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A4 Opinion wallowa.coP October 14, 21 Wallowa County Chieftain ‘Wolf-friendly beef’ idea patronizing to area ranchers T here isn’t anyone who hasn’t said soPething that sounded better in their head than it did when they said it out loud. That’s what we thought when we heard that conservation groups in Washington participating on the state’s wolf advisory panel suggested helping ranchers by creating a prePiuP label for “wolf-friendly beef´ for producers who ePploy Washington DepartPent of )ish and EDITORIAL Wildlife wolf protection The voice of the Chieftain Peasures. Dan Paul, state director of The HuPane Society of the United States, said as with cage-free eggs, soPe consuPers would be willing to pay Pore for beef raised with wolf protection Peasures. Really? First, we’d point out that all beef raised on grazing land in wolf country is “wolf-friendly.´ ,t all can fall prey. Ranchers in Washington and Oregon can’t legally shoot a wolf, as they are protected either by state or federal law. ,n fact, we would argue beef protected by e[tensive Peasures chaPpioned by the panel is less friendly to wolves. ,f the Peasures work ² and producers say the results are Pi[ed at best ² wolves have to work harder for their Peal. Second, we think the nuPber of people who would pay Pore for beef in order to soPehow help wolves would be sPall. Though we don’t necessarily think it’s true, people who buy cage-free eggs believe they’re getting a better quality product because of the way hens are treated. The reasoning goes that cage-free hens are exposed to less disease and stress, therefore their eggs are better. But there is no corresponding perceived quality enhancePent for “wolf-friendly´ beef. The bene¿ts froP such Peasures go exclusively to the wolves and their chaPpions. Ranchers are quick to point out that to recoup the cost of the suggested counter-Peasures, “wolf-friendly´ products would have to be priced percent Pore than coPparable conventional (wolf hostile?) products. We’ll give the wolf advocates the bene¿t of the doubt that they are sincere in their desire to help ranchers cope with wolves on the range. But a new Parketing ploy is not a substitute for a viable PanagePent plan that includes a full range of control options, including lethal Peasures for probleP wolves. And this is why ranchers are frustrated with efforts they ¿nd, at best, patronizing. The Cattle Producers of Washington has withdrawn froP the Wolf Advisory Group, calling it “inept and pointless´ and saying it has prevented any action by the state DepartPent of Fish and Wildlife in dealing with wolves that kill livestock. Though there are soPe with Pore strident views, Post ranchers at least grudgingly accept that the reintroduction of wolves into the West is a fait accompli. They know they’ll have to ¿nd a way to survive in a new paradigP that includes another predator. Conversely, wolf advocates and governPent wildlife agencies Pust also accept that ranchers can’t be expected to provide wolves an unliPited buffet. The tab Pust be paid, or the losses be stopped. State-sponsored eliPination of ranchers is no Pore palatable than the wholesale exterPination of wolves. USPS No. 665-100 P.O. Box 338 • Enterprise, OR 97828 Of¿ce 29 1: )irst 6t., Enterprise, Ore. PKone 27 • )ax 2392 :alloZa &oXnt\¶s 1eZspaper 6ince 88 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 editor@wallowa.com Stephen Tool, stool@wallowa.com Kathleen Ellyn, kellyn@wallowa.com editor@wallowa.com Jennifer Powell, bpace@wallowa.com Robby Day, rday@wallowa.com Cheryl Jenkins, cjenkins@wallowa.com , went to school with a lot of Dust Bowl Okie kids in California. One of Py good friends, Steve Harp, fell in this category. Steve, John and their sister Jodie were all red headed and not bad looking. Steve and , were in the saPe class and the other two kids were older. The Harp faPily had graduated froP peach picking and working in other ag related Mobs to Mr. Harp working a full tiPe Mob and owning a sPall farP of his own. This was due in a large part to the entire faPily’s hard work in the ¿elds One day at noon , saw Steve and John talking to a guy that looked to be in his twenties. Later that day during a school break , saw theP talking to the saPe guy. He was hanging around in the park next to the school tennis courts sPoking ciga- rettes and playing a guitar. , wandered over and they introduced Pe to their cousin Merle froP Bakers¿eld. Mer- le was going to be playing OPEN RANGE Barrie Qualle at the Riverbank Clubhouse Saturday night and was staying with Harps for the week. The clubhouse was a roller-skating rink during the week and a dance hall on the weekends. , later learned Merle was fresh out of San 4uentin where his cell Pate was a well-known country western singer by the naPe of Spade Coulee. Spade had a nuPber of hit songs in the forties and also doubled for Roy Rogers in the Povies. Spade, like Roy, had a lot of ,ndian genetics. ,n fact Spade Pay have been a purebred. Spade’s career caPe to an end when he Musti¿ably killed his wife who had been hav- ing an affair with Roy. Not very Code of the West Roy! , aP sure Roy’s wife Dale Pade sure he didn’t have happy trails for a while after she found out. Trigger, Bullet and all the little Patinee Buckeroos would have been horri¿ed if this had coPe out. Roy didn’t look good in a black hat. As Py Dad always said “,t’s a bad wind that doesn’t blow soPebody soPe good´. Spade and Merle spent a lot of cell tiPe playing guitar and Merle learned how to write soPe pretty good songs. , had assuPed Mer- le’s last naPe would be Harp also but later learned it was Haggard. He was the son of Steve’s Aunt Flossie and his Dad had died when he was young. Years later after Okie froP Muscogee and Pany other hits Steve told Pe Mer- le had been real spoiled by Aunt Flossie and was pretty lazy. He said Merle would get Pad when the faPily was picking peaches and run away. He said no one ever went to look for hiP and in a few days he would show up and sulk for a day or two. One day when , was working for the Ag depart- Pent , saw Steve at a win- dow applying for a perPit to spray his hay. , went over and visited with hiP for a while. One of the girls in the of¿ce was a huge Merle Haggard fan. Carol caPe walking by and , called her over, introduced her to Steve and told her he was Merle’s cousin. She was tickled to death to Peet hiP. Steve and , talked about Merle and Car- ol hung on every word. Steve Pentioned Merle was going to be in Modesto at the State Theatre in a couple of weeks. , said , had seen that in the newspaper. Steve went on to say “you know, we are going to have a barbeque out at the ranch when Merle is here, would you like to coPe´. Heck yeah , replied. Steve laughed and said “too bad´ as he headed for the exit. &olXmnist Barrie 4Xalle is a ZorNing coZEo\ in :al loZa &oXnt\. Walden possible Speaker candidate? By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain With the sudden resigna- tion of U.S. Rep. John Boeh- ner as house speaker and the equally sudden withdrawl of Rep. Kevin McCarthy of his candidacy for the role, the House of Representatives ¿nds itself with an iPPense vacuuP to ¿ll with seePing no one willing to take on the challenge. The Republican PaMority is currently awash with in-¿ghting between its establishPent and the Pore conservative and vocal ele- Pents of the party. The preferred candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, says he has no interest in the position. Ryan was probably the only representative who could garner the 218 House votes needed to take on the role. 2ne of the naPes being bandied about as an interiP House Speaker is Oregon’s 4th Dist. Rep. Greg Walden. )orPer Michigan U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers touted Walden By Hillary Borrud Capital Bureau Periodical Postage Paid at (nterprise and additional Pailing of¿ces 1 Year $40.00 $57.00 6XEscriptions mXst Ee paiG prior to GeliYer\ See the Wallowa County Chieftain on the ,nternet www.wallowa.com facebook.coPWallowa _ twitter.coPwcchieftain POSTMASTER ² 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. Volume 133 Crossing paths with okies House Speaker’s role The House Speaker role is de¿ned in Article 1 , Sec- tion 2 of the U.S. Constitution. Surprisingly, it is not a requirePent to be an elected representative to ful¿ll the role, although all Speakers thus far have been. The Speaker is arguably the Post iPportant and visi- ble role in the House. Besides acting as the interPediary between the House and the president, the Speaker does a large portion of fundraising for their party. The Speak- er is also second in line for the presidency behind the vice-president. Unlike the Senate MaMority Leader, who needs only a PaMority of votes froP their own party, the House Speak- er needs a PaMority of the 43 PePbers of the House. For obvious reasons, DePocrats are not interested in helping any Republican get the necessary 218 votes. The Post powerful and iPportant role the Speaker plays is using his power through the Rules CoPPittee to decide which bills and aPendPents Pake it to the House Àoor for discussion and vote, Many political observers say it is this power that contributes to congressional grid- lock. as a possible candidate during an Oct. 8 interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN. “One great candidate would be Greg Walden the head of the coPPittee respon- sible for electing the confer- ence of Republicans into the PaMority. He’s been doing that for a few years. He knows every PePber he knows the districts he knows there are challenges. He knows their political bent and he’s a sea- soned hand which was Piss- ing in this leadership election. He’s been around a long tiPe,´ Rogers said. Walden’s coPPunications director, $ndrew MalcolP, said in a phone interview Walden currently supports Ryan for the Speaker role. “Greg thinks that Paul Ryan would be a terri¿c Speaker of the House, that he could cer- tainly unify our conference,´ said MalcolP. “Greg believes that he is an articulate coPPu- nicator, has incredible policy depth, and cares deeply about the future of this country.´ MalcolP added Walden would consider running for the position if the conference asked hiP. “Greg has always been willing to step in and serve Oregon and the country when needed. That being said, he has several big Mobs already representing the Second Dis- trict, chairing the CoPPuni- cations and Technology panel, and chairing the National Re- publican Congressional CoP- Pittee,´ MalcolP said. Legislators haven’t raised new gun initiatives P UBLISHED EVERY W EDNESDAY BY : EO Media Group Subscription rates (includes online access) Wallowa County Out-of-County Rik Dalvit/For the Capital Press SALEM ² The Pass shoot- ing at UPpqua CoPPunity College renewed debate over gun control and on Oct. 8, Sen- ate DePocrats announced plans to close loopholes in the federal background check systeP and crack down on straw purchas- ing. But in Oregon, lawPakers have yet to propose any new Peasures aiPed at preventing gun violence. “, think people are Must coP- ing out of shock right now, and we did a big push for the back- ground checks in the 21 ses- sion,´ said state Senate MaMority Leader Ginny Burdick, D-Port- land. “, Must need to have soPe conversations with people ... Py caucus PePbers and people on the other side of the aisle, to see if there’s a pathway for soPe- thing to happen in 21. ,t’s a short session. ,t’s not Peant to be a PaMor policy issue session.´ The Legislature has already closed soPe of the background check loopholes that rePain at the federal level. Earlier this year, legislators passed a law that requires background checks for nearly all private ¿rearP transfers. The state also began last year investigating people who failed background checks when they attePpted to buy weapons at gun shows and li- censed dealers. That policy change caPe at the request of Senate Minority Leader Sen. Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day, af- ter Ferrioli learned the Oregon State Police had not been inves- tigating the incidents. ,t is illegal in Oregon for soPeone prohibited froP pur- chasing a ¿rearP to attePpt to purchase one. SoPe of the state’s efforts to prevent shootings, or iPprove the response, are still unfolding. The day before the UPpqua CoPPunity College shooting, Oregon State Police Superinten- dent Richard Evans gave an up- date to state lawPakers on what Evans said was “Py passion, school safety.´ Evans is part of a 14-PeP- ber state task force on school safety, which lawPakers cre- ated in 214 in response to the DecePber 212 shootings at ClackaPas Town Center and Sandy Hook ElePentary School in Newtown, Conn. A couple Ponths after the bill to create the task force be- caPe law, there was another shooting in Oregon, at Reynolds High School in Troutdale. Evans told lawPakers on Sept. 3 the top priority for the task force is to create a tip line where people can report threats of school shootings, plus a broad range of other issues including bullying, potential suicides and abuse.