BESSIE WETZELL
U OF ORE
NEWSPAPER L J 3
EUGENE OR 97403
The Heppner
Meeting canceled
Due to weather conditions, the meeting
scheduled for tonight with members of the
Northwest Medical Foundation has been
cancelled. NWMF officials were to have
explain the draft report conducted recently
for Pioneer Memorial Hospital.
nTTTTTC
MYLUCr
Morrow County's Award-Winning Weekly Newspaper
VOL. 97 NO. 2
HEPPNER, OREGON
THURSDAY, JAN. 11, 1979
TWO SECTIONS 14 PAGES
20 cents
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No wilderness areas proposed
for Heppner District of forest
No areas in the Heppner
District of the Umatilla Nat
ional Forest have been recom
mended for wilderness status,
according to an announce
ment last week by U.S.
Secretary of Agriculture Bob
Bergland.
Under the RARE II land
management planning pro
cess, six areas in the Heppner
District were designated
potential wilderness areas.
The six areas Texas Butte,
14,039 acres; Kelly Prairie,
9,500 acres; Skookum, 11,229
acres; Potamus, 5,197 acres;
Baloney Basin, 4,489 acres,
and Hells Half Acre, 2,975
acres had been proposed for
possible wilderness status
during an 18-month review
and evaluation period.
None of the six areas were
listed among Forest Service
land tracts recommended for
wilderness status by Bergland
last week.
Nationwide, Bergland
recommended wilderness des
ignations ,for more than 15
million acres of National
Forest land. About 370,000
acres of that land lies in
Oregon, mostly in the south
western portion of the state.
Set aside for further planning
in Oregon were nearly 400,000
additional acres none of
them in the Umatilla National
Forest.
The largest wilderness area
in Oregon recommended by
Bergstrom is the Sky Lakes
unit, totaling more than
116,000 acres just south of
Crater Lake National Park.
Only one area the 34,000 acre
lower Minam area in the
Wallowa-Whitman National
Forest has been proposed for
Northeastern Oregon.
In February of last year,
wilderness status was granted
II.,,, .-'
- Outgoing Chamber of Commerce President Don Cole accepts a ''plaque of appreciation" from
1979 151,651(16111 Ernie McCabe. Looking on are Bill Kuhn (far left), first vice-president Dave
Dollarhide (far right) . The new officers were installed at the chamber's noon luncheon Monday at
the West of Willow Restaurant.
to the 180,088 Wenaha
Tucannon area in the Umatilla
National Forest, straddling
the Oregon-Washington
border northeast of Pendleton.
More than 500,000 acres in
Northeastern Oregon current
ly hold wilderness status, in
the Eagle Cap, Hells Canyon,
Wenaha-Tucannon and Straw
berry Mountain units.
The decision not to include
the six Heppner District
RARE II proposal areas in the
wilderness package shows
that "The concerns of the
community here have been
properly met," commented
Allen Nistad of the Kinzua
Corp., a major purchaser of
Umatilla National Forest tim
ber. Under a proposed Hep
pner unit Land Use Plan,
"unique areas can still be
preserved," and the require
ments of "recreation, timber
and livestock can be kept
under constant review,"
rather than locked into a no
management situation under
wilderness status, Nistad said.
"It's my personal view that
there are unique alpine areas
that require wilderness
status," Nistad stated. But, he
noted, the Heppner District,
under the proposed manage
ment plan, would be able to
maintain stands of old growth
timber, preserve scenic belts,
and curtail timber harvesting
along streams.
Beryl Stillman of Heppner,
project manager for the Elk
Foundation Assn., and an
outspoken advocate of includ
ing Heppner District land in
the wilderness program, said
he was "disappointed" that no
local units were included in
Bergland's package. "But I'm
(not really surprised," he
admitted. The six Heppner
District sites "are not that big
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and not widely known."
The effort to keep the six
Heppner District sites free of
development will continue,
Stillman said. "We're not done
yet."
The Heppner Land Use Plan
is in the public comment
stage, with public comments
on the proposal slated to be
taken no later than Feb. 19.
Copies of the report are
available at the Heppner
District office.
In announcing his RARE II
wilderness proposals, Berg
land noted that during the next
45 days he will seek the
counsel of Congressmen and
Governors. "After this time, I
will make my legislative
Scott McEwen
nominated for
Air Force Academy
Heppner High School student Scott McEwen is one of ten
young men and women to be nominated by Congressman Al
Ullman for appointment to the Air Force Academy.
The nomination was announced late last week by
Ullman's office.
McEwen, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Donald McEwen of
Heppner, is an Eagle Scout, a varsity football and baseball
player, a high school Honor Society member, and has served
as president of the school's backpacking and Spanish clubs.
Final selection for admission to the Air Force Academy
is based on the Academy's academic and physical
examinations. McEwen said he will not know until early
spring whether or not he has been accepted to the Colorado
Springs, Colo., academy.
Ullman's nominations were based on scholastic
achievement, athletic involvement, leadership qualities and
extracurricular activities.
recommendations final and
send them to President
Carter. I expect that shortly
afterwards the President will
transmit the wilderness prop
osals to the 96th Congress with
his recommendation that
these areas be designated as
wilderness," he said.
Roadless areas that failed to
be included in Bergland's
wilderness package
including the six Heppner
District areas will receive no
action until 90 days after
Congress is in session," Berg
land said. After that, these
areas will be managed for
multiple resource uses other
than wilderness.
Vote set for April 3
B
iidff et for Morrow schools
may increase
A proposed budget calling
for a 22 per cent increase in
expenditures by the Morrow
County scrfool system during
the coming fiscal year was
outlined Monday in a budget
address by County School
Superintendent Matt Doherty.
The proposed budget
scheduled to go to county
voters on April 3, since it will
exceed the six per cent
limitation would require a
total tax increase of $436,143.
How the increased budget
would effect the tax rate
remains a question mark,
until the county's taxable
value is computed later this
spring. Using an estimate of
$400 million for the county's
taxable value, the county
school system's cost to tax
payers in 1979-80 would be
$9.37 per $1,000 of property.
If the $400 million value
estimate holds true, property
owners would actually pay
less in taxes during the
coming year than they did
Heavy loads
.urged off
County roads
during thaw
In order to prevent road
damage, Morrow County
Government is asking ranch
ers, loggers and other heavy
equipment operators to keep
heavy loads off county roads
during the thaw that will
eventually come.
The county is requesting
voluntary compliance, since it
has no enforcement capabili
ties, except in areas with
posted weight limits.
For information on suggest
ed maximum weights to be
hauled over county roads
during the thaw period, con
tact Doc Sherer, Morrow
County Roadmaster, at 676
9401. Grand jury
indictments
The Morrow County Grand
Jury this week returned eight
indictments against three
men. Two additional true bills
were secret.-
Vernon Harold Scalf of lone
received indictments for
second degree burglary and
second degree theft in con
nection with a burglary last
year at the Hoskins Ranch on
Upper Rhea Creek.
The grand jury re-indicted
Todd Markillie of Boardman
on three pending drug charges
and returned a new indict
ment for delivery of a con
trolled substance to a juvenile.
Two separate indictments
were returned charging Del-
phin LeRoy Henderson of The
Dalles, formerly of lone, with
forgery.
Jan. 19 arraignment appear
ances have been scheduled for
the persons named in the
indictments.
Hospital board
meets Tuesday
The Pioneer Memorial
Hospital board will meet in
regular session next Tuesday,
Jan. 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the
hospital.
during 1978-79, since the tax
rate during the current year is
$9.59 per $1,000. The tax base
for the current fiscal year is
$328.3 million. However, Doh
erty said he was "cautious"
about the $400 million esti
mate, arrived at with the aid
of the county assessor's office,
since the figure could change
in either direction in months to
come.
The bulk of the budget
increase stems from the need
to hire staffs for the new
Irrigon junior high and Board
man elementary school, ex
pected to open midway
through the coming school
year.' A total of $222,404 is
earmarked in the proposed
budget to staff the new
schools. The $222,404 figure
does not include the proposed
hiring of two additional teach
ers needed to serve the
increasing student population
at Riverside High School, or
the hiring of part time
physical education and art
teachers at Heppner and lone.
Also contributing to the
increase is an anticipated
steep hike in the cost of
electricity. The school dist
rict's twa ,oower suppliers
have confirmed major in
creases in power costs,
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Two points
22 in 79-80
prompting Doherty to budget
for a 40 per cent overall
increase.
A total of $56,644 was
budgeted for operating the
North End's two new schools
once they are built. The cost
for building the structures was
covered in a bond levy passed
last spring.
The proposed budget also
reflects increased costs in
supplies and services caused
by inflation.
In his address, Doherty
noted that "it is important to
know that at this time, the
district and its certificated
employees (teachers) have
not reached a salary agree
ment for the period covered by
this proposal. The district has
reached an agreement with
representatives of the classi
fied employees (drivers,
cooks, custodians, etc.), but
the employees as a group have
yet to approve the contract."
"For this reason," Doherty
continued, "salary proposals
contained in the budget docu
ment are largely estimated.
Since employee benefits are
closely related to salaries,
these areas will also require
adjustments when final agree
ment is reached."
Doherty delivered his
Gregg Rietmann gets past Echo defender to go up for two
points during Cardinal basketball action in lone Friday.
Rietmann, a five-foot, nine inch sophomore, was good for
nine points in the game.
address to the school district's
budget committee, which is
charged with reviewing the
document and making any
changes members see fit to
perform. In closing, Doherty
told committee members that
"your considerations must be
for quality as well as economy
at all times keeping in mind
that taxpayers caught in the
inflationary spiral are
becoming increasingly resis
tent to higher taxes."
The budget committee con
sists of Bob Stevens, Jerry
Holloman and Jim Wishart of
Heppner, Judy Currin of
Lexington, Earl Trudeau of
Boardman, Gene Rietmann of
lone and Francine Evans of
Irrigon. School board mem
bers also sit on the panel.
Following Doherty's
address Monday, the com
mittee elected Rietmann to
serve as president and Mrs.
Evans to serve as vice
president.
The committee Ihen began
reviewing the budget docu
ment with Doherty.
The budget calendar calls
for a second budget com
mittee meeting to be held on
Jan. 15, with Jan. 22 set aside
as the date 10 vote on whether
to approve the document.