ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
SATurdAy, MArCh 26, 2022
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Editor/Senior Reporter
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Oregon
Trail is a
two-way
street
T
he political leadership in the West
needs to take note of the growing
number of farm families that are
picking up stakes and moving east.
In the 1840s, white settlers from east
of the Mississippi River started making
the arduous journey west, pushing up the
Oregon Trail to the Pacific Northwest.
Others followed the trail to Fort Hall in
present-day Idaho, then turned southwest
on the California Trail to reach the gold
fields of the Sierra Nevada and the farm-
land of the Central Valley.
Land was cheap and opportunity was
within relatively easy grasp. The West
offered fewer restrictions than were in
place in the established eastern commu-
nities.
Many longtime farm and ranch fami-
lies proudly point to their pioneer heri-
tage.
But over the last decade or so, there’s
been a small but growing number of farm
families picking up stakes and moving
east of the coastal states to escape tough
business climates.
It’s a reverse Oregon Trail of sorts,
with modern day emigrants moving
to Idaho, Montana, the Plains and the
Midwest.
While it hardly can be described as
a mass exodus, people are noticing an
uptick in the number of farm operations
moving east.
“People have talked about moving
for years and years, but now people are
actually doing it,” said Ryan Jacobsen,
manager of the Fresno County Farm
Bureau in California. “Statistically, it’s
still probably a blip on the radar. But it’s
crazy that it’s actually happening.”
Farmers cite several reasons for
moving: seeking less crowded places;
political concerns; COVID-19 proto-
cols; estate taxes, regulations and associ-
ated costs; opportunities for expansion;
“climate migrants” fleeing drought;
and farmers seeking more secure water
supplies.
The common thread is that farmers
and ranchers are moving to places where
they believe their businesses, and fami-
lies, can better thrive.
The tax and regulatory climate on the
West Coast has made it increasingly diffi-
cult for family farming operations.
Carbon policies have made fuel more
expensive. COVID-19 regulations have
reduced the availability of labor, and
thus have reduced yield while increasing
costs.
State legislatures have grown openly
hostile to agriculture, proposing gross
receipt tax schemes that would turn the
already precarious economics of farming
on its head.
They have adopted alternative energy
policies that encourage converting farm-
land into wind and solar energy facilities.
They’ve proposed increasing riparian
buffers. They have restricted common
pesticides, herbicides and fumigants.
Most farmers can’t pick up and leave.
But, they can sell out to bigger opera-
tions.
Through increased regulation and
legislation, state governments will hasten
the consolidation of the industry, and the
ruin of the rural communities that depend
on a viable population to thrive.
YOUR VIEWS
Greater Idaho is a
shoot-first, think-later idea
Much is being said in Eastern
Oregon about the east-west political
schism in our state. However, most of
the opinions and comments are being
made by those who believe the more
populated western side of Oregon basi-
cally dominates statewide decision
making. As a life-long liberal Democrat
who has lived most of my life in Eastern
Oregon, I do not believe this is such a
bad thing.
Now there is discussion of creating a
Greater Idaho by moving the Idaho-Or-
egon border further westward, even
to the Pacific Ocean. I would never
support such a radical, shoot-first, think-
later idea. If Eastern Oregonians are
frustrated with the current situation,
then they need to better organize at the
grass-roots level so they can counter
ideas from Western Oregon.
I cannot help but think that if there
was a Greater Idaho, that it would
attract and bring more of the self-ap-
pointed vigilantes and militias, such
as the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and
Three-Percenters, most of whom are
loyal disciples of our one-hit president,
Donald J. Trump.
These Second Amendment all-stars
have already made a home in much
of the Idaho panhandle. The world
has already seen how they react when
things, like a fair election, do not go
their way — the attack on our democ-
racy and national Capitol on Jan. 6,
2021.
Grant Darrow, the Cove resident
who is a leader of the Greater Idaho
movement, was asked if he dislikes the
Oregon political situation so much, then
why not just move to Idaho? He replied:
“That is what I am trying to do.”
This is an updated version on if you
cannot bring Mohammed (Darrow) to
the mountain (Idaho), then you bring the
mountain to Mohammed.
Bob Shippentower
Pendleton
Not all rural Oregonians
want to be Idahoans
I’d like to tell everyone to go outside
and sing a song. I recommend “What
a Wonderful World.” Oregon has a
thriving economy. The only ones who
experience real hardship here are the
poorest. Some have been victims of
neglect all their lives. Polluted water,
air and soil are harmful to development.
Financial struggles are accompanied
by lower school attendance. Behavior
problems often become aggravated and
cumulative.
Investing in healthy families isn’t
just a softhearted liberal policy. Even
the most conservative capitalists must
be waking up and saying to themselves:
Oh my, I guess we should have put
money into a clean environment, good
schools and economic support for strug-
gling parents. Then their kids could
have grown up to be smart, trustworthy
workers capable of learning new tech-
nologies. (And getting along well with
others.)
Oregon is not perfect but is certainly
capable of turning these concepts into
reality.
Those who are unhappy with our
state should go live in Idaho for a few
months. Just try it out before you push
your separatist ideology. The media is
in grave danger of presenting a distorted
picture of rural Oregonians. They
are failing to cover anyone here who
believes in keeping Oregon whole.
Mary Cooke
Cove
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. PRESIDENT
Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
GOVERNOR
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
U.S. SENATORS
Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande office: 541-962-7691
Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office: 541-278-1129
REPRESENTATIVES
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Cliff Bentz
2185 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
Medford office: 541-776-4646
SENATOR
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-415
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us