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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TuESDAY, ApRIL 16, 2019
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
publisher
Founded in 1873
JIM VAN NOSTRAND
Editor
JEREMY FELDMAN
Circulation Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
production Manager
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
Orcas should be allies in salmon efforts
S
outhern Resident Killer
Whales have come to achieve
nearly unanimous popular-
ity in the communities surrounding
Puget Sound, acquiring folk hero
status in the past half century.
Their trials and tribulations are
fodder for endless coverage on
Seattle TV news; 153,000 peo-
ple belong to the Orca Network
on Facebook, devoted to fan mail
and reporting up-to-the-minute
sightings.
Their perils are real. Numbering
a scant 75, they struggle to produce
young. Some suffer from malnu-
trition. This has sparked concerted
efforts by Washington state and
federal agencies to understand what
ails them and how best to respond.
On April 3, the Center for Bio-
logical Diversity and Wild Fish
Conservancy sued in federal
court, alleging the National Oce-
anic and Atmospheric Administra-
tion — which oversees ocean fish-
eries — isn’t doing what it should
to ensure an adequate stock of the
orcas’ favorite menu item, Chinook
salmon.
Keeping different orca groups
straight is a matter of frequent pub-
lic confusion, so it may be useful
to remind that those based in Puget
Sound only eat fish. Other orcas
that roam the North Pacific pre-
fer to dine on smaller marine mam-
mals, including sea lions, seals and
sea otters. These red meat-eaters
are doing just fine, population-wise.
The debate is all about how to help
their fish-eating cousins.
Until a satellite-tracking pro-
gram between 2012 and 2016,
it was little realized that Puget
Sound’s orcas should really be
considered residents of the entire
Pacific Northwest coast. The satel-
lite found them ranging down the
outer coast in the winter and spring
on a fast and perpetual quest for
salmon.
Although tracking was discon-
tinued after an orca died from a
tag-related wound, it’s clear that
the whales go where the salmon
are — or at least where they think
they’ll be. Earlier this month, about
three dozen were observed in Mon-
terey Bay. Based on past behavior,
they’ll circle back toward the north,
NOAA
Members of the Puget Sound and Columbia estuary’s south resident orca population.
focusing much of their hunt on the
Columbia River plume, returning to
the Strait of Juan de Fuca after all
the possibilities are exhausted here.
Since at least the end of the last
Ice Age, the mouth of the Colum-
bia was reliably a place of astound-
ing abundance. Although research
indicates there were bad years for
salmon returns long before dam
construction, the worst runs then
were undoubtedly better than the
best returns today. A much larger
coastal orca population would in
those times have conducted a mov-
able feast between the Frasier,
Columbia, Sacramento and other
river systems. Even in these dimin-
ished times, they continue their old
traditions.
A food shortage certainly isn’t
the only threat faced by our resi-
dent orcas. Probably because they
spend approximately two-thirds
of their lives in an urban chemical
soup from runoff into the Sound,
they are among the most contami-
nated wildlife on the planet. Their
habitat vibrates with vessel noise,
both coincidental from busy indus-
trial traffic and deliberate from
whale-watching excursion boats.
But not having enough to eat makes
everything more difficult.
While the lawsuit doesn’t
demand explicit action items (see
tinyurl.com/Orca-Salmon-lawsuit),
instead calling on the court to rule
that NOAA is violating the Endan-
gered Species Act, a favorable rul-
WE ALL MuST WORK TOGETHER TO ENSuRE
THERE ARE ENOuGH SALMON FOR ALL,
INCLuDING ORCAS AND FuTuRE EONS OF
SALMON. ANGRY BATTLES OVER WHO GETS
THE LAST FISH WILL SINK uS ALL.
Many close observers of salmon
management foresaw this lawsuit
as many as five years ago, when it
became apparent that the Colum-
bia played an important part in the
Puget Sound orcas’ annual plans.
Already seriously limited in order
to honor treaty obligations and
allow upriver passage of endan-
gered wild-spawning fish that inter-
mix with returning hatchery salmon,
ensuring there are sufficient spring
Chinook for orcas will present man-
agers with a daunting task in design-
ing sport and commercial seasons.
ing could result in a cavalcade of
responses. In the immediate term,
Chinook fishing seasons might be
curtailed when orcas are present or
face a long-term hiatus in an effort
to rebuild salmon stocks. While
Washington state is ramping up pro-
duction of hatchery salmon to pro-
vide more for all user groups includ-
ing orca, the presence of the Wild
Fish Conservancy in the litigation
suggests a broader aim. Conceiv-
ably, this might include wholesale
changes in watershed and fisheries
management in hopes of producing
mammoth-size salmon like orcas
once relied upon.
In a broad sense, many residents
of fishing-dependent communities
share the desire for more salmon
for everyone. Everyone longs for
the good old days. A local gillnet-
ting advocacy group is literally
named Salmon For All. Two gener-
ations ago, our region fought hard
to oppose unfettered dam build-
ing, and on behalf of adequate pro-
visions for fish passage, in-stream
flows and other mitigation measures
once dams were pushed through
over our objections. In the years
since, habitat conservation and res-
toration, hatchery reform, manage-
ment of predatory species and other
steps have all gained local support.
And they have made an incremental
difference.
But this year of dismal spring
Chinook returns proves the limita-
tions of all these efforts in the face
of disastrous ocean conditions. We,
salmon and orcas are all paying the
price for warmer waters and result-
ing disruption of the ocean food
web. This isn’t to suggest that we
shouldn’t continue to improve what-
ever is within our power to influ-
ence. But faced with enormous sys-
temic failures, demonizing NOAA
and fishermen isn’t the answer.
Sea otters almost equal orcas in
terms of iconic status, and yet it is
both sad and enlightening to see
the degree of animosity felt toward
them by some California crabbers
and abalone divers, who perceive
otters as bitter rivals for shellfish. It
would be an unfortunate blunder if
this new litigation on behalf of orcas
turns them into just one more enemy
for imperiled Columbia River com-
mercial fishermen.
It may well be true that federal
managers have not acted quickly
enough to incorporate outer coastal
salmon into orca-recovery plans.
Judicial action may expedite a
response. After that, however, prag-
matism and cooperation will achieve
a lot more than heavy-handed
micromanagement.
We all must work together to
ensure there are enough salmon for
all, including orcas and future eons
of salmon. Angry battles over who
gets the last fish will sink us all.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Release unredacted report
P
resident Richard Nixon had his “ene-
mies list.” That didn’t end well.
President Ronald Reagan declared the
Soviet Union the “evil empire.” OK, think
Cuban Missile Crisis, and 2016 election
interference.
President George Bush (43rd presi-
dent) called North Korea part of the “axis of
evil.” OK, they did threaten to launch a mis-
sile at America.
Regarding the Mueller report: President
Donald Trump said, on television, there
are “evil people” out there who should be
“investigated” so no president would have
this happen to him again. Hmmm.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his
team seem to have carried out their assign-
ment in an objective manner. Others, of the
possible investigatees, might include mem-
bers of the House Intelligence Committee,
whose chairman, Democrat Adam Schiff,
has been called on by the White House
to resign, apparently for discharging his
legally required duties. Go figure.
This is the same committee whose mem-
bers must, according to the Constitution, be
American citizens for at least seven years.
Criticizing Americans for performing legiti-
mate government assignments is not OK.
In my opinion, investigating, if done for
the wrong reasons, runs the dangerous risk
of elevating any president above the law.
Knock, knock. Who’s there? What’s the dif-
ference between a president above the law
and a dictator? Uhhh? What do you think?
Call your Congress person (202-224-
3121) and ask them to demand the full,
unredacted release of the Mueller report to
Congress, and “we the people” immedi-
ately. After all, we paid for it, and this prod-
uct was made in America. Buy American.
CARL DOMINEY
Astoria
Schools need support
D
ear Astoria: Thank you for passing the
school bond in November. We are so
pleased to be able to update and improve
our physical facilities for our communi-
ty’s kids. We appreciate your support 100
percent.
We need to talk education funding on a
larger scale. Since 1990, Oregon schools
have been underfunded. Since then,
schools statewide have been squeezed and
squeezed. We have cut teachers (I was par-
tially riffed in 2010), librarians, support
staff, days — the list goes on. This spring
Astoria High School expects to run out of
paper.
Districts across the state are demand-
ing better in Salem. We need your sup-
port. We need you to understand that local
bond money is vital and appreciated for our
buildings, but that a reliable funding struc-
ture statewide is desperately needed for all
our kids, including our Astoria kids.
We need more teachers and smaller
classes. We need more counselors and
nurses. We need more support staff. We
need long-enough school years. We need
updated textbooks. We need paper, pencils,
paper clips and so much more.
Again, we are so appreciative for the
local support, and the bond will do amazing
things for our kids. Please continue to sup-
port us as we ask the state to do for educa-
tion across Oregon, including Astoria, what
you have done for us here. All our kids
deserve adequately funded and supported
education.
REBECCA PIERCE
Teacher, Astoria High School
Astoria
be programmable and self-actuated. The
drones will outlast us all. Ask any farmer.
GARY DURHEIM
Seaside
Drones will outlast us
I
T
hank you for running the front-page
story about the role that drones play in
21st-century logging (“Drones help carry
the load for loggers,” The Daily Astorian,
April 4).
When I worked in the woods, drones
drove around the stump ranch in pickup
trucks. They had soft hands, and they
smelled nice. They came from the office,
and they carried brand-new White Ox work
gloves in their hip pockets, and the rigging
men considered them a nuisance. A drone
seldom got off the log landing, and when he
did, we brush apes felt honored to be in the
presence of such a distinguished visitor.
Times change. The Owl Wars are over.
Spotty lost. Spotty took the blame for dis-
appearing logging jobs, but mechaniza-
tion was the real culprit. And now, a flying
machine to string synthetic haywire from
the landing to the tail tree. It does the work
of two, maybe three men in the twinkling of
an eye. Even now, labor costs are the sim-
plest expense to eliminate. Boots on the
ground are a thing of the past.
Mechanical harvesters are the here and
now. Self-driving cars are now being devel-
oped, so self-driving harvesters are sure to
follow. We have the necessary facial and
spacial recognition technology, and thus the
next generation of logging machines will
Support HB 2020
am in favor of House Bill 2020, the
Clean Energy Jobs Bill currently in
the Oregon legislature. I thank state Rep.
Tiffiny Mitchell for supporting it, and I urge
state Sen. Betsy Johnson to do the same.
We must reduce our use of fossil fuels,
and we must stop large industries from
emitting greenhouse gases. The Clean
Energy Jobs Bill raises money by making
the largest polluters in the state buy permits
to emit greenhouse gases.
The money raised will be invested in
jobs and technologies that reduce fossil fuel
usage, reduce greenhouse gas pollution, and
increase energy efficiency. This will provide
jobs for Oregonians and grow our economy.
This type of law to reduce pollution
is already working in other states where
economies are growing and jobs are being
created.
Many small businesses are part of the
clean energy economy: family-owned con-
struction companies, machine shops, engi-
neering firms, design businesses, solar
installers, hardware suppliers, heating and
cooling contractors, architects, biofuel refin-
ers and more.
Investments from this program will help
them grow and thrive. Now is the time for
Oregonians to combat climate change and
build the economy of the future.
JOYCE HUNT
Seaside