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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 2015)
A4 Opinion wallowa.com January 28, 2015 Wallowa County Chieftain We’re managing people for wolves’ sake “ W olf management” is a misnomer. What state officials in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and elsewhere have been doing is managing people. The wolves seem to be doing just fine; it’s the EDITORIAL people who need help. The line of reasoning The voice of the Chieftain wildlife managers use is this: When wolves attack livestock, the predators aren’t at fault, the people are. It’s not the wolf’s fault that a lamb jumped into its mouth, it’s the lamb owner’s fault. He, or she, just didn’t use enough fladry and special flashing lights or hire enough range riders to protect the livestock from the wolves. That’s the topsy-turvy world we live in when it comes to wolves spreading across the region. Just two weeks ago another wolf popped up in Southern Oregon, bringing to three the number — plus a couple of pups — that have set up housekeeping in that part of the state. That brought this admonition from an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist to a group of Southern Oregon cattlemen: “We have wolves, folks. They are not going away. I realize this is a lifestyle change.” What that means is any newly arrived wolves take priority over ranchers who have been there for generations. Ranchers now must accommodate the behaviors of their new neighbors — including their diet of fresh lamb and beef. The state will help with some of the costs, but any other costs will come out of their pockets. Presumably, the newest wolf in Southern Oregon followed the paw prints of OR-7 and his new mate, trekking 230-plus miles across the state to take up residence there. One can only guess how many others have followed this latter-day version of the Oregon Trail and haven’t yet been discovered. These observations add up to this: Wolves seem to be getting along fine despite any attempts to manage them. They randomly show up, sometimes with a mate and pups, and managers can only take note of it. No hands-on management is needed for the wolves. It’s the ranchers who must manage their cattle and sheep differently in an effort to prevent them from becoming endangered. That’s the odd thing about the Endangered Species Act: It treats all species the same. An endangered worm whose only worry is making it across the road before the next pickup truck drives by is put in the same system as a wolf that resides at the top of the food chain and is fully capable of fending for itself. Wildlife managers are taking a census of all the wolves they can find. Good luck. It appears counting wolves is more a best-guess than anything. In the meantime, members of Congress in four Upper Midwest states have proposed legislation to take wolves off the federal endangered species list in that region. It’s time to do the same everywhere else, too. L etters to the Editor are subject to editing and should be limited to 275 words. Writers should also include a phone number with their signature so we can call to verify identity. The Chieftain does not run anonymous letters. In terms of content, writers should refrain from person- al attacks. It’s acceptable, however, to attack (or support) another party’s ideas. We do not routinely run thank-you letters, a policy we’ll consider waiving only in unusual situations where reason compels the exception. You can submit a letter to the Wallowa County Chieftain in person; by mail to P.O. Box 338, Enterprise, OR 97828; by email to editor@wallowa.com; or via the submission form at the newspaper’s website, located at wallowa.com. (Drop down the “Opinion” menu on the navigation bar to see the relevant link). USPS No. 665-100 P.O. Box 338 • Enterprise, OR 97828 2I¿FH1:)LUVW6W(QWHUSULVH2UH 3KRQH)D[ :DOORZD&RXQW\¶V1HZVSDSHU6LQFH Enterprise, Oregon M EMBER O REGON N EWSPAPER P UBLISHERS A SSOCIATION P UBLISHER E DITOR R EPORTER R EPORTER N EWSROOM ASSISTANT A D S ALES CONSULTANT G RAPHIC D ESIGNER O FFICE MANAGER Marissa Williams, marissa@bmeagle.com Rob Ruth, editor@wallowa.com Stephen Tool, stool@wallowa.com Rocky Wilson, rwilson@wallowa.com Rich Rautenstrauch, rrautenstrauch@wallowa.com Brooke Pace, bpace@wallowa.com Robby Day, rday@wallowa.com Cheryl Jenkins, cjenkins@wallowa.com P UBLISHED EVERY W EDNESDAY BY : EO Media Group 3HULRGLFDO3RVWDJH3DLGDW(QWHUSULVHDQGDGGLWLRQDOPDLOLQJRI¿FHV Subscription rates (includes online access) Wallowa County Out-of-County 1 Year $40.00 $57.00 6XEVFULSWLRQVPXVWEHSDLGSULRUWRGHOLYHU\ See the Wallowa County Chieftain on the Internet www.wallowa.com facebook.com/Wallowa | twitter.com/wcchieftain POSTMASTER — Send address changes to Wallowa County Chieftain P.O. Box 338 Enterprise, OR 97828 Contents copyright © 2015. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. College playoffs delivered Another college football season has come and gone, and not quietly in our household. 7KLV\HDUPDUNHGDVLJQL¿FDQWFKDQJH in the way that the NCAA crowns its champion, mercifully ending the Bowl Championship Series era — or BCS era, for short — or without the C, for accu- racy. Finally, college football fans got what they have long been clamoring for: a playoff system to determine the cham- pion. You can count me among those who think that the new College Selec- tion Committee — which ranks teams WKURXJKRXW WKH VHDVRQ DQG JLYHV ¿QDO rankings of the top four teams after Con- ference Championship games have been played — was an upgrade over the previ- ous, computer-generated rating system. I kept a close eye on those Selection Com- mittee rankings as the season played out, and I was pleasantly surprised that the SEC bias that seemed endemic to the old system did not pervade the new rankings. I also think the Selection Committee got it right when they chose Alabama, Oregon, Florida State, and Ohio State as their top four teams to compete in the playoffs. Their only controversial choice was Ohio State, which leapfrogged TCU and Baylor on Conference Champion- ship weekend to earn the 4-spot. But that XSJUDGH VHHPHG MXVWL¿HG SDUWO\ EHFDXVH Ohio State pummeled Wisconsin 59-0 to win the Big 10 Championship, and partly because the Big 12, where TCU and Bay- LQ WKH &KDPSLRQVKLS JDPH 7KHLU ¿UVW playoff game against Florida State was close until about halfway through the third quarter, but then the Ducks’ fast- John paced offense and opportunistic defense McColgan put a whooping on Florida State for the UHVWRIWKHJDPH7KH¿QDOUHVXOWRI lor both play, does not have a Conference pretty much said it all. Championship game. Conversely, looking back on Oregon’s A few days before Christmas, the Championship game against Ohio State, bowl festivities began, with 39 college ZKLOH WKH ¿QDO VFRUH RI SUREDEO\ bowl games being played in all, count- expresses how thoroughly Ohio State’s ing the National Championship game. I running game dominated Oregon’s de- am only slightly embarrassed to tell you fense, it’s easy to forget the fact that with that I watched the vast majority of these just a few seconds remaining in the third games, and a little more apologetic to the quarter, Oregon was down by only one neighbors and especially to my tolerant point. I think that both Oregon’s players wife for all the noise that I made while I and their fans will probably remember this game as a matter of missed opportu- was watching them. One of the things that delighted me nities (especially a couple of key dropped this year was the surprisingly medio- passes) and an inability to establish and cre performance of the teams from the PDLQWDLQ2UHJRQ¶VW\SLFDOUDSLG¿UHSDFH vaunted — and, I would say, overrated on offense. Ultimately, Oregon fans have — SEC. This year, SEC teams went a to give credit where credit is due to Ohio PHUH LQ WKHLU ERZO JDPHV ¿QLVKLQJ State’s running back, Ezekiel Elliot, who 2-4 against ranked teams. Stunningly, ran the ball down the Ducks’ throats all the highly esteemed SEC West Division night for a total of 246 yards. They say that “almost” only counts in went only 2-5, while the lower-rated SEC (DVWKHOGXSWKHLUHQGE\¿QLVKLQJLQ horseshoes and hand grenades, and Ore- bowl games. By comparison, the PAC 12 gon’s players and fans might agree with had a better year, going 6-3 overall, with that sentiment. But there’s no shame in a modest 2-2 record against ranked oppo- coming in second, for the second time nents. But considering that two of those LQWKHODVW¿YH\HDUVLQFROOHJHIRRWEDOO ranked opponents were teams that made Hang in there, Ducks, and hold your heads high. WKH¿QDOIRXUWKDWDLQ¶WEDGIRONV John McColgan writes from his home Oregon fans can be proud of their Ducks, even though they came up short in Joseph. POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY Oregon’s coming carbon load :H LQ WKH 3DFL¿F 1RUWKZHVW KDYH watched with some complacency in recent \HDUV DV RLO WUDLQV KDYH FDXJKW ¿UH LQ IDU- away places and ships have disgorged pe- troleum cargoes and fuel on previously pris- tine shores. Reporting by the Seattle-based Sightline Institute reminds us that we have already suffered some serious oil spills and had numerous near misses. We also face a future that includes proposals for an aston- LVKLQJDPRXQWRIDGGLWLRQDORLOWUDI¿F Summing up north Oregon and Wash- ington schemes to export coal and natural JDV ZH FRXOG EH WUDQVSRUWLQJ ¿YH WLPHV more carbon than the Keystone XL Pipeline. • Oil pipelines. Two new oil pipelines would be capable of carrying more than 1.1 million barrels per day, enough to emit 199 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annu- ally. • Oil-by-rail facilities. Eleven oil-by-rail IDFLOLWLHVDWUH¿QHULHVRUSRUWWHUPLQDOVFRXOG move 858,900 barrels per day, enough to emit 132 million metric tons of carbon di- oxide each year. There are major oil-by-rail proposals in our immediate vicinity, including three on the South Washington Coast at Grays Har- with the exception of eventual trickle-down EHQH¿WV IURP VWDWH JHQHUDO IXQGV :H FHU- tainly face more risk, both from spills and The Daily Astorian from an increasingly unpredictable climate and ocean. It’s easy to lose track of just how often bor and three on the Columbia River — in- cluding a major expansion of an operation we’ve narrowly dodged what could have in Clatskanie. The largest, Tesoro/Savage been catastrophic spills. Sightline reports an in Vancouver, Wash., would be capable of overall survey here: tinyurl.com/pssvh23. In moving 360,000 barrels of oil per day. It WKHSDVW\HDUVWKHUHKDYHEHHQ¿YHRF- is working its way through the permitting casions when ships or barges got into trou- process and expected to be up and running ble in the Columbia estuary or near enough soon, though the plunge in oil prices may that they could have ended razor clamming, oystering and other key resource-based in- curb enthusiasm for it. These fossil fuel plans win political sup- dustries. There are limits on what we can do to port, even here in the environmentally con- scious Northwest. Visible opposition can be LQÀXHQFHHQHUJ\H[SRUWSURSRVDOV%XWDWD dangerous: Witness Catherine Mater’s sum- minimum, we should be prepared to com- mary dismissal from the Oregon Transpor- ment on them and to exert pressure on elect- tation Commission after she voted against HGRI¿FLDOVWRSXVKIRUPD[LPXPVDIHW\DQG a coal-export facility. Terminals create jobs DFFRXQWDELOLW\&RUSRUDWLRQVWKDWSUR¿WPXVW WKDWDUHRIWHQXQLRQDI¿OLDWHGZKLOHPDNLQJ DOVREHDUDOOWKH¿QDQFLDOULVNV7KH\PXVW oodles of money for investors. This creates LQVXUHWKDWDYRLGLQJVSLOOVLVWKHLU¿UVWSULRU- a bipartisan groundswell of support in the ity and that response plans are effective and corridors of power in Salem, Olympia and fully funded. The Daily Astorian, based in Astoria, is Washington, D.C. It is questionable whether ordinary coast- a sister publication to the Wallowa County al citizens get anything out of these plans, Chieftain. COMMENTARY Keep ECX race on the front page To the Editor: I am very disappointed that the arti- cles about the sled dog teams and mush- ers were buried on the very last page of the Chieftain last week, and page 10 the week before. Many people traveled a great distance to our beautiful county to participate and watch the four day events. I saw license plates from Utah, Alberta, Montana, Saskatchewan, Alas- ka, Idaho, Washington, of course Ore- gon, and one of the volunteers told me there was even a team from New Zea- land! There were a record number of 26 teams in all. I met a couple from Scap- SRRVH DQG WKH\ ³¿QDOO\ PDGH WKH WULS´ just for the event, and were staying sev- eral days. Any event that requires 200 volunteers (your quote) should get front page coverage, such as the CJD Rodeo, or the Thunder Run. It truly is an event Fishing, Hunting, & Wildlife-Associated Recreation (FHWAR 2011) study from ZKLFK WKH HGLWRULDO GUHZ LWV ¿JXUHV 2UH- gon wildlife watchers spent seven times as much ($1.7 billion) as hunters ($250 that the is enjoyed by all county resi- million). This created an economic impact state-wide by bunny-watchers of $3.1 bil- dents, and many others from far away. Karen Mason lion vs $421 million by hunters. The 2011 Joseph ¿JXUHVVKRZWKDWDFURVVWKHERDUGZLOGOLIH watching generates from seven to more than ten times the business, wages, jobs, Wildlife watchers’ and taxes than does hunting. Eastern Oregon will garner ever more impact counts HFRQRPLF EHQH¿W IURP QRQFRQVXPSWLYH To the Editor: enjoyment of wildlife. Wallowa County, As the Chieftain pointed out in a recent home of Oregon’s Little Switzerland, Hell’s editorial, it’s true that hunting has had eco- Canyon and the ever-more-famous Zum- QRPLF EHQH¿WV IRU (DVWHUQ 2UHJRQ ZKLFK walt Prairie, will be a net winner as hunting are now fading as the sport gradually loses wanes and wildlife watching waxes. popularity. Wally Sykes But all is not lost. According to the 2011 Joseph LETTERS TO THE EDITOR