Applegater Summer 2014
21
MY OPINION FROM BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR
Taking liberties
by chRIS bRATT
Our senior senator from Oregon,
Ron Wyden, is a lawyer with a 30-year
career helping to make laws for our state
and country. Everything considered, I
think he has done a good job over those
years representing the interests of the
people in Oregon as well as introducing
some fair and important environmental
legislation. So it comes as a surprise and
a great disappointment to me that the
senator’s latest proposed bill, the Oregon
and California Land Grant Act of 2013
(his top priority in 2014) is such a disaster.
Last year, when drafting this bill,
the senator stated, “It is not going to
ignite an ideological war.” But with
extreme pressure mounting from all
sides (members of Congress, the State of
Oregon, timber interests, rural counties,
scientists, environmentalists, etc.), the
senator has decided to abandon the
science-based management now employed
on our public forestlands.
In addition, the new law that Wyden
is proposing will restrict the public’s right
to protest and to petition the government
for redress. Because he has resorted to these
extreme measures, I foresee a firestorm
building over the shortcomings of his
plan. If this or a similar bill is approved by
Congress, I believe it will fan the flames of
the environment-versus-economy debate
once again.
I believe that by limiting
citizen participation and judicial
review and withdrawing the existing
protections on 2.6-million acres of public
forestland managed by the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM), the environmental
community nationwide will mobilize.
Do we really want to go back to the
polarizing arguments pitting struggling
counties, job growth and doubling timber
cuts up against existing laws, science and
environmental protections?
I hope we don’t try to return to the
failed management and forest policies of the
distant past. We have progressed far beyond
managing our public forests exclusively for
timber production, and “logging without
laws” won’t work anymore. There are too
many other scientific, economic and social
values that a forest provides that now need
to be considered.
I’m further dismayed by the
senator’s expressed frustration
with environmental activists. While stating
that all the parties involved will have to
Applegate Valley
Community Grange news
by jANIS mOhR-TIpTON
The Applegate Valley Community
Grange (AVCG) hall was decked out in
green this March for the return of the
St. Patrick’s Day Dinner. One hundred
community guests and Grange members
enjoyed a fine meal of corned beef,
potatoes, carrots and cabbage, and tasty
“lucky green” dessert cups, with most of the
food provided through local sources. We
had instrumental guitar music provided
by Grange member John Unger, and local
singer-songwriters Christina Duane and
Butch Martin of Sons of the Oregon Trail.
We had a great crew of dedicated
Grange members and community volunteer
supporters working hard to prepare for the
event, which made it a success. The Grange
hopes to make this community event and
other events grow so that the community
can come together to share a good locally
produced meal, visit with neighbors, and
hear our talented local entertainers. We all
know these community events take lots
of hands working together, so consider
joining the Grange and being a part of
the Grange’s commitment to serving
our community. If you missed the event,
check out our website at www.grange.
org/applegatevalleycommunityor839/
events for more fun events to come this
year. Or let us know if you’d like to be
on our contact list about future volunteer
opportunities and events.
On May 24 and 25, the Grange hall
was filled with a multifamily yard sale
organized by Grange member Mary Ann
Gum and community member Sandy
Reynolds. It was a good event for the
community to be able to shop for great
deals under one roof. The proceeds from
booth spaces benefited the Grange and the
McKee Bridge Historical Society.
You may have noticed some
changes in front of the Grange
building. After the septic system was
pumped, we made some upgrades by
replacing worn parts and then planting
new grass. We also recently added large
boulders to prevent compaction from
vehicles in order to protect the drain-field
area and add longevity to the system.
Grange members Jack Duggan, Paul
Tipton, Peter Sturm and John Unger with
his tractor provided all the labor of moving
and setting the boulders in place.
Be sure to contact Janis Mohr-Tipton
about volunteer opportunities. See you
soon at our next event!
Janis Mohr-Tipton • 541-846-7501
AVCG Membership and
Outreach Chairperson
janismohrtipton48@frontier.com
Jack Duggan, Paul Tipton, Peter Sturm and John Unger (on his tractor) created a rock barrier
to protect the drain-field area in front of the Grange building.
compromise under his plan, he singles
out the environmentalists to do most of
the compromising. Wyden calls some of
us “The Stop Everything Brigade.” He
continues, “I don’t believe every tree in
America has a constitutional right to a
lawsuit.” (The proposed bill shows that he
apparently doesn’t believe a citizen has that
right either.)
In the same harsh tone, he announces,
“This bill stipulates that you get one bite
of the apple,” which means that a citizen
or group will have only one chance (at
the beginning of a ten-or-more year
period) to challenge BLM’s Final Forest
Management Plan (Environmental Impact
Statement). Thereafter, all individual
timber sales will take place without any
further environmental assessment, protest,
appeal, legal challenge, or administrative or
judicial review. Anyone concerned about
BLM’s timber sales or other actions will
have to rely solely on BLM’s management
judgments (good luck with that).
The senator’s bill and others
being put forward are troubling
echoes of the past with the same hostile
tone and drastic solutions directed toward
people who are trying to ensure that
our public forests
and resources
are safeguarded
Chris Bratt
for future
generations. The
fate of our forests can no longer be
subjected to the whims of a dysfunctional
Congress and angry politicians.
I do agree with Senator Wyden
when he says, “Forest policy should be
dictated by science, not lawyers.” (He has
just dictated a 180-page bill, apparently
forgetting that he is a lawyer.) So let’s
suspend further action on these negative
bills before Congress. Let’s begin to draft
a long-term science-based forest plan
for these BLM lands with negotiated
solutions that create the jobs, revenue for
cash-strapped counties and a viable wood-
products industry we would all like to see.
There can be a bright future for
Oregon and our forests. All we need to get
there is a focus on solutions that can bring
us together. Rather than compromising
the legacy of our unique resources, we will
need a shared responsibility to maintain
and improve our forests, counties and rural
communities.
Chris Bratt • 541-846-6988
Update from the Applegate Food Pantry
by ARlENE ANd clAudE ARON
Our regular volunteer driver, Steve
Weaver, will no longer be available to
pick up our weekly food allocation from
ACCESS after May, so we are looking for
someone to take over this critical job. Steve
has been doing this week in and week out
for many years and we cannot thank him
enough for his generosity and dedication
to community service.
We need someone with a large
pickup who is available to drive to the
ACCESS warehouse in Medford on
Monday mornings by 10:30 and bring
back a load of food to Ruch School. The
ACCESS warehouse folks will load the
food onto your truck (usually two pallets
worth) and we will unload it at Ruch
School. We can reimburse you for your
gas, but otherwise this is strictly a volunteer
position. Please contact Arlene Aron at
541-951-6707 if you’re interested in this
community service opportunity.
In the last issue of the Applegater, we
announced that we were going to offer
our neighbors in the Applegate a way to
participate in the Medford Food Project.
Starting in February, we began stocking
a few locations with the green canvas
bags that the project uses. We had a very
enthusiastic response, with 35 individuals
who signed up and took a bag. Our local
forest service office took this on as a group
project and filled three bags themselves—
a special thanks to them for that. Perhaps
there are other organizations or businesses
that would be willing to take this on as a
group effort? While we were very happy
with this initial response, we’re hoping to
build on it and do even better over time.
Please consider signing up if you’re able to
do so—you’ll be helping your neighbors
in need and you’ll feel good about it too!
A few things to note this time
around:
• Some of the pickup and drop-off
locations for the green bags had little
activity, so we are going to limit the
locations to just two from now on: the
Ruch Country Store and the Applegate
Store. This will make it convenient for
those who live on either end of the valley
and will also simplify things for us.
• Because we had such a positive initial
response, we have decided that we will
distribute all the food we receive in the
Applegate through the Applegate Food
Pantry rather than merge it into the
Medford Food Project.
• Though we had 35 people sign up
and pick up bags, a few bags were not
returned. If you forgot to turn in your bag
on time, that's okay—please turn it in on
the next drop-off date, which is Friday,
June 13. If you've decided that you can't
participate for some reason, please return
the bag—we have a limited supply and
must pay for additional bags. We will be
happy to acquire more bags if we get more
participation, but we can't afford to give
them away to nonparticipants.
To recap, pick up a green bag at either
the Ruch or Applegate stores. If this is your
first time, put your name on the sign-up
sheet with your email printed clearly and
legibly (so we can send you a reminder
every two months). Whenever you go
shopping, pick up one extra can or package
of nonperishable food and put it in the bag.
Every two months on the second Friday of
the month (June 13, August 8, October 10
and December 12 are the remaining dates
in 2014), drop your full bag at the same
location where you picked it up.
A big thank you to everyone
who dropped off a green bag full of food
in April, to the Ruch and Applegate stores
for allowing us to use their facilities, to our
wonderful volunteers who enable us to
keep the pantry going, to Ruch School for
providing a home to our pantry for many
years, and to those generous donors and
growers whose cash and food donations
sustain us in our efforts to make sure that
no one in our community goes hungry.
Arlene and Claude Aron
541-951-6707