REGION
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
A15
EOU grant to help prepare rural students for college
By ANDREW CUTLER
The Observer
LA GRANDE — A pro-
gram designed to help recruit
and retain rural students at
Eastern Oregon University is
getting a boost.
Oregon U.S. Sens. Ron
Wyden and Jeff Merkley
announced last week that
roughly $1.2 million in grant
money will go to Eastern to
power a new program called
Achieving Careers for Rural
Oregon Student Success, or
ACROSS. The program’s
goal is to increase outreach
to schools in the region and
provide courses that allow
students to earn credits for
high school and college at
the same time.
“Part of our case is, we’re
Oregon’s rural university,
this is what we do,” Tim
Seydel, Eastern’s vice pres-
ident of university advance-
ment. “We’re primed to do
this.”
Seydel said ideally, the
ACROSS program could
save students up to a full year
of tuition and get students
into the workforce quicker.
“It’ll expedite their col-
lege completion because they
would be able to come in as,
essentially, a sophomore if
they do it all,” he said. “And
then that, of course, that
means that can fast track
them into career pathways
within the workforce.”
Kathleen Brown, EOU’s
associate director of early
college initiatives, told Ore-
gon Public Broadcasting
that the funding will help
the university hire two col-
lege engagement special-
ists to support the ACROSS
program as it gets off the
ground. Brown said she and
the new hires will be able to
travel to schools throughout
the region to meet students
in person and talk to them
about EOU.
“We have some obvious
places where we get students.
We get people from Pendle-
ton. We get people from La
Grande High. We get peo-
ple from Baker,” Brown credits but be able to really
said. “But there are some focus and see what they can
small schools where
do so they can be
they’ve reached out
successful here.” But
to us, so, let’s go out
Brown said EOU is
there.”
still in the process
EOU will begin
of mapping out what
implementing
the
exactly those off er-
program in Octo-
ings will be.
ber, when it can offi -
“Diff erent things
Brown
cially access the
such as like econ
grant money. But
or music or what-
Brown told OPB
ever the major is —
that the university
grab one or two of
is already starting to
their really dynamic
do some work in the
classes and be able
meantime.
to allow students to
Part of preparing
take those here or
for the ACROSS pro-
online,” Brown said.
Insko
gram will be beefi ng
“You always have
up what Brown calls
classes that have a
“pre-college success
few extra spots in
courses.” She said
them, so why don’t
that means increas-
we allow our high
ing both online and
school students to go
in-person dual-credit
in those?”
off erings for rural
High school stu-
high school students.
dents who pass
Seydel
Brown said the
classes through those
idea is to provide
dual credit path-
off erings to help students ways could enter EOU with
“not just take random dual enough credits to be at soph-
omore standing, Brown said.
And for students who enroll
at EOU, a big focus will still
be making sure that students
are acclimated to college
and have the support they’re
used to coming from smaller
communities.
“One of the things that
we have is a bunch of stu-
dents will go somewhere and
it sounds great and they’re
taking these dual credits,
but then they come to a uni-
versity and it’s like, ‘Whoa,
I don’t have the exact same
supports that I had before
because I had my mom, and
I had my dad, and I had my
counselor and all my teach-
ers,’” Brown said.
At EOU, Brown says,
there’s a recognition that
rural students are coming
from tight-knit, small com-
munities and might have
diff erent experiences than
students from larger cities
around the state.
“We want to just basically
have this smooth transition
from all these loving people
that have put an inordinate
amount of time into you, and
this is going to be the next
group of people that do the
same thing,” she said. “So,
we want to be able to have
that same feel, and I think
that Eastern is primed for
that because we are a small
institution and we have small
classrooms.”
EOU President Tom
Insko said the grant funding
will help the school fulfi ll its
mission.
“EOU’s work as Ore-
gon’s Rural University will
be greatly enhanced through
this grant,” he said. “Our
strategic goal is to inten-
sify rural student recruit-
ment and outreach, and pro-
viding access and support for
educational and career path-
ways will help build and sus-
tain our communities. We
are grateful for the support
of Oregon’s U.S. senators.”
— Oregon Public Broad-
casting reporter Meerah
Powell contributed to this
report.
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest mining plan study released
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
The Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest is propos-
ing to approve 22 mining
operation plans along Pow-
der River tributaries south-
west of Baker City and near
Sumpter.
The Wallowa-Whitman
last week released a draft
environmental impact state-
ment (EIS) that’s been in the
works for about four years.
Some of the miners, how-
ever, have been waiting even
longer for their plans to be
approved.
The 224-page draft EIS
analyzes the potential envi-
ronmental eff ects from the
proposed mining operations
on the national forest.
Locations near Sumpter
include
claims
along
Cracker, McCully, Deer
and Lake creeks, and Buck
Gulch.
Several of the claims are
southwest of Baker City,
including ones along Blue
Canyon, French Gulch and
California Gulch. There is
one proposed mining oper-
ation along Salmon Creek
west of Baker City.
The proposed work
includes placer mining, suc-
tion dredging and, in four
places, underground (lode)
mining.
“I’m very, very pleased
that it is fi nally out,” Jan
Alexander of Unity, mineral
policies director for the East-
ern Oregon Mining Associ-
ation, said of the draft EIS.
“It’s been a long haul. I’m
very glad for the miners.
They waited an awfully long
time for this.”
The initial project started
around 2005 or 2006,
said Ray Lovisone, min-
erals coordinator for the
Wallowa-Whitman.
At some point, he said,
a previous forest offi cial
stopped work on the anal-
ysis of the proposed min-
ing plans. Lovisone said the
CLAIMS COVERED IN DRAFT EIS
A list of the mining plans covered in a draft environmental impact statement released last
week by the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest:
• AC, placer, 11 acres, Cracker Creek
• Amigo Mines, placer, 4 acres, Elk Creek
• Anchor 1/Old Crow/Peerless, placer, 20 acres, Elk Creek
• Bald Mountain Mine, lode and ponds, 1 acre, McCully
Creek
• Barbara 1, lode, 2 acres, Lake Creek
• Blue Jay, placer, 2 acres, Cracker Creek
• Buster 1, placer, 10 acres, Blue Canyon
• Buster 3, placer, 2 acres, Blue Canyon
• California Gulch, 5 acres, processing with hand tools,
possible suction dredging
• David No. 1, placer, 3.5 acres, Cracker Creek
• Dead Horse, placer, 9 acres, Buck Gulch
• Fine Gold, 3 acres, processing in existing pond,
work restarted soon after
he started work on the Wal-
lowa-Whitman in 2017, in
response to repeated requests
from miners.
He said a staffi ng short-
age on the forest forced offi -
cials to hire a contractor to
do much of the work on the
draft EIS, which is part of the
reason the process has taken
four years.
Alexander said many of
the miners whose operating
plans are included in the draft
EIS are members of the East-
ern Oregon Mining Associa-
tion, based in Baker City.
Although claim holders
can do minor exploration
on their claims without an
approved plan of operation,
they need such a plan to use
equipment to process ore,
even at a small scale, Alex-
ander said.
That means the release of
the draft EIS, with the poten-
tial for fi nal approval of the
22 operating plans, is signifi -
cant, she said.
Alexander, a former Wal-
lowa-Whitman
employee
who retired in 2001, said
all 22 of the proposed min-
ing operations are relatively
small scale projects, gener-
ally involving a few miners
who work their claims during
the spring and summer, often
Cracker Creek
• High Bar No. 1, placer, 22 acres, possible suction dredg-
ing, Cracker Creek
• J&J, placer, 1 acres, Blue Canyon
• Medic, placers, 5 acres, McCully Creek
• Native Spirit, placer, 3 acres, McCully Creek
• Pardners Group, placer/lode, 2 acres, Poker Gulch
of operation is included in
the draft EIS because the
owner plans to use ponds
that are on adjacent public
land as part of the mining.
The draft EIS includes
a 45-day public comment
period, as required by the
National Environmental Pol-
icy Act.
That federal law, which
dates to 1969, requires agen-
cies to study the potential
environmental eff ects of
projects on public land, such
as mining or logging, and
to give the public a chance
to comment about such
proposals.
The draft EIS and asso-
ciated documents, as well as
instructions on commenting,
are available at www.fs.usda.
gov/project/?project=45945.
• Return Placer Group, placer, 44 acres, Deer Creek
• Salmon Creek, placer, 1 acre
• Slow Poke, placer, 15 acres, Buck Gulch
• Struggler Lode and French Gulch, placer/lode, 12.5
acres, French Gulch
• Tough Luck Charley, placer, 11 acres, Bridge Creek west
of Auburn
only on weekends.
She said that in most
cases the mining proposed
would take place on less than
one acre each year.
“The amount of ground
disturbance we will see is
pretty insignifi cant,” Alexan-
der said.
None of the mining plans
involve the use of chemicals
to process ore, she said.
The claims are unpat-
ented, meaning the land
remains publicly owned,
with the claim holder having
the exclusive right to pros-
pecting and mining for min-
erals or precious metals.
One exception is the Bald
Mountain lode mine north-
west of Sumpter, which is a
patented claim, meaning it
was converted to private land
decades ago.
The Bald Mountain plan
We cannot appreciate this month’s
volunteer, Dee Peterson, enough. Her
weekly time supporting BHF staff with
their recycling needs has been truly
amazing! We love her positive attitude
and the important impact she is having on
our community and planet.
Thank you Dee!
Melanoma stands out.
Check your skin.
You could spot cancer.
DEE
PETERSON
Building Healthy Families
541-426-9411
oregonbhf.org
LEARN MORE AT
STARTSEEINGMELANOMA.COM
Early
Deadlines
for the July 6th
Edition
Space Reservation Deadline is June 30th at NOON
Copy Deadline is July 1st at 10 am.
All ads approved for print by NOON on July 5th
Chieftain office will be closed 7/4/22
in observance of the 4th of July
Here for you!
Lube & Oil along with Heaters and other HVAC Parts & Services
JAC’s Innovative Sales and Marketing Solutions
Contact Jennifer Cooney TODAY!
jacs.isms@gmail.com • 541-805-9630
not just propane!
East Hwy 82
Ed Staub & Sons Enterprise, OR 201
• 541-426-0320
Energy Community Service.