OFF PAGE ONE
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, April 6, 2022
Death:
Continued from Page A1
According to a state-
ment March 31 by the OSP,
McDowell spent his career
at OSP as a member of the
Patrol Division, the Fish and
Wildlife Division and as a
K-9 handler working in the
John Day and La Grande
areas.
“He was respected by
all and especially those he
has worked so closely with
throughout the years,” the
statement said.
The State Medical Exam-
iner’s Offi ce has determined
the manner of death to be
a suicide. He was on duty
at the time of his death, the
statement said.
Fish said McDowell
has lived in Joseph “many
years” and has family in the
area.
Units
from
Enter-
prise Ambulance and the
Joseph Fire Department
also responded, as did three
Enterprise Police Depart-
ment offi cers, a total of three
WCSO units and three OSP
troopers. North College
Street between East Joseph
Avenue and East Williams
Dam:
Continued from Page A1
wait and make sure we have
our money before we get
started.”
He said the district board
has agreed to hold off spend-
ing until it actually receives
the lottery money and deter-
mines how to make up the
diff erence.
Seeking extra funding
Avenue was blocked to traf-
fi c while the investigation
was underway.
OSP Superintendent Terri
Davie issued a statement in
Fish’s release.
“Thank you to our part-
ner agencies for their assis-
tance, compassion and pro-
fessionalism during this
tragic time,” Davie said.
“Our heartfelt thoughts and
prayers go out to the fam-
ily, friends, coworkers and
responding
emergency
personnel.”
Davie activated OSP’s
Critical Incident Response
Team to provide peer sup-
port to other offi cers who
have been aff ected by the
tragedy.
“The OSP thanks the
members of the public and
the Wallowa Lake Dam
fi sh passage and the fi sh
passage for the Consoli-
dated Ditch. The Wallowa
County Soil and Water Con-
servation District shared
that they will be going after
some federal funds related
to a downstream project.
RS also brought the signa-
tories of the instream water
memorandum of agree-
ment together to get a pre-
sentation on updated costs
and design elements to the
Wallowa Lake Dam. It was
a sobering presentation
because the costs have risen
so signifi cantly in just a few
years and even with signifi -
cant federal funding oppor-
tunities, it will be hard to get
over the fi nish line. How-
ever, the group is still com-
mitted to working together
and fi nding the funding to
complete the project.”
The refurbishment of the
century-old dam is intended
to improve the spillways,
include a fi sh passage, add
more concrete for weight,
replace the fi ve conduit
gates with new ones and
to upgrade the electrical
and instrumentation.
McMillen declined to
comment April 4.
The fi sh passage is a cru-
cial element of the dam’s
new design. In fact, state
law requires the inclusion
of a satisfactory fi sh pas-
sage in the dam, accord-
ing to Jim Harbeck, fi eld
offi ce supervisor of the
Nez Perce Tribes Depart-
ment of Fisheries Resources
Management.
Jeff Yanke, a watershed
manager with the ODFW,
said in August it’s up to the
engineer to select a type of
passage.
“We’ve been talking
concepts and it’s up to them
to pick one,” he said.
The “volitional passage”
is often known as a fi sh
ladder.
Another option is the
“trap and haul” option that’s
a type of water elevator to
move the fi sh, Yanke said.
Fish passage
One of the major issues
in designing the dam is what
kind of fi sh passage there
will be.
Butterfi eld said no agree-
ment on that issue has been
arrived at by the stakehold-
ers yet.
According to a report in
the Aug. 31 Chieftain, it’s up
to the engineer, McMillen,
Jacobs and Associates of
Boise, Idaho, to determine
the type of fi sh passage that
will be included and to fi nal-
ize the plans for the dam.
Wallowa County native
Mort McMillen, the engi-
neer on the project, said at
the time a fi sh passage to
allow both upstream and
downstream migration of
fi sh is being worked into the
project. It will be determined
by the stakeholders based on
the plans his fi rm comes up
with.
“Everybody has their pref-
erences,” McMillen said. “We
haven’t arrived at the fi nal
selection. … We’re working
really good as a group.”
other public safety partners
for their support during this
diffi cult time,” Davie said in
a separate statement. “Law
Enforcement Offi cers have
some of the same struggles
as the rest of us and need
help too. Mental Health is
just as important as physical
health in Law Enforcement.
It has only been since 2018
that The Law Enforcement
Mental Health and Wellness
Act of 2017 was signed into
law recognizing that law
enforcement agencies need
and deserve support in their
ongoing eff orts to protect the
mental health and well-be-
ing of their employees.”
Assistance in the investi-
gation was provided by offi -
cers and investigators from
the EPD, the Pendleton
Police Department, OSP and
the Crime Lab.
The OSP statement urged
anyone who knows of some-
one struggling with mental
health to speak up, ask for
help or reach out to profes-
sionals. Resources available
to include the National Sui-
cide Prevention Lifeline that
provides 24/7, free and con-
fi dential support for people
in distress, prevention and
crisis resources at 800-273-
8255. Crisis Text Line is a
texting service for emotional
crisis support. Text HELLO
to 741741. It is free, avail-
able 24/7, and confi dential.
LANE ROUSE
lley
l for the Wallowa Va
Lane Rouse did it al eek’s road sweep of Vale.
st w
baseball team in la use had a combined six hits,
Ro
,
es
m
ga
o
er of a
In tw
ad single in the op 3, en and hit
he
-a
go
e
th
ng
di
clu
in
on by the Eagles, 8-
game eventually w the day — one in each game.
two home runs on d the last three innings of the
He also pitche
out five batters,
first game, striking in on the mound.
udly
Pro onsore d b y
to earn the w
Sp
OF
THE
“We’re going to still have
the conversation on what we
do with the gap,” Butter-
fi eld said. “Right now, we’re
brainstorming on where else
we could get money.”
The major stakehold-
ers of the dam include the
irrigation district, the Ore-
gon Department of Fish
and Wildlife, the Nez Perce
Tribe’s Department of
Fisheries Resources Man-
agement and the Confed-
erated Tribes of the Uma-
tilla Indian Reservation.
Minor stakeholders also
are involved, including the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice, which has jurisdiction
over bull trout; the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration; the Oregon
Department of Environmen-
tal Quality and others.
A spokeswoman for state
Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Ath-
ena, shed a little light on the
funding issue in an email
April 4 that the stakeholders
met in two separate meet-
ings last week.
“First, we brought the
larger stakeholder group
together to talk about prog-
ress on all projects within
the Wallowa Basin that
relate to fi sh passage or
irrigation effi ciency,” Ann
Rava of Hansell’s offi ce
said. “The Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife
announced that they will
be able to contribute $1.25
million toward design and
engineering work for both
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Oregon State Police troopers walk upto a Wallowa County Sheriff ’s Offi ce pickup Tuesday, March 29, 2022, as part of an
investigation into a shooting death at a residence along North College Street in Joseph.
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