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--> --> Rail line may help revive economy in northeast Oregon ENTERPRISE (AP) - Reviving an abandoned shortline railroad between the towns of Elgin and Joseph could bring 100 jobs to Wallowa and Union counties while providing steelhead fishermen access to 10 miles of wild water in a roadless area near the confluence of the Grande Ronde and Wallowa rivers, officials say. Built in 1906 and abandoned four years ago, the line skirts the northern edge of the Eagle Cap Wilderness. Officials in Union and Wallowa counties say it could help revive northeastern Oregon's sagging economy. After it was abandoned, Klamert Salvage Co. of Montana agreed to remove 45 miles of rails and wooden ties. The Wallowa County Planning Commission denied a conditional use permit to allow the salvage operation, and a Portland judge has rejected a request to keep Union and Wallowa counties from interfering in the rail removal. The judge will reconsider the request Dec. 14, so the counties are again negotiating to buy the line. The counties have offered $3 million, but the Idaho Northern and Pacific Railroad wants $5.75 million, an amount Union County Commissioner John J. Howard termed "far beyond reason." "Our numbers indicate that $3 million is about what it is worth," added Wallowa County Commissioner Mike Hayward. The Legislature has earmarked $2 million in lottery money to finance acquisition of the line. The Oregon Department of Transportation offered to buy the rail line on behalf of Union and Wallowa the counties last summer for $1.89 million, an offer the counties themselves later raised to $3 million, Howard said. Richard Bertel, chairman and CEO of Idaho Northern and its parent company, Rio Grande Pacific Corp., based in Fort Worth, Texas, said the counties had offered $4 million for the rail line in May. After he refused it, he said, they cut the offer to $3 million. "I said, 'Well, I wouldn't sell it to you in May for $4 million, it's probably for sure I'm not going to sell it to you in July for $3 million,' " he said. Bertel said the railroad line was appraised at $7.2 million, a value that incorporates about 800 acres of railroad right of way. He said he offered to sell it for $6.2 million over three year or for $5.75 million in cash. While they negotiate, county officials also are awaiting a ruling by the federal Surface Transportation Board on a petition to overturn the 1997 decision to abandon the line. The petition was filed by the Oregon Department of Transportation. A spokesman for the Joseph Timber Co. in Joseph testified last summer that the abandonment of the rail line is costing his company more than $100,000 annually because of the extra expense to haul logs and lumber by truck. Joseph Timber reopened last April after a six-month closure. Last June, the Wallowa Forest Products mill in Wallowa resumed operations after a yearlong closure. "We are now in the window where the owner and the counties can make a decision" on the future of the rail line, said Bill Oliver, Wallowa County planner. "It's a very high priority." Wallowa County, with a population of about 7,200, posted the state's worst unemployment twice this year and needs the economic boost the rail line would provide, Howard said. "They are running out of options for survival." Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing