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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (July 14, 2020)
Opinion 4A Tuesday, July 14, 2020 The Observer MY VOICE Collaboration is necessary for forest management he decision by two groups to withdraw from the Northern Blues Forest Collaborative is extremely unfortunate. It is imperative that stakeholders with all perspectives work together to address the challenging issues facing our national forests and communities. The Northern Blues Forest Collaborative was origi- nally developed to foster tough conversations and rela- tionships between groups representing diverse per- spectives and values relevant LINDSAY to public land WARNESS management. NBFC FOUNDER The goal was to develop projects that would help restore and steward the forest ecosystem and sustain social and economic benefits to local com- munities. Regrettably, they objected to a simple briefing from the U.S. Forest Service exploring the continued use of the 21-inch screen under current forest conditions, and anticipated future climate effects. That’s not collabora- tion — that’s a “my way or the highway” type of attitude. To be clear, the collaborative agreed only to discuss science behind the “21-inch rule,” also known as the “Eastside Screens.” There has been no proposed action from the Forest Service, nor has the collaborative agreed to anything other than a discussion. Apparently, this potential discussion prompted these two groups to “pick up the ball and go home” rather than to listen, talk and work with others who have different views. Today the 21-inch rule restricts opportunities for sci- ence-based forest restoration across at-risk forested land- scapes. Fast-growing grand fir have proliferated in the absence of fire, and are driving a shift from historically open forests in the northern blues dominated by fire-re- silient species like ponderosa pine, western larch and Douglas fir, to densely stocked, closed forests. It’s worth discussing solutions that give land man- agers more flexibility and give collaboratives more space to work together to reduce the risks of wildfires, insects and disease on national forests. These natural distur- bances are occurring at unprecedented size, severity and frequency — and this trend is projected to accelerate under most climate models. The 21-inch rule imposed decades ago was origi- nally only an 18-month amendment to the forest plan. The one-size-fits-all solution does not reflect the condi- tions on the forests in 2020, which are at a high risk for uncharacteristic wildfires that drastically affect the eco- systems and local communities. Rather than allowing our forests to burn and fill our air with unhealthy smoke, thinning overstocked stands reduces competition for sunlight and water and enables trees to grow older and larger. This type of forest man- agement also improves and enhances wildlife habitat for species that depend on diverse forest types. Collaboratives do not succeed if they do not work toward the three legs of collaboration: ecological, eco- nomic and social. In having the nuanced discussions about these goals, the collaborative must be able to use all the tools available to meet the restoration needs of the forests and communities. Active forest management is one tool to address these issues, even if there are dis- agreements on where, when and how broadly these tools should be used. In today’s world, working and talking together to achieve common goals is as important as it has ever been. Collaboratives are where solutions are found, and while they may be uncomfortable for multiple parties, it is imperative that we continue the spirit of working together rather than against each other. T About the Author Lindsay Warness works in the wood products industry and is a former member and founder of the Northern Blues Forest Collaborative. Your views Civility key to society; we must all work together Western Europeans flocked to the country we now call the United States of America for several reasons: two of which were to escape perse- cution (i.e., someone telling them what they should or shouldn’t do and believe), and to exploit the vast nat- ural resources. In order to protect and support themselves they devel- oped civil societies with rules and guidelines of acceptable behavior. (It should be mentioned that there were already indigenous civil societies here existing for the same reason.) Our rules and guidelines became the Constitution of the United States of America. As the population grew, people who felt persecuted in their new envi- ronment, or who simply didn’t like being held to the rules of the cur- rent civil society, simply moved over the next hill and created their own rules and guidelines and exploited untapped natural resources. Eventu- ally, however, more seekers of per- sonal and financial freedom showed up and someone had to adapt or find a new hill to cross over. Well, friends, we’ve run out of hills. Unless you live totally off the grid in some secret canyon in the wilds of Idaho or Alaska, or Man- hattan, you eventually must have con- tact with a civil society that has cer- tain expectations of your behavior for the protection and support of the greater population. The Constitution wasn’t written by hill-crossers — it was written by those who stayed and fought and died to make the country work for the society in which they chose to live. We Americans have historically romanticized hill-crossers, but now they just seem desperate and sad. We are all on the beach now, and we have to work together to survive as a civil society. H. J. Whitmore Summerville Don’t believe it just because an authority figure says it is so It is doubtful that another Eastern Oregon University faculty member will be lured into a mud-wrestling debate with professor Tom Herr- mann’s unethical comment published on the opinion page of the July 9 Observer. Apparently Dr. Herrmann has used his academic credentials to attest to the veracity of his political or reli- gious views, which is a no-no in aca- demic circles. I graduated from EOU twice, two different degrees, although not with a prestigious PhD. However, I took physics courses in the early 1960s from Ralph Badgley, who would never have published such a com- ment. I also knew physicists profes- sors Paul Stephas and David Gilbert, who went on to become president of EOU. Tom Herrmann has used a tauto- logical argument with specious data in attempting to justify his comments. I found an article where he may have found the 43% he quotes. The article I found had a range of 60-43%; perhaps Herrmann chose the lowest figure to bolster his opinion. Currently, Presi- dent Donald Trump’s Centers for Dis- ease Control and Prevention rates the COVID-19 death rate at .26% while pandemic experts report the death rate being 50 times higher than that of the flu. Herrmann is a relative young- ster to me. I’m 77. I voted for Repub- lican Govs. Mark Hatfield and Tom McCall, who would find it hard to accept the current beliefs of the Republican Party. I also voted for Independent Sen. Wayne Morris, who began as a Republican and is arguably the most famous Oregon senator. I would encourage all of your readers to check out YouTube for Trump’s death clock in Times Square, which shows approximately half of the COVID-19 deaths could have been avoided if his administration had responded appropriately to the pandemic. I, for one, am not willing to die for Herrmann’s opinion. One thing is obvious, Trump is not taking hydroxychloroquine; if he had, he’d be dead by now. I urge everyone to develop some street smarts to avoid falling for egre- gious propaganda. Stuart Croghan La Grande CONTACT YOUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS President Donald Trump: The White House, 1600 Penn- sylvania Ave., Washington, D.C. 20500; 202-456-1414; fax 202- 456-2461; to send comments, go to www.whitehouse.gov/ contact. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley: D.C. office: 313 Hart Senate Office Building, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202- 224-3753; fax 202-228-3997. Portland office: One World Trade Center, 121 S.W. Salmon St. Suite 1250, Portland, OR 97204; 503-326-3386; fax 503- 326-2900. Pendleton office: 310 S.E. Second St. Suite 105, Pendleton 97801; 541-278-1129; merkley.senate.gov. U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden: D.C. office: 221 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-5244; fax 202- 228-2717. La Grande office: 105 Fir St., No. 210, La Grande, OR 97850; 541-962-7691; fax, 541- 963-0885; wyden.senate.gov. U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (2nd District): D.C. office: 2182 Rayburn Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20515, 202- 225-6730; fax 202-225-5774. La Grande office: 1211 Washington Ave., La Grande, OR 97850; 541- 624-2400, fax, 541-624-2402; walden.house.gov. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown: 254 State Capitol, Salem, OR 97310; 503-378-3111; www. governor.oregon.gov. Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read: oregon.treasur- er@ost.state.or.us; 350 Winter St. NE, Suite 100, Salem OR 97301-3896; 503-378-4000. Oregon Attorney General Ellen F. Rosenblum: Justice Building, Salem, OR 97301- 4096; 503-378-4400. State Sen. William S. Hansell (29th District/Athe- na): Salem office: 900 Court St. NE., S-423, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-1729. Website: www. oregonlegislature.gov/ hansell. Email: sen.billhansell@oregon- legislature. gov. State Rep. Greg Barreto (58th District/ Cove): Salem office: 900 Court St. NE., H-384, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-1458. Website: www.oregonlegisla- ture.gov/barreto. Email: rep. gregbarreto@oregonlegislature. gov. State Rep. Greg Smith (57th District): Salem office: 900 Court St. NE., H-482, Salem, OR, 97301; 503-986-1457. Heppner office: P.O. Box 219, Heppner, OR 97836; 541-676- 5154; Website: www.oregonleg- islature.gov/smithg. Email: rep. gregsmith@oregonlegislature. gov. City of La Grande: Mayor Steve Clements, City Manager Robert Strope; P.O. Box 670, La Grande, OR 97850; 541-962- 1309; fax 541-963-3333. Union County Commis- sioners: Donna Beverage, Matt Scarfo and Paul Anderes; 1106 K Ave., La Grande, OR 97850; 541- 963-1001; fax 541-963-1079. Wallowa County Com- missioners: John Hillock,Todd Nash and Susan Roberts; 101 S. River St., Enterprise, OR 97828; 541-426-4543, ext. 11. Elgin City Councilors: Mayor Allan Duffy, 501 N 11th St., 541-437-1016, mayor@ cityofelginor.org; Mary West, 260 N 5th Ave., 541-805-0443, councilor3@cityofelginor.org; Kathy Warren, PO Box 697, 541-786-9611, councilor6@ cityofelginor.org; Risa Hallgarth, PO Box 525, 541-437-9462, coun- cilor2@cityofelginor.org; Rocky Burgess, 800 N 14th St., P.O. Box 854, 541-786-2417, councilor1@ cityofelginor.org; David Reed, 1011 Detroit St., PO Box 368; 541-975-3306, councilor4@ cityofelginor.org; Ryan Martin, councilor5@cityofelginor.org. La Grande City Council: Mayor Steve Clements, Gary Lillard, Nicole Howard, Corrine Dutto, Mary Ann Miesner, Justin Rock; city manager’s office, 541- 962-1309. City of Cove: Mayor Del Little, 503-508-6727, 504 Alder St., P.O. Box 8, Cove, OR 97824; City Recorder Donna Lewis, (541) 568-4566.
