Cattle and their calves graze on winter pasture just outside of Enterprise on Monday, April 24, 2023. It won't be long before they'll be moving to summer pasture, such as the section of the East Moraine Community Forest the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners approved a grazing lease for on Wednesday, April 19, 2023.

ENTERPRISE — Something new is taking place on the East Moraine Community Forest now that the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners has awarded a five-year contract for a local rancher to graze his cattle there.

The commissioners awarded the contract Wednesday, April 19, during their meeting at the courthouse.

In the past, the commissioners have twice awarded one-year contracts, Commissioner Todd Nash said. The extended contract comes with a tryout for some new technology.

“We’re going to do some things experimentally with some virtual fencing next year. There’s sensitive areas — we have a myriad of activities that take place there. It’s not a standard grazing lease,” he said.

The successful grazing applicant is the Charlie Warnock Family Ranch, which will graze 65 cow/calf pairs for $20 a month per pair from about June 15 to Oct. 1 on the approximately 1,800 acres of the forest. For winter pasture, the ranch will bring the herd to its home ranch near Enterprise, Warnock said Thursday.

Warnock said that although he’s still a bit uncertain how virtual grazing works, he believes it uses global positioning system collars on the cows that are controlled by a satellite. The cattle are reined in by the collars, which eliminates the need for physical fencing.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, livestock wear collars that communicate with GPS and reception towers to form a virtual fence set by the rancher or land manager. When the livestock reach the limit of the virtual fence, auditory stimuli (often a series of loud beeps) emit from the collar. If livestock pass the fence limit, they receive a benign shock.

Cattle have demonstrated the ability and tendency to rapidly learn the virtual fencing cues, the Department of Agriculture said, and eventually respond to the audio cue alone. Several studies have documented success with sheep and goats as well.

In his application, Warnock stated that he is aware that some recreationists are opposed to the grazing that takes place on the moraine and he believes the virtual fencing — when it is implemented — will do much to alleviate that opposition.

“I think the main thing is the virtual fencing when they get to that point,” he said. “I don’t think it’s going to happen this year but I don’t know for sure on that either.”

Warnock also said there are still bugs to work out in the technology.

“It’s still a trial-and-error thing right now that is just breaking ground,” he said.

In their application, the Warnocks said they had attended a seminar on virtual fencing put on by the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association in the past and hope to attend another in 2024.

The application noted that recreationists were among the groups expressing concerns about uses planned for the East Moraine Community Forest and asked applicants how they would address that.

The Warnocks’ application said they have had positive interactions with recreationists in the past and they hope to “build a positive perception” with outdoor enthusiasts through their future management of the land and their cattle.

Their application stated that many recreationists have “negative opinions of livestock, so taking this opportunity to showcase best-management practices is critical. “It is important to be sensitive to all of the interest groups, but because it is a multiple-use working landscape, it is important that everyone is respectful of the various uses.”

Awarding the contractNash told his fellow commissioners how the county went about awarding the contract.

He said the county asked the Wallowa County Stockgrowers to help with the process. The Stockgrowers, he said, advertised in an attempt to solicit applications and posted the opportunity on their website. Four applicants applied.

Nash said the county asked the Stockgrowers for input on the four applicants.

The Stockgrowers established a committee and members looked at the applications without names attached to them. The committee forwarded two applications — labeled “Application No. 1” and “Application No. 2” — and said it preferred No. 2.

Nash moved to support the Stockgrowers’ recommendation of application No. 2 — Warnock’s application — and Commissioners John Hillock and Susan Roberts voted in support of it.

Nash also emphasized that ranchers have a great need for pasture.

“One of our big priorities here is to get the Forest Service leases that are closed to get reauthorized,” he said.

Microgrids update

Also at the meeting, Hillock shared news about the Energy Performance Agreement for the Community Energy Resilience Planning Project, which the county had received a few weeks beforehand. He said the agreement has been reviewed and now the county needs to enter into a contract with Wallowa Resources.

Roberts said drawing up the contract is now in the works.

On April 12, Joe Basile, community energy program manager at Wallowa Resources, told the commissioners Wallowa Resources had received notification of a key part of a $100,000 planning grant for multiple microgrids in the county.

The Community Renewable Energy Program grant from the Oregon Department of Energy is to fund planning for a microgrid project to ensure power for critical community services in Wallowa, Enterprise and Joseph.

Basile said April 12 that the microgrids will help ensure communities don’t lose power if and when power from the larger grid fails.

He said the microgrids are expected to burn biomass in the Wallowa area, use solar power in the Enterprise area and hydropower at Joseph.

Hillock said Wednesday that Wallowa Resources will oversee the work on the microgrids and “make sure the work is performed up to snuff.”

He said since the county has already approved the project, all that needs to be accomplished is to send the contract back to the state for its approval.

Other businessThe commissioners also:

• Approved a routine two-year contract for Wallowa County Public Transit to enhance the mobility of seniors and individuals with disabilities. The contract is currently with Community Connections, which is believed to be the only organization with the capability of handling the contract in the county.

• Approved employee action notices on the separation from service with the District Attorney’s Office of Jessica Teeney, the separation from service with the 911 Dispatch Center of Tammy Shaver and the new hire of a patrol deputy, Dale Blankenship, with the Wallowa County Sheriff’s Office.