A4
Opinion
wallowa.com
March 30, 2016
Wallowa County Chieftain
‘Ag gag’
laws are
a mistake
E
astern Oregon is
well endowed with
farmers, ranchers
and family foresters who Voice of the Chieftain
their neighbors know to
be among the most conscientious stewards of the
land. You don’t take on a life of long hours and
uncertain rewards raising crops, animals and trees
— or stay in these endeavors — if you hate the
natural world and all that lives there.
What is true on the local scale — that farmers
and foresters are natural conservationists worthy of
steadfast support — is not universally true on the
larger industrial scale.
There are irresponsible operators in every
economic pursuit and this is also true of
agriculture. Some large feedlots are cruel to
animals. Some ranchers overgraze public lands.
Some farmers over-apply chemicals or over-
medicate animals destined for grocery stores.
Wonderful people but a little tone deaf when it
comes to public relations, agricultural producers
in some states are incensed by the efforts of a
few activists to bring attention to instances of
malpractice and misbehavior in the industry. This
has led to efforts by ag groups and supportive
legislators in places like Idaho to initiate “ag gag”
laws, described in our sister publication Capital
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obtaining employment under false pretenses.
A story in the Capital Press last Friday reported
on just how big a blunder these laws have been in
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FRQVXPHUVE\WKH8QLYHUVLW\RI%ULWLVK&ROXPELD
shows that such heavy-handed efforts to keep
agricultural practices under wraps has the opposite
of the desired effect.
Instead of shielding squeamish consumers from
agriculture’s facts of life, ag gag laws evidently
leave the public assuming there is something to
hide. The trust rating for farmers drops 20 percent
across the political spectrum among members of
the public when ag gag laws are put into play, the
university researchers found.
“There are reputational consequences. People
are likely to be left with a bad taste in their mouths
when they’re made aware of them (ag gag laws),” a
study author said.
No industry would be happy to be targeted by
“secret agents” posing as visitors or employees, but
agriculture occupies a central position in people’s
lives, providing sustenance for purchasers and their
children. Heightened scrutiny is to be expected.
Oregon state lawmakers clearly should resist the
siren call of ag gag laws. Agricultural producers in
our states, who enjoy public support and positive
reputations, can do far better by continuing to reach
out to consumers with truthful information, while
working to further enhance animal husbandry and
environmentally friendly practices.
The vast majority of farmers are heroes with
nothing to hide. They should act accordingly.
EDITORIAL
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Contents copyright © 2015. All rights reserved. Reproduction
without permission is prohibited.
Volume 134
In search of a few good hearts
In this acrimonious election season,
fresh off the Malheur standoff and in the
middle of the long March I always think
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remember a few good hearts. It’s my
prejudice, but I’ve always thought that
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even more abundant — in small towns
where we know and talk to our neighbors
no matter what church they go to or po-
litical party they subscribe to. The good
hearts in this Wallowa Country have kept
me here for 44 years.
I know, I know. Neighbors hear your
barking dogs, see your dirty laundry and
know your warts, and sometimes they
let you know with a smirk or a lecture.
People use drugs, abuse alcohol, kids
and spouses, are guilty of adultery, anger
and poking noses where not wanted. And
most kids can’t wait to get away from
gossip and out to see the world.
Maybe it’s like that graph that some-
one just posted on Facebook: if the world
was 100 people, 15 of them would be
living on less than $2 a day, and one of
them would own more than half all of the
money; a handful would be starving or
near starving and a bigger handful would
be obese; 85 could read, 75 have cell-
MAIN STREET
Rich Wandschneider
phones and 15 would be homeless ... etc.
In Wallowa County we can put names
on the graph.
And we can for sure put names on
the good hearts. Right now I am taken
with the love and craftsmanship that Eric
Carlson and Kirk Skovlin — and their
whole construction crew — are putting
into the Wallowa Nez Perce Longhouse.
And I am impressed by the lower val-
ley community that has embraced the
Homeland Project, that each year readies
the grounds, puts up the parachute in the
dance arbor and welcomes Indians back
to their traditional lands for a powwow
and friendship feast. Feasters usually
number 600 or 700. That’s a lot of good
will.
Too many names to mention, but
it took two very big hearts — teacher
Terry Crenshaw and Tribal member Taz
Conner — to start this thing. Both have
passed, but the work goes on.
There are school teachers who go the
extra lesson, pastors who do more than
preach, search and rescuers who practice
without pay and risk their own bodies
saving others, neighbors who look after,
and a bevy of skiers who get more kicks
out of watching kids learn at Fergi than
they do skiing themselves,
And there are the Soroptimists! On
Tuesday a few of them came to the Jo-
sephy Center to talk about themselves.
They weren’t bragging. Well, they were.
But not on themselves as individuals, but
on the organization that gathers them to-
gether and lets them serve.
Serve they do. And have, for over 50
years. Old timers will remember Wilma
Haller and Marjorie Martin and Alice
Lessman and many others. There is a new
crew now — or many new members in an
evolving crew. Over the years they have
gathered and sorted clothes, sold them
for dimes and quarters and distributed
VFKRODUVKLSV²¿UVWDQGQRZ
in the thousands of dollars each year.
Families who need work pants and
school pants pick out 7,000 pairs each
year.
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Forest plan will consider alternatives
We are writing to share an update on
the revision of the Blue Mountains Forest
Plans, which will guide the management
of approximately 5 million acres of the
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man National Forests. To begin, we want
to acknowledge those who have been in-
volved in this Forest Plan Revision pro-
cess — we have been encouraged by how
much you value your public lands, and we
thank you for helping to shape how we
manage these National Forests on behalf
of the American people.
Over the past year, as part of a public
re-engagement effort, we have visited with
over 700 individuals in 24 public listen-
ing sessions held in communities across
Eastern Oregon, Eastern Washington and
Western Idaho. Although we have heard
differences of opinion about how to best
manage these spectacular landscapes and
ecosystems of the Blue Mountains, most
agree that these national forests should
continue to be managed for the many uses
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into the future.
We found the input shared during the
public re-engagement process to be very
— i.e., thinning densely forested stands,
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risks posed by insects and diseases.
We will provide public updates with
Steven K. Beverlin, Genevieve
new information as we develop these ad-
Masters, Thomas Montoya
ditional alternatives and continue with the
analysis of other alternatives within the
helpful, and we are using this input in a EIS. While we seek to be responsive to all
variety of ways. For example, the public of our diverse publics, any alternative we
listening sessions have brought addition- consider must be analyzed for compliance
al context to the 2014 formal comments with federal laws, regulations and policies
and have given us a better understanding governing national forest management.
of how different alternatives may affect Also keep in mind that the forest plan re-
our diverse publics. In response, we are vision is still a work in progress, and the
currently crafting two new alternatives, GHFLGLQJ RI¿FHU WKH 5HJLRQDO )RUHVWHU
which we will analyze in detail in the en- KDVQRWPDGHDQ\¿QDOGHFLVLRQV
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vironmental impact statement (EIS):
7KH ¿UVW DOWHUQDWLYH ZLOO HPSKDVL]H ucts of this forest plan revision process
restoration and has been informed by will include three separate forest plans —
formal public comments, re-engagement RQHIRUHDFKRIWKH0DOKHXU8PDWLOODDQG
input and revised recommendations by Wallowa-Whitman National Forests. Be-
Forest Service resource specialists.
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The second alternative will build upon will consult with federal agencies on the
WKH ¿UVW 7KLV DOWHUQDWLYH ZRXOG FRQVLG- Endangered Species Act and continue our
erably increase the pace of forest resto- government-to-government consultation
ration during the plan period (15 years) with appropriate American Indian tribes.
by moving a larger portion of the forested
landscape toward the desired conditions
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GUEST COLUMN
Destroying forests to save forests?
I received an unsolicited letter from
Oregon Rep. Greg Walden (R-Hood Riv-
er) dated Feb. 15 that lists the very things
we should question about the current Con-
gress. The letter is too long to list in its
entirety in this forum, so I am quoting one
issue at a time. This week, forestry:
“For the third year in a row, the House
KDVSDVVHGELSDUWLVDQOHJLVODWLRQWR¿[EUR-
ken federal forest policy to reduce the risk
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to work in the woods and improve forest
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WRQFRQWLQXHWRVWLÀHWKHVHFRPPRQVHQVH
measures with government overreach,
threatening to lock up land with no re-
gard to local input or public access. How
many more acres of forest have to go up
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smoke, before something changes? These
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favorite recreation activities. I hear the
frustrations from the Oregonians I meet,
and I will continue to advocate for you in
Congress.”
“For the third year in a row, the House
has passed bipartisan legislation ...” This
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same thing and expecting a different re-
sult. It is time to listen to the foresters and
LETTERS to the EDITOR
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lic lands where there are none, including
protected areas that require monitoring.
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JLQJ FOHDUFXWWLQJ GRHV QRW UHGXFH ¿UH
danger.
For explanations of current GOP for-
estry bills, visit http://tinyurl.com/zu8fbj8
and http://tinyurl.com/znzoooa.
As an independent who at one time
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GOP direction suspect. Neither of our ma-
jor political parties addresses my concerns
or resolves problems. The government is
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politicians who share such a commitment?
David Ebbert
Enterprise
Isn’t this a problem?
The “Select Investigative Panel on In-
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read the title and got really enthused. Fi-
nally, our representatives are looking into
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education, even maybe policy advoca-
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classes.
I was wrong. This is an investigation
into why the selling of baby parts, an ac-
tivity attributed to Planned Parenthood,
should be legislatively condemned. There
are several Congressional committees in-
vestigating this same concern. The con-
tent and direction to these investigations
are lead by Republicans. It doesn’t seem
to matter that 30 states have now looked
into this matter and concluded Planned
Parenthood has done nothing wrong.
There are at least two problems with
this pandering to anti-abortionists:
1. Cultural warriors of religious ori-
gins are opposed to any abortion or any
nuance of abortion. However, it is all
too convenient to gloss over the high-
ly prized principle of “the individual’s
right to choose” [anything] contrasted
with those who wish to deny that choice
through legislation. It comes down to:
we are for an individual’s freedom ... but
only if you agree with us.
2. An unwanted pregnancy is an un-
wanted infant.
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