is
to the left and the East Moraine is to the right. The Wallowa
County Board of Commissioners heard concerns from a
resident Wednesday, June 2, over what she thought would be
too much human activity on the East Moraine.
to include in a baseline doc-
ument then.
“In ’96, again they got a
lot of people together like
you did to look at a baseline
document,” she said. “They
gathered people in ’96 and I
was there, too, and everyone
felt like they should identify
any individual resources on
the moraine itself, not just
on the open space to be pro-
tected. Again, the wildlife
was an important issue.”
“If I might, what would
you suggest?” Commis-
sioner Todd Nash asked her.
O’Callaghan said she
feared that, as written, the
current documents allow
for too much access for too
many activities, beyond the
traditional ones.
“When it comes to public
access in this document, you
said the public shall have a
perpetual right to access and
otherwise use the property
for the usual activities,” she
said. “I think you need to
specify some of those activ-
ities because I’m worried
about in winter, cross-coun-
try skiing, snowboarding
and especially mountain
biking — they make their
own trails. They come to a
place and say, ‘We want to
ride there.’ and they go on
down. I was hoping you
would have a defi nition of
what’s allowed.”
Nash said that what it
comes down to is that “wild-
life and people, they do mix
in a certain manner because
there are a number of deer
that linger in the cities — the
city of Enterprise, the city
of Joseph and, long term,
at Wallowa Lake — they
coexist fairly well, although
there’s some confl ict.”
Commissioner
Susan
Roberts emphasized that
the documents O’Callaghan
was looking at and reading
from were preliminary.
“This document you’re
looking at is the baseline, it
tells us what’s there today,
the day we signed,” Rob-
erts said. “It was a thorough
examination of the property
to delineate everything that’s
there so that in the future, the
committee makes decisions
about what they’re going to
do — if they’re going to do
anything, if they’re going to
make repairs or close trails
or close a certain road for a
period of time — they can
look at the baseline docu-
ment and know what was
there on the day that this
was fi nalized. All of these
things will be out for public
review, once the commis-
sioners have gone through
the process of approving
them.”
But O’Callaghan wasn’t
satisfi ed.
“But you have already
approved a legal summary
of it,” she said.
Roberts stressed that the
documents were approved
May 19, not adopted.
“I would hope you can
amend some of the things in
it,” O’Callaghan said.
“That’s the plan,” a frus-
trated Roberts said. “I think
you’re being obtuse on pur-
pose. Those documents will
go out for public review. At
that time, you can make all
your comments and points,
along with the rest of the
public.”
Roberts said she expects
the public comment period
lands by 90% to the current
Idaho reservation are well
documented in the history
books. Much less is writ-
ten about President U.S.
Grant’s executive order of
1873, which established a
reservation in the Wallowa
for Chief Joseph and his
band Walwama, the people
of Walawa.
This exhibit is a mere
sketchbook of the people
and ideas that made treaties
and reservation land prom-
ises the orders of the day
1855-1875, and then col-
lapsed into war in 1877.
off -loom weaving and sew-
ing pillowcases all are listed
on the school’s website at
www.fl oraschool.org.
Anyone with questions
should call 541-828-7010
or email fsec.education@
gmail.com.
Flora School Days
online were held June 1-5,
but are still available on the
school’s website at www.
fl oraschool.org or on You-
Tube. The classes feature
David Spurlock talking
about and showing how to
gather medicinal and food
plants from one’s own
backyard. Also included are
demonstrations on making
wood bowls, metal hinges,
silverware and using a
wood cookstove to make
galettes.
— Chieftain staff
Flora School
classes run
through October
FLORA — Free virtual
classes on the Flora School
website begin in July and go
through October, according
to a press release.
Classes include nine-
patch quilting, making and
using an in-ground forge,
will happen in late summer
and the completed plan will
be adopted by the end of the
year.
“We will be moving for-
ward at a pace that gets us
to the adoption point by the
end of the year,” she said.
But O’Callaghan still
wanted to get her points
across that there should be
only “low-impact” activities
so as not to disturb the wild-
life and to limit access. She
also didn’t like the idea of
making the public land “so
public.”
“You need to get human
density down up there,” she
said.
The
commissioners
encouraged her to submit
her input during the public
comment period, but no one
can expect to get everything
they want.
“You can’t be all things to
all people on 1,800 acres,”
Nash said. “You just can’t.”
In other matters at
Wednesday’s meeting, the
commissioners:
• Accepted resigna-
tion of Mackenzie Walters
from the county Planning
Department.
• Appointed Garrett
Lowe to the board of direc-
tors of the Wallowa Union
Railroad Authority.
• Approved liquor license
for a July 2-3 annual event
in Troy for Douglas With-
errite who runs the Wenaha
Bar and Grill in Troy.
• Approved an easement
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EASTERN OREGON
2021
PHOTO CONTEST
Offi cial Rules:
SPRING
TIME
FUN
and HVAC Parts & Service
Photo Contest open now and closes at
11:59 pm Sunday, June 20, 2021.
Staff will choose the top 10. The public can
vote online for People’s Choice from 12:01
am Monday, June 21 through 11:59 pm
Thursday, June 30.
Digital or scanned photos only, uploaded
to the online platform. No physical copies.
Only photographers from Oregon may
participate.
Ed Staub & Sons
Energy Community Service.
201 East Hwy 82 Enterprise, OR 97828
541-426-0320
The contest subject matter is wide open but
we’re looking for images that capture life
in Eastern Oregon.
Not just
propane
permit for Andy Munsey,
who wants to put sewer line
on Golf Course Road just
outside of Enterprise.
• Approved an easement
permit for John Harris, who
is putting driveway at house
being built on Lake Shore
Drive near Wallowa Lake.
Submit all photos
online at:
Entrants may crop, tone, adjust saturation
and make minor enhancements, but may
not add or remove objects within the
frame, or doctor images such that the fi nal
product doesn’t represent what’s actually
before the camera.
The winners will appear in the July 8th
edition of Go Magazine; the top 25 will
appear online.
Gift cards to a restaurant of your choice
will be awarded for fi rst, second and third
place.
wallowacountychieftain.com/photocontest