4A
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2019
The Observer
OUR VIEW
Both sides
can work
together
Wolves reintroduced themselves to Oregon. Ever
since, there’s been a lot of debate about what to do
about them.
They aren’t usually predators of people, though
don’t try to make friends. As for ranch cattle,
wolves can treat them like a buffet.
Nobody knows that better than rancher Ted
Birdseye. His Mill-Mar Ranch of 275 acres in
Butte Falls has had more losses to wolves than
any other rancher in Oregon, according to Oregon
Public Broadcasting. Eight of his cows and two of
his dogs have been killed by wolves. It’s the Rogue
Pack at work.
Is that bad luck? The cost of doing business?
Something the government should compensate
him for?
Oregon has a compensation program. It has paid
out money to help ranchers hire riders, buy radios,
hang flags from fences and compensate for losses
of cattle, sheep and working dogs. That seems
absolutely justified if government and Oregonians
want this natural predator to return.
What’s good is that people who want wolves
to thrive in Oregon are working so hard to help
Birdseye’s ranch from being the place the Rogue
Pack goes for meals. A school group came to his
ranch and helped him remove some bone piles,
according to OPB. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
wolf biologist John Stephenson has spent nights
at the ranch to try to keep wolves away. He helped
Birdseye put up flagging on its fences. Birdseye
even tried those inflatable dancing men you see on
car lots.
Thanks to Oregon’s compensation program, fed-
eral grants and contributions from environmental-
ists Birdseye is getting 3 miles of electric fencing
around his ranch. It cost more than $46,000. Made
from recycled steel posts spaced 90 feet apart, with
eight strands of high-tensile electric wire running
between 1-inch fiberglass rods, Birdseye said any-
thing that touches the fence “is supposed to get the
shock of its life.” It is powered by a 3-foot-by-3-foot
solar panel and battery.
“My big concern is I just hope it works,” Birds-
eye said. “If it doesn’t work, I don’t know what the
other options are.”
The same kind of fencing has worked in Mon-
tana to keep wolves out.
The return of wolves is a welcome sign to some
and a bad sign to others. But it is great to see
different ends of the spectrum of views cooperate.
Prevention of wolves killing livestock is key for
people on all sides of the issue.
Your views
Roberts: A Thanksgiving
prayer for all of us
Write to us
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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Email your letters to news@
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them to La Grande Observer, 1406
Fifth St., La Grande 97850.
To the Editor:
Our Thanksgiving holiday is Nov. 28
this year. This is a special day to thank
our loving heavenly father for all he
has provided. We sometimes forget it all
belongs to him. Even we belong to him,
and he deserves all the praise and glory
for it all.
What an awesome God we serve.
May our loving heavenly father bless
each of you in our beautiful community of
La Grande and surrounding areas with a
blessed Thanksgiving, that is my prayer.
Janice Roberts
La Grande
Rice: Lack of shelter from
cold will result in deaths
To the Editor:
Homelessness is a major obstacle to
recovery from addiction and/or mental
health disorders. Without a warming
shelter many patients will not only fail
to recover, they may die of overdose,
hypothermia-related medical conditions
or suicide. That will certainly be the
case every year the warming shelter in
Union County remains closed. Let me
be clear: There will be deaths.
I am embarrassed and outraged that
our community is considering forcing
the warming station to close. And, make
no mistake about it, excessive regula-
tion and restriction is in fact an act of
forcing the warming station to close.
While most deaths will be unacknowl-
edged and quickly forgotten by all but
family and friends, there will sooner or
later be a death so clearly related to a
failure to provide simple warmth that the
city will be sued, and they will lose. Sadly,
there will be many of us who will line up
at that point to testify, “I told you so.”
Dr. Joel Rice
La Grande
Nelson: Where can the
warming shelter be?
To the Editor:
I am very disappointed that the
opening of the Union County Warming
Station has been delayed. The first loca-
tion for the warming station two years
ago was at Zion Lutheran Church when
I was the pastor there. It was a trial
run for just a couple of months. When
a neighbor objected to the location, the
council decided that future locations for
the warming station should not be in
residential areas.
The Union County Warming Station
Board dutifully sought locations with
commercial zoning and this year found
one on Third Street. Now some mem-
bers of the business community are
objecting. If the warming station can’t
be in a residential area or a commercial
area, where can it be?
Every community has people who are
without a place to stay, and La Grande
is no exception. We can decide to ignore
them and hope they don’t cause too
much of a nuisance, or we can provide
a place for them to gather, a bed for the
night, a warm meal, physical resources,
emotional support and referrals for
assistance. In La Grande, a large group
of volunteers has decided that the latter
is the best course of action. They need
your support.
I am convinced that the citizens of La
Grande are people of good will and that we
can come together to solve the issue of the
Union County Warming Station location
in a timely manner. The nights are already
very cold for someone without shelter.
Rev. Colleen Nelson
La Grande
Swart: Impeachment process
is not a waste of time
To the Editor:
I would like to put forth another
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A division of
voice regarding the U.S. representatives
in the impeachment process because,
contrary to your opinion as stated in
the Nov. 20 issue of The Observer, the
impeachment is not a waste of time.
We are confirming in this impeach-
ment process, according to your words,
“Many of the president’s actions and
words since the time he stepped into
office have been questionable, divisive
and, at times, embarrassing. His lack of
knowledge of history and his indiffer-
ence to the truth are gravely disturbing.”
How anyone could have been unaware
of these characteristics of Mr. Trump
when they voted for him is beyond my
comprehension. But he was elected.
You indicate that both political par-
ties make up their own facts. From
my point of view, that is not true of
both parties. However, anyone can
determine the real facts by doing their
own investigation. The president has
people wearing T-shirts that say “Read
the transcript.” Have you read it? The
Mueller report was made available to
the public. How much of it have you
read? This week of hearings has been
open on television. How much have you
watched? Both parties have had time
to make their points. If you watched,
you could make up your own mind as to
the facts, rather than have some pundit
give you their opinion.
The reason the impeachment hear-
ings are not a waste of time is that we
citizens have the opportunity to know
and make up our own minds not just
about this process but about the impor-
tance of knowing what happened in the
last election and what is bound to hap-
pen in the next if we do not wake up.
Three years ago we elected a
president that everyone knew was
untruthful, who encouraged violence in
his rallies, who had no respect for the
constitution of the United States. We
elected this kind of man to the highest
office of the land, to be the leader of the
free world, and to be an example to our
children. We elected a man whose loyal-
ties bend toward our enemy, not our
own country.
We American citizens have to make
up our minds about the kind of country
in which we want to live, and the
impeachment hearing process can help
us decide.
Evelyn Swart
Joseph
541-963-3161
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La Grande, Oregon 97850
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