KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Editor/Senior Reporter
ThUrSDAy, AprIl 7, 2022
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Oregon’s
money
managers
chose Russia
I
t’s not our fault. We don’t have the
expertise. Our hands are tied. It’s about
maximizing profits and beating invest-
ment benchmarks. Don’t worry, it’s not
going to undermine Oregon’s investment
returns for the Public Employees Retire-
ment System.
We have rarely read an article so
syrupy thick with excuses. But those are
some provided by the state of Oregon and
investment professionals about Oregon’s
investments in Russia in Ted Sickinger’s
excellent overview in The Oregonian.
Oregon has lost some $100 million — at
least for now — in its $95 billion invest-
ment portfolio because of the invasion
of Ukraine by Russia and the resulting
collapse of the value of Russian assets.
Nobody would say $100 million is insignif-
icant. It is, though, relatively insignificant
when compared to the scope of Oregon’s
overall investments.
State employees of Oregon and people
on state committees overseeing the state’s
investments don’t actually decide where
most of the state’s money is invested. They
hand it over to others who manage funds.
Those professional money managers look
for ways to invest it. They are always look-
ing to maximize profits, to exceed bench-
marks. Russia could be a win. The state
says that now that the markets in Russia
are essentially closed Oregon can’t pull its
money out if it wanted to.
The state says it doesn’t have the exper-
tise to make decisions about good and bad
regimes. It hires money managers who do
the risk calculations and look at the geopol-
itics.
So when Russia supported separatist
movements in 2008 in Georgia and more
than 2,000 people were killed, those money
managers thought it was OK to keep on
investing in Russia.
So when Russia invaded Crimea in 2014
and absorbed it into Russia, money manag-
ers thought it was OK to keep on investing
in Russia.
And so now it is Oregon investments
that are helping pay for Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine. Your money at work.
OK, we can’t fault people for not know-
ing Putin’s mind and not perfectly predict-
ing the invasion of Ukraine. What we don’t
hear are Oregon politicians asking ques-
tions. We don’t hear our elected leaders,
at least, debating what Oregon might do
better about its investment policy.
In February, there were reports China
had encroached on Nepal. China has mili-
tarized islands it built in the South China
Sea and has always been keenly interested
in Taiwan. But after Ukraine, Oregon will
just count on the money manager system
that has worked for us so well.
EDITORIALS
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.
LETTERS
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:
editor@eastoregonian.com,
or via mail to Andrew Cutler,
211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton, OR 97801
How to get a deer across the road
BILL
ANEY
THIS LAND IS OUR LAND
L
ife as a deer or elk in the Blue
Mountains can’t be easy. Imagine
you are part of a herd that is on a
traditional migration route from Mount
Emily summer habitat to winter range in
the foothills of the Blue Mountains.
As your herd moves south towards
the Meacham area, you are faced with a
gauntlet: railroad tracks, multiple fences,
100 feet of a four-lane freeway with
speeding vehicles, guardrails and a high
concrete median barrier.
Eons of natural selection and evolution
have not equipped your herd to handle
these obstacles. Panic sets in as the innate
drive to move south and downhill pushes
you to negotiate the hazards. Potential
catastrophe looms; your herd is no match
for the herd of 40-ton semi-trucks moving
at 60 mph.
Wild free-ranging animals encounter
this type of dangerous dilemma every
day. Unlike the challenges of finding
food, water, and shelter, avoiding preda-
tors, successfully breeding and tending
for their young, the challenges of rail-
roads and highways are entirely man
made.
In a rare show of bipartisanship and
partnership between rural and urban
Oregon, and with the help of science,
conservation and government groups,
Oregonians are beginning to address
this problem. This past month the state
legislature identified $7 million for the
Oregon Department of Transportation to
create safe highway crossings for wildlife
in priority areas identified by the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The projects can be expensive, and
the state funds will likely be used as seed
money to match federal dollars available
from the Infrastructure Investment and
Jobs Act to get more crossings completed.
This work is broadly supported by
Oregonians, with more than 80% of rural
citizens and 98% of urban folks agreeing
that installing safe wildlife crossings is a
good idea. There’s no urban/rural divide
on this question.
The crossings pay for themselves. It is
estimated that there are 7,000 collisions
between vehicles and deer in Oregon each
year, causing an annual average of $44
million in damages, 700 human injuries,
and two deaths. A recently completed
wildlife underpass project on Highway
97 near Sunriver reduced deer/vehicle
collisions by 85% in the area, a migration
corridor between the Cascades and the
high desert winter range. At an average
economic cost of $6,500 for each deer/
vehicle collision ($8,500 for elk), the $1.6
million crossing project seems like a wise
use of taxpayer dollars.
I also found it tremendously refreshing
to see how the expertise of different enti-
ties came together to solve this problem.
To help set priorities for wildlife cross-
ings, ODFW collared and tracked 1,000
deer in Northeastern Oregon since 2015.
This data was used to learn how deer are
migrating in the Blues, how they respond
to two- and four-lane highways, and the
locations of the most important crossing
areas.
For their part, ODOT is tracking
wildlife collisions and monitoring the
effectiveness of constructed crossings.
A collaborative group called the Oregon
Action Team on Ungulate Migration has
helped prioritize needed crossing projects
and provided credible public information
about this work.
As a result of this cooperation and
collaboration, the Meacham area is
among those in the state identified as a
high priority for work. ODFW data shows
a wildlife migration corridor crossing
Interstate 84, and ODOT has identified
this as a collision hot spot in the Blues.
Other migration corridors cross Highway
395 south of Pendleton, Highway 26/395
in the John Day valley and locations on
I-84 between La Grande and Baker City.
Wildlife crossing projects won’t elim-
inate the risk of collision with deer and
elk, and drivers bare some responsibility
to reduce the risk. According to an ODOT
campaign, drivers should recognize
the peak times of deer movement (early
mornings and evenings in spring and
fall), remain alert for eye-shine, expect
every animal crossing the road to be
followed by more, and use a long blast on
the horn to warn animals you see.
(By the way, those bumper mounted
deer whistles are evidently useless,
according to separate research projects
conducted in Georgia and Utah.) If an
animal is on the road, don’t swerve to
avoid it but instead brake firmly. And of
course, wear your seat belt.
There is no way to have a highway
system that doesn’t bisect traditional
migration routes. If we want to have
thriving deer and elk herds, it’s on us to
figure out a way to reduce the impact of
roads on wildlife, including the risk of
collision. We should be applauding the
collaborative work of Oregonians, agen-
cies, politicians, and non-governmental
organizations to give wildlife a safe way
across these barriers.
———
Bill Aney is a forester and wildlife biolo-
gist living in Pendleton and loving the Blue
Mountains.
It can be more accurately described as
“Forget personal sacrifice, keep sitting on
your behind and let the government rob
your neighbor for you.”
I would ask you to read Kennedy’s
speech, which he referred to God and the
people in his speech. He said, “the belief
that the rights of man come not from the
generosity of the state, but from the hand
of God.”
When was the last time you heard a
political speech from a Democrat politi-
cian mention God in their speeches? It has
been 61 years since President Kennedy
made that speech, and I was a Democrat
at the time, now each and every Democrat
political priority can be broken down to a
simple concept: They are all designed to
take money and power away from individ-
uals, families, communities, businesses,
charities and states and transfer it directly
to the federal government. I changed my
political party affiliation in 2016, and I
would encourage the decent Democrats of
America to think long and hard for which
party you choose to live under. You have
until April 26 to change your voting regis-
tration in the state of Oregon.
Kathy Wilson
Pendleton
YOUR VIEWS
Wake up, America
It was not so long ago that much loved
Democrat President John F. Kennedy told
the nation in his 1961 inaugural address,
“Ask not what our country can do for you,
ask what you can do for your country,”
implying a sense of self sacrifice was
needed by all Americans to keep the torch
of freedom burning bright in a world filled
with tyranny.
This was an idea most could relate to
regardless of political affiliation.
But times have changed, and modern
liberal philosophy has become almost
unrecognizable to previous generations.
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