FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015
4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
Opinion / Local
— Letters to the Editor —
Boy/girl showers unacceptable
To the Editor:
Here we go again with dumber than
dumb political correctness. Obama admin-
istration orders schools that “Boy’s must
be able to shower with girls and use their
bathrooms.” Transgender is not a gender,
but a mind that is being told they have the
right of freedom of choice to be whatever
gender they feel like at any given moment.
What next? Moral individuals’ rights mat-
ter too!
Except with this president who is hell
bent on destroying America’s moral and
social values and ultimately our society.
He appears to be on the wrong side of ev-
erything pertaining to morally acceptable
behavior; Christian values, Family values,
Right to life for the unborn, traditional
marriage between one man and one wom-
an and our unalienable religious freedoms
and rights given us by our Creator. And
then promotes and forces all these things
that are very destructive to a civilized and
moral society upon all citizens with no
regard to the discrimination and violation
of their rights.
Do we law-abiding and moral con-
science people not have a right to serve
our God rather than man and his lust for
sinful living? I think we do, or better yet
I know we do and we have a responsibil-
ity to God to obey Him rather than man
and must make our faith known unto
all mankind or it will become worthless
indeed and we will become followers of
the blind of this world. We are a chosen
people; those who truly follow Him who
has chosen us before the world was. It
is written: Many are called, but few are
chosen. We become the child of the One
whom we obey.
We the people must think about the next
and every election thereafter as to what
and who a political candidate is by their
past performance, actions and reputation,
not by their refusing to expose their secret
records of the past, lack of transparency,
broken promises and lies like we all have
witnessed for the past seven-plus years
under this president and his administra-
tion. He does not represent me nor my
values.
Let us all pray for some common sense
and moral leadership and then actively
seek out and vote according to our moral
God given conscience, within each of us.
For God sake let us wake up and stop the
assault on Christians and our values and
the American family traditional values for
the preservation of mankind, all of God’s
children.
Whenever any elected official abuses
the power given to wreak havoc on the
citizenry, the people Must react and not
allow anyone to force them into accepting
the unacceptable and immoral behaviors
even to the point of demanding Impeach-
ment of such a overstepping and careless
individual.
Don Beck
Baker City
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Copyright © 2014
— Guest Opinion —
Obama needs
to come
clean about
Owyhee
Canyonlands
monument
By U.S. Rep. Greg Walden
We’ve seen this movie before. A
lame duck President uses the An-
tiquities Act to declare huge swaths
of public lands off limits so he can
have an environmental legacy.
Right up until the night before
he declared the Grand Staircase
Escalante a national monument, the
Clinton White House told the Utah
congressional delegation no such
plans were in the works.
And in his final month in office,
President Clinton declared seven
national monuments.
I fear the Obama Administra-
tion—urged on by outside interests
groups and wealthy corporations
seeking a marketing niche—is up to
the same “dark-of-night” declara-
tion on the Owyhee River canyon in
eastern Oregon.
Last Thursday night, in Adrian
(population 177), more than 500
people turned out to a public meet-
ing organized by State Rep. Cliff
Bentz to voice their deep concerns
about this possibility. Extra chairs
had to be brought in to the local
gymnasium, and people were still
standing in the aisles.
One person who wasn’t there?
Secretary of the Interior Sally
Jewell. Although I called on her or
a senior representative to attend the
meeting, no senior members of the
Administration attended.
If they had, they would have
heard a message loud and clear: resi-
dents of eastern Oregon don’t want
another “Washington, D.C. knows
best,” federal designation that would
further destroy our way of life.
Yet, despite this public outcry, I
believe the Administration is play-
ing hide the ball from the public.
The Obama Administration needs
to come clean about what it has
planned for these millions of acres
of land in eastern Oregon.
Those of us familiar with eastern
Oregon know that the Owyhee River
canyon in Malheur County is home
to some of the most beautiful land-
scapes in the country. We also know
that these lands are an important part
of the economic base for Malheur
County, which generates more than
$370 million annually in agriculture
business according to Oregon State
University, of which $134 million
comes from cattle.
The Bureau of Land Management
and other federal agencies manage
4.5 million acres, or 73% of the land
in the county, making public lands
grazing an integral part of most local
family ranch operations, many of
whom have cared for this high desert
country since the 1860s.
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Submitted Photo
Greg Walden represents Oregon’s
Second Congressional District,
which covers 20 counties in south-
ern, central, and eastern Oregon,
including Baker County.
For generations, these local fami-
lies have been good stewards of the
lands.
They’ve worked cooperatively
and collaboratively with federal
agencies to manage these lands with
an eye towards the long-term viabil-
ity of the range and their family’s
livelihood.
Much like thinning an over-
stocked forest, grazing helps reduce
the amount of fuel available to
large rangeland fires that threaten
watersheds and sage grouse habitat
in the arid climates of southeastern
Oregon.
When fires do start, the volunteers
in the Rural Fire Protection As-
sociation are positioned to respond
promptly and are highly effective
thanks to their intimate knowledge
of local terrain and weather.
Over the years, these ranchers
have developed springs and other
water sources that have supported
their cattle, but also countless
numbers of wildlife that share the
range. The latter benefit has been
particularly valuable during recent
droughts.
In towns like Adrian and Jordan
Valley, ranching is the base of the
community. Whether through hiring
employees, or buying needed sup-
plies for the ranch or their family,
they are injecting money into the
local community.
A monument designation larger
than the states of Rhode Island and
Connecticut would greatly restrict or
eliminate grazing and other produc-
tive uses of the land. It will shake
the foundation of these communities
and cause harmful economic impacts
to the county and the surrounding
region.
I’ve worked with my colleagues
in the House to include language in
the funding bill for the Department
of Interior prohibiting the creation of
this national monument. Our farm-
ers, ranchers and rural communities
are most affected by the decisions
made on public lands.
I will continue to work to return
the focus on locally driven manage-
ment efforts, and stop these unilat-
eral actions that lock up our public
lands and negatively impact our
communities.
The Obama Administration has
done enough damage to the West
through their overzealous regula-
tions. We don’t need a presidential
declaration locking up more of our
public lands and choking our local
ranch economy.
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