OFF PAGE ONE
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, June 1, 2022
A7
Local superintendents react to Texas shooting ODFW extends
By JEFF BUDLONG
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA COUNTY
— An 18-year-old gun-
man killed 19 children and
two teachers Tuesday, May
24, at a Texas elementary
school after he barricaded
himself inside a single class-
room. Law enforcement offi -
cers eventually broke into the
classroom and killed the gun-
man, who used an AR-style
rifl e.
The tragic incident again
shined a light on mass shoot-
ings at schools in the U.S.,
and had Wallowa County
school
superintendents
reaching out to parents and
children to comfort them and
answer questions as best they
could.
Wallowa School District
Superintendent Tamera Jones
called the events in Texas
“tragic.” She met with staff
Wednesday morning, May
25, to discuss supporting stu-
dents and to reinforce proce-
dures in place to deal with
similar situations.
“We do have procedures
we practice with staff on
what to do in various emer-
gencies,” she said. “We
met (Wednesday) morn-
ing and talked some things
through, and I passed out
the new emergency proce-
dure manual.”
Jones said she had or a student enduring a panic
planned to pass out the man- attack.
ual — which covers every-
“The more teachers can
thing from a missing student feel comfortable making
to a chemical spill — in the those decisions in a moment
fall, but moved up
the better,” she said.
the plans as a result
Jones is in her sec-
of the shootings. The
ond year as superin-
shootings may have
tendent at Wallowa,
occurred in a diff er-
but has 21 years of
ent state, but the fear
administrative expe-
of copycat crimes is
rience. She brought
always present, she
with her numerous
Homan
said.
practices to prepare
Staff spent the rest
for a variety of emer-
of the week making
gency
situations.
sure they were pres-
Staff members have
ent for students and
a fl ipchart of emer-
listening to any con-
gency procedures to
cerns they may have
help prepare them for
had.
potentially danger-
Yearly
training
ous situations.
Jones
occurs for staff in the
Joseph
Charter
district and includes
School Superinten-
strategizing for various emer- dent Lance Homan said his
gencies. A lockdown drill staff has taken part in active-
also is practiced during the shooter training “ALICE.”
school year.
The program is divided into
“How do we avoid?” fi ve steps:
Jones said of the training.
• Alert
“Is it safer to lock down? Is
• Lockdown
it safer to hide? Or is it safer
• Inform
to fl ee?”
• Counter
Jones will email scenarios
• Evacuate
to staff members to get them
“We have a safe place
thinking about how they that we walk our students to
would deal with each situa- if something like that were
tion. That can include how to happen,” Homan said.
and where they would lock- “When we had a fi re three
down, how they would bar- years ago we used it to keep
ricade doors, and how they everyone safe.”
would manage cellphones
Homan said there has been
an emphasis in recent years
on having safety measures in
place to try to prevent issues
like shootings from happen-
ing. That includes visitor
check-in, cameras around the
entire perimeter of the school
and in hallways.
Both
superinten-
dents reached out to reas-
sure parents and communi-
ties through email or social
media. Enterprise School
District Superintendent Tom
Crane did not return multiple
calls for comment.
Although
staff
may
feel the burden of prepar-
ing for a variety of poten-
tial emergency situations,
Jones believes making them
as confi dent as possible is
important.
The district added a pre-
vention specialist to staff this
year in light of challenges
students of all ages are facing
as a result of the pandemic
and other stressors. Jones
said when children experi-
ence trauma in their lives pro-
active support is necessary to
allow learning to occur.
“It can happen anywhere
and we have to keep that in
mind,” Jones said. “When
something like the shootings
happens it makes us realize
the importance of relation-
ships with kids and commu-
nity. That has to continue to
be a priority for us.”
Tour:
Continued from Page A1
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
JOSEPH — The Ore-
gon Department of Fish
and Wildlife has extended
a kill permit for one wolf
from the Chesnimnus pack
in Wallowa County.
The original permit
was issued April 29 for
two wolves after ODFW
confi rmed the pack was
responsible for preying
on cattle twice between
April 25 and 27 on a public
grazing allotment north of
Joseph, resulting in three
dead calves.
Ranchers
in
East-
ern Oregon can request
a kill permit under the
state’s Wolf Conservation
and Management Plan if
ODFW confi rms two dep-
redations in nine months.
They must also be using
nonlethal deterrents and
remove all potential wolf
attractants to qualify.
An agent for the pro-
ducer, Tom Birkmaier,
legally shot one wolf under
the permit May 3. Since
then, ODFW stated there
has been one more “proba-
ble” depredation in the area
and wolf activity and risk
to livestock remains high.
According to ODFW’s
own investigations, biolo-
gists have confi rmed one
other depredation by the
Wenaha pack in Wallowa
County; three by the Cor-
nucopia pack and one by
the Keating pack in neigh-
boring Baker County; and
one by the Desolation pack
in Grant County.
“Evidence
indicates
wolves are testing cattle,
with cattle showing signs
of stress including break-
ing through a fence in
one incident,” the agency
reported.
ODFW extended Birk-
maier’s permit through
June 14 after it was set to
expire on May 24. It allows
him to shoot one additional
wolf to protect his cattle in
pastures where they graze.
“The producer continues
to use nonlethal measures
including moving their cat-
tle to a diff erent pasture
and increased human pres-
ence,” ODFW added.
Biologists say kill-
ing another Chesnimnus
wolf would not impact
the pack’s breeding suc-
cess. The Chesnimnus
pack numbers seven to
eight adult and yearling
wolves, and their breed-
ing female may still be
in the den. None of the
wolves have a working
GPS or radio collar.
Wallowa County
Top issues
Chief among those issues,
according to Nash and oth-
ers who attended, were wolf
depredation on livestock and
wildlife, drought, federal
forest issues, grazing allot-
ments and general predator
discussions.
Ron Weiss, president of
the Lane County group, was
impressed with the tour.
“That was probably one
of the best put-together ranch
tours I’ve been to in the past
25 years,” he said in a tele-
phone interview May 26.
Weiss said the issues that
struck him the most were
those surrounding wolves
and the ongoing drought.
“We feel you’re getting
run over the coals by the
wolf predation situation. …
You guys are really getting
(it) and we’ve got your back
as an association,” he said.
Lane County, he noted, is
well west of the north-south
dividing line that separates
federally protected wolves
from those in the east that
can be shot if caught harass-
ing cattle. He said there
are wolves in his area, but
they’re not yet going after
cattle.
“Right now, the wolves in
Lane County are diminish-
ing our elk herds,” he said.
“They haven’t gotten to our
cattle yet, but it’s just a mat-
ter of time.”
Weiss also was impressed
with how Wallowa County
ranchers are dealing with the
drought and “keeping fat cat-
tle” in its midst.
“We were impressed
with how you guys run your
ranches, especially under the
kill permit for one
Chesnimnus wolf
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Tourist and Players of all levels, WELCOME!
Mondays 3:30-5:30 PM
Todd Nash/Contributed Photo
Ranchers from Wallowa and Lane counties gathered for a tour of cattle country in Wallowa
County on Saturday, May 21, 2022. Here they stopped at the historic Dorrance barn. Steve
Dorrance, a former county resident and descendant of local ranchers, holds a photograph of
his family’s ranch at lower left.
drought conditions,” he said.
Kevin McCadden, one
of the vice presidents of the
Wallowa County Stockgrow-
ers, showed the group his
ranch on Alder Slope where
he raises breeding stock,
Gelbvieh-Angus cross Bal-
ancer bulls. According to
the Gelbvieh website, Gelb-
vieh and Balancer cattle are
well known throughout the
beef industry for their mater-
nal strengths and superior
growth.
going on in everybody’s
operation, not just our neck
of the woods,” he said. “As
we become more aware of
what everyone’s up against,
we can become a more uni-
fi ed organization.”
Neither
stockgrowers
group has yet decided if there
will be a reciprocal visit from
Wallowa County to Lane
County. But the possibility is
open.
“We can do that,” Weiss
said of hosting Wallowa
County in the future.
White to play and win.
“After School, and Before Monday Night Football.”
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Fostering unity
In addition to telling about
his own operation, McCad-
den was eager to hear from
the Lane County ranchers.
“It was interesting to listen
to them and hear about their
ranches where it’s pretty fl at
country,” he said. “We have
diff erent challenges.”
McCadden
said
he
believes the greatest bene-
fi t to the ranch tour was to
foster unity with producers
from across the state and bet-
ter understand the challenges
each faces.
“Now we have a bet-
ter understanding in what’s
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NEW EMPLOYMENT AVAILABLE
Wallowa Lake Tramway is announcing a new employment opportunity for young individuals
14 to 16 years old as culinary arts apprentices at Wallowa Lake Tramway’s Summit Grill.
The positions will be on the mountain top at the Wallowa Lake Summit Grill and introduce
the employee to a variety of skills pertinent to the culinary field. These skills are unbelievably
valuable in the future, as employees in the food service industry are very much in demand
and having these skills will put our trained apprentices in a great position to find
employment as they venture forward in their academic life.
All employees will be working under the rules of the Oregon Employment Department for this
age group and receive full wages and rewards. For more information and to discuss this
opportunity with Wallowa Lake Tramway, call 503-781-4321, or you can find more
information on WallowaLakeTramway.com under the Employment section online.
We are excited about this new program and
look forward to hearing from you.
We also have one lift attendant position open for immediate
employment for 14 to 16 years old or over. If that is more in line
with your interests, you can also call to discuss this opportunity.