BUSINESS & AG LIFE
B2 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2022
Wallowa County open for business
Business
groups positive
about coming
tourism season
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA COUNTY
— As the tourism season
begins with Memorial
Day weekend, Wallowa
County is all set to rebound
from the hindrances of the
COVID-19 pandemic that
put a dent in it over the past
couple of years.
Representatives of busi-
ness organizations in the
county expressed optimism
that the coming season will
be profi table and active.
“It’s looking to be a
very busy tourist season,”
said Jennifer Piper, execu-
tive director of the Wallowa
County Chamber of Com-
merce. “This area continues
to be a popular destination
for people to get away.”
Jude Graham, interim
president of the Joseph
Chamber of Commerce,
agreed.
“All the signs are we’re
going to have a great
summer,” she said.
Mike Lockhart, presi-
dent of the Wallowa Lake
Tourism Association, also
was onboard.
“It’s looking very good,”
he said.
While some events
were canceled because of
the pandemic, the tourism
industry managed to sur-
vive and even thrive.
Piper said during both
pandemic years, which
also were plagued by the
fi re seasons that coincided,
lodging data showed the
volume was considerable.
“They were two of the
strongest tourist seasons
Wallowa County has ever
had,” she said. “They were
two of the strongest years
for demand we’ve ever seen
in Wallowa County.”
Wallowa County Chieftain, File
Chief Joseph Days Rodeo Queens, from left, Brianna Micka, Destiny Wecks and Casidee Harrod, wave to the crowd on Saturday, July 31, 2021, during the CJD Grand Parade in
Joseph. Chief Joseph Days is always held the last full weekend in July.
county was plagued with
smoke from fi res across
the state. Last year was
hot, with a major fi re in the
northern end of the county.
Graham was all about
good weather in her
prognostication.
“It’s going to be won-
derful and there’ll be sun-
shine and blue skies soon,”
she said. “It’ll be a great
summer.”
Piper, too, was positive
in her outlook.
“My take, my perspec-
tive is very positive,” she
said. “I’m hopeful for
good weather conditions,
as well.”
Meeting the demand
Hotel bookings
One of the signs the
season will be strong is that
reservations for rooms are
fi lling up.
“From my conversations
with the accommodation
people, they’re getting good
bookings and fi lling up
pretty well,” Lockhart said.
“I think we’re going
to get back to our normal
tourist season,” Graham
said. “The motels say
they’re booking up for the
car shows and Chief Joseph
Days weekends.”
She was referring to
Main Street Show & Shine
in Enterprise set for Aug.
19-20 and the Joseph-based
Wallowa Mountain Cruise
scheduled for Aug. 26-27.
Chief Joseph Days is always
the last full weekend in July.
Wallowa County Chieftain, File
Quail Run Ranch gets the job done in ranch team roping during the 2021 Chief Joseph Days Ranch Rodeo on Saturday, July 3, 2021. It’s one of
the many events Wallowa County holds each summer to excite locals and draw tourists.
“There’s a greater demand in the tourism market. Meeting that demand, there
defi nitely are some challenges in the hospitality workforce.”
Jennifer Piper, executive director of the Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce
Graham said she’s
hoping to see a bigger
turnout for Chief Joseph
Days. The rodeo runs from
July 26-30, but there are
added events such as the
parade July 30 and the
cowboy church and break-
fast at the Harley Tucker
Arena the day after the
rodeo ends.
She said the chamber has
FARMS
Continued from Page B1
The general concept is that a
farmer or rancher whose property
is under threat — for example, on
the brink of being pulled into an
urban growth boundary for devel-
opment — could potentially benefi t
from putting acres into a long-term
working land easement instead of
selling to a developer, allowing the
farmer to benefi t fi nancially while
keeping the land in agriculture. It
also makes it easier for a farmer to
retire and pass on farmland to the
next generation.
been attracting vendors from
out of the area, but she hopes
to see more locals there.
“We’d love to have some
more local vendors sign
up,” she said. “It would
be nice to get some local
people signed up for that.”
But those are just a few
of the major events of the
summer — others also
are planned.
The federal dollars will fund
projects within the state’s Agri-
cultural Conservation Easement
Program-Agricultural Land Ease-
ments, or ACEP-ALE.
The increase in funding from
USDA’s Natural Resources Con-
servation Service to ACEP-ALE
this year is huge, land experts say.
The agency upped its funding
by 1,100%, from $590,060 to
$6,765,000.
Kelley Beamer, execu-
tive director of the Coalition of
Oregon Land Trusts, called the
spike in funding a “momentous
investment.”
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Graham mentioned a
bike rally planned for June
in Joseph. Put on by a pri-
vate group, she said, it also
is expected to draw tourists.
“They’ll be roaming
around town for a couple of
days,” she said.
One event hit particu-
larly hard by the pandemic
was Hells Canyon Mule
Days. For the most part, it
Agricultural Trust, said the
increase in funding will be “an
incredible boon” to rural and
farming economies. Working
land easements are a useful tool
for landowners but are expensive
to set up, she said, and this pool
of funding will help with costs.
The funds come from the last
farm bill, which Congress passed
in 2018.
According to land experts,
Oregon got more federal dollars
this year for working land ease-
ments because NRCS Oregon
requested additional funds
when faced with high demand
from landowners. The pro-
was canceled the past two
years, but it’s back on this
year, Sept. 9-11, at the Wal-
lowa County Fairgrounds in
Enterprise.
The weather
Of course, one variable
that could either throw a
wrench into the works or
be a strong benefi t is the
weather. Two years ago, the
gram received a record-breaking
number of proposals for fi scal
year 2022.
“The interest we’ve seen in
the Agricultural Land Ease-
ments program so far this year
refl ects the growing number of
landowners who want to pro-
tect their agricultural land for
generations to come,” said Ron
Alvarado, NRCS Oregon state
conservationist.
The increased federal invest-
ment was also likely tied to the
newly funded Oregon Agricul-
tural Heritage Program, designed
to match the federal ACEP-ALE
program. The Oregon Agricul-
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Businesses always
have to step up to meet
the demand of the thou-
sands of visitors who
swarm the county during
tourist season.
“There’s a greater
demand in the tourism
market,” Piper said.
“Meeting that demand,
there defi nitely are some
challenges in the hospitality
workforce.”
She said fi lling jobs is
hardly unique to Wallowa
County.
“Some of the repercus-
sions we’re seeing from
COVID are in the work-
force sector with seasonal
positions,” she said.
Still, everyone was gen-
erally positive in their
outlook.
“The lake is very much
in demand and they’re
fi lling up pretty well,”
Lockhart said, adding that
both chambers have done
a strong job marketing the
county. “I’m pretty posi-
tive about the way things
are going.”
tural Heritage Program received
$5 million from the state Legisla-
ture this year, allowing the state
to match federal dollars.
The $6.7 million will help
eight Oregon landowners in 2022
protect 14,917 acres of farms and
ranches across the state. Although
USDA has not yet released the
landowners’ names, McAdams
said they come from around the
state: from Clatsop County on
the North Coast to South-Central
Oregon’s Lake County.
McAdams said she hopes to
see more funding for working
land conservation easements in
the 2023 farm bill.
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