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THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, AuguST 18, 2022
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
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GUEST COLUMN
Tribes need to be at the table
T
reaty tribes have been working
for decades to get federal sup-
port for our essential wildlife
programs.
We’re counting on the U.S. Senate to
pass the Recovering America’s Wildlife
Act to finally make it happen. The time
is right. The U.S. House of Representa-
tives passed the bill in
June with rare bipartisan
support.
The federal govern-
ment has a trust and
fiduciary responsibility
to protect our fish and
wildlife for future gen-
ED
erations and to make
JOHNSTONE
sure that tribes have the
capacity to manage all
aspects of our wildlife programs. And
yet, despite our treaty-protected rights,
previous legislation left tribes out of
the equation, directing funding only to
states.
The legislation would provide long
term and dedicated resources to both
tribal and state law enforcement, fish
and wildlife programs, habitat manage-
ment and other conservation and recov-
ery efforts. When tribes are at the table,
everyone benefits. We are the original
caretakers of the land.
The legislation would provide $97.5
million to tribes and $1.3 billion to
states to co-manage species of greatest
need. Tribal natural resources managers
will be able to determine which species
those are and what actions are needed to
protect, restore and enhance them.
At least 15% of the money would be
spent on species already listed under the
Endangered Species Act or considered
threatened or endangered under tribal
law. We could invest this in their recov-
ery and eventual delisting. In addition,
we’ll be able to take action to protect
other species before they become threat-
ened or endangered. This will save us
effort and money in the long term.
Tribes shouldn’t have to piecemeal
together funding to protect threatened
species across tribal lands. We know that
12,000 species are in need of conserva-
tion actions in this country. Because of
insufficient funding, natural resources
managers have to limit their focus to
conserve just a few species of concern,
while many others deteriorate in num-
Nic Coury/AP Photo
The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act is pending in Congress.
TRIBES SHOuLdN’T HAVE TO PIECEMEAL
TOgETHER FuNdINg TO PROTECT THREATENEd
SPECIES ACROSS TRIBAL LANdS. WE KNOW THAT
12,000 SPECIES ARE IN NEEd OF CONSERVATION
ACTIONS IN THIS COuNTRy. BECAuSE OF
INSuFFICIENT FuNdINg, NATuRAL RESOuRCES
MANAgERS HAVE TO LIMIT THEIR FOCuS TO
CONSERVE JuST A FEW SPECIES OF CONCERN,
WHILE MANy OTHERS dETERIORATE IN NuMBERS.
bers. The legislation could help all of us
reintroduce imperiled species, restore
lost habitat and fight invasive species
such as European green crab.
Tribal wildlife managers have an
additional role that also lacks sufficient
funding. We have a treaty-protected
right to manage the wildlife we hunt and
the plants we gather for spiritual and tra-
ditional purposes. Right now, there are
more programs for invasive, endangered
and nongame species than there are for
tribes to manage animals we harvest for
cultural and subsistence use. The legisla-
tion could help fill that funding gap.
The bill was introduced by U.S. Rep.
Debbie Dingell, a Michigan Demo-
crat, and co-sponsored by all the House
Democrats from Washington state.
When it passed the House in June, it
received 231 votes, including 16 from
Republicans.
The Senate needs to bring this bill to
a vote as soon as possible. This bipar-
tisan support gives us the opportunity
now to take action to reduce the number
of species in decline and prevent their
listing under the Endangered Species
Act. The Recovering America’s Wildlife
Act finally will give tribes access to our
share of the funding we need to manage
wildlife.
Ed Johnstone is the chairman of the
Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Perverse
n Aug. 14, a perverse and vulgar
display was erected in Warrenton.
Waving in the wind like some obscene
appendage, the banners displayed racist
slurs, a desecration of the American flag,
and anti-American sentiment toward
elections and the Constitution. I don’t
know what was intended by this erec-
tion, but it was offensive and an embar-
rassment for Warrenton.
These flags were not red, white and
blue, but a yellow call to arms against
the U.S. itself because this crowd does
not believe in democracy. To repeat the
lie that your election officials cannot be
trusted to produce an honest and accu-
rate vote count is to suggest that elec-
tions themselves are meaningless.
While our electoral system is rife with
gerrymandering and voter suppression,
balloting and election security is some-
thing we have proven to be quite good
at. And what is the alternative to an elec-
tion? To abandon democracy altogether?
The people who erect this kind of
obscene messaging apparently con-
sider themselves patriots (and cute racist
rhyme-makers), but they’re always call-
ing for an erection of a Soviet-style Iron
Curtain and a return to the good ol’ days
when women were kept barefoot and
pregnant, and only white men enjoyed
legal protections and rights.
They would like the U.S. to cease
functioning as a federal republic of
states and, instead, function like a gaggle
of independent states, constantly war-
ring with each other and bending over
in supplication to some unelected divine
leader. That’s un-American.
PAMELA CROMWELL
Seaside
O
For the people
un, Betsy, run. See Betsy run.
She really is for the people.
She has helped our family twice. I am
amazed that she cared enough to take the
time to help us. We aren’t big company
donors. My daughter is disabled and on
the Oregon Health Plan.
Her first help was with dental help.
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R
My daughter couldn’t get into a local
dental office for much-needed help.
I got frustrated with the lack of ser-
vice available, and called Betsy John-
son, at that time the state senator. She
made one call to the dental office. They
called immediately, and had an opening
the next day. She got all her dental needs
taken care of.
Our next dilemma was that my daugh-
ter fell and broke her right hip. She has
a prosthesis on the left. She was life-
flighted to a hospital in Idaho. After
a week in the hospital, she was trans-
ferred to a rehab in Boise. She was to
be discharged on July 22 after three
weeks there. The Oregon Health Plan
was struggling to get her transport back
home.
I called Betsy. She called the top man,
and got things rolling. She called each
day to check on the progress. I truly
believe that without Betsy’s help, my
daughter would still be waiting for trans-
port. And, she called to make sure my
daughter made it home OK.
Bottom line here: As busy as she is
campaigning to be our next governor,
she cared enough to help us.
ELAINE RITTER
Warrenton