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| 7/29/2010 11:47:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article
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Elane Dickenson/Chieftain
U.S. Forest Service workers help school Superintendent Rhonda Shirley (right) pack Joseph Elementary School equipment to make room for the agency to move onto the campus. |
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Forest Service moves to Joseph
Wallowa County Chieftain
U.S. Forest Service offices in Wallowa County have found a temporary home at Joseph Elementary School.
A six-month lease was signed with the Joseph School District Wednesday, July 21.
The district is now setting up classrooms for grades kindergarten through third grade in the Joseph High School building, consolidating all Joseph students a year earlier than planned. (See story link below)
The original Forest Service administrative offices and visitor center, housed in a 20-year-old log building on a hill on the west outskirts of Enterprise, was destroyed in a fire July 11.
Final steps in investigation of the blaze were being taken this week and determination of a cause is expected soon. The probe has centered around log staining that was being done on the exterior of the building shortly before the fire.
"It is great to have a temporary solution that works so well," said Wendy Castineira, Forest Service asset manager for Region 6. The Forest Service will continue to explore long-term solutions for permanent office space as no decision has been reached on whether the burned structure will be rebuilt.
It is anticipated that by Aug. 1, the 11,000-square-foot elementary school will be operational for the approximately 80 employees of the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area and Wallowa Valley and Eagle Cap Ranger districts.
"We are pleased that the Joseph Elementary School is available in our time of need and we can move in so quickly," said Mary DeAguero, district ranger of the HCNRA and Eagle Cap districts.
Forest Service visitor services will continue working out of their temporary location at the Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce across Highway 82 from the original site. The visitor center can be contacted at 541-426-5546.
Recreation and fire crews will continue to work from the Forest Service barn and warehouse buildings that were not damaged during the fire.
Other offices in the building contained those of the USDA Service Center, which includes the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Wallowa Soil and Water Conservation District, and Wallowa County Farm Service Agency.
Those agencies have set up a temporary office in the Best Western Rama Inn and Suites conference room in Enterprise. They can be reached at these numbers: FSA, 971-409-2553; NRCS, 541-432-7836; and WSCD, 541-263-0983.
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