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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (May 20, 2015)
A4 Opinion wallowa.com May 20, 2015 Wallowa County Chieftain Ranchers can’t wait for ‘thousands’ of wolves T he Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission has begun, at least tentatively, the process to remove the gray wolf from the state’s endangered species list. The state’s wolf plan calls for beginning the delisting process when the state has at least four breeding pairs for three consecutive years. Oregon reached that EDITORIAL standard at the end of 2014, The voice of the Chieftain when eight breeding pairs were counted. Four breeding SDLUVZHUHFRQ¿UPHGLQDQGVL[LQ But ranchers who thought reaching that goal was an automatic trigger for delisting are disappointed. While the commission last month voted unanimously to start the process, it has also asked the Department of Fish and Wildlife to present it with information about delisting wolves throughout the state, delisting wolves in only the eastern part of the state, or leaving them on the endangered species list. 5DQFKHUVZKREHDUPXFKRIWKHH[SHQVHRIOLWHUDOO\ holding the wolves at bay and receive only partial compensation when they are unsuccessful, feel betrayed. While there has been coffee shop talk about taking care of predatory wolves on the sly — “shoot, shovel, shut up” — illegal takings appear to have been few and far between. No wolves have been killed while attacking or chasing livestock in Oregon. ODFW killed four for chronic depredation on livestock. Five were illegally shot since 2000; one died when hit by a vehicle. 2I¿FLDOO\UDQFKHUVORVWWRZROYHVVKHHSFDWWOHDQG two goats from 2009 through 2014. Ranchers say the total is KLJKHUWKDQFRQ¿UPHGEHFDXVHPDQ\DQLPDOVMXVWGLVDSSHDU Delisting would give ranchers more latitude in protecting their animals. “We lived up to our promise,” said rancher Todd Nash, wolf committee chairman for the Oregon Cattlemen’s $VVRFLDWLRQ³:HZKROO\H[SHFWWKHDJHQF\DQGWKLV committee to live up to theirs.” But environmentalists have different ideas, and are pushing the state to keep wolves on the endangered species list. Most believe there are about 100 wolves in Oregon. Conservationists say there needs to be many more to protect the population from being wiped out by disease or other calamity. Amaroq Weiss, West Coast wolf organizer with the Center for Biological Diversity, needs “on the magnitude of thousands” of wolves before they are delisted. Really? A hundred may not be enough, but a thousand is too many. All of God’s creatures have the right to thrive, and wolves have a place in the wilds of the West. But that doesn’t mean that wolves should be allowed to make a free meal of cattle and sheep on the range, whether grazing on public or private land. And we don’t think ranchers should have to wait until there are thousands of wolves lining up for dinner before the rules of engagement change. Correction $SKRWRFDSWLRQLQODVWZHHN¶VLVVXHLQFRUUHFWO\LGHQWL¿HG VFXOSWRU7HUUL0DOHF¶VZRUNLQSURJUHVVDVDZROI7KH¿JXUH LVLQVWHDGWKDWRIDUHGIR[7KH&KLHIWDLQUHJUHWVWKHHUURU USPS No. 665-100 32%R[(QWHUSULVH25 2I¿FH1:)LUVW6W(QWHUSULVH2UH 3KRQH)D[ :DOORZD&RXQW\¶V1HZVSDSHU6LQFH (QWHUSULVH2UHJRQ M EMBER O REGON N EWSPAPER P UBLISHERS A SSOCIATION P UBLISHER E DITOR R EPORTER R EPORTER 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 Kathleen Ellyn, kellyn@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 Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery See the Wallowa County Chieftain on the Internet www.wallowa.com facebook.com/Wallowa | twitter.com/wcchieftain 32670$67(5 — Send address changes to Wallowa County Chieftain 32%R[ (QWHUSULVH25 Contents copyright © 2015. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. Myopia made ’50s a good time The Josephy Center is celebrating the ’50s this month. The gallery space LV¿OOHGZLWKUHHOWRUHHOUHFRUGHUVKXOD hoops, ashtrays, and posters from the time. There is a small display on the Ko- rean War — oops, the “police action” or whatever the day’s euphemism was. We had a Brown Bag lunch with Tom Butter- ¿HOG0HOYLQ%ULQNDQG'DOODV0F&UDH talking about farming, and Craig Lesley came to read about growing up in eastern Oregon at the time — Boy Scouts watch- ing for enemy planes from rooftops; poor, white migrant laborers; the hand- work and dangers involved in harvesting PLQWDQGWKHÀRRGLQJRI&HOLOR)DOOV ,JUDGXDWHGIURPKLJKVFKRROLQ which means that my growing up was pretty much smack-dab ’50s. We got VWRULHV RI WKH ¶V DQG ¶V ² RI 7KH Depression, WWII, and the tough times of the past from parents and teachers. It dawned on me later that our male high school teachers were all vets who went to school on the GI Bill. Later still I learned that the GI Bill was largely re- VSRQVLEOH IRU WKH ELJJHVW H[SDQVLRQ RI the U.S. middle class (or that it made it out of Congressional committee by one vote!). :H²WKHFODVVRI²ZHUHWKH 50s! We were Fan Tan gum and surfer VKRUWVFDUVZLWK¿QVRXUVZHUHORZHUHG and sometimes tucked and rolled), 45 UHFRUGVDQGÀDWWRSVVZHDWHUJLUOV/60- FT, doo-wop and the beginnings of rock ’n’ roll. The Internet is full of nostalgia about these good old days, and every once in a while a classmate digs something up and urges us all to pass it around. I some- times chuckle, but don’t send them on. Last year, the Josephy Center com- memorated WWII. We interviewed vets MAIN STREET Rich Wandschneider and displayed their pictures, uniforms, PHGDOV DQG ÀDJV :RPHQ LQ WKHLU V remembered their Civil Defense obser- vation posts. In the Chieftain archives, the front pages from 1941 to 1945 were always about the war — pictures of 10 or 12 or 25 young Wallowa County men on their way to induction, notices of lo- cal efforts to save gas and rubber and buy war bonds. Occasionally, especially in ’44 and ’45, stories of men who were missing — or had been killed in action. The entire community was wrapped up in that war, and it bled through the newspaper’s pages and the stories and artifacts that we collected and displayed. The Chieftain archives tell a differ- ent story about the 1950s. The headlines trumpeted an upcoming hunting season, a high school team’s success at state, the new hospital and coming harvest. 7KH .RUHDQ FRQÀLFW ² DQG WKH PHQ who served there — got scant attention. Sometimes, in the lower left corner of the front page, there was a “men in the military” notice, with a photo of local ER\V *ZHQ &RI¿Q WKH ORQJWLPH HGLWRU of the paper, who had praised local war efforts while damning fascists and Na- zis, and courageously spoken out against ³ZDUSUR¿WHHUV´DQGWKH-DSDQHVHLQWHUQ- ment camps, was mum on Korea. The ¿UVW .RUHDQ HGLWRULDO PHQWLRQ , IRXQG ZDV DERXW WKH FRQÀLFW EHWZHHQ7UXPDQ and MacArthur — Gwen stood with Tru- man. A talk with local Korean War vet Dwayne Wiggins captured the same mood. The men who went did their duty, slogged their way through some tough WLPHVDQGFDPHKRPHWRMRLQLQWKHJRRG times. Korea, of course, was no easier than (XURSH DQG WKH 3DFL¿F ,VODQGV ,W ZDV cold and grim and sometimes deadly. Dwayne’s infantry fought from bunkers, and he showed us pictures of mountain- ous terrain and pointed to a far ridge, IURP ZKLFK WKH &KLQHVH H[FKDQJHG artillery. In other parts of the country, Marines fought desperate, cold battles. Many died or were captured. But the country did not want to hear about that. The ’50s were about feeling good and doing good. There were PTAs and Boy Scouts, and new radios, TVs, refrigerators, and mangles to make life easier. Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Ted Williams were heroes — Ted the odd one who took years off from baseball to SLORW ¿JKWHU SODQHV LQ ::,, DQG WKHQ again, in Korea. We read about that and welcomed him home. But other things were going on: Jack- ie Robinson was followed into the Ma- MRUV E\ 0D\V DQG 'RE\ 7UXPDQ KDG integrated the military, and court cases were beginning to push at school segre- JDWLRQ7KHVXQUHVWZDVOXUNLQJLQ the welcome that black veterans didn’t get, in Indian “termination” and the ÀRRGLQJ RI &HOLOR )DOOV LQ JRYHUQPHQW spending that went to new suburbs and ignored cities, and in Rosy the Riveter, who had been chased back to the kitchen in ’45 and given tranquilizers in the ’50s. Good times? Great times if you were white, male, and suburban, on the esca- lator to the middle class. Columnist Rich Wandschneider lives LQ-RVHSK Program helps protect the elderly Imagine if you will: Priscilla, an \HDUROG ZRPDQ KDV JLYHQ ¿QDQFLDO power of attorney to her granddaughter Connie. Connie has Priscilla’s check- book and is out paying Priscilla’s bills. While paying Priscilla’s water bill Con- nie realizes that her water bill is also due so she uses Priscilla’s check to cover both hers and Priscilla’s bill. Connie doesn’t ask Priscilla before paying her bill but ¿JXUHV3ULVFLOODZRXOGQ¶WPLQG 2U %HWW\ D \HDUROG ZRPDQ HP- ploys a caregiver in her home. Betty complains that her caregiver yells in her face and calls her names. 2U -LP D \HDUROG PDQ ZLWK GH- mentia, resides at a local facility. In visit- ing with Jim he tells you that he has been in a lot of pain and the facility hasn’t given him any of his pain medication and ignores his requests for them. 7KHVH DUH H[DPSOHV RU )LQDQFLDO ([- ploitation, Verbal Abuse, and Neglect. 7KHVHDUHH[DPSOHVRIWKHW\SHVRIVLWXD- tions to which Adult Protective Services UHVSRQG7KHVHDUHH[DPSOHVRIWKHSHU- sons that are provided assistance because Title VII of the Older Americans Act of FUHDWHGVWDWHJUDQWVIRU³YXOQHUDEOH elder rights protection” programs. The Oregon Department of Human Services, Aging and People with Dis- abilities program has the responsibility to Letters policy GUEST COLUMN Greg Musgrove provide Adult Protective Services (APS) to older adults and to adults with physi- cal disabilities whose situation is within $3'¶VMXULVGLFWLRQWRLQYHVWLJDWH The intent of the APS Program is to provide protection and intervention for older adults and adults with physical dis- abilities who are unable to protect them- selves from harm and neglect. Adult Protective Services are avail- able from the Department to any adult resident of a licensed care facility, to nursing facility residents regardless of age, and to any adult residing in the com- munity who meets the eligibility criteria. Most seniors and adults with dis- abilities live independently without as- sistance, however, some face abuse or neglect by others and need trained pro- fessionals to advocate on their behalf. When necessary the scope of services provided by APS includes receiving re- ports of abuse, neglect, or self-neglect; providing and documenting risk assess- ment of reported victims; conducting and documenting investigations of re- ported wrongdoing; and providing ap- propriate resources for victim safety. In terms of content, writers should refrain from personal attacks. It’s ac- Letters to the Editor DUH VXEMHFW WR ceptable, however, to attack (or sup- HGLWLQJ DQG VKRXOG EH OLPLWHG WR port) another party’s ideas. words. Writers should also include We do not routinely run thank-you a phone number with their signature letters, a policy we’ll consider waiving so we can call to verify identity. The only in unusual situations where reason Chieftain does not run anonymous let- FRPSHOVWKHH[FHSWLRQ ters. You can submit a letter to the Wal- As a human services agency, the De- partment embraces a social model of intervention with a primary focus on offering safety and protection to the re- ported victim. The over-arching ethical value in adult protective services is the obligation to balance the duty to protect older adults and adults with physical disabilities with the duty to protect their rights to self-determination. The Department relies upon other key sources, such as law enforcement, legal, medical, and regulatory profes- sionals, to assist in responding to the overall problems associated with abuse and neglect. When a concerned citizen contacts APS to report concerns about the wel- fare of a senior or adult with disabilities, the details provided in the report will be screened by a trained professional to evaluate if it meets the statutory require- ments for APS services. If the situation PHHWV FULWHULD IRU DEXVH QHJOHFW RU H[- ploitation, an APS worker will initiate face-to-face contact with the adult need- ing assistance. The APS worker will as- sess the adult’s safety. Greg Musgrove, the Adult Protective Services supervisor for six eastern Or- egon counties, has worked in APS for 14 years and is stationed out of the La *UDQGH'+6RI¿FH lowa County Chieftain in person; by PDLO WR 32 %R[ (QWHUSULVH 25 E\ HPDLO WR HGLWRU#ZDOORZD com; or via the submission form at the newspaper’s website, located at wal- lowa.com. (Drop down the “Opinion” menu on the navigation bar to see the relevant link).