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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 2018
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
Founded in 1873
JIM VAN NOSTRAND
Editor
JEREMY FELDMAN
Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM
Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
BLM bigwigs should move west
A
bipartisan group of senators
and congressmen says the
headquarters for the Bureau of
Land Management should move out
of Washington, D.C., and relocate in
the West, where the agency manages
385,000 square miles of public lands.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who
overseas the BLM, agrees. So do we.
Colorado Republican Sen. Cory
Gardner introduced a bill to move the
BLM to one of a dozen states in the
West — Alaska, Arizona, California,
Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada,
New Mexico, Oregon, Utah,
Washington or Wyoming.
“You’re dealing with an agency
that basically has no business in
Washington, D.C.,” Gardner told
The Associated Press.
Colorado Republican Rep. Scott
Tipton introduced a similar measure
in the House, and three Democrats
signed up as co-sponsors: Reps.
Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Jared
Polis of Colorado and Ed Perlmutter
of Colorado.
The logic of this idea isn’t hard
for people in the West to under-
stand. BLM manages huge swaths
of Western states. (The BLM owns
Federal land by state
Land area by percent of state
0-10%
11-30%
31-50%
51-80%
> 80%
Wash.
N.H.
Mont.
Ore.
Idaho
Wyo.
Nev.
Calif.
Utah
Ariz.
D.C.
Colo.
N.M.
Source:
Congressional
Research
Service
Alan
Kenaga/
Fla.
Capital Press
Alaska
Hawaii
only one small parcel in Clatsop
County, but much more in Tillamook
County and many thousands of acres
elsewhere in Oregon.) Its decisions
impact the livelihoods of people
who populate rural communities, but
those decisions are made far from
the forests, grasslands and high des-
erts they call home.
Not everyone is in love with the
idea, particularly the special inter-
ests who court influence inside the
Washington beltway.
Athan Manuel, director of the
Sierra Club’s public lands pro-
gram, said the Bureau of Land
Management is already decentral-
ized, and moving the headquarters
would waste money.
“It’s a solution in search of a
problem,” he told AP.
Critics say the BLM and other
agencies need to be headquartered in
the capital to be included in budget
and policy discussions. But having
all those discussions in Washington
is part of the problem. That’s better
for K Street lobbyists and the envi-
ronmental special interests, but not
so good for the people those policies
impact.
While it’s true that less than 5 per-
cent of the bureau’s 9,000 employ-
ees are stationed in D.C., they have
more say and less access to the
national treasures they administer
than their colleagues in the field.
Putting BLM headquarters in
Denver, Boise or Seattle wouldn’t
change its statutory mission. But
it would give the agency bigwigs
a different perspective and a bet-
ter-than-nodding acquaintance with
the territory they manage and the peo-
ple who live there.
GUEST COLUMN
A love of re-enacting history
A
s a longtime member of the Northwest
Civil War Council and co-event coor-
dinator for the Fort Stevens Civil War
Re-enactment, I would like to clarify a few
things regarding this annual event.
First, I would like to thank the local Fort
Stevens park rangers and the Friends of Old
Fort Stevens for your cooperation and part-
nership over all these years. You guys have
been great to work with and I appreciate all
you have done. It was the Fort Stevens park
rangers who went to bat for us when the state
threatened to shut down the event the last sev-
eral years due to extreme fire danger from the
exceptionally warm, dry Augusts we’ve had
here on the coast. You have gone above and
beyond the call of duty many times over the
last 27 years. I do not blame
you for the decision that was
handed down. I know that it
came from Salem and was
out of your control.
The additional fees
proposed by the state were
simply more than the coun-
JAMES
cil’s board of directors felt
STANOVICH
we could absorb. We are a
nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organi-
zation, with limited funds, and the majority
of the board felt it was too risky to continue
without the support of Friends of Old Fort
Stevens and the park.
As it was, the club spent just under
$10,000 last year to stage the event, between
port-a-potties, firewood, advertising, permits
and other costs. Much of this was spent
locally. This doesn’t include what the individ-
ual re-enactors spent in the area for food, gas
and meals.
Besides the hundreds of re-enactors who
were drawn to this event, we attracted thou-
sands of spectators. Many of these were from
outside the area. These spectators brought in
additional revenue for local businesses. An
economic study done by Lebanon, Oregon,
showed that more than $40,000 was spent
there during one of our smaller two-day
events. As a lifelong Astorian, I know this
will have a financial impact on our small
coastal community.
Contrary to the editorial in The Daily
Astorian (“Civil War re-enactment fulfilled
valuable mission”), we have never tied
up camping areas that could otherwise be
booked. Our members have always camped
in period-correct canvas tents in the historical
area of the park, far removed from the Fort
Stevens campground. Another misconception
in the editorial is that the state park subsidizes
the re-enactments. This is simply not true.
The council pays for all the costs of putting
on these events. The park and the Friends of
Old Fort Stevens did take care of things like
collecting admission, parking event attendees
and garbage collection.
The park still received all of the state park
day use fees during the event, which is a sub-
stantial sum. In addition, we have contributed
financially to the Friends of Old Fort Stevens
over the years. The next time you visit the
Dorian Mason plays the drum.
Photos by James Stanovich
Danielle Fisher, left, and Sharon Stanovich in period costume.
Confederate re-enactors cook up a mess of beans.
Fort Stevens historical area, take a look
around. The Civil War earthworks, the mas-
sive new flagpole inside, the Civil War-era
cannons, we have helped to make all of these
possible with our financial contributions. One
of our founding members, the late Lou Scott,
was instrumental in bringing back the can-
nons to the fort. The fully functioning Civil
War-era cannon there still bears his name.
The other item that has been brought up
is the controversy over the Confederate flag.
We do fly Confederate flags at our re-en-
actments, but only in the proper historical
context. The first and second national flags
of the Confederate States of America are
flown over the Confederate headquarters and
parade grounds. During battles, the Army of
Northern Virginia battle flag is carried. The
company streets fly their state flags and a
carefully researched replica of the battle flag
they would have carried during the war. There
is no racism involved and no modern politics
discussed during the events. If we want to
argue politics while at an event, there are
plenty of 1860s issues to discuss!
As a club we have shared weddings, funer-
als, good times and sad times at this event.
Our kids and grandchildren have grown up
at these re-enactments. I joined here at Fort
Stevens back in 1992 and married my wife,
Sharon, here in 2012. All of us have always
enjoyed sharing our knowledge of this part of
history with all of you, and I’d like to thank
all those who have attended this re-enactment.
Our members come from all walks of life.
Men, women and children from all over the
Pacific Northwest. We all share one thing — a
deep appreciation and love for history. As the
editorial states, re-enactors can be eccentric.
Yes, I suppose this is very true. For most of
us it is far more than just a hobby, it is a way
of life. We love history. We love re-enacting
history. Besides the Civil War, many of us
belong to other living history groups. My wife
and I also belong to the Edwardian Society
of Oregon, the Oregon Regency Society and
the group I founded, the Columbia River
Association of Pirates. Does this make us
eccentric? Oh, I guess you could say that!
As for the Northwest Civil War Council,
we have always demonstrated both military
and Victorian-era civilian life at this event
and will continue to do so — unfortunately, it
must be at a new location.
We will all miss Fort Stevens immensely,
but we will continue. This is but one of four
public events we do during the year. We still
have our Camp Sherman re-enactment near
Sisters, Antique Powerland Civil War re-en-
actment near Salem and another near Colton.
In addition, we do parades and many, many
school presentations. It will be hard to replace
Fort Stevens, but replace it we must. This
may be a “retreat,” but we shall fight on!
Goodbye Fort Stevens, and thank you for
all the great memories.
James Stanovich is colonel of the Confed-
erate Battalion of the Northwest Civil War
Council and the press foreman at The Daily
Astorian.