Opinion
A4
Saturday, April 9, 2022
OUR VIEW
Oregon mired
in political
swamp
t is time for Oregon voters to get serious
about what exactly they want represented in
the governor’s offi ce.
Those of us who follow the governor’s race
all know who the main players are, and we all
know that — for the most part — each of those
candidates is fi rmly entrenched in the values of
their party. The Democratic candidates toe the
party line as do the GOP hopefuls. Some are
somewhat middle of the road in their devotion
to dogma and others are far to the left or far to
the right. Mostly what voters hear is the same
old wide-sweeping proclamations triggered by
events — and concepts — fi rst rolled out onto the
national political stage.
Yet there is a barely detectible undercurrent of
discomfort out there among voters. A sense that
the old ways of doing business are beginning to
falter. A feeling that party politics are fi ne but
only as far as they can go and now they are not
going far enough.
From our standpoint the avenue of party pol-
itics doesn’t seem to answer the pressing ques-
tions of our day but, instead, create more division
and more strife. Now, much of that we concede
is front-loaded into the very nature of our polit-
ical system, which is based on a competitive tem-
plate. Also, the primaries in Oregon are set fi rmly
within party bounds.
We recognize those factors, but it seems to be
more and more evident that voters are growing
weary of the same old dogma and venom spat
between lawmakers. Instead of careful political
compromise — a hallmark of our system — for
the past decade, the norm has been for lawmakers
on both sides of the aisle to die on every single
political hill they encounter. There is no coopera-
tion on the big issues but only a war to the knife.
That means voters are not served well.
Lawmakers surely would disagree and point to
countless successes and examples of bipartisan-
ship. Again, there is some validity to the notion
lawmakers do often work together. But “often”
isn’t good enough anymore. Voters — except for
those on the lunatic fringe of both parties — are
weary of the same old fi ghting with little getting
done. Perhaps that feeling by many is simply a
perception but in this case perception is reality.
Oregon needs a middle-of-the-road governor
who isn’t beholden to a party, who will get things
done, who sees all sides. That, we realize, is
going to be a tall order. But we believe it is the
only way forward for a state mired in a political
swamp.
I
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How to get a deer across the road
BILL
ANEY
THIS LAND IS OUR LAND
ife as a deer or elk in the Blue
Mountains can’t be easy.
Imagine you are part of a herd
that is on a traditional migration
route from Mount Emily summer
habitat to winter range in the foot-
hills of the Blue Mountains.
As your herd moves south toward
the Meacham area, you are faced
with a gauntlet: railroad tracks,
multiple fences, 100 feet of a four-
lane freeway with speeding vehi-
cles, guardrails and a high concrete
median barrier.
Eons of natural selection and evo-
lution have not equipped your herd
to handle these obstacles. Panic sets
in as the innate drive to move south
and downhill pushes you to negotiate
the hazards. Potential catastrophe
looms; your herd is no match for the
herd of 40-ton semi-trucks moving
at 60 mph.
Wild free-ranging animals
encounter this type of dangerous
dilemma every day. Unlike the chal-
lenges of fi nding food, water and
shelter, avoiding predators, success-
fully breeding and tending for their
young, the challenges of railroads
and highways are entirely man-made.
In a rare show of bipartisanship
and partnership between rural and
urban Oregon, and with the help of
science, conservation and govern-
ment groups, Oregonians are begin-
ning to address this problem. This
past month the state Legislature
identifi ed $7 million for the Oregon
Department of Transportation to
create safe highway crossings for
wildlife in priority areas identifi ed
by the Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife.
L
The projects can be expensive,
and the state funds will likely be
used as seed money to match federal
dollars available from the Infrastruc-
ture Investment and Jobs Act to get
more crossings completed.
This work is broadly supported
by Oregonians, with more than 80%
of rural citizens and 98% of urban
folks agreeing that installing safe
wildlife crossings is a good idea.
There’s no urban/rural divide on this
question.
The crossings pay for them-
selves. It is estimated that there
are 7,000 collisions between vehi-
cles and deer in Oregon each year,
causing an annual average of $44
million in damages, 700 human inju-
ries and two deaths. A recently com-
pleted wildlife underpass project on
Highway 97 near Sunriver reduced
deer/vehicle collisions by 85% in the
area, a migration corridor between
the Cascades and the high desert
winter range. At an average eco-
nomic cost of $6,500 for each deer/
vehicle collision ($8,500 for elk), the
$1.6 million crossing project seems
like a wise use of taxpayer dollars.
I also found it tremendously
refreshing to see how the expertise
of diff erent entities came together to
solve this problem. To help set pri-
orities for wildlife crossings, ODFW
collared and tracked 1,000 deer in
Northeastern Oregon since 2015.
This data was used to learn how deer
are migrating in the Blues, how they
respond to two- and four-lane high-
ways, and the locations of the most
important crossing areas.
For their part, ODOT is tracking
wildlife collisions and monitoring
the eff ectiveness of constructed
crossings.
A collaborative group called
the Oregon Action Team on Ungu-
late Migration has helped prioritize
needed crossing projects and pro-
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Bill Aney is a forester and wildlife biologist living
in Pendleton and loving the Blue Mountains.
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vided credible public information
about this work.
As a result of this coopera-
tion and collaboration, the Mea-
cham area is among those in the
state identifi ed as a high priority for
work. ODFW data shows a wildlife
migration corridor crossing Inter-
state 84, and ODOT has identifi ed
this as a collision hot spot in the
Blues. Other migration corridors
cross Highway 395 south of Pend-
leton, Highway 26/395 in the John
Day valley and locations on I-84
between La Grande and Baker City.
Wildlife crossing projects won’t
eliminate the risk of collision with
deer and elk, and drivers bear some
responsibility to reduce the risk.
According to an ODOT campaign,
drivers should recognize the peak
times of deer movement (early morn-
ings and evenings in spring and fall),
remain alert for eye-shine, expect
every animal crossing the road to be
followed by more, and use a long blast
on the horn to warn animals you see.
(By the way, those bumper-
mounted deer whistles are evi-
dently useless, according to sepa-
rate research projects conducted in
Georgia and Utah.) If an animal is
on the road, don’t swerve to avoid
it but instead brake fi rmly. And of
course, wear your seat belt.
There is no way to have a
highway system that doesn’t bisect
traditional migration routes. If we
want to have thriving deer and elk
herds, it’s on us to fi gure out a way
to reduce the impact of roads on
wildlife, including the risk of colli-
sion. We should be applauding the
collaborative work of Oregonians,
agencies, politicians and nongovern-
mental organizations to give wildlife
a safe way across these barriers.
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