6
CapitalPress.com
Editorials are written by or
approved by members of the
Capital Press Editorial Board.
October 26, 2018
All other commentary pieces are
the opinions of the authors but
not necessarily this newspaper.
Opinion
Editorial Board
Editor & Publisher
Managing Editor
Joe Beach
Carl Sampson
opinions@capitalpress.com Online: www.capitalpress.com/opinion
O ur V iew
USDA plan a move toward better government
P
lans at the U.S. Department
of Agriculture to move two
of its agencies out of the
District of Columbia and into the
countryside has the mandarins
predicting dire consequences,
but we think the Republic might
actually be better served with its
government spread out among the
governed.
USDA proposes moving the
Economic Research Service and
National Institute of Food and
Agriculture out of Washington,
D.C., by the end of next year. It
has not settled on an alternative
location for the agencies.
According to USDA, the
moves are intended to help recruit
qualified staff, locate the agencies
closer to stakeholders and save
money.
That makes sense. Washington
is an expensive city, but we would
be happily surprised if any money
were saved. We think moving
agencies out of the capital will
help make government more
responsive to the needs of the
people.
Bureaucrats, former and present,
think this is a terrible idea.
Earlier this month, 56
former USDA and federal
statistical agency officials and 45
organizations sent letters warning
of the damage the move would
cause, including loss of staff
expertise by employees not willing
to move and loss of visibility with
policy makers.
There was a similar outcry when
a bipartisan group of senators last
year suggested that the Bureau of
Land Management be moved from
the capital to somewhere in the
West where BLM manages large
swaths of the real estate. Secretary
of Interior Ryan Zinke, who
manages BLM, agreed. So did we.
First, it seems unrealistic
that these agencies will be left
without any physical presence at
headquarters.
Even if they were, to suggest
that an agency that is out of sight
would be equally out of the mind
of department leadership at budget
time seems a bit far fetched. It has
been our experience that even the
most fiscally conservative cabinet
members are oath to cut off viable
parts of their empires.
It’s true the agency mid-
level managers will have less
opportunity to bump into Secretary
Perdue in the cafeteria or to
participate in the impromptu bull
sessions around the watercooler
with other apparatchiks. But
with the plethora of electronic
communications options available
today — even in such dusty
outposts as Des Moines and Kansas
City — we don’t think anyone
should be left out of substantive
discussions on policy.
We understand the appeal
of being close to the heart of
power. Even a casual visitor to
Washington, D.C., can easily
be caught up in the pomp and
ceremony. For those who work
there, it is woven into the fabric of
their being.
The problem with centralized
government is that it loses touch
with those being governed. For
whom are the statistics being
collected? For whom is the
research being conducted?
We think that a move outside
of Washington, while disruptive
in the short run, would be good in
the long run.
Readers’ views
Name game
leads to
support for
Walden
O ur V iew
Budd-Falen top
choice for Interior job
J
operates or shares responsibility
udging by the knee-jerk reaction a massive case of heartburn. We
for the water works of the West,
infer from the Wilderness Society’s
of some environmentalists,
including rivers and reservoirs.
statements that if Budd-Falen had
the Trump administration has
Think the Klamath Basin, the
chosen well in Karen Budd-Falen, its represented environmental groups
Columbia River, the Colorado
new deputy solicitor for fish, wildlife instead of ranchers she would
River, the Snake River and scores of
get both a medal and a ringing
and parks within the Department of
reservoirs that supply water for
the Interior.
Federal
land
by
state
irrigation and other uses. The
“Her appointment to
importance of water in the West
this position is abysmal for Land area by percent of state
0-10%
11-30%
31-50%
51-80%
> 80%
cannot be overstated. Having a
the protection of wildlife,
person who understands that,
respect for sacred tribal
Wash.
N.H.
Mont.
and how water laws work, will
lands and conservation of
Ore.
benefit all westerners, even
Idaho
wild places that Interior is
Wyo.
environmentalists.
supposed to safeguard,”
Nev.
Utah
D.C.
Then there’s the U.S. Fish
the Wilderness Society’s
Colo.
Calif.
and
Wildlife Service. Among
lawyer, Nada Culver, said
Ariz.
its responsibilities is the
N.M.
in a press release.
Source:
Congressional
Endangered Species Act, a law
Culver tries to paint
Research
Service
that promotes the shuffling
Budd-Falen with a broad
Alaska
Fla. Alan Kenaga/
Hawaii
Capital
Press
of paper and the filing of
brush that includes the
lawsuits by environmental
Bundy family, whom
groups as much as protecting
she represented along
endangered and threatened species.
endorsement.
with other ranchers in 1989 in a
Budd-Falen has tracked the ESA, its
Now that we’ve gotten that
case involving the Mojave desert
uses and abuses, and has a thorough
tortoise, an endangered species. The out of the way, let’s look at
understanding of its strengths and
the Department of the Interior.
fact that 27 years later the Bundys
weaknesses, and how to improve it.
participated in the Malheur National Among the nine bureaus within
As an a private attorney,
the department are the Bureau of
Wildlife Refuge debacle is laid at
an attorney with the Mountain
Land Management, the Bureau of
Budd-Falen’s feet. It “calls into
States Legal Foundation and
serious question whether she can be Reclamation and the U.S. Fish and
as a special assistant within the
Wildlife Service.
trusted to apply the law on behalf
Interior Department during the
The BLM is the landlord for
of the Department of the Interior,”
Reagan administration, Budd-Falen
247.3 million federally owned
Culver said.
has developed an encyclopedic
Let’s clarify what Budd-Falen has acres, most of it in the West. That
knowledge of land and water
means anyone living in the rural
done for a living for the past three
management issues in the West. As
West — ranchers, for example —
decades. She is a lawyer. It is her job
deputy solicitor for fish, wildlife and
will have to meet the demands of
to represent her clients to the best of
the BLM. Budd-Falen will know the parks within the Department of the
her ability, no matter what side of
issues backward and forward and be Interior, she will be uniquely able to
an issue they are on. The fact that
apply that knowledge to high-level
able to weigh all sides and make a
the Wilderness Society doesn’t like
fair-minded assessment that follows decisions that will impact nearly
that she has represented ranchers
the law. No one could ask any more, every farmer and rancher in the West.
in disputes with environmental
We can think of no one better for
or less, of a person in that position.
groups and the federal government
the
job.
The Bureau of Reclamation
apparently is enough to give them
What’s in a name?
We are all given a name
at birth and that name
stays with us for the rest
of our lives. Though
some choose to change
their names, particular-
ly if you are an artist
like Madonna, Prince or
John Wayne. Our names
define who we are. They
represent our heritage,
our lineage, our histo-
ry. Some names are so
famous, all you need to
hear is the last name and
you immediately know
who they are, like Jor-
dan, Gates, Reagan or
Kennedy.
In the ranching com-
munity, there are sever-
al old-time names that
you know just by men-
tioning their last name.
One such name is the
Skinner Ranch. The
Skinners have been in
Jordan Valley Oregon
since 1863. It is a sev-
enth-generation ranch
headed up by Bob
Skinner. Bob is a past
president of the Ore-
gon Cattleman’s Asso-
ciation and the current
president of the Public
Lands Council. Bob
and his family have
spent countless hours
and much of their own
money defending and
promoting their liveli-
hood and communities
that they and many
other ranching family’s
support. The Skinner
name is known from
the State House to the
White House.
I have known Bob
and his family for years,
they have an impecca-
ble reputation known
for their honesty, in-
tegrity and work eth-
ic. That is why it is so
troubling that in the po-
litical race for Oregon’s
second congressional
district Greg Walden’s
opponent who happens
to have a hyphenated
last name with Skinner
in it is falsely implying
that she is a local girl.
You see, last fall in her
travels she took a selfie
in front of Bob’s family
ranch sign then posted,
“As she prepares for
Thanksgiving that she
is very grateful for her
family.” Then she end-
ed the post #jordanval-
leyoregon.
OK, I get it, if I ever
see a road sign or a pub
in my travels that says
McElligott I am going
to stop and take a pic-
ture. Heck in my library
I even have a copy of
Dr. Seuss’ “McElligot’s
Pool.” Even though he
left a “t” off the end of
the name. But I am not
going to post it for the
world to see and imply
that I am somebody
that I am not. Bob Skin-
ner recently wrote Ms.
McLeod-Skinner a nice
letter requesting that
she remove the picture
of his ranch sign from
her website. As of last
night, it was still there.
Her website boasts of
ethics and integrity, but
I find the act of posting
a selfie of someone’s
personal property with-
out their permission
and implying that they
are close family very
unethical and lacking
integrity. Not removing
the picture when asked
just solidifies that opin-
ion.
Congressman Greg
Walden, on the other
hand, doesn’t have to
pretend to be someone
he is not. He lets his
record speak for itself.
Walden, as he is known
in Oregon’s second
congressional district
and in Washington,
D.C., has worked hard
for Oregon. He and his
staff have spent count-
less hours on the Blue
Mountain Forest Plan
trying to get it right for
all of Oregon.
He has champi-
oned forest fire fund-
ing, transportation and
health care issues. I
have had the opportu-
nity to see him work in
Washington, D.C., and
the respect he has gar-
nered from both sides of
the aisle.
Don’t be fooled by
what you see on a web-
site. Remember not ev-
erything on the internet
is true. When you fill
out your ballets this
November vote for the
candidate that has in-
tegrity and ethics. Vote
Walden.
Matt McElligott
North Powder, Ore.
Letters policy
Write to us: Capital Press welcomes letters to the editor on
issues of interest to farmers, ranchers and the agribusiness
community.
Letters policy: Please limit letters to 300 words and include your
home address and a daytime telephone number with your sub-
mission. Longer pieces, 500-750 words, may be considered as
guest commentary pieces for use on the opinion pages. Guest
commentary submissions should also include a photograph of
the author.
Send letters via email to opinions@capitalpress.com. Emailed
letters are preferred and require less time to process, which could
result in quicker publication. Letters also may be sent to P.O. Box
2048, Salem, OR 97308; or by fax to 503-370-4383.