This summer, Wallowa County Commissioner Susan Roberts will end her long career in public service.
“It has been my pleasure to serve this county for so many years. The people who live here make Wallowa County as special as the land that we love and care for.”
Roberts began her life in politics as a member of the City of Enterprise’s budget committee. She later served on the city council and as Enterprise’s mayor.
After a couple years’ hiatus from public office, Roberts ran for county commissioner in 2008. In her first term, much attention was on the dispersal of gray wolves from Idaho. Along with the Wallowa County Stockgrowers, the county commissioners supported the development of Oregon’s wolf compensation plan that helps refund ranchers for livestock loss proven to be wolf-caused. Roberts was on many investigations and even broke down and bought a pair of rubber Bog boots to wear when her river sandals weren’t up for the terrain.
A long believer in exercising the county’s coordination status with the federal government, Roberts, along with the other commissioners and the Natural Resource Advisory Committee, routinely engage with the local U.S. Forest Service staff, providing input on project planning and how those projects are carried out. When members of the public, local government officials, and special interest groups were unhappy with the Blue Mountain Forest Plan Revision, Roberts traded in the Bogs for some Gore-Tex chest waders and volunteered to co-chair a new alliance of Eastern Oregon agencies - the Blue Mountains Intergovernmental Council, or BIC.
Over the past six years, Roberts and the Council helped change specific points in the Forest Plan; like how it affects public land access and local economies.
A leader who listened to her constituents, Roberts worked alongside the other commissioners and local organizations to keep the crown jewel of the Wallowa Lake East Moraine out of development.
“What we heard over and over was that Wallowa County treasured the moraines and wanted them to remain as they are – open grasslands with big pine trees where cattle graze, the forest and wildlife habitat managed, and people can ride their bike, horse or go for a walk.”
Natural resources was a natural fit for Roberts’ leadership – coming from a family that farmed and worked in the timber industry – and her waders came in handy again as co-chair of the Grande Ronde Model Watershed, an organization that works with tribes, agencies, and private landowners to restore rivers and streams to their natural courses.
Like the Watershed council, the Wallowa Union Railroad Authority also shares leadership with Union and Wallowa County commissioners. Roberts was the co-chair and is one of WURA’s longest serving board members. After the resignation of long-time County Commissioner Mike Hayward, Roberts added the County road department to her list of infrastructure oversight. Nothing made her day like a trip to the asphalt plant or receiving a Federal Land Access Program grant to repair one of the many county roads that lead into the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.
Roberts not only helped broker agreements with land management agencies over road maintenance, but also visited the crews at the reconstruction sites, stopping to pick elderberries from the back of the pickup and plums along Redmond Grade.
Whether it was a visit to a ranch or a washed out road, Roberts often found her way to the Imnaha Tavern for a basket of gizzards. Invariably, someone would sit down and share stories about rattlesnake bounties, wolves, or dogs nearly washing down river.
Emergencies are top priority for the county commissioners and Roberts attended countless wildfire briefings, morning and night. In 2015 when a cold front blew into a handful of lightning strike fires in the Wenaha Wilderness, she was at Troy’s Wenaha Bar and Grill making sandwiches for the crews well into the night.
As she is tied to the land, so is she to history, tradition, culture and heritage. Roberts spearheaded the installation of the Wallowa County Courthouse Fountain of Honor for the county’s veterans. After many years of juggling the courthouse’s upgrade needs, Roberts oversaw the replacement of the roof, upgrade of the electrical system and the addition of an elevator. Within this major remodel, Roberts hatched the idea to renovate the third floor into offices for the commissioners and administrative staff, a place long only known to squirrels and birds.
The county will miss Roberts’ vision and commitment, her tenacity and her drive, her stubborn will and her ability to forge ahead, solve problems, and never take no for an answer.
To honor Commissioner Roberts, the public is invited on June 11 at 1 p.m. at the Enterprise Highschool Cafeteria for a celebration of her service - cake included.
The commissioners are currently working with their legal team on a process to replace Commissioner Roberts.