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4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2018 editor@dailyastorian.com KARI BORGEN Publisher JIM VAN NOSTRAND Editor Founded in 1873 JEREMY FELDMAN Circulation Manager DEBRA BLOOM Business Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN Production Manager CARL EARL Systems Manager OUR VIEW Agency flubs rescue from wolves When wolves endanger humans, pick what’s best for the humans I f you knew someone’s life was in danger in the rugged forest, would you send a chopper to rescue them within minutes or let them wait three hours while a crew hiked to the site? The quick rescue seems like an easy choice. Not for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Two weeks ago a seasonal Forest Service researcher — a student from Utah — was conducting a stream survey in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in northern Washington when she was confronted by two wolves from the Loup Loup pack that seemed intent on making her lunch. The woman yelled, waved her arms and used bear spray before climbing a tree and radioing for help. She was rescued by a Department of Natural Resources helicopter crew within about 45 minutes. Reporting by Don Jenkins of our sister newspaper, the Capital Press, shows that it almost didn’t go that way. Despite what the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said after the event, it was reluctant to send in the chopper because of the presence of the wolves, a federally protected species in that part of the state. It wanted to send an overland party — a three-hour trek. Washington Department of Natural Resources The helicopter crew that rescued a researcher treed by wolves in the Okano- gan-Wenatchee National Forest. From left, helicopter manager Daryl Schie, crew mem- bers Matthew Harris and Jared Hess, and pilot Devin Gooch. ‘How could they possibly spin leaving this woman clutching a tree for dear life for three hours while wolves circled below?’ The Department of Natural Resources pushed back and prepared to dispatch an air crew that eventually executed a swift rescue. Notes from a call between DNR dispatcher Jill Jones and a wildlife officer summarized WDFW’s position, and her position, shortly before the helicopter launched. “No helicopter. Federally listed species. 3 WDFW personnel saying so,” according to DNR’s call log. “We are more concerned for her life than the listed animal,” Jones told the wildlife officer. “He indicated that she is safe up in the tree. ... I told him that we do not know how safe she is. I don’t know how stout the tree is, and if the limbs will continue to hold her or how long she can hold on.” Finally, at the DNR’s urging, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and WDFW agreed to launching the air rescue. The wolves scattered when the chopper arrived at the site about 30 minutes later. The woman was rescued and all ended well. But it could have gone badly had WDFW been allowed to put the well-being of the wolves ahead of the student clinging to the tree. We can’t imagine that these experts really thought through the possible consequences for the young woman had it gone wrong, or considered the potential public relations disaster this episode presented. How could they possibly spin leaving this woman clutching a tree for dear life for three hours while wolves circled below? And what did they think the optics would be if she lost her grip or otherwise made contact before rescuers arrived? We hope that if a similar situation presents itself that WDFW won’t hesitate to do the right thing. When wolves endanger humans, pick what’s best for the humans every time. LETTERS WELCOME Letters should be exclusive to The Daily Astorian. Letters should be fewer than 250 words and must include the writer’s name, address and phone number. You will be contacted to confirm authorship. All letters are subject to editing for space, grammar, and, on occa- sion, factual accuracy. Only two letters per writer are allowed each month. Letters written in response to other letter writers should address the issue at hand and, rather than mentioning the writer by name, should refer to the headline and date the letter was published. Dis- course should be civil and people should be referred to in a respectful manner. Letters in poor taste will not be printed. Send via email to editor@dai- lyastorian.com, online at dai- lyastorian.com/submit_letters, in person at 949 Exchange St. in Astoria or 1555 North Roosevelt in Seaside, or mail to Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103. OTHER VIEWS Trump using tariffs to advance radical free-trade agenda G ive President Trump credit. When he chastised NATO allies over their failure to spend adequately on our common defense, his critics said he was endangering the Atlantic alliance. Instead, his tough stance persuaded allies to spend bil- lions more on defense, strengthening NATO instead. Now, Trump is doing the same on trade. At the Group of Seven summit in Quebec, Trump was roundly criticized for publicly berating allies over their trade practices MARC A. and provoking a needless THIESSEN trade war. Well, once again, it appears Trump is being proved right. On Wednesday, he and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced a cease-fire in their trade war and promised to seek the complete elimination of most trade barriers between the United States and the European Union. “We agreed today ... to work together toward zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods,” declared the two leaders in a joint statement. Zero tariffs. Wednesday’s breakthrough with the European Union shows that, contrary to what his critics allege, Trump is not a pro- tectionist; rather, he is using tariffs as a tool to advance a radical free-trade agenda. In a little-noticed interview with Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo earlier this month, Trump revealed that during the G-7 summit he made a sweeping proposal. “I said, ‘I have an idea, everybody. I’ll guarantee you we’ll do it immediately. Nobody pay any more tax, everybody take down your barriers. No barri- ers, no tax. Everybody, are you all set?’ ... You know what happened? Everybody said, ‘Uh, can we get onto another subject?’” Trump offered to eliminate all trade barriers — and his supposedly pro-free-trade allies passed. Right before his meeting with Juncker this week, he repeated the offer, tweeting, “The European Union is coming to Washington tomorrow to negotiate a deal on Trade. I have an idea for them. Both the U.S. and the E.U. drop all Tariffs, Barriers and Subsidies!” Trump knows that most of our trading part- ners don’t really want free trade; they want managed trade, where they can get access to U.S. markets while protecting certain indus- tries from U.S. competition. Trump’s strategy to get them to drop these protectionist barriers is to impose crushing tariffs. At a rally earlier this week, Trump explained his strategy for getting to zero tariffs. “You know, other coun- tries have tariffs on us. So, when I say, ‘Well, I’m going to put tariffs on them,’ they all start screaming, ‘He’s using tariffs,’” Trump said. “I said [to the European Union], ‘You have to change.’ They didn’t want to change. I said, ‘Okay. Good. We’re going to tariff your cars.’ ... They said, ‘When can we show up? When can we be there?’ [Laughter.] ‘Would tomorrow be okay?’ Oh, folks, stick with us. Stick with us.” Now Trump’s hard-line trade strategy is being vindicated. Not only is the E.U. negoti- ating zero tariffs, but also it agreed to immedi- ately buy more American soybeans — which helps Trump in his trade battle with China. After Trump imposed tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods, China responded with retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products, including soybeans. Beijing knows that China is the single largest importer of U.S. soybeans, and that about 96 percent of U.S. soybeans are grown in 18 states — all but two of which voted for Trump in 2016. Their tariffs left soybean farmers none too happy with Trump and gave a political boost to vulnerable Senate Democrats in soy-producing farm states such as Heidi Heitkamp, N.D., Joe Donnelly, Ind., and Claire McCaskill, Mo. Now, Trump has enlisted the European Union to help U.S. soybean farmers to coun- teract the repercussions of Chinese tariffs, in addition to the $12 billion in aid he has promised for U.S. farmers. That’s three-di- mensional trade chess. Earlier this week, Trump tweeted, “Tariffs are the greatest! Either a country which has treated the United States unfairly on Trade negotiates a fair deal, or it gets hit with Tariffs. It’s as simple as that.” Well, maybe it is and maybe it isn’t. Trump is a long way from a final deal. And in trade, nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to. But this is a surprisingly positive first step. If Trump succeeds in using trade wars to bring down European and Chinese trade barriers, he may end up being one of the greatest free- trade presidents in history. Marc A. Thiessen is a syndicated columnist for the Washington Post Writers Group.
