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Opinion
wallowa.com
October 21, 2015
Wallowa County Chieftain
We must
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by Governor Kate Brown
s we near the end of a third consecutive costly
¿re season, the aftermath is staggering. Some
2,218 wild¿res burned more than 00,000
acres across the state
and threatened more
than 1,400 homes and
structures. More than
10,000 ¿re¿ghters across Voice of the Chieftain
the Paci¿c 1orthwest
risked their lives ¿ghting these ¿res, and ensuring
that they could respond swiftly, with all available
resources, I invoked the Emergency ConÀagration
Act ¿ve times. Because of the great work of many,
we were prepared to minimize loss during these
challenging months.
On behalf of all Oregonians, I thank the thousands
of ¿re¿ghters and support crews from local, state and
federal agencies, tribal governments, the contract
community, local ¿rst responders, landowners, forestry
professionals and others who ensured that not one life
was lost in Oregon. Other states were not so fortunate.
Your dedicated service to our state is never taken for
granted, and is greatly appreciated.
Even though wild¿re season is winding down, now
is the time for Oregonians to begin thinking about
next summer¶s ¿re season and prepare for the rains of
winter. This is the best way to express our appreciation
for the risks that Oregon¶s ¿re¿ghters experience every
year.
For those who lost homes and property, state and
local of¿cials are working hard to help you put the
pieces back together. There are several resources,
ranging from streamlined permitting processes to
¿nancial assistance programs, available to victims
of the ¿res. Many have already attended the
informational meetings held by state and federal
of¿cials. But the tools to get help are always available
at wild¿re.oregon.gov.
With the onset of winter and an El 1ixo pattern
likely, persistent rains could wreak havoc on areas
stripped of vegetation by wild¿re. Oregonians in these
areas are already taking preventative steps such as
seeding or mulching bare ground, keeping culverts
unplugged of debris, and installing sediment traps
above culverts.
Looking ahead to next summer, homeowners can
work with community organizations such as Oregon
Firewise, www.¿rewise.org, to manage the landscapes
around their homes. Homeowners should consider
establishing what’s called “defensible space,” so if
wild¿re threatens a home and there is little to burn
near its walls, ¿re¿ghters will have a better chance of
saving it.
Wild¿re, drought, and the myriad of challenges
resulting from climate change have likely introduced
our state to a new normal. As preventing and ¿ghting
¿re becomes more complex, we must rethink our
approach, adopting strategies for both wet and dry
seasons. Addressing and preventing ¿re damage is a
year-round effort, and it is more important than ever to
work together to adapt to climate change and protect
our way of life now and for tomorrow.
EDITORIAL
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Volume 133
I’ve been brooding about growing
individualism, isolation, and feelings of
entitlement for years. Phones disconnect
us from fellow-humans as they connect
us with terse text messages; “liberated”
co-eds need escorts to cross campus at
night; athletes and CEOs forget teams
and chase individual wealth and fame;
and solitary mis¿ts collect arsenals and
go on shooting rampages.
Maybe I’m just getting old and
crotchety—every age bemoans the fact
that the world we grew up in passes, and
new ideas, technologies, and concerns
take its place.
But I am clearheaded now about the
problems of my forties and ¿fties in mid-
dle America: women chased back from
good war-time jobs to make 3.2 children
and have drinks ready for hubby com-
ing home; African American veterans of
WW 2 getting the same and worse treat-
ment as they did pre-war; Indian tribes
and treaties being “terminated” to make
way for American business.
But I also believe that those of us
who grew up in good places in those
times experienced a different kind of
camaraderie and community than do
young people today.
I thought about this as I sat in on
the 75th anniversary of the Big Brown
Church—Congregational—in
Enter-
prise last Sunday. I’m nominally a mem-
ber, but for one reason and another have
not been active the last few years, but
congregation leader Stacy Green gave
me a nudge, and I showed up to hear
Mary Louise 1elson and Addie Marks
talk about church history and long-time
pastor Jerry Raedeke talk about church
philosophy. And to see old friends.
It actually took me a long time in the
MAIN STREET
Rich Wandschneider
community to ¿nd the church—I fol-
lowed one of my sons there about 20
years ago. An early recollection is of
an older woman tapping me on the arm
and whispering that she was glad I was
there, and that I didn’t have to believe
everything in the UCC Creed to be part
of their congregation. Jerry Raedeke
echoed that sentiment when he reminded
people that this church had grown from
a coming together of two separate—
Methodist and Presbyterian—congre-
gations. Putting aside differences, the
two groups negotiated a “community”
church. Jerry lamented current divisions
in churches as offshoots of congrega-
tions ¿nd one theological or ideological
thing or another to disagree and disen-
gage over. Like ¿reÀies, despite all their
earnestness, these upstarts come and go.
But this merging group in 1940 did
build a community church! Addie and
Mary Louise recounted past ministers
and church growth—there were almost
300 members at one time, a choir of 30
and a Sunday School with 80 young-
sters.
Thinking about Mary Louise reminds
me of a general church meeting with
regional of¿cials about a decade ago,
when we were searching for a new min-
ister. The Portland pastor said that the
word was out, and he was sure that we
would ¿nd someone who liked the out-
doors, hunting, ¿shing, etc. Mary Lou-
ise told him to forget stereotypes, that
people in our congregation also read,
wrote, and liked music and song.
Sue (Morgan) Wagner, brother Sam,
and 1ancy Rudger told Sunday School
stories, and one of a regional youth con-
ference that brought in others from this
community and scores from around Or-
egon and Washington. And of a group
called “M 3.” Did Sam remember what
that meant? Sue asked. The oldsters
in unison said that it meant that “God
is ¿rst, others second, and µme’ third.”
How quaint that seems now. It reminds
me of old coaches screaming “team” at
would be superstars, and of the verses
to “We Shall Overcome” that I once
sang arm in arm in arm with blacks and
whites in Washington D.C., with Coretta
Scott King leading the singing.
Sam was a pew behind me, and I had
to ask him about a story that I had heard
years ago—maybe from his Mother Bet-
ty, or from one of his eight or nine sib-
lings. The story was that there was a box
of shoes in the hallway, and you picked
out your shoes—and returned them—as
you grew. Sam con¿rmed the shoe box,
and remembered that one time his dad
had done some work for the Crows in
Lostine, and been paid with a box of aw-
ful, new but dusty, yellow tennis shoes. I
guess the Morgan kids wore those shoes
to school for quite a stretch.
That too is hard to imagine today,
when every kid has the right shoes,
clothes, and I-phone, and helicopter par-
ents hover over the single child. With all
its warts and sores, there was something
grand about big families, close commu-
nities, and a time when teams trumped
stars and yellow shoes got you by.
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The Trans-Paci¿c Partnership, a big
multi-nation trade pact, has been negoti-
ated and within the month will begin a
long process of rati¿cation by member
countries.
The agreement — known by its ini-
tials TPP — is designed to improve trade
relations between the 12 participating
countries, including the United States,
Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Viet-
nam, Chile, Malaysia, 1ew =ealand,
Peru, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.
We are for trade. It’s the lifeblood of
American farmers and ranchers, partic-
ularly those in the 1orthwest. Anything
that facilitates the opening of markets
abroad is probably good.
In a teleconference with reporters,
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack
touted these among the bene¿ts of the
pact:
• TPP eliminates or reduces tariffs or
taxes assessed by other countries on U.S.
agricultural products, including beef,
pork, poultry, dairy, horticulture, rice,
grains, soybeans, wheat, cotton and pro-
cessed products.
• The agreement includes safeguards
to protect U.S. markets from other coun-
tries essentially dumping product into the
country.
GUEST EDITORIAL
From the Capital Press
• TPP gives the United States an ad-
ditional opportunity to contest sanitary
and phytosanitary standards that are not
based on risk or science.
• Beef and pork producers will see re-
ductions in taxes levied by Japan on their
products. The deal expands the market
for dairy products such as cheese and yo-
gurt in Japan and Canada.
So, painted with a broad brush the
deal sounds good for American agricul-
ture. That said, this is a complex treaty
with a lot of moving parts. The devil may
well be hiding in the details that have yet
to be made public.
Critics are concerned with portions of
the pact that deal with intellectual prop-
erty, the Internet and dispute resolution.
Opponents worry that one common
component of recent trade agreements,
known as “investor-state dispute settle-
ment,” will allow big, multi-national cor-
porations at odds with American laws to
bypass U.S. courts in favor of an expert
panel of arbitrators.
Where once such a provision made
sense when companies didn’t want to risk
the third-world judicial system, oppo-
nents point out that most if not all partic-
ipants of the TPP have stable, established
legal systems.
Critics say the deal includes provi-
sions that could severely restrict the In-
ternet and remove “fair use” protections
for use of copyrighted material. Labor
unions oppose the deal because they say
it will move more American jobs over-
seas.
Although alleged drafts of the deal
have been posted to Wikileaks, we prob-
ably won’t get of¿cial copies for another
30 days, after Congress has reviewed the
pact. The public will then get 0 days to
pore over the terms.
Congress gave President Obama
“fast track” authority in negotiating the
Trans-Paci¿c Partnership. As such, it can
only give the deal an up or down vote,
and it can’t amend it. So, weighing the
relative bene¿ts and potential harms of
those details is all the more important.
Without bene¿t of a complete text, the
deal appears to us to be positive for U.S.
farmers and ranchers. We are for trade,
but not for a deal for a deal’s sake. We
await a vigorous debate.
Where to write
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The White House, 100 Pennsyl-
vania Ave. 1.W., Washington, D.C.
20500; Phone-comments: 202-45-1111;
Switchboard: 202-45-1414.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D — 51
Hart Senate Of¿ce Building, Washing-
ton D.C. 20510. Phone: 202-224-5244.
E-mail: wayne_kinney@wyden.senate.
gov Web site: http://wyden.senate.gov
Fax: 202-228-2717.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D — 313
Hart Senate Of¿ce Building, Washing-
ton D.C. 20510. Phone: 202-224-3753.
E-mail: senator@merkley.senate.gov.
Fax: 202-228-3997.
Oregon of¿ces include One World
Trade Center, 121 S.W. Salmon St., Suite
1250, Portland, OR 97204; and 310 S.E.
Second St., Suite 105, Pendleton, OR
97801. Phone: 503-32-338; 541-278-
1129. Fax: 503-32-2990.
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R — (Sec-
ond District) 1404 Longworth Build-
ing, Washington D.C. 20515. Phone:
202-225-730. 1o direct e-mail be-
cause of spam. Web site: www.walden.
house.gov Fax: 202-225-5774. Med-
ford of¿ce: 14 1orth Central, Suite
112, Medford, OR 97501. Phone: 541-
77-44. Fax: 541-779-0204.
Pending Bills: For information on
bills in Congress, Phone: 202-225-
1772.
Salem
Gov. Kate Brown, D — 10 State
Capitol, Salem 97310. Phone: 503-378-
4582. Fax: 503-378-8970. Web site:
www.governor.state.or.us/governor.
html.
Oregon Legislature — State Capitol,
Salem, 97310. Phone: (503) 98-1180.
Web site: www. leg.state.or.us (includes
Oregon Constitution and Oregon Re-
vised Statutes).
State Rep. Greg Barreto, R-Cove
(District: 58), Room H-384, State Capi-
tol, 900 Court St. 1.E., Salem OR 97301.
Phone: 503-98-1458. E-mail: rep.greg-
barreto@state.or.us. Web site: http://
www.oregonlegislature.gov/barreto
State Sen. Bill Hansell R — (District
29) Room S-423, State Capitol, Salem
97301. Phone: 503-98-1729. E-mail:
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us. Web site:
www.oregonlegislature.gov/hansell.
Oregon Legislative Information —
(For updates on bills, services, capitol
or messages for legislators) — 800-332-
2313.