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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (June 10, 2015)
A4 Opinion wallowa.com June 10, 2015 Wallowa County Chieftain Waters of the U.S. rule needs rewrite I t happens a lot in Washington, D.C. An agency sets out to clarify regulations and the outcome is worse than the starting point. Think of the Food EDITORIAL Safety Modernization Act. Once the folks at The voice of the Chieftain the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began to put their heads together, the simple intent of Congress to make sure food is safe to eat turned into a Frankenstein monster of what-ifs. Ask onion growers, who were forced to prove to the FDA that their crop had never been linked to a food-borne illness. And ask breweries, which had for thousands of years fed their spent grain to cattle without ever creating a food safety problem. Only after members of Congress interceded and researchers proved what experience had already demonstrated did the FDA decide to reverse itself on those issues. And think of the new Waters of the United States rule. A simple effort on the part of the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers WRUHFRQFLOHFRQÀLFWLQJFRXUWGHFLVLRQVWXUQHGLQWRDQRWKHU Frankenstein rule. Actually, we would characterize it as Frankenstein on steroids. It’s 297 pages of bureaucratese. ³,WOHDYHVDOOWKHSUHYLRXVO\LOOGH¿QHGWHUPVLQSODFH like ‘adjacent,’ ‘wetland’ and ‘discharge,’ while adding HTXDOO\PDOOHDEOHWHUPVVXFKDVµÀRRGSODLQ¶µWULEXWDU\¶ DQGµVLJQL¿FDQWQH[XV¶´VDLG05HHG+RSSHUWKH3DFL¿F Legal Foundation attorney who successfully argued one of the cases before the U.S. Supreme Court that caused the EPA to rewrite its rule. “And it provides that federal RI¿FLDOVFDQGHFLGHRQDFDVHE\FDVHEDVLVZKHWKHUDQ\ µRWKHUZDWHUV¶VKRXOGEHUHJXODWHG´ Another major objection that the Capital Press editorialized on in the past is the EPA and Corps provide no path for appealing an agency’s decision other than going through a jurisdictional review by the Corps. $FFRUGLQJWR+RSSHUUXOLQJVIURPWKHWKWKDQG 9th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals differ on whether landowners’ due process rights are protected in similar cases. If the EPA wanted to clarify something, it could have guaranteed a citizen the right to challenge an agency determination in court after a jurisdiction review. Because of its bulk and unclear language the rule created or left open as many questions as it answered. That is what made farmers and ranchers — and other landowners — most nervous. There’s on old term we like a lot: Cowboy talk. It’s a synonym for plain language. Instead of trying to impress each other with their command of obscure and unclear terms, the folks at the EPA and Corps should have written a rule that reads something like this: We promise to leave farmers and ranchers alone unless we can prove VFLHQWL¿FDOO\DQGEH\RQGDVKDGRZRIDGRXEWWKDWUXQRII from a farm or ranch is polluting a navigable stream, river or lake protected under the Clean Water Act. Any of our determinations can be appealed in federal court. They would have saved 296 pages of vagueness and gibberish and done a better job. 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 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 6XEVFULSWLRQVPXVWEHSDLGSULRUWRGHOLYHU\ 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. Area talent disproportionate It’s amazing the difference a few weeks of rain can make. The Zumwalt Prairie that was dusty and getting low on drinking water is now verdant and ponds are full. I haven’t moved sprinklers or irri- gated for three weeks and the grass is get- ting ahead of the cattle. It looks like the drought in Texas and 2NODKRPD LV EURNHQ +DOI RI 2NODKRPD and most of Texas is under water. See what happens when the Bible Belt prays for rain? I hope they have learned their lesson. I talk- ed to my friend Ace Berry who now lives just south of Oklahoma City and he is on high ground but received 17 inches of rain in May and it is still coming. ,FDQ¶W¿JXUHRXWZKHWKHUOLYLQJLQWKLV beautiful county spurs creativity and tal- ent or whether it attracts talented people. I lived in a county about this size that has a population of over 500,000 people. I knew one guy that could play a guitar. I didn’t know anyone that had written a book, I knew a couple of people that were artistic but that was the extent of talent I knew about. I had the opportunity to at- tend the spring Wallowa County Music Alliance program held in the Odd Fellows hall a couple of weeks ago and am still amazed at all the musical talent here. The fact that the program covered old country music was a plus. Everything from Jim- PLH5RGJHUVPXVLFWR+DQN:LOOLDPVDQG OPEN RANGE Barrie Qualle the Sons of the Pioneers. The musicians that performed represented only part of the vast local musical talent. In addition to the musical talent we are blessed with many artists, writers and sculptors. All this talent crammed into an agricultural county of 7,000. When I told my family I was moving to Wallowa County they told me it would be a cultur- al wasteland. Every time they visit I rub their noses in that idea. ,GRQ¶W À\ YHU\ RIWHQ DQ\PRUH WKDQN God. Being put into a lead-up like we are D EXQFK RI FDWWOH WR ¿QDOO\ EH SURFHVVHG by TSA adds a lot to the misery of travel- LQJ7KHQWR¿QGWKDW76$IDLOVSHUFHQW RIWKHWHVWVWKH\UXQRQWKHPWR¿QGJXQV and explosives, makes you wonder if there isn’t a better way. I suggest issuing a load- ed .45 to all passengers when they board. That would put a stop to terrorism and also PDNH WKH À\LQJ SXEOLF PRUH FRXUWHRXV GXULQJWKHÀLJKW I see that some Muslims are demand- ing that the welfare food they are given be of Islamic code, whatever that is. They also insist that their women must wear a face covering even for driver license photos. It seems that all minorities want to have WKHLURZQVHWRIODZV&KULV5RFNZKRLV %ODFNKDVDJUHDW<RX7XEH¿OPWKDWVKRXOG be mandatory for everyone to watch. I WKLQN WKH WLWOH LV ³+RZ QRW WR JHW EHDW XS E\WKHFRSV´1RWRQO\LVLWVXFFLQFWLWLV very funny. It seems that we are not get- ting much better at being tolerant of each other’s differences and races, and political parties have agitators within them that love WKLQJVSRODUL]HG/LNH5RGQH\.LQJVDLG ³&DQ¶WZHDOOMXVWJHWDORQJ´,Q:DOORZD County the hippies and cowboys seem to do a good job of tolerating each other. The situation in the Middle East con- tinues as it has for centuries. Stupidly, we think we can throw money at their prob- OHPVDQG¿[WKHXQ¿[DEOH:HFRQWLQXHWR ship state-of-the-art weapons to Iraq so their army can abandon them to ISIS as soon as they show up with a few zealots. It appears that our foreign policy is to arm both sides so we can keep things in an uproar. This is a windfall for the military-industrial com- plex that Eisenhower warned us about. They get to sell us arms to distribute to ERWKVLGHVRIDQHYHUHQGLQJFRQÀLFW$OO this money leaving the country and I live on a dirt road. Open Range columnist Barrie Qualle is a working cowboy in Wallowa County. Time to re-engage on forests The Malheur, Umatilla and Wal- ORZD:KLWPDQ 1DWLRQDO )RUHVWV DUH FRP- mitted to keeping an open dialogue con- tinuing with the communities we serve and as such would like to update you all on our progress in the Blue Mountains Forest Plans revision process. We want to thank many of you for your recent efforts in help- ing us think through and develop a re-en- gagement strategy for the communities in the Blue Mountains. As we announced last month, we have met with a broad spectrum of stakeholders so far this year to discuss the best ways to reengage with folks in the Blues. Through their counsel and advice we are exploring a range of re-engagement activities including community, stakeholder and Forest Service hosted meetings. We want to be clear that these meetings will be open to public; our hope is that these meetings will provide opportunities to discuss and develop ideas WKDWZLOOKHOSXVWRLPSURYHWKH¿QDO5H- vised Forest Plans, and provide clarity on RXU¿QDOGHFLVLRQV As previously announced, this past Feb- ruary, we began asking local organizations, GUEST COLUMN Steve Beverlin, Kevin Martin, Tom Montoya including counties, tribes, members of the public at large and special interest groups, if they would be interested in hosting or participating in public meetings in their communities on issues brought forward through the Draft Environmental Impact Statement comment process. We are work- ing with those who have responded to plan and/or participate in a variety of forums to be announced soon. We welcome addition- al efforts if there is interest. We are open to meet with the public and any entity inter- ested in discussing the draft. We heard a strong desire for further discussion around Forest access, back country, wilderness and the pace and scale of restoration, so you can anticipate meet- ings around these topics, as well as some other more localized issues. We hope to identify some common ground and create solutions. We look forward to these dis- cussions. It is important to know that while the analysis for the Malheur, Umatilla and :DOORZD:KLWPDQ 1DWLRQDO )RUHVWV ZLOO be included in one environmental impact statement, each Forest will have its own XQLTXHSODQVSHFL¿FWRWKH)RUHVWDQGWKHLU communities. We want Forest Plans that provide re- siliency for our communities in Eastern Oregon and Washington; Plans that sup- port the local economy and the social val- ues of the people who use and depend on them. We also want resiliency in ecosys- WHPVWKDWFDQZLWKVWDQGGURXJKWÀRRGV ZLOG¿UHLQYDVLYHVSHFLHVKXPDQLPSDFWV and have the strength to return to healthy ecosystems in the long run. Our Forest Plans should provide the vision of how to do just that and we will continue to need your help in shaping them. Please come to a meeting. If you can- not come to a meeting, contact your local )RUHVW6HUYLFHRI¿FHZLWK\RXULQSXW 6HH)25(6763DJH$ Facility’s residents shouldn’t leave To the Editor: $IWHUWKH+HDOWK&DUH'LVWULFWJRWXV to vote them in a new hospital, they told us they had to have a new nursing home too! They promised us at the meeting that any of the residents of the old nursing home would have a home at the new one too, to live out the rest of their time. Then Marathon took over the new nursing home and they agreed also that they would keep all of our loved RQHV LQ WKHLU IDFLOLW\ 1RZ $UWHJDQ KDV bought out Marathon and have told 3 of our loved ones that they have 30 days to get out. (3 now, if there is not a big uproar from the community, how many more will they kick out?) We, the taxpayers are still paying for that nursing home but Artegan seems to think they can make all the rules. There is an emergency meeting over this matter on June 22, at 11:30 at the conference room at the hospital. I want to urge everyone to attend this meeting and let them know we are not happy about this. Marathon is still li- able for the promise they made us and they have no right to sell to Artegan without Ar- tegan agreeing to all the terms set by us resi- GHQWVRIWKHFRXQW\+RZDERXWKROGLQJEDFN the tax money for the district until this matter is set straight and they live up to the promise LETTERS TO THE EDITOR that they made to us? Bill Coffman Enterprise look at funding this facility that is of very little value to most of us. Fred Barstad Enterprise Of roads and words To the Editor: I read with interest the Chieftain edi- torial on the road repair vote in Joseph. I Assisted living less don’t think the options are quite as hope- less as you present when you suggest our valuable FRPPXQLW\RI¿FLDOV³IROGWKHLUDUPV´DQG To the Editor: sulk because we didn’t pass the bond mea- The nursing home is kicking out peo- sures. That’s not particularly constructive. ple who they say are too sick to be there. I There are many options for dealing thought that was why you had county tax with the roads, including managing traf- payers pay for a new nursing home, so sick ¿F DQG VSHHG IURP WKH GRZQWRZQ DUHD people could stay there. When we voted to During events, downtown (which gets its fund a new nursing home I thought that roads updated by the state because it’s a was what we were voting for, but it seems KLJKZD\WXUQVHYHQWWUDI¿FORRVHRQWKH WKDW,ZDVKRRNZLQNHG1RZZHKDYHDQ side streets, which are not designed for ³$VVLVWHG/LYLQJ&HQWHU´ZKLFKJHQHUDOO\ out of town visitors to go speeding down takes care of people who can almost take them. Which, alas, they do, popping out care of themselves. When someone be- potholes in an amusing fashion. In an unacknowledged letter to my town, comes a problem, because they have more needs, they are kicked out of the place, I suggested a variety of ways to look at this that we, the hoodwinked taxpayers are LVVXH QRQH RI ZKLFK ZHUH UHÀHFWHG LQ WKH still paying for. I believe that all the people 6HH/(77(563DJH$ of Wallowa County need to take a second