Now in its Third Year
the Bruce Dunn Scholarship Fund awarded two $1,500 scholarships to Wallowa County students pursuing natural resource college degrees.
Ellyse Tingelstad, a Joseph High School graduate, attends The College of Idaho in Caldwell and is studying environmental science and criminal justice.
Tingelstad said, “The funds I have been granted from this scholarship will be put towards my studies at The College of Idaho where I am currently pursuing a major in environmental science, with a minor in criminal justice studies and a specialization in pre-law.”
An accomplished track and cross-country runner, Tingelstad also participated in Wallowa Resources’ Friday WREN program, participated in several camping and backpacking trips and helped a youth leadership board for high school student alum of Wallowa Resources WREN program.
With her degrees and her love of the outdoors, Tingelstad said she plans to attend a game warden academy or go to law school after completing her undergraduate studies.
Aubrina Melville is an Enterprise High School graduate, attending South Dakota State University in Brookings. She is studying Animal Science with the hope of double majoring in Agriculture Business.
Melville said, “I hope to return to Wallowa County and use my degrees to introduce livestock on the family farm. As Bruce Dunn would have done, I’d also like to share my knowledge to better Wallowa County, its people, and its agricultural and natural resource-based businesses.”
A Wallowa County native raised on the family farm, Melville participated in Wallowa Resources’ outdoor school, known as OWL. She said she gained a lot of knowledge that she might not have been exposed to otherwise through outdoor school.
Melville said that the Bruce Dunn scholarship, aimed at encouraging Wallowa County students to enter into natural resource careers, will help her meet her goals.
“A scholarship like the Bruce Dunn Scholarship is unique in that it blesses both the giver and the receiver. I was blessed with funds to continue my education at a higher level while allowing the legacy of Bruce Dunn to live on in the education of the next generation.”
Originally from Detroit, Dunn graduated from Michigan Tech with a forestry degree. Despite being raised in a city, he spent summers and time after college on the family tree farm in northern Michigan. He moved to Idaho when offered a job with the U.S. Forest Service and lived out the rest of his life in the intermountain Northwest working for the Forest Service and private timber companies.
In 1986 Dunn and his wife Jane moved to Wallowa County when he was hired by RY Timber to work as a forester for the company’s mill in Joseph. After the mill closed he continued on with RY overseeing the management of more than 20,000 acres of forested land in northeastern Oregon.
Not long after arriving in the county, Dunn became a member of the Wallowa County Planning Commission and later chaired the Natural Resources Advisory Committee – a position he held for 20 years. Three months prior to his death he was elected to the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners.
The Bruce Dunn Scholarship Fund was established within days of Dunn’s death, a tribute to his passion for the county’s forests and to the vitality of the community. The fund is directed to students studying natural resources in the hopes of encouraging students to return to Wallowa County to serve as the next generation of professional foresters, biologists, ranchers, and farmers who will bring their knowledge and experience to manage the county’s working lands.
Jane Dunn, Bruce Dunn’s wife, chairs the scholarship committee. She said, “Bruce would have been very pleased to know that students studying natural resources are being supported by a scholarship in his name.”
The scholarship is managed by Wallowa Resources, a nonprofit based in Enterprise, dedicated to creating strong economies and healthy landscapes through land stewardship, education, and job creation. Executive Director, Nils Christoffersen, said the fund is one more way the community can invest in the future of natural resources management.
“Bruce Dunn loved the forests and farms and people of Wallowa County – and devoted his professional and personal time to their care,” Christoffersen said. “As he and his generation of dirt foresters matured, he recognized the need to inspire, train and cultivate the next generation of natural resource stewards. This scholarship was created in his memory for that purpose.”
To contribute to the Bruce Dunn Scholarship Fund checks can be mailed to 401 Northeast First Street, Suite A, Enterprise, Ore. 97828 or visit http://www.wallowaresources.org.
Katy Nesbitt's accolades include the Capital Press, Oregon Cattlemen Association, La Grande Observer, East Oregonian, Wild Horses Thunder (formerly Wallowa Valley Online), and Chief Joseph Days Rodeo.
