CHRISTOPHER RUSH
Publisher
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ANDREW CUTLER
Editor
WYATT HAUPT JR.
News Editor
JADE McDOWELL
Hermiston Editor
FRIDAY, JANuARY 24, 2020
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Stepping up to help shelter
S
tepping up to volunteer to help
your community can be a dif-
ficult decision, but the need
locally for help only continues to rise.
A good case in point is the Herm-
iston Warming Station for the home-
less, which last Sunday was forced
to keep its doors closed for the night
because there were not enough
volunteers.
The closure because of lack of vol-
unteers is the second time in the last
three months the local shelter shut
down.
Hermiston Warming Station board
chair Teesie Hill said in a recent story
in this newspaper that more than 100
people were trained at the start of the
winter season, but 40 of those have
not signed up for any shifts so far.
The emergency shelter needs about
nine people each night. The shelter
will go forward by adjusting some of
the shifts and Hill said she hopes that
change will prompt more people to
step up and help.
The number of per night guests
at the shelter is down — from 18 to
about six — from last year to this
year, and while that may seem like a
EO file photo
Hermiston Warming Station board vice chair Addie Zumwalt paints a sign at the shelter in
preparation for opening during the 2017 season. This year could be delayed due to a lack of
volunteers. The shelter had to stay closed earlier this week due to insufficient volunteers.
good sign, the need remains.
Even one homeless individual
sleeping outside at night during the
winter months is too many. As Amer-
icans and Eastern Oregonians, we
often proclaim ourselves as an inde-
pendent, hard-working people who
are also generous. We are quick to
help the victims of a fire or a terrible
accident and to seek to help school
and civic organizations. But we can’t
declare and act on our good inten-
tions only when it suits us or des-
ert its wider implications only if the
cause is attractive.
That’s why we must all work
together to make our community a
better place to live and work, and
a better community means watch-
ing out for all and stepping up, even
when it may be perceived to be
uncomfortable.
Democracy works for many rea-
sons, but one of its major pillars is
the ability of Americans and Orego-
nians to give back to the community,
to volunteer and help.
We all live busy lives, but taking
just a few hours out of the day to help
at a place like the Hermiston Warm-
ing Station not only makes a big dif-
ference there, but also helps enhance
the entire community.
The warming shelter is hosting
volunteer training sessions, listed on
their Facebook page, every day from
Jan. 24-30 at varying times. And
for those who aren’t able to or inter-
ested in helping cover evening shifts,
the shelter needs donations of sin-
gle-serving soups to go and other
supplies.
So, if you can, think about volun-
teering at the warming shelter, and
then give it a try.
OTHER VIEWS
Owyhee legislation is flawed
Editor’s Note: Do you have a point
you’d like to make or an issue you feel
strongly about? Submit a letter to the edi-
tor or a guest column.
to maintain local rancher control over
federal lands. These groups would over-
see grazing and monitoring on public
lands (what about the BLM employees?)
and promote vegetation manipulation
en. Ron Wyden and Sen. Jeff Merk-
projects (like planting non-native grasses
ley have introduced the ‘’Malheur
for cattle consumption and/or removal of
native juniper and sagebrush).
Community Empowerment for the
In effect, MCEOA legalizes what the
Owyhee Act’’ (MCEOA). The senators
Bundy hoodlums tried to do by force
can be commended for taking on such a
— it excludes the larger public from the
controversial issue and trying to find a
public lands decision-making process and
solution for public lands protection.
makes livestock grazing the main focus
While the bill would designate more
of public lands management.
than a million acres of new wilderness
Agriculture, which includes
and, among other positive things,
a lot more than grazing, only
establish a native plant nursery,
contributes 1.6% to Malheur
MCEOA has so many bad pro-
visions that are not in the public
County residents’ income. The
interest that it should be opposed.
percentage resulting from live-
stock production on public lands
The legislation starts out with
is a tiny fraction of this total.
some high-minded language that
While on the surface the des-
asserts: “The purpose of this
ignation of approximately 1.1
Act is to promote the long-term
G eorGe
million acres of new wilderness
ecological health of the Federal
W uerthner
would seem to be a positive fea-
land.”
COMMENT
ture of the legislation, there
However, it then promotes pol-
icies that are inconsistent with
are many problematic aspects
that goal. The legislation reads as if writ- to even this part of bill. The bill would
ten by Malheur County ranchers, and
release from interim wilderness protec-
tion some 209,521 acres of existing wil-
bends over backward to mandate and
derness study areas, and release another
promote livestock grazing.
856,199 acres of lands of wilderness
The legislation makes several false
character. In the end we lose more pro-
assertions, like alleging that livestock
may be used for the ecological “improve- tection for public lands than we gain by
ment” of public lands. Yet, livestock pro- wilderness designation.
duction is the single greatest source of
The MCEOA sets a really bad prece-
dent by reducing environmental analysis
damage to riparian areas, species endan-
germent, spread of weeds and flammable of site-specific project review that is cur-
rently legally mandated by the National
plants like cheatgrass, killing of native
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
predators like coyotes and wolves, pol-
lution of water, spread of disease like
This legislation is also filled with tax-
payer-funded and questionable projects
transmission of pneumonia from domes-
tic sheep to bighorn sheep, and forage
— totaling around a billion dollars over
competition with native herbivores from
10 years — but nothing to pay or even
ground squirrels to elk. And there is the
allow private party grazing permit buy-
annual dewatering our rivers to grow hay outs. Mind you that grazing on public
lands is a privilege and could be elimi-
for livestock feed.
MCEOA goes beyond most legislation nated at any time. Grazing permit buy-
out generously pays a rancher to give up
to demand that the federal government
grazing privileges.
“protect … western traditions.” Why is
Without significant changes in this
supporting a lifestyle (which, given the
legislation, even the establishment
above issues, could be more character-
ized as a deathstyle) that depends on the
of approximately 1.1 million acres of
degradation of the public property con-
new wilderness is not worth the prec-
sidered a value worthy of protecting?
edent-setting bad provisions of this
The legislation hands over local land
legislation.
management to a Malheur Community
———
George Wuerthner is a former BLM
Empowerment for Owyhee group (CEO)
botanist and author of 38 books. He lives
that will appoint members to another
in Bend.
advisory group — both clearly designed
S
YOUR VIEWS
Conditions are required
before supporting new
road funding
I have thought long and hard about
whether to support the new taxes to sup-
port our poor streets. I’m sure, like many of
you, another tax is hard to accept. Before
I can offer my support, I will need the city
government, Mayor John Turner and all
city councilors to pledge the following:
Whereas the city of Pendleton is in great
need of money (revenue) to repair and
maintain the streets and roads within the
city limits:
• Accept that past and current admin-
istrations, LEOs and city staff have
diverted revenue from state gas tax and
other sources dedicated to maintaining
said streets and roads, which created this
problem;
• Promise, in the form of a statute or
binding agreement, that all existing and
new revenue will be used strictly for street
and road repair and maintenance. Those
funds cannot be diverted for any other pur-
pose, but kept in an escrow account to be
only used for said street and road repair.
Other allowed uses for this revenue, such
as water and sewer repair/upgrade, utility
costs, consulting fees or contracts, or oper-
ating street lights or any other purpose,
will cease until escrow account has a $2
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.
million daily average balance for a period
of three years, and if account drops below
$2 million a spending freeze of non-street/
road maintenance will result until balance
exceeds $2 million again.
• Any new tax, either in the form of a
gas tax, utility/water/sewer bill tax, room
tax, or any other additional tax, must have
a sunset of eight years, and can only be
continued with a vote of the people.
I realize that this severely limits how
this money can only be spent on maintain-
ing our streets and roads, but also real-
ize that poor spending habits in the past
has gotten us into this problem in the first
place.
Only if the above actions are taken and
met before the next election cycle that has
the gas tax and other revenue sources on
the ballot will I offer my support of this
increase in taxes. As I mentioned above,
the current city government and city staff
are not wholly responsible for this road
condition crisis — much of this happened
over the past 20 years or so — but they can
be the ones that do the right thing and solve
this problem for the long term.
Please, be proactive and show the res-
idents of Pendleton that you are respon-
sible with our tax money and regain any
lost trust the residents have demonstrated
recently. Good Luck.
Neal Simpson
Pendleton
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