A16
Wallowa County Chieftain
LOCAL/REGION
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Forest owners’ group revived
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
Private forest owners in
Baker County are reviving an
organization that helps mem-
bers better manage their tim-
ber ground, and this version
has expanded its geographic
boundaries considerably.
The newly constituted
Northeast Oregon chapter
of the Oregon Small Wood-
lands Association covers
four counties, said Jacob Put-
ney, extension forester for
the Oregon State University
Extension Service in Baker
and Grant counties.
Besides those two adjoin-
ing counties, the new chapter
includes members in Union
and Wallowa counties.
“We all share the Blue
Mountains, and although
there are diff erences, for the
most part the forest types are
somewhat similar,” Putney
said.
Baker County has a
lengthy history of having an
active local chapter of the
Oregon Small Woodlands
Association. The statewide
organization lobbies in the
Oregon Legislature on behalf
of its members and also off ers
advice for private forest own-
ers about how to manage
their properties.
Putney said the Baker
County chapter, which added
Grant County members when
the latter county’s chapter
dissolved in 2011, gradu-
ally cut back on its activities
around 2018, when his prede-
cessor, Bob Parker, retired.
Putney said he convened
a meeting of the local chapter
in early 2020, just before the
pandemic started.
This was not the best time
to try to restart the group.
Or any group, come to
that.
But more recently the
eff ort to reconstitute the
chapter has gained traction,
something Putney attributes
largely to Debi Lorence.
Lorence and her husband,
Walt, moved in January 2021
from Washington County,
where they raised Christmas
trees and were active in the
Small Woodlands Associa-
tion chapter there for about
fi ve years, to Halfway.
Debi Lorence is the pres-
ident for the new Northeast
Oregon chapter, which met
most recently on Thursday,
Sept. 2.
Although the Lorences’
17-acre property in Pine
Valley near Halfway didn’t
have a single tree when they
moved in, Debi said they
have planted a couple thou-
sand seedlings, including
ponderosa pines and tama-
racks, on 2 acres. The remain-
der of the property is growing
alfalfa.
Debi Lorence said she was
eager to become involved
with a local group of tree
owners, and potentially pass
on some of the knowledge
she had gained through her
participation in Washington
County’s Small Woodlands
Association chapter.
“It helped me as a young
tree grower to understand
everything I was getting
into,” she said.
When she learned that
the local chapter had mostly
gone dormant, Lorence said
she talked with residents who
had been involved with the
chapter about the prospects
of reviving the group.
“I just wanted to get it
going again,” she said with
a rueful chuckle. “And now
I’m the president.”
Putney said this is an
excellent time to encour-
age forest owners to join the
local chapter. He emphasized
the adjective “small” in small
woodlands.
“Even if you own an acre
of trees,” he said.
Lorence amplifi es Put-
ney’s point.
“You don’t have to own
a forest,” she said. “Even if
you have a tree on your prop-
erty and you like it and would
like to protect it, OSWA will
help.”
With wildfi res becoming
an increasingly widespread
threat to forests across the
West, both private and pub-
lic, Putney said it’s natural
that woodland owners would
be interested in learning how
they can protect their trees.
“Managing for reduc-
ing wildfi re risk is always a
major motivation for small
woodland owners,” Putney
said. “Having a place where
woodland owners can get
together and talk about the
challenges is benefi cial.”
Although expanding the
local chapter’s footprint to
include Union and Wallowa
counties will create some
logistical challenges in sched-
uling meetings — it’s a pretty
long drive from, say, Enter-
prise to John Day — Put-
ney said the chapter, as in the
past, will also strive to sched-
ule fi eld trips and other out-
door events where members
IN BRIEF
COVID-19 cases
slowing in county
The rate of COVID-19
cases in Wallowa County is
still high, but may be start-
ing to come down from its
peak in August.
The Oregon Health
Authority reported three
new cases of COVID-19 in
the county over the week-
end. That is on the heels of
nine cases on Friday, three
cases Thursday and two
Wednesday. The total now
in Wallowa County since the
start of the pandemic is 482.
The OHA in its Mon-
day report noted the num-
ber of hospitalizations is
down from its peak, though
still high. There were 1,075
patients in the hospital in
Oregon due to COVID-19 as
of Monday, and 274 in ICU.
The state reported 4,700
cases over the weekend and
surpassed 300,000 since the
start of the pandemic.
Council OKs new
agreement with
Enterprise airport
ENTERPRISE — A new
agreement with the Enter-
prise Municipal Airport was
approved during the Enter-
prise City Council’s meeting
Monday, Sept. 13, according
to a press release.
Councilor David Elliott,
who also serves on the Air-
port Committee, reviewed
changes within the Airport
Operating Agreement with
the council. Among those
changes are:
• An increased fuel sales
tax of 2 cents per gallon to
1.25% of all fuel sales.
• The removal of rodent/
Baker City Herald, File
Lyle Defrees stands on his family’s forested property in
Sumpter Valley, about 20 miles southwest of Baker City.
can gain practical knowledge.
Strolling through some-
body’s stand of ponderosa
pines, for instance, is inher-
ently more useful than sitting
at a table and talking about
those trees.
The Defrees Ranch in
Sumpter Valley, about 20
miles southwest of Baker
City, is likely to be a destina-
tion for a fi eld trip.
Dean Defrees, whose fam-
ily has been involved in the
Baker County chapter of the
Small Woodlands Associa-
tion for many years, said he’s
excited about Lorence and
Putney working to revive,
and expand, the chapter.
“I think it’s a very good
deal,” said Defrees, whose
family was named the Out-
standing Tree Farmers of the
Year for 2016 by the Ameri-
can Tree Farm System, out of
74,000 entries. “It’s good to
get things put back together
and rolling again.”
Defrees encourages all
KEY COVID-19
CASE DATES
Below are the reported
dates of key COVID-19
numbers in Wallowa
County dating back to
the start of the pandem-
ic. The county has report-
ed 482 cases since the
start of the pandemic,
with 180 of those coming
during August and 63
so far in September. The
amount of time between
the dates is also included.
First case: April 8, 2020
50th case: Oct. 30, 2020
(205 days)
100th case: Jan. 26, 2021
(88 days)
150th case: April 2, 2021
(66 days)
200th case: July 19, 2021
(108 days)
250th case: Aug. 5, 2021
(17 days)
300th case: Aug. 17,
2021 (12 days)
350th case: Aug. 24,
2021 (seven days)
400th case: Aug. 30,
2021 (six days)
450th case: Sept. 7, 2021
(eight days)
Source: Oregon Health Authority
varmint control as the city’s
responsibility from the
agreement.
• Removing the airport
vehicle from the agreement.
• Adding an annual man-
datory meeting and review
of the agreement.
In another matter, the
council was read an email
from the offi ce of state
Rep. Bobby Levy, R-Echo,
requesting a meeting with
the council to discuss certi-
fi cation requirements by the
private forest owners to con-
sider joining the chapter.
Lorence said fi eld trips
and similar events are integral
to the mission of the Small
Woodlands Association.
“It’s a hands-on organiza-
tion,” she said. “It’s not sup-
posed to be about a bunch of
meetings. It’s supposed to be
about participating and learn-
ing from each other. We want
people who have been doing
this a long time to share that
knowledge.”
Lorence also hopes to
spread the word in local
schools about the associa-
tion’s work.
“With the drought show-
ing no signs of ending, the
need is greater than ever for
knowledge, and for getting
the message out about how
important trees are,” she said.
More information about
the Small Woodlands Asso-
ciation is available by email-
ing Lorence at debilorence@
gmail.com or by phone at
541-604-1151.
state Department of Environ-
mental Quality, housing and
any other concerns the coun-
cil may have. City Adminis-
trator Lacey McQuead said
she would facilitate such a
meeting between Levy and
the council.
McQuead also said
she will facilitate a meet-
ing between the Terminal
Gravity Brewery and the
city’s Public Works Com-
mittee to fi nd a solution
for TG’s “extremely high
sewer equivalent dwelling
units,” the release stated.
As a result, Resolution 670,
which would deal with
sewer rates for the brewery,
was tabled until the Oct. 11
meeting.
In other matters, the
council:
• Approved a liquor
license application submit-
ted by the Red Rooster.
• Planned to hear a for-
mal recommendation from
the city’s Planning Com-
mission on the parameters
for either allowing or deny-
ing future vacation rentals
within the city. The recom-
mendation will come after
a public hearing scheduled
prior to the Oct. 11 council
meeting.
• Reviewed a Commu-
nity-Economic-Tourism
Related Activities grant
application from the Wal-
lowa Valley Community Ice
Rink. After McQuead read a
letter from Andie Lueders,
it was agreed the Motel Tax
Committee would review
the application and make a
recommendation during the
October meeting.
• Heard department
reports.
• Set the next council
meeting for 6:30 p.m. on
Oct. 11.
— Chieftain staff
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