THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2021
Grants will help start
trail beside Elgin to
Joseph railroad
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — The
Joseph Branch Trail Consor-
tium, the nonprofi t working
to establish a 63-mile trail-
with-rails between Elgin
and Joseph in Northeastern
Oregon, announced Tuesday,
Nov. 9, it has received two
grants totaling more than
$272,000 that will fund
construction of the fi rst
trailhead and inaugural
trail segment, as well as
fi nal planning and design for
another 13-mile segment.
The trail has been in the
planning stages for about
10 years and will eventually
offer a nonmotorized alterna-
tive transportation route to
Highway 82 in the form of
a trail that will run beside
existing railroad tracks in
the railroad right-of-way
owned by the Wallowa Union
Railroad Authority. With one
end in Elgin, the other will
terminate 63 miles later in
Joseph.
City offi cials at each end
of the proposed trail are
eager to see it accomplished,
anticipating both economic
and health benefi ts. Elgin, at
1,700 population, currently
has no accessible trails from
downtown, according to a
press release announcing the
grants. Joseph, with roughly
1,000 people, also will benefi t
from the trail.
Interest at each end
As it turns out, Brock
Eckstein has an offi cial inter-
est at each end. He’s Elgin’s
city administrator and also
is interim city administrator
for Joseph.
“Our city staff, collaborat-
ing closely with the Joseph
Branch Trail Consortium
and WURA, are prepared to
lead and assist as needed to
ensure the project is a suc-
cess, because the potential
economic and health impacts
from this trail for our city,
community, and region will
be momentous,” said Eck-
stein of the benefi ts to Elgin.
“In the future, it’ll be
really great for Joseph,” he
added, lamenting the delays
in the project over acquiring
funding.
A board member of the
Wallowa Union Railroad
Authority, which owns the
right-of-way alongside the
tracks, Eckstein sees the
grants as a step forward in
solving the fi nancial woes of
the project.
“I’m really excited getting
two grants,” he said.
One grant, from Oregon
State Parks’ Recreational
Trails Program, will fund
construction of the trailhead,
which will also serve as a
pocket park for the city of
Elgin. The trailhead/pocket
park will be located on a
parcel of city-owned land
directly across from the train
depot in downtown Elgin.
Eckstein said there is a
“time cap” of December 2024
to get the fi rst 13 miles done.
“We’re just taking it piece
by piece until we get the
whole thing done,” he said.
In addition to trail infor-
mation, the trailhead/pocket
park will include an electric
vehicle and e-bike charging
station (the only one between
La Grande and Enterprise),
an Americans with Disabili-
ties Act-compliant parking
place, ADA-compliant
picnic tables, interpretive
signage about the area’s
earliest inhabitants and
more recent history, a bicycle
maintenance stand, a water
fountain and more, the press
release stated.
The Oregon State Parks
grant also will fund construc-
tion of the inaugural 0.6 mile
of the trail that will be an
BAKER CITY HERALD — A5
LOCAL
ning stages for many years
now,” Kleiner said. “This fund-
ing will establish a wonderful,
fully accessible community
asset for residents of Elgin
(and Joseph) to enjoy while
also generating an economic
boost for the city from visitors
stopping in town to hike or
bike out of town along the
Grande Ronde River on the
initial trail segment … or to
charge their electric vehicles.”
He said students enrolled
in Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity’s Sustainable Rural
Systems Program are helping
research and develop content
for the interpretive signage
and other components of the
project.
The project also will help
draw people to the Eagle Cap
Excursion Train, which runs
from the train depot in Elgin
up to Minam and back about
twice a week from late spring
through fall.
Previous small grants
from the Schwemm Family
Foundation and the Round-
house Foundation also will
support development of the
trailhead/pocket park.
Kleiner was enthusiastic
to get state support for the
trail project.
“It’s wonderful to see the
state of Oregon so supportive
of this trail, which will offer
Grants a perfect fi t
users of all abilities and ages
Kleiner, who joined the
consortium as its fi rst project a safe way to get out and
experience nature,” he said.
coordinator in March, fi nds
the grants a perfect fi t for the “And the interpretive signage
will help hikers, bikers and
project.
horseback riders learn about
“These two grants dove-
the local history and the in-
tail perfectly and will be a
catalyst for the larger project, digenous people who lived —
and still live — in this area.”
which has been in the plan-
ADA-compliant path run-
ning out of town along the
railroad tracks.
A second grant, from
the Oregon Department
of Transportation’s Trans-
portation Growth Manage-
ment program, will fund
development of a detailed
refi nement plan for the
13-mile segment of the trail
between Elgin and Looking-
glass in rural Union County
on the Grande Ronde River
near Palmer Junction. This
funding will also support
local outreach and education
about the trail.
Parts of the trail, near
trailheads located in towns,
will mostly be ADA-com-
pliant and made of hard-
packed gravel, said Gregg
Kleiner, project coordinator
for the consortium.
“The ADA-compliant
sections will accommodate
electric wheelchairs, and
E-bikes will be allowed on
other parts of the trail,”
Kleiner said in an email.
“Other parts of the trail will
be a more basic gravel trail
that can be used by hikers,
bicyclists and equestrians.
… We we hope it might be
used by local school athletes,
like cross country teams.”
Turkey and the trimmings
Samantha O’Conner/Baker City Herald
The Salvation Army continued its tradition of providing free turkey dinner
boxes at the Albertsons and Safeway parking lots on Tuesday morning,
Nov. 16. Holli Diamond, the Eastern Oregon Field and Service Center
director for The Salvation Army, said 180 dinner boxes were put together
with money donated through the Turkey Bucks program at the two grocery
stores. Customers could either round up their bill or choose an amount
to contribute. From left, Albertsons employees Michelle Fisher, Sarah Lee,
Annette Mauer as the Turkey Lady, and from The Salvation Army, James
Bobo and Diamond.
st
Adopted
or
Rescue
Pet
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t
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C photo contest
Submit your photos and be entered for your chance
to win a $30 gift certificate to a local
restaurant of your choice
View Rules and Prize information at
bakercityherald.com/pet_contest
NATIONAL RURAL HEALTH DAY
Thursday, November 18, 2021
Celebrating the Power of Rural Movement!
On November 18th, 2021, we are proud to support National Rural Health Day.
We hope that you will join us in recognizing and honoring those who work
every day to keep our community healthy.
With respect and appreciation,
Priscilla Lynn
President and Chief Nursing Officer
Saint Alphonsus Medical Center - Baker City