FROM PAGE ONE
Wallowa.com
Hero:
Continued from Page A1
Feather of Achievement
award by the Wallowa
County commissioners.
“We really appreciate
the above and beyond and
your willingness to hang in
there and keep a vital part
of Wallowa County oper-
ating at the 911 station
there,” Commissioner Todd
Nash said at the time. “You
gave up family time in a
time of trepidation where
you could’ve said, ‘It’s just
too dangerous and I’m not
coming in.’ But you kept
that operation going and
we really appreciate your
service and we want to rec-
ognize that. There’s a lot
of extra people who came
here today just to make
sure you are recognized for
your duties here, so thank
you very much.”
Wednesday, October 27, 2021
Local COVID-19 cases continue decline
Langerman said after
the presentation that four
of the six 911 dispatchers
were out sick with corona-
virus and it was just her and
Shaver keeping the opera-
tion going.
“We were working
12-hour shifts,” Langer-
man said.
The mother of three,
ages 3, 5 and 6, said that the
long shifts and shorthanded
situation lasted about two
weeks.
Chieftain staff
ENTERPRISE
—
COVID-19 cases dropped
again in Wallowa County.
From Oct. 19-25, the
Oregon Health Authority
reported 19 cases — three
on Oct. 19 and Oct. 21, six
on Oct. 20, and seven on
Oct. 25. There were no new
cases reported Oct. 22, but
the number of cases in the
Resources:
Continued from Page A1
He started with a history
of Wallowa Resources, doc-
umenting various achieve-
ments the group has made
over the past quarter-century.
In addition to those con-
tributions to the county,
contributions the group
has made or been a part of
include the Woodlands and
Watersheds Festival, the
Warm Hearts Warm Homes
project, a COVID-19 Busi-
ness Relief Fund, a Thanks-
giving dinner and Pub
Talks, which had been sus-
pended because of the pan-
demic, but Christoff ersen
said he hopes to see that
start up again.
He emphasized the
group’s threefold mission.
As Wallowa Resources’
website states, “Our mis-
sion is to empower rural
communities
to
cre-
ate strong economies and
healthy landscapes through
land stewardship, educa-
tion, and job creation.”
“The concept of a stew-
ardship economy is central
to who we are and what we
do and it’s centered on our
primary assets: the people
who live here and our nat-
ural resources, particularly
our working landscapes and
we invest in these connec-
tions,” Christoff ersen said.
“This diff ers from the stan-
dard responses to the loss
of large job providers like
the mills. In most places
when you lose a large job
provider, people work hard
to recruit some other large
industry or employer. Back
when I got here (in 1999),
I remember conversations
about whether we should
try to attract call centers,
service centers, it was even
aired — I don’t know how
seriously — but there were
discussions about whether
we should try to get a fed-
eral prison here. Everybody
was desperate to fi gure out
how to put people back to
work.
“It also diff ers from the
recreation or amenity econ-
omy because we believe
strongly that rural commu-
nities should and must be
part of land stewardship,
producing
high-quality
food, fi ber, building materi-
als, energy and maintaining
while we also maintain and
improve the quality of our
soils, water, forests and, of
course, our community.”
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Nils Christoff ersen, executive director of Wallowa Resources, gives an update on his
organization to the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners at its meeting Wednesday, Oct.
20, 2021.
and diff erences between the
county and the USDA For-
est Service on the amount
of harvest.
“We have this diver-
gence of opinion with the
Forest Service and the
county as far as goals and
the volume of timber com-
ing off the forest here is dis-
mal,” Commissioner Todd
Nash told Christoff ersen.
“When I hear their silvicul-
turist talk about his goal is
to get 5 million board feet
a year off and that isn’t our
goal. When I pipe in, I get
eye rolls from the Forest
Service and they say, ‘Oh,
there goes Todd again.’ We
need support in getting a
viable amount of timber
coming off this national
forest on a yearly basis that
is long-term sustainable for
operations and new invest-
ment and infrastructure and
for the health and well-be-
ing of our community and
our forests. We’re so far
from that.”
Nash said after the meet-
ing that with general for-
ests in the Wallowa District
of the Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest growing
at a rate of about 80 millon
board feet a year, a realis-
tic harvest would be 40-50
million board feet a year.
“That would be half of
what’s growing out there,”
he said.
He and Commissioner
John Hillock also talked
about vacant, closed allot-
ments that are not being
used for grazing land.
“I’ve knocked on that
door for a long time in the
same way and I just get eye
rolls, you know, ‘We’ve
got it on our schedule.’
they say,” Nash said.
While speaking highly
of the “heroic” eff orts of
the Forest Service and
other agencies in fi ghting
fi res, he and Hillock said
some of those same eff orts
should be employed ahead
of time to prevent fi res.
“I’ve seen what happens
when we have a fi re here in
our community, especially
early in the season, it’s a
heroic eff ort,” Nash said.
“They bring in resources
from every entity from
every place in the world
to make sure they get that
(fi re) knocked down. But
we never get that kind of
response to those things
that are here, slated, and
I’ve asked the Forest Ser-
vice, ‘Do something heroic.
Show me that you’re mak-
ing an eff ort.’ We’ve seen
them take NEPA (National
Environmental Policy Act)
writers from this forest and
assign them to other places,
county increased by 20, from
673 to 693.
Still, the number is trend-
ing in the right direction.
The county had 49 cases
from Oct. 5-11, and 21 from
Oct 12-18. For the month of
October, there have been 111
cases, going from 582 at the
end of September to the cur-
rent 693. The daily case total
for the month is down to 4.63
after being near seven per
day in early September.
The county is also likely
to fi nish the month with a
decrease in month-over-
month cases. There were
180 cases in August and 163
in September. October is on
pace to see about 143 cases.
There have been no new
deaths reported in Wallowa
County, with the number of
COVID-19 related deaths
staying at 12.
but we don’t see that eff ort
here. For me, we need help
from that because appar-
ently, I’ve lost all credi-
bility. They don’t want to
make any more eff ort than
what they’re doing right
now. That’s completely
unacceptable what they’re
doing right now. I’m fi t to
be tied on that level.”
Christoff ersen said he
and Wallowa Resources
agree with the commis-
sioners’ position on use of
timberlands.
“The forest plan needs
to speak to the needs on the
ground and set the goals
based on the needs on the
ground, not based on the
limits of the existing capac-
ity to manage public lands,”
he said. “We need to be
honest about what the land
needs in a management plan
and fi gure out how to get the
resources to do the work that
needs to be done rather than
set the bar very low because
we’ve got too few staff … to
do anything. Clearly, the res-
toration need far exceeds the
current level of activity.”
He noted that some of
Wallowa Resources’ work
already is addressing those
issues.
“Throughout our work,
whether it’s through the
Northern Blues Forest
Collaborative or the mes-
saging that is in the fi lm,
‘The West is Burning’ that
speaks specifi cally to this
issue or the work we do
with Rural Voices for Con-
servation Coalition, which
is pushing hard that all
of that heroic investment
that’s made in the face of
a fi re we shift back to do
up front to do the work
to avoid a future fi re risk.
We’re in complete agree-
ment on that,” he said.
The future
In addition to the recap
of what Wallowa Resources
has done, the commission-
ers also were eager to know
what the group’s future
plans are.
“My question would be
what’s your plan for the
next 25 years?” Hillock
asked.
“I’m motivated because
we’re doing good work,
we’ve got a good team and
we’re creating opportuni-
ties, but I would also say that
I’m not anywhere near satis-
fi ed,” Christoff ersen said.
“I’m not going to pat myself
on the back and think that
we’ve accomplished what
this organization hoped it
would accomplish 25 years
ago.”
He went on to elaborate
some of the group’s plans.
Hillock was pleased with
what he heard.
“I like that attitude. I just
want to add that I think you
guys have done a great job
and been a real benefi t to
the community,” he said.
“Your attitude about, ‘It’s
not enough’ that’s how we
as businessmen are. Even
though you’re at a certain
point, you always want to do
better. That’s a great attitude
to take rather than just say,
‘Status quo; we’re doing
OK.’ You guys have done a
great job … whether people
see it or not.”
Nash agreed, saying,
“Nils has a pretty special
skillset.”
BARGAINS
OF THE
Wallowa County
MONTH ®
FREE
Chess Club
While supplies last.
FINAL PRICE
2.99
No meeting until further notice
but look forward to seeing you soon!
9.99 SALE
PRICE
-7.00 MAIL-IN
REBATE*
PEAK®
Gal. 50/50 Antifreeze
Recommended for use in all cars and
light-duty trucks. Prediluted. No need to add
water. H 128 693 F6
Gal. Full Strength Concentrate
Antifreeze, 5.99 after $7 Mail-in
rebate* H 128 694 F6
*Limit 2 per offer. Consumer responsible for taxes.
M-F 8AM-5:30PM • SAT 8AM-5PM • SUN 9AM-3PM
Forest management
The issue of job losses
from past sawmill closures
prompted another discus-
sion with the commission-
ers: that of timber harvest
Black to play and win.
“Play golf for your body. Play chess for your mind.”
JOSEPHY CENTER FOR
THE ARTS AND CULTURE
A5
10/20 Solution
RXh4
Hurricane Creek Road
Enterprise, Oregon
541-426-3116
Sale Good Nov. 1st - 30th
403 Main Street Joseph, Oregon
Heating up the Holidays
E
Ed Staub & Sons
Energy Community Service.
201 East Hwy 82
Enterprise, OR • 541-426-0320
Not just propane!