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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 26, 2018)
Page 4A East Oregonian Tuesday, June 26, 2018 CHRISTOPHER RUSH Publisher KATHRYN B. BROWN Owner DANIEL WATTENBURGER Managing Editor TIM TRAINOR Opinion Page Editor Founded October 16, 1875 OUR VIEW Disengaged leadership drove logging lawsuit C anaries in coal mines don’t have anything over young coho salmon when it comes to reacting to adverse environmental conditions by going belly up. A California study showed, for example, that “Even small amounts of running water — less than a gallon per second — could mean the difference between life or death for juvenile coho,” the Columbia Basin Bulletin reported earlier this month. Water temperature, oxygenation, purity, flow rate and other factors such as availability of hiding places all play a part in how many little coho survive the perilous passage between egg and ocean. They are, in a sense, creatures of the forest, in some cases spending up to two years in freshwater streams and nearby brackish sloughs before venturing out into the sea. About a dozen years ago, the Oregon Coast Coho Conservation Plan was adopted by the state with active involvement by Gov. John Kitzhaber, who smartly wanted to get out ahead of a potential endangered species quagmire. But attention wandered. Faced with economic demands for more timber harvest, the Oregon Board of Forestry voted in June 2009 to increase logging in some state forests, allowing more timber production on 70 percent of the 518,000 acres. By then out of office, Kitzhaber cautioned that logging more of the state forests would compromise habitat. System gone adrift The quagmire of endangered-species contention looms once again with last week’s filing of a federal lawsuit by fishing and conservation groups against the state. AP Photo/Don Ryan A coalition of environmental and fishing groups have sued Oregon over allowing logging on state forest lands and allege the activity is damaging streams used by coho salmon. Mirroring an earlier threat in February 2014 by the Center for Biological Diversity, that group and several others are mounting exactly the kind of legal challenge that anyone could have predicted. “Poor logging practices by the Oregon Department of Forestry is causing real harm to the coho ... and commercial fishing families who depend on these magnificent fish for their livelihoods,” a spokesman for two of the litigants said. “Stronger protections for streams to protect the coho … is decades overdue.” Are the conservation groups right? Or is it true, as some local officials in Oregon have long urged, that the state is failing to authorize enough logging? As usual, all sides in the controversy make some valid points. All habitat is not created equal, and in the pursuit of sustainable multiple-use of our expansive public forests, it makes sense to prioritize some areas for salmon and others for timber or other priorities. A fully functional system of forest management with ample participation by all segments of the public would stand a far better chance of achieving this balance. This, largely, is what the Oregon Coast Coho Conservation Plan was supposed to achieve. For a while, it had the prospect of succeeding. As we editorialized in 2010, “Steps initiated by Kitzhaber were somewhat helpful in addressing some of the more obvious problems faced by these once- thriving salmon runs. Harvests have been brought into better alignment with reality and hatchery practices have been reformed. Local watershed councils have proven to be a powerful force for good, with timber and agricultural interests often taking active roles in improving freshwater habitat.” In too many ways, this system feels like it has gone adrift. In the absence of engaged state leadership, it is no wonder this lawsuit was filed. Hard compromises For historians of salmon management, the list of streams and watersheds included in the state’s coho plan summons up thoughts of waters that were once alive with salmon. Starting on the North Coast and stretching southward to California, these include the Necanicum, Nehalem, Tillamook Bay, Nestucca, Salmon, Siletz, Yaquina, Beaver, Alsea, Siuslaw, Umpqua, Coos, Coquille, Flores, Sixes and some smaller oceanfront tributaries and sub-basins totaling 56 populations. These names speak of a time when salmon fishing and logging each generated thousands of jobs in dozens of Oregon communities, some of which are now mere ghost towns. As more and more people discover Oregon, it would be an idle and pointless fantasy to think either salmon or forests will ever be what they were a century ago. Our large public forests can, however, be better managed in ways that support local industries and ecological functions including salmon habitat. The blunt weapon of litigation won’t achieve this nuanced result. What might do so is a regional consensus-based, citizen-driven process of stakeholders hammering out hard compromises. That will require wresting control from remote and disengaged Salem-based agencies. A citizens’ initiative, anyone? OTHER VIEWS A counterattack on voting rights I YOUR VIEWS Second District could use new representation Recently Rep. Greg Walden slipped into Umatilla County unannounced. I was always under the belief that our representatives were supposed to hold town hall meetings in their districts more than once every two or three years. Rep. Walden, when have you come to either Pendleton or Hermiston and actually held a town hall meeting where you took questions? Not recently. Rep. Walden, what have you done to aid the timber industry that has been all but shut down by the radical environmentalists who have found a sympathetic law firm out of San Francisco who is willing to take the Forest Service to court every time they advertise a timber sale? If Boise Cascade’s announcement that they are closing the Elgin plant is an indicator, I have to say nothing. You have sat by and watched much of your district fall into the cesspool of unemployment because you refuse to fight for their jobs. With the trade war that is going on with China, your Republican wheat farmers may not have a market for their wheat and your Republican cherry growers may not have a market for their prime cherries. Are you happy? It took Ivan Packard of the Oregon Wheat League 17 years to convince the Chinese to buy our wheat and now thanks to President Donald Trump his work may be for naught. I hope you’re happy. We need someone in Washington, D.C., from the Second Congressional District that cares more about the district and its economy than what we have now, and we haven’t had that since Al Ullman was defeated. Frankly I’m getting tired of everybody else getting the gravy and Second District getting what the little boy shot at. I think it’s time to vote in a new person who will fight for all the district, not just a select few constituents who give good campaign contributions. Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the East Oregonian. Barbara Ann Wright Pendleton n the suburbs of Salt Lake City, voting rights. there is a planned community Thank goodness. The United called Suncrest that has turned States continues to suffer from out to be a good place to study voter some of the lowest turnouts in the turnout. Suncrest feels like one developed world. It is one reason community, full of modern, single- government policy often doesn’t family houses. But it straddles two reflect public opinion. It also counties — Salt Lake and Utah. And makes it easier for extremists, like David in 2016, the two used different voting Donald Trump, to get Leonhardt President systems. elected. Comment Salt Lake County switched to After digging into the research, mail-based voting, which meant that I’ve come to think that universal vote-by-mail may have the biggest potential all registered voters would receive a ballot to lift turnout. It eliminates hurdles, like at their home a few weeks before Election long lines at polling places and logistical Day. They could then mail it back or drop difficulties of voting on a workday. (As a it off at a county office. In Utah County, bonus, it usually saves money.) by contrast, residents still voted the old- The Utah analysis, which is being fashioned way. They had to visit their local released Monday, follows a peer-reviewed polling place on Election Day. study of Washington state that found voting- It was a natural experiment — with by-mail increased turnout between 2 and impressive results. Turnout in the Salt Lake County portion of Suncrest rose much more 4 percentage points. In both states, turnout rose the most among groups that tended than in the Utah County portion. to vote the least, such as younger adults. It wasn’t just Suncrest, either. In the 21 Utah counties that used mail voting in 2016, Colorado and Oregon also have all-mail voting — and above-average turnout. turnout was between 5 and 7 percentage The practice is spreading, too. California points higher than expected, according to is moving to all-mail voting this year. Parts a new study. That’s an enormous effect, of Arizona, Minnesota, North Dakota and as Amelia Showalter, the study’s lead other states have adopted it, too. Automatic author, pointed out to me. “Normally,” said Showalter, who advises campaigns, “we are registration, which is the norm in much of the world, lets citizens become eligible to thrilled if an intervention increases turnout vote when they renew a driver’s license or by 1 or 2 percentage points.” otherwise interact with the government. This is a funny time for voting rights. Another voting-rights push involves On the one hand, some Republicans are restoring the franchise for people who engaged in a shameful effort to restrict previously served prison sentences. Florida, voting access. They are telling lies about voter fraud — which remains extremely rare Louisiana and Virginia, among others, have — and pushing for laws to suppress turnout recently made progress here. Still other states have increased early-voting hours. by Democratic-leaning groups, especially Expanding voting rights usually isn’t African-Americans. It’s nothing less than easy. It requires a dedicated political effort an attack on democracy, made possible by and consistent pushback against falsehoods recent Supreme Court rulings. and scare tactics. But when the effort works, Yet this attack has also helped feed it often proves enduring — because most counterattack. The counterattack is being Americans believe in the idea of universal, led more by Democrats than Republicans. convenient voting. But as Utah — among the reddest states of — David Leonhardt is an op-ed all — shows, there are also a good number columnist for The New York Times. of Republicans who believe in expanding The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The newspaper reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and products or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens. Letters must be signed by the author and include the city of residence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. Send letters to managing editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.
