Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 24, 2020)
4A FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020 The Observer OUR VIEW Neglecting a piece of the puzzle Oregon Speaker of the House Tina Kotek hopes to persuade the state Legislature to commit at least $40 million to help fi nance new shelters for the homeless this year. If she’s successful, the money will be a good step in efforts to provide relief for Oregon’s least fortu- nate residents, though it’s a long way from solving the problem. Kotek, who in the 2019 session was a leading ad- vocate for the nation’s fi rst rent control bill and for a measure that eliminates single-family zoning in many communities, may fi nd herself in an uphill battle this year. Gov. Kate Brown hopes for between $150 million and $200 million to fi nance the fi rst leg of a years-long program to reduce the state’s vulnerability to wildfi re. She also wants lawmakers to stash half of a predicted $1 billion in unanticipated revenues away as a cush- ion against the next recession. Kotek, meanwhile, not only hopes for shelter money, she wants funds to address problems in the state’s adult behavioral health care services and to help fi ght substance abuse problems. Oregon’s problems in its child welfare system can- not be overlooked. While the state is making progress in addressing them, it’s likely to require more money to complete the task and maintain a new, higher level of service. All are worthy, even vital causes. That said, Kotek’s plan seems to overlook a step that would not only help ease the homelessness problems here but also address the skyrocketing cost of all housing in much of Oregon. Oregon land-use law makes it too diffi cult for communities to grow as need and demand would have them do. That, in turn, drives up the cost of all housing. Kotek has said in the past she doesn’t want to see Portland become another San Francisco, where an average home sells for more than $800,000. Yet unless communities can spread, and do so easily, that’s a real possibility. Write to us LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Observer welcomes letters to the editor. Letters are limited to 350 words and must be signed and carry the author’s address and phone number (for verifi cation purposes only). We edit letters for brevity, grammar, taste and legal reasons. We will not publish poetry, consumer complaints against businesses or personal attacks against private individuals. Thank-you letters are discouraged. Letter writers are limited to one letter every two weeks. Email your letters to news@lagrandeobserver.com or mail them to La Grande Observer, 1406 Fifth St., La Grande, Ore., 97850. MY VOICE My Voice columns should be 500 words. Submissions should include a portrait-type photograph of the author. Authors also should include their full name, age, occupation and relevant organizational memberships. We edit submissions for brevity, grammar, taste and legal reasons. We reject those published elsewhere. Send columns to La Grande Observer, 1406 Fifth St., La Grande, 97850, or email them to pwright@ lagrandeobserver.com. MY VOICE Sharing responsibility for wildfire protection at wildland/urban interfaces P rivate landowners and public agen- cies do and should share responsi- bility for wildfi re protection at wildland/ urban interfaces. Private homeowners living in wildfi re prone forest or rangeland should take personal responsibility for construction and maintaining buildings in a manner that minimizes risk. The cost of this should be born primarily if not exclu- sively by the individual landowner. On this few would disagree. However, what should be done about individuals who build a log cabin with a cedar shake roof and an outdoor fi replace (with no spark arrestor) in the middle of a diseased grand fi r thicket? Should the community make no effort to help him because his construction choices were stupid? Who bears the cost of increased risk of initiating a fi re in such a setting? What if this poor individual compounds his troubles by trying to protect his house alone with a garden hose? Who is responsible for his life or helping him? Who is responsible for the trauma to the fi refi ghting squad who leaves him alone and later hears he died? Answers are diffi cult. On a larger ecosystem, level tree thin- ning and fuel management with con- trolled burns among other interventions have great potential to minimize the chance of the spread of wildfi re to urban areas with enormous cost savings. Yet the cost and risk of these interventions are beyond the resources of most land- owners. The cost of this should be born primarily if not exclusively by public agencies if the landowner is willing to maintain improvements and manage his land in a responsible manner. On this I expect few would disagree. However, what do we do about the landowner desperate to liquidate his fi - nancial resources who over harvests his About the author Joel Rice of La Grande is a psychiatrist. Rice is board certifi ed in psychiatry and addiction medicine, according to his profi le with Blue Mountain Associates and Grande Ronde Recovery. My Voice columns should be 500-700 words. Submissions should include a portrait-type photograph of the author. Authors also should include their full name, age, occupation and relevant organizational memberships. We edit submissions for brevity, grammar, taste and legal reasons. We reject those published elsewhere. Send columns to La Grande Observer, 1406 Fifth St., La Grande 97850, fax them to 541- 963-7804 or email them to news@ lagrandeobserver.com. property after a public agency fi nanced tree thinning, leaving a fi re prone “dog hair” thicket of regeneration, selling it a few years later to an unsuspecting in- dividual who plans to build a log cabin? What is to prevent individuals from “mining” the government and taxpay- ers? Answers are diffi cult. Whatever is done, we need to main- tain individual freedom (including the right to be stupid) and take care of taxpayer dollars wisely. Most local governments have identifi ed the wildland/urban interface around their towns. I suggest there should be strict building codes in these areas requiring, for example, metal roofs, a noncombustible exterior, such as SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION STAFF Phone: SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE NEWSSTAND PRICE: $1.50 You can save up to 34% off the single-copy price with home delivery. Call 541-963-3161 to subscribe. Stopped account balances less than $5 will be refunded upon request. Subscription rates per month: By carrier...............................................$11.80 By mail, all other U.S. .............................. $15 A division of cementitious siding, zones of defensible space around the building with no trees, etc. It would be nice if everyone just did what made sense for themselves and their neighbors, but I am afraid without an intervention it just won’t happen in many cases. Additional but more expensive or ex- otic protections, such as roof sprinklers, water catchments and irrigated green areas, might be given tax deductions. My reading of the literature on this issue suggests appropriate construc- tion techniques dramatically reduce and practically fi reproof a building. It may be that given the likely rise in fi re intensity and frequency in the West that will accompany climate change we should just stop letting people build in fi re-prone forest. How to handle existing houses in the WUI is more diffi cult. I would favor grandfathering them into a fi re protec- tion district but raising property taxes to refl ect the additional cost to the com- munity. It is un-American to abandon members of our community, even if they are acting recklessly. Tax rates could be contingent on what interventions have been done to make the home less prone to ignit- ing. The devil would be in the detail, of course, as rules and regulations have a way of going sideways. Every effort should be made to encourage landowners, fi nancially and other- wise, to do the right thing by their community. Cabins that are not year round resi- dencies should be allowed to burn. They are wonderful (I just spent two years building one), but they are luxuries, not homes. No one should risk their life try- ing to save a luxury except for the idiot who spent two years building one in a fi re prone area. 541-963-3161 An independent newspaper founded in 1896 (USPS 299-260) The Observer reserves the right to adjust subscription rates by giving prepaid and mail subscribers 30 days notice. Periodicals postage paid at La Grande, Oregon 97850. Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (except Dec. 25) by EO Media Group, 1406 Fifth St., La Grande, OR 97850 (USPS 299-260) COPYRIGHT © 2020 THE OBSERVER The Observer retains ownership and copyright protection of all staff-prepared news copy, advertising copy, photos and news or ad illustrations. They may not be reproduced without explicit prior approval. Toll free (Oregon): 1-800-422-3110 Fax: 541-963-7804 Email: news@lagrandeobserver.com Website: www.lagrandeobserver.com Street address: 1406 Fifth St., La Grande POSTMASTER Send address changes to: The Observer, 1406 Fifth St., La Grande, OR 97850 Periodicals postage paid at: La Grande, Oregon 97850 Publisher........................................Karrine Brogoitti Classifieds ........................................ Devi Mathson Regional circulation director ....................Kelli Craft Home delivery advisor.................Amanda Fredrick Editor .....................................................Phil Wright Customer service rep ......................... Mollie Lynch News clerk....................................Lisa Lester Kelly Advertising representative...............Juli Bloodgood Sports editor .......................................Ronald Bond Advertising representative...................... Amy Horn Reporter................................................Dick Mason Graphic design supervisor................Dorothy Kautz Reporter....................................Sabrina Thompson Graphic design ..............................Cheryl Christian IT support ........................................Nicole Gilbride Chris Rush, Regional Publisher
