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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 2021)
VIEWPOINTS Saturday, January 9, 2021 East Oregonian A5 To buy or not to buy J.D. SMITH FROM THE HEADWATERS OF DRY CREEK O nce upon a time, way too long ago, we Clifton/Smiths and a dog with no surname loaded into a Subaru with a hillock of sleeping bags, pads, books, salami, generic kibble, two huckleberry pies, and a change of clothing each. Under- neath were a Dremel tool with a chewcan- ful of router bits and a belt sander. We were headed to Boise to attend the annual Power- tool Pumpkin Carving Gala and Belt Sander Drag Races. America had more in store for us than making merry. When we were a coffee addict’s full bladder away from home, in this case Baker City, we pulled off Interstate 84 into a clean junk food emporium where I was blown away to discover, piled at the entrance, a half-cord of punky lodgepole firewood, plastic-bundled in armload quan- tities, $5 each and clearly labeled “Made in Canada.” I almost choked on my corndog. The local firewood gypsies, those inde- pendents who herd rattletrap pickups with 5-foot racks over goat trails while hauling two cords of red fir and tamarack, were being strangled by international corporate greed. Call me protectionist, reactionary, communist, I don’t care. It just seems that something is stinky wrong with the holy economy when an American chain store gas station is selling bad Canadian firewood five minutes away from a national forest. I was still mumbling in my mustache about unbridled capitalism as we passed the Ore-Ida Tater Tot factory in Ontario, blow- ing greasy steamrings into the sky, then crossed over the Snake River into Idaho. An hour later, I was chillin’ on a couch in the north end of Boise. The party format was Idaho standard: play hard, play safe, nobody hurt. Outside the back door of a cozy home in the Boise foothills were 20 pumpkins, two sets of large construction flood lights, a large potting shed table, a 50-gallon garbage bucket, enough power tools to build a piano and the sander drag strip, two lanes, 16 feet long. Inside the house were a round oak table filled with potluck fortunes including indi- vidual cream puffs, a vat of home-brewed chili, and a cabinet filled with hangovers including three bottles of Russian vodka. Standing there, I realized that there may be a flaw in my political thinking because it didn’t bother me that Russians peddle vodka in a state best known for growing its prime ingredient. The pumpkin mangling was an exercise in young people’s encounter with power tools. Most mutilators had the same vision, a Jack-o-Lantern with triangle eyes and snaggletooth grin. But the lure of operating the tool overcame the desire for a perfect product. I watched a 6-year-old girl, with a cordless drill and quarter-inch spade bit, punch maybe 800 holes into Jack’s head, giggling all the while. I roughed out a regu- lar Halloween head with a jigsaw, then tattooed it with a rotary tool. The belt sander drags were rigged. I was running a stock Sears 4x24 with 80 grit paper. On my first trial of Ol’ Dusty, she flipped sideways, her switch shorted, and she went up in sparks with that electrical odor. The trophy winner was owned by the person who had constructed the track, an aircraft mechanic, who modified a 3-inch sander to include two side wheels that made it run straight and true between the rails that divided lanes. The winning elapsed time in this year’s drags was just under one-thou- sand-one, one-thousand-two, for 16 feet. Don’t try this on you mother’s Persian carpet. The next morning my son had money burning a hole in his pocket so we went across Boise to a mega-electronics box store. While he scratched his mop about letting go of cash for this or that peripheral for his gaming computer, I entered the Temple of Refrigeration, where I encountered yet another indicator that something’s fishy in modern Consumerica. There I viewed the Holy Grail of refrig- erators. For a mere $4,200 one can purchase a brushed aluminum, side-by-side refriger- ator/freezer with ice water dispenser and, I kid you not, built into the refrigerator door, a 24-inch flat panel television screen. I stood in puzzled rapture. Some folks have a small TV set in the kitchen, a replace- ment for the countertop radios of old, meant to deliver propaganda over one’s morning cup or let one stay current with Don Knotts while cooking the grits. But for whom was this product designed? Is there someone out there, with a kitchen big enough, who actu- ally wants to stare at a whole herking refrig- erator while investigating the effects of wave action on swimwear during an episode of “Baywatch”? I was too dumbfounded to get the brand name on this beast, but if you have a very large unfilled niche in your gadget collection, you can get together with one of these babies in several box stores. Luckily, my space limitation in this paper prohibits a full rant about what unbridled consumerism is doing to our planet. Just one small last example, though, in closing. On that same afternoon, in the pet food aisle of a store once heralded for its supply of natu- ral bulk foods, I found on the top shelf, at two bucks per 16-ounce bottle, three prod- ucts labeled Chicken Flavored Water, Beef Flavored Water, and Bacon Flavored Water. ——— J.D. Smith is an accomplished writer and jack-of-all-trades. He lives in Athena. We all have responsibilities to future generations JEFF BLACKWOOD UNDERSTANDING OUR CHANGING CLIMATE A s our climate continues to change, we are all feeling the impacts ranging from longer, drier summers to public health issues. These impacts will affect us all no matter our political persuasions or social well-being. A statewide poll published this fall in the East Oregonian revealed a majority of Orego- nians believe the climate is changing, although what to do about it is still up for debate. While the debate continues, research and experi- ences are helping us understand and adapt to our changing environment. By approaching this with our eyes wide open, we can all do our part while building a sustainable future. Here locally, we are seeing longer, drier summers extending well into the fall. Although climate change is not the only reason for recent large wildfires, it certainly contributes to their intensities and length of wildfire seasons. Through interagency water monitoring, we are seeing spring water runoff from snow- melt in the mountains earlier than in the past. Climate scientists predict more rain-on-snow events in the future as we experienced in February 2020, contributing to downstream flooding. This also is disrupting fish spawning cycles and other aquatic life. Invasive plants, such as yellow star this- tle, Russian thistle and knapweed, are ever increasing, outstripping county, tribal, and landowners’ abilities to sustain healthy range- lands and wildlife habitat. To many, climate change has become a gloom and doom story, leading to anger, Letter critiques points of BLM proposal GEORGE WUERTHNER OTHER VIEWS R ecently, eight prominent scientists sent a letter to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) declaring that the agency’s proposed Tri-State Fuel Break (TSFB) for Oregon, Nevada, and Idaho is flawed and will endanger sagebrush ecosys- tems. To quote the scientists: “If implemented as proposed (and as already approved in the Idaho-side Record of Decision), the project will likely degrade the biological diversity and ecosystem services provided by these landscapes.” The BLM’s proposes creating up to 1,539 miles of fuel breaks (enough to travel half- way across the United States). Fuel breaks by mowing, mowing and seeding, seeding within the fuel treatment zone, and blad- ing, hand cutting, or herbicide application to remove vegetation within the existing roadbed. Besides, the BLM plans to use “targeted grazing” to reduce fuels further. The scientists contend the BLM’s proposal will likely fail to contain large fires, and the collateral damage will result in: “(1) fragment large areas of intact sage- brush ecosystems; (2) facilitate the invasion of exotics due to the disturbance created by the breaks; (3) supplant native communities with exotic dominants; and (4) destroy or degrade biological soil crusts and any native species in the sites.” The other problem noted by the scien- tists is the BLM’s failure to acknowledge that climate/weather is the fundamental force driving large blazes. Under extreme fire conditions of high winds, high tempera- tures, and low fuel moisture, fuel breaks are ineffective. The scientists noted the BLM failed to consider the effect of livestock grazing in the deterioration of the West’s sagebrush ecosystems. To quote from their letter: “The E.I.S. does not address the ultimate and only controllable cause of the degradation of the biodiversity of the Sagebrush steppe — livestock grazing.” The letter goes on to critique four main points of the BLM’s proposal. The first is that there is little evidence that fuel breaks can preclude the spread of large fires under extreme fire weather conditions. While fuel breaks are likely ineffective for preventing fire spread, they create edge effects and fragment sagebrush To read the letter The scientists’ letter can be found here: https://onda.org/wp-content/ uploads/2020/12/Scientist-Let- ter-Tri-State-Fuels-Project-12-18-20.pdf habitat. They often serve as a vector for the movement of exotic plants (cheatgrass) and wildlife. One consequential disruption caused by fuel breaks construction is the destruc- tion of biocrusts. Biocrusts cover the soil surface between native bunchgrasses. They not only add nitrogen to the soil, but they also help to inhibit the establishment of cheatgrass and other non-native species. Ironically, one of the justifications for the fuel break treatments and targeted grazing is to save sage grouse habitat. The scientists noted that “extreme soil trampling and overuse of the native grasses and forbs (occurs) before cattle would begin to graze the less palatable exotic grasses and shrubs. This overuse/overgrazing of the native species would be deleterious to other resource values such as Greater sage-grouse habitat.” The scientists also note that climate change and the resulting extreme fire weather are primarily responsible for the larger blazes occurring in sagebrush ecosystems. And they chastise the BLM for its failure to do anything about livestock grazing when GHG emissions from live- stock are among the factors contributing to climate warming. The scientists also disparaged the BLM’s happy talk about proper livestock manage- ment. The FEIS repeatedly states that grazing “is managed to meet” land health standards, and improvements are predi- cated on grazing to be conducted properly. However, the scientists noted that in South- east Oregon, as an example, over 75% of the allotments currently do not meet standards. While the BLM recognizes the spread of cheatgrass is an ongoing threat to sagebrush ecosystems, they do nothing to reduce the leading cause of cheatgrass colonization — livestock grazing. The scientists conclude their letter and analysis by arguing if the BLM is genuinely interested in restoring sagebrush ecosys- tems, then “passive restoration, achieved by reducing cumulative cattle grazing impacts is the most effective means of achieving these goals.” ——— George Wuerthner is an ecologist who specializes in fire ecology and livestock issues. despair and resignation. We can overcome this by meeting the challenge head-on armed with sound scientific knowledge and commitment. COVID-19 has dominated our lives lately and enormous investments in resources and sacri- fices have been made. By applying the same energy to climate change solutions, we can survive this too. Since the sources of greenhouse gases are many, the solutions should be the same. There is no silver bullet — no one correct answer. We all have a stake in this, as well as responsi- bilities to future generations. Over the past several years, the Eastern Oregon Climate Change Coalition has spon- sored and facilitated a number of commu- nity presentations and discussions regarding our changing climate. EOC3 is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization open to anyone. We are dedicated to providing science- based information on climate change to our communities. This knowledge will help support informed decisions, policies, and strategies as we move to the future. In addition to periodic community forums and monthly “climate conversations,” EOC3 plans to facil- itate the submission of periodic articles to the EO that may be of interest to our communities from regional experts covering a wide variety of climate change impacts as well as ideas for addressing these. EOC3 intends to share what we are seeing, what we might expect, and ideas for adapta- tion, mitigation, and solutions. It is all about the future for our communities, region and planet. If interested in joining the EOC3 mailing list for periodic references and notifications, please contact eastoregonclimatechange@ gmail.com. ——— Jeff Blackwood spent his career with the US Forest Service and is a member of Eastern Oregon Climate Change Coalition. A healthy start to the new year This metabolic master switch determines if our 50 trillion cells are busy “producing” or busy “recovering.” A balance of both is JOHN important. WINTERS Digesting food takes work; too much HEALTH ESSENTIALS work leads to fatigue, diabetes, obesity and many other chronic problems. Not eating he new year is a good time to reeval- frees the cleaning crew to break down uate our values and consider our older, worn, less vital parts and recycle priorities to improve our health and them. Resting allows the cells to rejuve- nate and repair, to remove the sludge, if well-being. It is said you are doing well you will. Imagine your car repairing and if indeed, you actually make one or two significant changes in a year. Losing weight rebuilding itself while sitting in the garage overnight. is a common, notoriously difficult chal- lenge. A 16-hour pause in eating trains your While excess weight undoubtedly body to dig deeper for energy. Dinner at affects health in many 6 p.m. and breakfast at ways, it is import- 10 a.m. the following “INTERMITTENT ant to realize that the morning is one way to reverse is also true. do this. This short rest EATING OFFERS burns fat and improves Your physical, mental and emotional health MANY OF FASTING’S your metabolic health in myriad ways. The all affect your weight. BENEFITS IN A resultant metabolic Perhaps it would changes improve blood be wise to consider KINDER, GENTLER levels of cholesterol, taking the laser focus sugar, triglycerides off of “losing weight” WAY.” and insulin. Growth and focus on “getting hormone levels healthier” instead? Being skinny doesn’t necessarily mean you skyrocket, inflammation is reduced and the are healthy. Let’s shine the light on increas- stress response, cognition, endurance and ing vibrant health and let the weight take hormone balance are all improved. Losing care of itself. Here are a few ideas that may body fat is merely icing on the … um, broc- coli. All these improvements help you look help. better, feel better and function better. “Intermittent eating” improves health The point is, when you eat can be at the cellular level. Nutrition experts actu- ally call this “intermittent fasting,” but I as important as what you eat. Indiges- tion, heartburn, and numerous digestive would rather eat than fast! I admit, with some chagrin, that in spite of my education ailments arise with ill-timed noshing. Eat when you are relaxed, as this is when your on the benefits of fasting, I only last a day digestive system works best. Eating too or two. Intermittent eating offers many of early or too late in the day forces the gut to fasting’s benefits in a kinder, gentler way. work when it would rather be resting. Avoid The easiest way to do this is to eat food meals within two hours of going to bed. Eat most days in an 8-hour window, leaving a light or delayed breakfast. 16 hours for rest and recovery. I try not The body has two modes of opera- to eat late at night or early in the morning tion: go/do/think, or rest/relax/recover. anyway, because this is hard on the gut. The former turns off the gut and the latter So, dinner at 6 p.m. and a light breakfast at turns it on. When you are stressed, blood 10 a.m. allows for a 16-hour “fast.” While is sent to the muscles and brain. When it might feel like cheating, you actually get relaxed, blood goes to the gut to absorb important benefits. nutrients and aid digestion. A hurried meal One in eight Americans is metaboli- cally healthy. Few of us have ideal levels consumed on the way to work isn’t opti- mal, and may in fact cause more harm than of blood sugar, triglycerides, cholesterol, good. Make it a point to eat when you are blood pressure or waist circumference — relaxed and can enjoy your food. without relying on pharmaceuticals. We I hope these few suggestions are helpful Americans are on average overfed and as we move into a new year in a positive undernourished. This leads to poor health way, where anything is possible. and poor quality of life. Taking a mini- ——— break from eating can correct these prob- John Winters is a naturopathic physician, lems. Our ancestors didn’t have unlimited access to food as we do, so the human body who recently retired after operating a prac- has a built in master switch for lean times. tice in La Grande since 1992. T