Wallowa County short of funds from feds
Published 3:00 pm Friday, February 28, 2025
- The thousands of acres of national forestland in Wallowa County are supposed to provide income for schools and other county expenses, but the 2024 Congress failed to allocate a sufficient amount, county officials say.
WALLOWA COUNTY — Natural resources projects in Wallowa County will be short of funds, the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners learned Feb. 26.
The county’s Natural Resource Advisory Committee standing committee for Title II funds presented four projects totaling more than $95,000 for Title II funds, but the county expects to have only about $3,300 available for the projects
The NRAC committee met Feb. 11 to review the projects and came to a decision Feb. 25. In order of priority, the requests for funds are:
• $10,000 for the Wallowa Mountains Institute Program High School Adult Work Program internship, in which high school students work on natural resource projects, assisting public and private entities, while learning about natural resource career paths.
• $29,250 for the Wallowa Mountains Hells Canyon Trails Association for trail maintenance.
• $25,834 for Wallowa Resources for a campground maintenance crew to expand maintenance in the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.
• $30,000 for the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest’s Wallowa Mountains Office to target autoimmune gastritis treatment and native plant enhancement in the Chesnimnus area.
The funding requests for the four projects total $95,084.
The commissioners agreed to apply what money they do have to the top-ranked project and anything left over would work its way down to the others, according to a press release from the commissioners.
The Title II funds are federal grants that help schools improve instruction and teaching based on the federal forest acreage in a given area — in this case, the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.
John Williams, NRAC member, said the disappointing congressional allocation came from the 2024 Congress that annually allocates Secure Rural Schools Act funds. A year ago, he said, NRAC was thinking the county would receive $50,000-$60,000. But that didn’t happen.
“When I checked, there was a possibility of a reduced amount, but more might come in the spring,” he said. “You’re never sure what might come.”
Williams said the projects are awaiting any federal funds that might come through.
