FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2017
4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
Outdoors / Opinion
Holidays and outdoors
defensive
shooting, if
Governor
Kate Brown
forced the in-
vestigation to
be reopened,
the message
would basi-
cally be that
the Oregon
State Police
(OSP) and
the Union
County Dis-
THE OUTDOOR COLUMN
trict Attorney
By Todd Arriola
don’t know
what they’re
Though I paid nearly
doing—prob-
zero attention to two
ably not the best scenario.
events—the Washington
Last winter was the
Redskins beating the New
harshest one in a long time,
York Giants in the first
what we jokingly called
Redskins-hosted football
an “actual winter,” but it
game on Thanksgiving,
affected the numbers of
and the limited chaos from game tags issued to hunt-
single-minded shoppers on ers, because of the losses
Black Friday—I’m pleased in deer populations, for
to see that the holiday was
example.
a great success.
When I asked about the
With no snow on the
possibility of a deer dam-
ground yet (down where I
age tag this year, Oregon
am, anyway), and tempera- Department of Fish and
tures still relatively forgiv- Wildlife (ODFW) Baker
ing, I wonder whether this
District Biologist Brain
winter will be as harsh as
Ratliff said something like,
the last one. I also wonder “You’ll have a tough time
about the water situation
convincing me to issue a
next year.
damage tag for a doe.” Fair
With the beginning of
enough.
December, and the nearly
I still had other opportu-
month-long reminder of
nities, and I had ambitious
the Christmas holiday to
goals for the year, outdoor
come, I wonder how the
and indoor, which included
year’s gone by so quickly.
a honey-do list I dreamed
In the outdoor world,
would be non-existent by
we saw the full spectrum
December 31st.
of activity, from major ac-
As in most cases,
complishments, successes,
“Things don’t always go
and bragging rights, to fail- according to plan,” and
ures and outright poach-
that probably won’t hap-
ing. In the special political pen. And to the delight
firestorm that is Oregon,
of some coyotes this year,
whenever there is death to
my particular harvest was
wildlife—legal or not—
minimal, but there’s still a
there seems to always be a
month left, and all of 2018.
delicate balance between
Brandi, Airianna and I
seeing both sides of the
did manage to get some
issue and getting along
fishing in, but maybe not
and playing well, and all
as much as I would have
parties kicking the crap out liked. Still, part of the
of each other in a series of
point was to do something
cage fights.
together, and to teach the
This kind of combative
little one about the activ-
attitude is expected year-
ity, and Airianna did learn
long, especially with a
quickly.
subject such as wolves, the
My girls don’t ex-
recent defensive shoot-
actly enjoy the sound of
ing of an attacking wolf
a centerfire rifle shot, but
by an elk hunter, as well
amazingly, when I stepped
as deliberate or undeter-
outside one night to shoot
mined deaths, being prime
at a problem skunk with
examples.
a shotgun, neither one of
In the case of the
them awoke from their
nap, roughly ten feet away
on the couch. Heavy
sleepers.
Hunting and fishing re-
minds me of an interesting
experience I had this year,
while shopping at one of
the local grocery stores.
Someone I know, a
relatively recent trans-
plant from another area
to eastern Oregon, asked
me about living in the
region—basically, the
“purist” kind of living,
which involves “growing,
catching, or shooting” all
of his own food needed
to survive, and living a
more subsistence-type life
where he lives (he said he
could raise sheep and other
animals in that area).
He said that most of the
people he talked to don’t
live completely in that
mode (many are older, and
either aren’t able to hunt
and fish, for example, or
choose not to, for different
reasons), and that he has
limited learning opportuni-
ties which teach the needed
skills. I said that I don’t
really have all the answers
to his question, and that
I’m no expert, but that his
situation could certainly be
remedied.
In no case did he say
that anyone was hostile
about the topic, which
makes sense, because I
told him that people here
are generally friendly and
helpful.
Back to Thanksgiving. I
got together with a small,
merry tribe in our family,
and we attempted to eat
a large amount of food.
A valiant effort every
time we try that, and the
company was great, but
we always have leftovers
(we’re still eating them).
I’ve come to the conclu-
sion that this is on purpose,
because neither I, nor
many people I know, com-
plain about having extra
food around, post-grand
feast, despite being stuffed
to the point of sickness at
the time.
I presented my cats with
some scraps, who tried to
eat my hand in their ex-
cited state, and who were
also thankful for another
year.
They agreed—the turkey
was wonderful...
Salmon and Trout
committee to meet
The Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wild-
life’s Salmon and Trout
Enhancement Program
(STEP) Advisory Com-
mittee will meet Thursday,
Dec. 7 beginning at 8 a.m.
in the Commission Room
at the ODFW Headquar-
ters Office, 4034 Fairview
Industrial Drive in Salem.
The meeting is open to
the public and the agenda
includes STEP program
planning, STEP program
updates, and review of
mini-grant applications.
The Oregon Legislature
created Salmon and Trout
Enhancement Program
in 1981 to provide a way
for volunteers to partici-
pate in the restoration of
native stocks of salmon,
steelhead and trout. The
STEP Advisory Committee
makes recommendations
to ODFW and the Fish and
Wildlife Commission on
issues regarding its pro-
grams. The committee’s 13
members are appointed by
the Governor and represent
all areas of Oregon.
Reasonable accommo-
dations will be provided
as needed for individuals
requesting assistive hear-
ing devices, sign language
interpreters or large-print
materials. Individuals
needing these types of ac-
commodations may call the
Information and Education
Division at (800) 720-6339
or (503) 947-6002 at least
24 hours in advance of the
meeting.
For more information on
the Salmon Trout Enhance-
ment Program visit the
ODFW Web site at http://
www.dfw.state.or.us/fish/
STEP/ or call program
staff at (503) 947-6211.
Parks and Rec permits go on sale Dec. 1
From Dec. 1-31, holi-
day shoppers can buy the
annual parking permit for
only $25—that's $5 off the
regular price of $30. The
permits are transferable
from vehicle to vehicle.
Shoppers can round out
their gift with holiday gear
branded with the iconic
Oregon State Parks shield,
including hats, water bot-
tles, dog bowls, ornaments
and stickers. The holiday
gear will be on sale during
the month of December.
Gift gear and parking
permits are for sale online
at https://store.oregonstate-
parks.org/. Gift items can
also be purchased in per-
son at Oregon State Parks
headquarters in Salem, 725
Summer St. NE Suite C.
Parking permits are
also sold at major OPRD
offices, some state park
friends' group stores and
selected local businesses
throughout the state. For a
complete list of vendors,
visit http://oregonstate-
parks.org/.
— Editorial —
Hodge Podge
The Privilege Tax. We reported
earlier on the “privilege tax” being
enacted as part of the new Transporta-
tion Package, which puts a .5% sales
tax on dealerships for the privilege of
selling new gas or diesel-powered ve-
hicles. That sales tax would, of course,
be passed along immediately to the
consumer. That tax revenue would then
be redistributed to citizens purchasing
electric cars in the form of some whop-
ping rebates.
We were pleased to see that this incred-
ibly unfair (and we think illegal) tax is
being challenged in court. The Oregon
AAA and Oregon Trucking Association
have filed a position with the Supreme
Court asking essentially for the full
repeal of that tax.
We certainly hope they’re successful.
Our Mail System. It’s pretty com-
mon for us to get complaints about
the length of time it takes for our mail
subscribers to receive their newspapers.
Sometimes those complaints come with
threats to cancel the subscription entire-
ly. Sadly, we have no more control over
the United States Postal Service than we
do over the number of stars in the sky.
If your paper spends a week stuck on
the floorboard of your carrier’s truck,
go speak to a supervisor at your local
post office. If your paper is routinely
lost in transit, always winding up in
your neighbor’s box first, please talk to
the USPS about it. While we can report
the problem, we have no real effect on
the solution. We do offer up electronic
subscriptions, which are cheaper, and
give subscribers who are out of the area
instant access to their papers—it’s worth
a thought.
News Tips. We love getting news tips
from the public. And, while most of the
tips we get are rooted in fact, every so
often we do encounter one that seems to
have been created out of thin air. Much
of our duty, and that of our reporters,
ends up somewhere in the business of
debunking fact from fiction. So when
we don’t run a suggested story, it’s truly
because we didn’t find a story under-
neath it all to run.
It’s also interesting to note that in four
years, we have never received a tip that
was 100% accurate. The reason? There
are usually at least three sides to every
story, and it takes all sides to paint the
full picture. The most common response
to this statement is, “But I spoke with
her directly!” Or, “I heard it from a
member of his family!” We’ll refer
those folks back to our original state-
ment.
We’re pretty sure if this theory applies
to news tips, it applies even more so to
local gossip. Every single time. Some-
thing to consider …
—The Baker County Press Editorial Board
Walden examines online
consumer protection
Continuing his efforts
to strengthen consumer
protection in the digital
age, Rep. Greg Walden
(R-Hood River) today led
a hearing at the House
Energy and Commerce
Committee to examine
the personal data collec-
tion and online content
management practices of
technology companies.
Walden, who chairs the
Energy and Commerce
Committee, stressed the
need for consumer protec-
tion online to ensure sensi-
tive personal information
is safe, and that consum-
ers maintain control and
choice over the content
they see online.
"The goal for today’s
hearing is to help provide
all Americans with a better
understanding of how their
data flows online, how on-
line platforms and online
media sources determine
what they see or don’t
see, and the extent of and
methods by which their
information is collected
and used by online firms,”
said Walden. “Americans
should be able to feel con-
fident that their well-being,
freedom of expression, and
access to the content of
their choice are not being
wholly sacrificed for profit.
Americans should
have vibrant, competitive
markets both offline and
online, where consum-
ers know their rights and
options, and have the free-
dom to choose what is best
for their circumstances.”
Specifically, the Energy
and Commerce Commit-
tee today examined how
Letter to the Editor Policy: The Baker County
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companies’ algorithms, and
decisions about personal
data and online content,
are impacting consumers.
This hearing comes as
the Committee is continu-
ing to investigate the mas-
sive Equifax data breach,
which compromised the
personal information of
over 145 million Ameri-
cans, including over 1.7
million Oregonians.
During today’s hearing,
Walden said that as the in-
ternet economy continues
to grow substantially, con-
sumer safety and choice
must remain a top priority.
“Consumers should
remain as safe from unfair,
deceptive, and malicious
practices by online firms
and their algorithms on the
internet as they do in the
real world,” said Walden.
ters to the Editor express the opinions of their
authors, and have not been authored by and are
not necessarily the opinions of The Baker County
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contractors or affiliates. Advertisements placed
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