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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (April 12, 2007)
BY MARY O’BRIEN Refuge Part I: Where Land and Water Meet W hen we went to Malheur Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Oregon for spring break this year, it was the first time in 20 years. The times before, our two boys were with us; now they have migrated else- where. Twenty years ago, a marsh hosted a deafening predawn chorus of birds three min- utes from the field station trailers. This year the marsh was eerily dry and silent. Some things were the same. Sage grouse males strutted and made popping sounds with their chest sacs in the cold, predawn dark at the very same spot in sagebrush. Sandhill cranes, those tall, 2.5 million-year-old birds with 7-foot wing spans, uttered their ancient- sounding call as they strode in slow motion across fields. Trumpeter swans were gliding on narrow streams, and jackrabbits still bounded on long legs. The ducks and geese were still sufficiently big and brightly-colored for even new or rusty birders like us to identify. Refuge staff were still fiddling with the water machinery and dikes. Cattle were still grazing the lands around the refuge. And the small refuge visitor center was still there, offering maps and advice to visitors. But this year a newish book was on display: Where Land and Water Meet: a Western Landscape Transformed by Nancy Langston. I recognized the historian’s name — years ago I had read with fascination her book Forest Dreams, Forest Nightmares, about the manner in which early settlers, loggers, herders and the Forest Service perceived, used and tried to control the Blue Mountains in northeast- ern Oregon. Where Land and Water Meet is an equally astonishing history, this time about the manner in which early Paiute, trappers, ranchers, homesteaders, Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service perceived, used and tried to control the streams, floods, lakes and wetlands that are now Malheur Wildlife Refuge. As Langston records, Paiute adapted to the marshes and flooding of fields. Hudson’s Bay Company trappers removed the dam-building beavers to ruin the land so Americans wouldn’t come in. Ranchers built canals to flood their fields for cattle food. Homesteaders drained marshes to live on, farm and grow food for cattle. The ranchers and homesteaders killed the Paiute to take their land. The Bureau of Reclamation drained marshes and dug channels to allow more homesteaders to move in. Drought and floods came, and one particular birder campaigned to get the disaster area declared a wildlife refuge. Then the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (and CCC) dug channels and built dikes to get water back out on the land to produce ducks. They killed the beaver and sprayed the willows with herbicide because beaver and willows interfered with their engineering for ducks. They (unsuccess- fully) poisoned exotic carp that escaped from Lake Malheur and drained some of Lake Malheur to let ranchers graze cattle. Then they reduced the grazing because it was destroying the streams. And now they are trying to get flooding, willows and beavers back and are trying to pay attention to more than just duck production. And now they’ll have to manage in the face of global warming. And why is that marsh now dry which 20 years ago hosted the predawn chorus? The 1980s (when I last was there) were extraordinarily wet years, never to be seen since (or maybe again). As with all well-researched and clearly-written environmental history books, Where Land and Water Meet leaves the reader sadder (for what has been removed from the world); more informed (about how nature works and about the stories hu- mans tell themselves about how nature works); grateful (for some people who no- tice and respect how nature really works); and, hopefully, wiser (about social processes that encourage humans to be more careful of the world). Every spot on Earth has a history like this. We’re quite the fateful species. Next month, Part II: Where Land and Water Meet in West Eugene WHO YOU GONNA BLAME? Mary O’Brien of Eugene has worked as a public interest scientist since 1981. She can be reached at mob@efn.org EDITORIAL Editor Ted Taylor News Editor Alan Pittman Reporter Camilla Mortensen Arts & Music Editor Molly Templeton Performing & Visual Arts/Copy Editor Suzi Steffen Calendar Editor Chuck Adams Contributing Editor Anita Johnson Contributing Writers Jason Blair, Martha Calhoon, Brett Campbell, Rachael Carnes, Michael Cockram, David Constantin, John Dooley, Rachel Foster, James Johnston, Sarah Mazze, Sharleen Nelson, Mary O’Brien, Aaron Ragan-Fore, Vanessa Salvia, Steven Sawada, Sally Sheklow, Lance Sparks, Eva Sylwester, Adrienne van der Valk Interns Amanda Burhop, Nicole Fancher BUSINESS Director of Sales and Marketing Bill Shreve ART DEPARTMENT (personals): personals@eugeneweekly.com Art Director/Production Manager Kevin Dougherty Graphic Artist/Webmaster James Bateman Graphic Artists Shannon Browning, Todd Cooper, Barbara Cooper Intern Carly Kratzer Baby Samara Cooper Contributing Photographers Kurt Jensen, Paul Neevel ADVERTISING National Sales Manager Mark Frisbee Display Marketing Consultant Jennifer Donohue, Nate Krusi, Rob Weiss Advertising Traffic Coordinator Drew “Rockstar” Harrison Classified Manager Jennifer Donohue Classified Marketing Consultant Janus Brezsny, Aspen Rosen Circulation Manager Danica Stiles Controller Paula Hoemann Distributors Bob Becker, Matt Bryson, Margaret Garrison, Tobin Herrera, Susan and David Lawson, Tim Risch, Quick Draw, Pedalers Express Printing Signature Graphics HOW TO REACH US BY E-MAIL: (letters): editor@eugeneweekly.com (advertising): ads@eugeneweekly.com (classifieds): classy@eugeneweekly.com (calendar): cal@eugeneweekly.com (music/clubs/special shows): music@eugeneweekly.com (art/openings/galleries): visualarts@eugeneweekly.com (performance/theater): performance@eugeneweekly.com (literary arts/readings): books@eugeneweekly.com (movies/film screenings): movies@eugeneweekly.com (circulation): distribution@eugeneweekly.com Eugene Weekly • 1251 Lincoln Street • Eugene, OR 97401 • 541.484.0519 • fax 541-484-4044 4 APRIL 12, 2007 TO THE EDITOR SPREAD THE WORD THOSE BUTTS I went to hear Ohio congressman and Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich speak April 2, and I believe that sup- porting this remarkable man in his bid for the presidency during the coming year and a half is one of the best things we can do to try to realize our vision of a better world. Kucinich wants to pull troops out of Iraq within two to three months and replace them with a U.N. force that diplomats from other countries have assured him could be assembled that quickly, never “using force as an instrument of policy” again; realizes that we’re part of the natural world, not the bosses of it, and need to get serious about protecting our environment by changing our lifestyles; and advocates a single payer na- tional health care system — getting insurance companies out of the process and using what would have been their profits to help pay for it. He even said last night that one of his first acts as president would be to cancel NAFTA and other similar trade agreements, eliminating the power of the WTO to override workers’ rights and the environment. Quoting/paraphrasing from Kucinich: The essence of who we are as human beings is unity/connection; we can create the America we want from our deepest intentions, not our fears, starting at home; it’s our responsibility to dedicate our lives to changing our society; officials responsible for the deaths of a million Iraqis must be brought to justice not because of who they are, but because of who we are; a deep transformation of American politics is possible .… Since it would be hard to fantasize a better candidate, I believe that if we don’t do all we can to support this man and get him elected, we don’t really want what we say we want ... Visit www.kucinich.us to see what you can do, and spread the word — it’s an opportunity not to be missed. Maggie Springer Eugene I work at a garden in this city / Most days it’s lovely but sometimes it’s a pity / While every morning I make my rounds / The litter I collect makes me frown. So one day I started counting / To show the world it’s mount- ing / Maybe with one month’s stats / You’ll throw them in the nearby trash. In one month they do ac- crue / To a grand total of 1,122 / If you were to pile them all in one place / It would be a half pound of nasty waste. It takes 12 years for one to decompose / They’re plastic not cotton, don’t you know? / It takes 2 seconds to do it smart / So please please, respect this place, do your part. Ellyn Toneys Eugene PLOTTING WITH NATURE Do not go toxic into that good night. The Earth is a precious place with dwindling na- tive forests that are becoming increasingly expensive to preserve, and the human species, with its very expensive death rituals and need for more cemetery plot real estate every smog-choked day, has sadly become the antithesis of nature. What if trees didn’t have to be cut to bury each of us but instead preserved? Imagine that you could choose from a dazzling array of natural burial traditions; that an old growth forest to be logged was in- stead snapped up by a Natural Burial Park Alliance; that the money paid for your funeral (only about $700-$800) was used to buy a plot with breathing room of hitherto unpro- tected forest (whatever you can afford) with a natural hiking trail, llama, horse, bike trail or wheelchair nature trail going right by your plot. A minimum of grave goods could be buried with you for the same reason, unless they are of nature, but I would think a mini- malist approach is the core. A Friends of the
