Opinion
A4
Tuesday, November 30, 2021
OUR VIEW
Investing
in a
brighter
future
P
oor decisions by lawmakers in the
Oregon Legislature is not a new phe-
nomenon, but a decision by elected
leaders to approve bond funds to help upgrade
parks around the state was a good move.
The decision means the Oregon Parks and
Recreation Department can spend up to $50
million on park renovations across the state
over a two-year period. The money will help
fund renovations for new visitor centers,
restrooms and parking lots.
The funds are very much an investment in
the future and in tourism for the state. Parks
are, in a sense, the face of our state for people
from other parts of the nation and the world.
Money generated from tourism can be one
of those hard-to-quantify elements for resi-
dents of the state. Those of us who live and
work in Eastern Oregon know of our parks
and pass by them frequently. What is more
diffi cult to ascertain for many is that those
parks generate real dollars for state coff ers.
According to Travel Oregon, state tourism
is a $12 billion industry that employees thou-
sands. So, while our parks are designed to
showcase the best of our state, the industry
behind them is an economic engine that bene-
fi ts communities.
That is why the planned upgrade are, in a
real way, a solid investment.
The upgrades, set to occur between May
2022 and March 2023, will add value to our
state in other ways too. Eastern Oregon’s
parks — stretched from remote Malheur
County to Hood River County — are gate-
ways to our unique culture for residents and
visitors.
Investing in infrastructure — and parks
are part of infrastructure — is never an easy
decision, but this time lawmakers in Salem
got it right. They understood that we can’t let
our parks disintegrate and become a totem
of the past but instead need to be refurbished
with a sizeable investment that will deliver a
brighter future.
EDITORIALS
Unsigned editorials are the
opinion of The Observer editorial
board. Other columns, letters and
cartoons on this page express the
opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of The Observer.
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YOUR VIEWS
Wyden is mucking around
in our forests again
Beware: Sen. Wyden is mucking
around in our forests again.
I attended a meeting in Wal-
lowa about 10 years ago. There
were fewer than 10 people there and
Sen. Ron Wyden was one of those
attending. I’d gone that day to report
on federal funding for the Wal-
lowa-Union Railroad Authority.
Minutes into the meeting a local
business owner thanked Wyden for
securing $12 million for federal pur-
chase a large piece of agricultural
land in the Imnaha river canyon
lands. Upon hearing this, my focus
changed completely as I recognized
the big story being the federal gov-
ernment purchasing thousands of
acres of private agricultural land.
The parcel had been acquired by
a private entity during the era of the
failed Blue Mountain Land Trans-
fer-BMLT, around 2006. During the
same time, the land-purchaser had
actually been working with Rep.
Greg Walden on legislation that
would have forced certain private-
to-public land transfers. When that
confl ict of interest became public,
Walden backed away from the leg-
islation and BMLT died on the vine.
This left the land-purchaser in a
pickle with thousands of acres of
land and a large loan from a local
institution.
Next, that piece of Imnaha prop-
erty becomes the highest priority,
top of the list, for federal land acqui-
sition, and in steps the Nature Con-
servancy, United States Forest Ser-
vice-USFS and Wyden.
After about fi ve years, Nature
Conservancy purchased the prop-
erty from the private land-purchaser
and holds the property while Wyden
works to get federal funding, from
the Land and Water Conservation
Fund, so the USFS can purchase the
property, circa 2009-2012.
When I learned all this, problems
began to surface. First, I learned
that the private owner, Nature Con-
servancy and USFS all used the
same land appraiser. Next, a well-re-
spected, local ag-land appraiser
claimed they’d violated laws,
including the “larger parcel rule”
after the private purchaser submitted
a verbal plan to construct a 17-parcel
housing subdivision. I was informed
this infl ated the land’s value by
about 3.5 times.
Now we see Wyden mucking
around our forests again and I
wonder to whose benefi t.
Brian Addison
Baker City
Pearl Harbor Day —
remembering tragedy
and bravery
Dec. 7, 1941, is remembered as
a date of infamy, but it should be
equally recalled as a day of bravery.
Fifteen Medals of Honor were
awarded to U.S. sailors as a result of
the attack on Pearl Harbor. Fifty-one
Navy Crosses were earned. Fif-
ty-three Silver Stars.
Thousands of other acts of her-
oism occurred that day 80 years ago.
Many of those acts were not recog-
nized with medals because docu-
mentation was not a priority. Saving
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others and living to fi ght another day
became job one.
It was a tall order. Eight U.S. bat-
tleships were severely damaged
during the surprise attack; 188 U.S.
aircraft were destroyed, and 2,403
Americans died.
The USS Arizona, launched in
1915, was one of America’s fi rst
oil-fueled battleships. Small amounts
of oil continue to percolate to the
harbor’s surface, just above where
the ship rests in the shallow waters.
The oil leaks are visible to those who
visit the USS Arizona Memorial.
Pearl Harbor survivors — stoic,
heroic and with great respect —
were the fi rst to christen the Arizo-
na’s leakage as “black tears.” The
crews that were lost on Dec. 7, 1941,
no longer feel pain but their tragic
fates still touch those who knew
them or knew of them. The Arizona
is not just a memorial. It’s not just a
shipwreck. It is a tomb for more than
900 of the ship’s 1,177 crew who lost
their lives.
We must remember Pearl Harbor
not just as the opening salvo of a
long war. We must remember it as it
was — an ordinary Sunday morning
in which unsuspecting American
servicemembers displayed extraordi-
nary heroism.
Eighty years later, we still
remember them. Forgetting their
heroism would be an additional act
of infamy.
God bless the brave souls of Pearl
Harbor. Let us honor them and the
ones who served before and since.
Kathi Karnowski, president,
American Legion Auxiliary
Unit 43, La Grande
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