Opinion
A4
Saturday, December 4, 2021
OUR VIEW
Closing the
‘justice gap’
M
ost tenants in disputes with their
landlords in Oregon are not rep-
resented by lawyers. The ten-
ants may not be able to aff ord a lawyer, not
realize how much it could help, or a lawyer
may not be available.
The Oregon State Bar is taking public
comments on a proposal to possibly allow
licensed paralegals to provide some legal
services in landlord/tenant disputes and
also in family law cases. “These are two
of the areas of law with the greatest unmet
need for legal assistance in Oregon,” the
state bar says.
The Oregon Supreme Court will make
the fi nal decision on whether this would be
allowed. But the state bar would like public
input. There is more information and the
place to provide public input is here:
www.osbar.org/lp.
The numbers of Oregonians who do not
have an attorney in family law or landlord/
tenant disputes are high. It’s nearly four out
of fi ve. “It’s what we refer to as the ‘justice
gap,’ which includes not only the poverty
population that legal aid serves (125% of
federal poverty guidelines), but also those
of modest income who don’t quality for
legal aid but still cannot aff ord a lawyer,”
Kateri Walsh, the communications director
for the Oregon State Bar, told us in an
email.
The bar’s program would allow licensing
of trained paralegals to do that work. Rules
and requirements would be created.
In family law cases, for instance, the
paralegals could handle dissolutions of
marriage, separations or annulments, cus-
tody and parenting times, child and spousal
support and a bit more. Would it be a better
if there was a lawyer involved? Probably.
But allowing paralegals to do that work
would provide more access to legal advice
to more people and at a price more people
could aff ord. The analogy the state bar uses
is to nurse practitioners in medicine. They
can’t do everything a doctor can do. They
do enable more people to get better care.
What do you think? Should Oregon do it?
Once again, the link for more information
and to provide your feedback is here,
www.osbar.org/lp.
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Don’t listen to the Chicken Litt les,
River Democracy Act is a win-win
PETER
BARRY
OTHER VIEWS
O
ne old rancher I met many
years ago said to me,
“Humans are a water-loving
species.” He was exactly right. We
all do love cool, clean, fresh water
and all the goodness that comes
with it.
The proposed River Democ-
racy Act would help protect (though
only about 4%) of Oregon’s creeks
and rivers. Even though it will not
protect enough miles of our pre-
cious waterways — or give them
all the protection they really need
or deserve — it is still a step in the
right direction.
You might think this positive
plan was some kind of horrible idea
according to a recent letter to the
editor, and the knee-jerk response of
a few of our county commissioners.
If they actually read the act, they
could relax. In fact, it is a great idea.
The River Democracy Act totally
protects private property rights and
fl exibility for management, and it
also has rules that limit some of
the worst kinds of damage to clean
water and fi sh habitat.
Our Constitution makes it clear:
The waters and wildlife “belong”
to all Oregonians (and especially to
all our kids and grandkids, and to
all other species that of course need
water too).
No ranches or farms will go out
of business or have terrible man-
agement burdens placed on them
because of this good proposal. The
act is very specifi c about all this. In
fact, it will provide money and proj-
ects to reduce risks to fi re-prone
creek-sides and canyons and help
rehabilitate them if there is a big
fi re or fl ood. And yes, of course it
will allow private management and
public access where we now have it.
Don’t listen to all the Chicken Lit-
tles out there. This is a win-win.
The local Grande Ronde Model
Watershed (led by ranchers,
farmers, fi shers, etc.) has spent
many millions of dollars hiring
locals to rehabilitate the most
important and degraded creeks and
rivers around here. While a few fi sh
are fi nally coming back, and water
quality has improved a bit, we need
to keep at it.
Most of us do not even know
what a healthy creek looks like any-
more, as we have grazed, bulldozed,
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logged and roaded just about every
mile of stream in Oregon for more
than a hundred years. Our streams
are full of sediment, cow manure,
herbicides, and are much too warm
as there are few bushes and trees
keeping them cool, or beavers to
keep them natural. Not long ago,
every stream ran full of crystal-clear
water and was full of salmon and
other fi sh. We have nothing like that
now.
Yes, we all love our creeks and
rivers, and it is our job to restore
and protect them. Simple. Speak up
if you love streams, rivers, fl oating,
fi shing, wildlife — or taking a drink
of clear, fresh water out of our valu-
able waterways.
Ask our elected offi cials to sup-
port the River Democracy Act and
pass it soon. A copy of this letter
was signed by more than 15 other
residents of Northeastern Oregon,
of all parties and backgrounds, and
sent to our senators.
———
Peter Barry, of La Grande and
Joseph, has lived in Northeastern
Oregon most of his life, working in
biology with the USFS and as a forest
and grassland manager, studying
ecosystems in the classroom and on
the ground.
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