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CapitalPress.com
Editorials are written by or
approved by members of the
Capital Press Editorial Board.
Friday, January 21, 2022
All other commentary pieces are
the opinions of the authors but
not necessarily this newspaper.
Opinion
Editor & Publisher
Managing Editor
Joe Beach
Carl Sampson
opinions@capitalpress.com | CapitalPress.com/opinion
Our View
A handshake isn’t enough anymore
T
ime was, most business on
the farm was done with a
handshake. When someone
promised to do something, his, or
her, word was enough to seal the
deal.
No more.
When a farmer or rancher is doing
business, the best and only way to
try to make sure it won’t go side-
ways is to get it in writing. Landlords
are especially susceptible when there
are problems because most state
and local laws are written to protect
tenants.
A case in point involves Jerry and
Gloria Wetzel. The Eagle Point, Ore.,
couple leased some land to a tenant
who said he was growing hemp,
which is legal.
The Wetzels didn’t know he lacked
the proper license to grow the crop.
Worse yet, he was illegally growing
marijuana instead.
The propagation of illegal mari-
juana is out of control in many parts
of the state. Bad actors show up and
weasel their way onto land, either
claiming to grow hemp or sim-
ply squatting on private and pub-
lic land. They steal water, use illegal
chemicals, treat their employees like
human chattel and threaten with vio-
lence anyone who protests.
It is a worst-case scenario.
That brings us back to the Wetzels,
who are both in their 70s. Last June,
Capital Press File
A hemp plant. Bad actors say they are
growing hemp when they are illegally
growing marijuana.
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
Jerry and Gloria Wetzel take a walk on their farm property.
Oregon State Police, armed with a
search warrant, showed up at their
house. They combed through the
couple’s personal papers, apparently
looking for evidence that the Wetzels
were in cahoots with the renter, who
was long gone.
It should be noted that the Wet-
zels apparently did nothing wrong —
other than trusting the word of their
renter. Because he ran away from his
responsibility, the Wetzels are stuck
with a $150,000 fine.
This scenario is becoming more
common in Oregon. Jackson County
Sheriff Nate Sickler told Capital
Press reporter Sierra Dawn McClain
that he is “finding many land leas-
ers have been less than honest with
the property owners about what they
are cultivating, as well as what per-
mitting and licensing have been
obtained.”
How did this mess come to pass?
Though there is plenty of blame to
go around, most of it can be laid at
the feet of the state, which has done a
wholly inadequate job of controlling
illegal marijuana cultivation for
years — even before it was legalized
through a poorly written initiative
passed by an unknowing public.
Our View
Court correctly strikes down
vaccination mandate
he U.S. Supreme Court has stayed the Biden
administration’s COVID vaccination/testing
mandate for large employers.
We agree that the mandate represented an over-
reach by the federal administrative state and an
usurpation of powers that belong to the states.
The 6-3 decision stayed a rule from the Occupa-
tional Safety and Health Administration that would
have required workers at businesses with more than
100 employees to be vaccinated. As an alternative,
companies could have let workers stay on, but only
if they wore masks and were tested weekly.
The president was not pleased. “I am disap-
pointed that the Supreme Court has chosen to
block common-sense life-saving requirements for
employees at large businesses that were grounded
squarely in both science and the law.”
Justices Stephen Beyer, Sonia Sotomayor and
Elena Kagan dissented. They accused the majority
of displacing the “judgments of government offi-
cials” and “experts.”
They called COVID an “unparalleled threat”
and said that the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration had authority to protect workers
from “grave dangers.”
The issue before the court was not whether
requiring employers to enforce the mandate would
serve a legitimate public health purpose. The ques-
tion was whether OSHA had the legal authority to
make and enforce such a rule.
It did not.
In its ruling, the majority said administrative
agencies are “creatures of statute.”
“They accordingly possess only the authority
that Congress has provided. The [Labor Depart-
ment] secretary has ordered 84 million Americans
to either obtain a COVID-19 vaccine or undergo
weekly medical testing at their own expense. This
is no ‘everyday exercise of federal power.’ … The
question, then, is whether the [Occupational Safety
and Health] Act plainly authorizes the secretary’s
mandate. It does not. The act empowers the secre-
tary to set workplace safety standards, not broad
public health measures.”
T
File photo
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Occupa-
tional Safety and Health Administration does not
have the authority to enforce a vaccination/testing
mandate for large employers.
The plain language of the Constitution is simple:
Congress makes laws, the executive branch carries
them out.
But in its quest to pass every more comprehen-
sive and complicated bills, legislators have focused
on the big picture and left the details to various
cabinet agencies. By leaving too much to the imag-
ination of the administrative state, Congress has
allowed unelected bureaucrats to make rules that
push federal authority into places it was never
intended to go.
We think the Biden rule was ill-conceived, and
was not intended to increase worker safety as much
as it was a backdoor attempt at a national vacci-
nation mandate for which it knew it lacked legal
authority.
After the court’s decision, the president called on
the states to “do the right thing” and impose their
own mandates.
While that would pass Constitutional muster, it
is the wrong path to follow.
Businesses should take steps to protect employ-
ees. People who are able should get vaccinated. We
think the vaccine is the best way to reduce infec-
tions and serious illness, but nonetheless we respect
the right of informed adults to weigh their own
options and decide for themselves.
Governments, state and federal, should do
likewise.
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the opinion page, contact Carl Sampson, managing
editor, at 800-882-6789.
Other growers know who the
bad actors are, but for one reason
or another don’t call the authorities.
And the authorities are under-staffed
and overwhelmed.
This means it’s open season for
illegal pot growers, making it that
much easier to victimize people like
the Wetzels.
The Oregon Legislature has
approved funding that should allow
the authorities to battle this massive
problem. We fear it’s a case of too lit-
tle, too late.
In the meantime, farmers, ranchers
and other landowners would do well
to skip the handshake when deal-
ing with strangers who want to grow
hemp and do a full background check
before even talking with them.
Investment in
firefighting crucial
for stopping fires
F
ire season is
ever-present on Ida-
ho’s seasonal calen-
dar. Last summer’s fires
arrived with clockwork
precision.
In July, a dry thunder-
storm, akin to the storm
that helped ignite 1910’s
Big Burn, rolled across
Idaho, sparking wild-
fires. Some fires that
may have been extin-
guished quickly burned
unchecked because
not enough firefighting
resources were available.
Most experts agree
extreme fire seasons are
likely the new norm.
Alongside this increased
fire risk, Idaho is grow-
ing with more people
living near and recreat-
ing on forests and range-
lands. Unfortunately, with
growth comes even more
unwanted human-caused
wildfires.
Responding quickly
and extinguishing wildfires
before they spread is more
important than ever before.
In 2018 the Idaho
Department of Lands
(IDL) commissioned
an analysis to better
understand the invest-
ment needed to modern-
ize Idaho’s fire prepared-
ness program. The goals:
becoming more self-reli-
ant, resilient and able to
respond to severe fire sea-
sons more effectively. The
Star Fire analysis, com-
pleted in 2020, recom-
mended Idaho invest $2.8
million more in prepared-
ness resources. These
findings led IDL to pro-
pose additional ground
resources, including addi-
tional fireline leadership,
engine bosses, seasonal
firefighters and equipment.
Governor Little is lead-
ing Idaho in the right
direction by recommend-
ing a 21% general fund
increase for modernizing
IDL’s firefighting capabil-
ities. Coupled with recent
cross-boundary initiatives
to tackle much needed for-
GUEST
VIEW
Dustin
Miller
RESPOND-
ING QUICKLY
AND EXTIN-
GUISHING
WILDFIRES
BEFORE THEY
SPREAD IS
MORE
IMPORTANT
THAN EVER
BEFORE.
est thinning on federal and
private lands, investments
in IDL’s firefighting pro-
gram will help ensure a
safer Idaho.
Consider what’s at risk
if we do not increase and
modernize our wildland
firefighting capacity. IDL’s
ability to respond quickly
to wildfire on the 6.3 mil-
lion acres we protect will
lose ground. Significant
investment in reforesta-
tion efforts could go up in
smoke, and recreational
access to endowment lands
could be limited.
By grace and hard work
by IDL’s employees, Ida-
ho’s timber protective
associations, local fire dis-
tricts, our federal partners,
the forest products indus-
try and many more, we
stopped 2021 from becom-
ing the next 1910. Gover-
nor Little’s FY2023 budget
recommendation for mod-
ernizing and building fire-
fighting capacity will help
us better protect Idahoans
and our valuable natural
resources from devastating
wildfires.
Dustin Miller is director
of the Idaho Department of
Lands.