LOCAL
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, July 14, 2021
A13
Commissioners receive fi re season update Local 4-H students
qualify for nationals
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — What
could be in store this fi re sea-
son — and how it is being
handled locally — carried
much of the discussion at the
Wallowa County Board of
Commissioners regular ses-
sion on Wednesday, July 7.
U.S. Forest Service staff
spoke with the board to pro-
vide a “check-in” for the cur-
rent season.
Already, two large fi res
have burned in Wallowa
County, with the Joseph Can-
yon and Dry Creek fi res in
June combining to scorch
about 9,200 acres. The con-
ditions for the months ahead
are not encouraging, either.
“We’re seeing really,
I would say, maybe not
unprecedented conditions,
but concerning conditions,”
Brian Anderson, the new dis-
trict ranger for the Wallowa
Mountains Offi ce, said.
He said resources, thus
far, have been able to han-
dle the fi res that have popped
up — not only the two in the
county’s Northeastern cor-
ner, but also ones that have
burned across the border
in Idaho, or in neighboring
counties.
“We’re being success-
ful attacking those one at a
time,” Anderson said. “The
concern is if we get more
than one at a time, and our
resources get stretched.
Nationally, the picture isn’t
much better. It’s kind of the
same across the West.”
If conditions worsen —
which is likely, considering
the July forecast calls for hot-
ter and drier weather — the
chances for worse fi res jump.
“It’s possible that as we get
(further) into July and August
we could have a shortage of
resources,” Anderson said.
“We could have a fi re situa-
tion that becomes demand-
ing, quite honestly.”
Anderson noted that the
USFS can allow fi res on its
land to burn to “play it’s nat-
ural role in a landscape.”
He said, however, that
the conditions and resources
Records:
Continued from Page A2
11:47 p.m. — 911 for
non-emergency near Wal-
lowa Lake.
JULY 10
7:00 a.m. — Residen-
tial burglary alarm set off in
Enterprise, false alarm.
8:14 a.m. — 911 call
reporting disturbance in rural
Lostine.
8:41 a.m. — Weapons
denial in Wallowa.
10:48 a.m.
—
Wel-
fare check requested in
Enterprise.
11:33 a.m. — Civil dispute
in Lostine.
12:02 p.m.
—
Suspi-
cious vehicle reported in
Enterprise.
3:08 p.m. — 911 call
requesting public assist in
Joseph.
3:34 p.m. — Report of
domestic disturbance in
Wallowa.
Bailey Vernam and Devin Schreiber
advance to competition in Kentucky
Chieftain staff
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Brian Anderson, U.S. Forest Service district ranger for the Wallowa Mountains Offi ce, answers
a question from the Board of Commissioners during regular session Wednesday, July 7, 2021.
may not allow that method to
be as readily considered.
“Allowing fi re to play
its role in a landscape, that
is something that the For-
est Service is interested in
doing, both in wilderness and
non-wilderness,” he said.
“For each fi re we get, we’ll
have that discussion, but my
gut feeling, my intuition, is
we’re going to be conserva-
tive this year because of the
conditions, because of the
resource availability.”
He added, though, that
the safety of fi refi ghters will
always be the fi rst item con-
sidered when discussing how
to handle a blaze.
“As I said before, we’re
interested in committing
responders only when they
can do so safely and have an
eff ective response in terms of
containing the fi re,” he said.
Commissioner Todd Nash
shared his concern about
what the conditions could be
in a month given that water is
lacking already.
“Normally in Wallowa
County historically, ranch-
ers don’t cut hay until after
the Fourth of July, because
June is so wet,” he said. “For
us, this is pretty historic. …
I can’t imagine what this is
going to look like in what is
historically our dry time in
August.
“It’s very concerning, very
concerning to everybody.”
Commissioner John Hill-
ock called out an area of mis-
management on the Cayuse
Flat, saying a decade-long
disallowance of grazing has
resulted in a “tremendous
fuel load” in the region. He
added that his pleas to offi -
cials with regard to the rule
— at the local and national
level — have fallen on deaf
ears.
“There’s 10 years worth
of grass up there, and I’m
not getting this call from the
ranchers as much as I am the
recreationists that have gone
up there for years, and they’re
calling me and saying, ‘This
place is going to burn, and
it’s going to burn hot,’” Hill-
ock said. “We need to use
cattle as a tool for fi re man-
agement. You guys won’t do
it and we need to get some-
thing done with that.”
“Being new I’m not 100%
to speed, but point taken,”
Anderson replied. “I under-
stand what you’re saying.”
Nash also pointed to a
lack of logging as part of his
concern.
“We have a way to go
before the county aligns with
the Forest Service on actual
(logging) goals, and right
now, you’re moving into an
area that doesn’t have aspira-
tional goals. There’s a lot of
complacency.”
5:41 p.m. — Follow-up
investigation
—
rural
Enterprise.
7:16 p.m. — Report of fi re
in rural Joseph.
8:08 p.m. — Civil dispute
in Enterprise.
8:21 p.m. — Agency assist
requested in Enterprise.
8:36 p.m. — 911 call for
non-emergency in rural
Joseph.
10:00 p.m. — 911 for
non-emergency in Joseph.
10:52 p.m. — Agency
assist in rural Enterprise.
11:31 p.m. — 911 request
for public assist in Enterprise.
hiker reported in Eagle Cap
Wilderness.
5:59 p.m. — Scam call
reported in Enterprise.
6:30 p.m. — Welfare check
request in Enterprise.
6:51 p.m. — Calf out in
rural Lostine.
9:38 p.m. — Noise com-
plaint in Joseph.
JULY 11
4:34 a.m. — 911 report of
suspicious person in Joseph.
9:28 a.m. — Civil dispute
reported in Enterprise.
10:56 a.m. — Found cell
phone reported in Wallowa
Lake.
10:59 a.m. — Civil dispute
reported in rural Enterprise.
1:28 p.m. — Public assist in
Enterprise.
5:02 p.m. — Overdue
Also
In other action, the board:
Approved the hiring of
three county employees —
including two to temporary
youth employment — as
well as the resignation of two
employees and the termina-
tion of one.
Approved a resolution for
reappointing members to the
Early Learning Hub.
Approved an agreement
between the county and state
for map maintenance for fi s-
cal year 2021-22.
Approved an easement
for Pacifi c Power to run an
underground wire diagonally
across Dunham Road north
of Enterprise.
Voted to approve a new
annual $6,000 fee for disas-
ter recovery of the county
data in the wake of a breach
or malware attack.
Voted to approve a res-
olution — one Commis-
sioner Susan Roberts said is
required by the county insur-
ance company — to extend
workers compensation cov-
erage to volunteers of the
Wallowa Lake County Ser-
vice District.
ENTERPRISE — Two
local 4-H students will get
an opportunity to represent
their county in the Blue-
grass State later this year.
Nine county 4-H mem-
bers took part in the 2021
4-H spring classic, which
was held virtually in May,
and of the group, Bailey
Vernam and Devin Sch-
reiber qualifi ed to compete
in the national 4-H contest,
which will be held in Ken-
tucky in the fall.
The two, along with
Chance Arbogast, made up
the local senior 4-H horse
delegation. They were
among more than 100 stu-
dents who competed state-
wide to show their ani-
mal-science knowledge.
Vernam took fi rst place
in Prepared Public Speak-
ing, and will compete in
public speaking in the fall.
Vernam and Schreiber also
joined with Deschutes
County members to form
a horse judging team, and
took fi rst place. Schreiber
will compete in nation-
als as part of Oregon’s
horse-judging team.
Contestants can only
compete in one event at
nationals.
Locally, there were sev-
eral other high placers.
Arbogast took second in
the individual presentation
contest. Vernam, individ-
ually, was second in horse
judging. Vernam was sixth
individually in horse bowl,
and the team took fourth.
Vernam also was part of
a third-place hippology
team.
The senior dog judg-
ing team of Vernam, Sch-
reiber and Dakota DeLyria
placed second, and Ver-
nam was fi rst from an indi-
vidual standpoint. That
trio, along with Pearce
Schnetzky, placed sec-
ond in the dog quiz bowl,
with Vernam taking third
individually,
DeLyria
fourth, Schreiber fi fth and
Schnetzky eighth.
Meanwhile,
Owyhee
Harguess, Tylee Evans and
Kaylee Eaves and Madisen
Benjamin took fourth as
a team in intermediate
dog judging. The team of
Eaves, Evans, Harguess
and Wyatt Suter placed
third in intermediate quiz
bowl, with Harguess taking
fi fth individually.
PDX Contemporary
Art coming to Lostine
Chieftain staff
LOSTINE — PDX
Contemporary Art is host-
ing a pop-up art gallery
show starting Friday, July
16, at the Lostine Tavern.
PDX Contemporary Art
is a Portland-based art gal-
lery founded in 1996.
The gallery, which will
feature 28 artists, will be
open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
daily, with the exception
of July 19, when it will be
closed.
The event winds down
July 26.
The Lostine Tavern
is currently closed, but
according to a press release
continues to host classes
and community events.
Mediums set to be on
display include prints,
paintings,
photographs,
ceramics, bronzes, books
and more, and will be for
sale, with a portion of the
proceeds being donated
to the Lostine basketball
court eff ort.
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