An investment of $30,000 by the state Fire Marshal’s Office will help fund an emergency egress road from Wallowa Lake State Park, in the foreground, to the West Moraine, at left.
An investment of $30,000 by the state Fire Marshal’s Office will help fund an emergency egress road from Wallowa Lake State Park, in the foreground, to the West Moraine, at left.
WALLOWA LAKE — Funding is starting to come together for an emergency egress road at Wallowa Lake State Park, with a one-time investment of $30,000 from the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s office, according to a press release.
Kirk Barham, eastern district manager for the Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation, said the $30,000 has yet to come through, but he believes it’s going to help fund an emergency egress road along the west side of the lake, where only a footpath leads from the state park toward private homes on the West Moraine.
“I’m pretty sure that’s what they’re talking about,” he said. “It would be an egress road for emergency access only. That pathway there used to be an old logging road that goes through there.”
Barham said the Fire Marshal’s investment will fund only a portion of the road, which residents at the head of the lake and on the West Moraine have been eager to see built. He said additional funding will have to be found internally within the Parks Department budget or from other sources. He said he doesn’t know how much such a project would cost.
“The state Fire Marshal has identified this as an area of concern and they obviously feel like there’s a need for an emergency egress,” he said, adding that the Firewise-designated community at the head of the lake also is eager to see another route out of the area. (The Firewise USA program provides a collaborative framework for neighbors to reduce wildfire risks at the local level.)
But Barham noted that the egress is “not just for fire. It’s also for other emergencies because there’s just one way in and one way out of that park,” he said, such as “another high-water event that could potentially damage the bridge leading into the park.”
That “one way in” is Highway 351, which starts in Joseph and has served as the only roadway to the head of the lake since 1923. There is road access to the private homes on Lake Shore Drive on the west side from Ski Run Road that starts in Joseph. But Lake Shore Drive does not connect to the state park.
Barham said any new road would require the county to approve a conditional-use permit for emergency access.
The Fire Marshal’s investment is part of $2.7 million being spent at the local and county levels through 25 community wildfire protection plans throughout the state.
Projects include promoting wildfire-specific community risk-reduction efforts, community education, defensible space projects, home assessments, media campaigns, signage, fuel-mitigation programs and grant funds.
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