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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (July 6, 2016)
A4 Opinion wallowa.com July 6, 2016 Wallowa County Chieftain Forests in state of emergency T EDITORIAL here is a tendency among many in the environmental community to regard salvage logging and forest thinning as thinly veiled ways to Voice of the Chieftain allow unacceptable harvest levels in U.S. national forests. Long-term drought in the West coupled with related factors like insect damage should force a reassessment of this attitude. The U.S. Forest Service spent 56 percent of its budget last year on ireighting, compared to 16 percent in 1995, according to a June 23 story by the Christian Science Monitor. Sixty-six million trees have died in California alone since 2010 due to drought, higher temperatures and an infestation of beetles that are ravaging forests from Mexico to Alaska. The Forest Service is begging Congress to address ireighting expenses as a separate budget line item, in order to avoid starving the agency of funds desperately needed for other purposes. There isn’t enough money left to pay the substantial costs of restoring burned areas and keep up with the many other priorities that deserve to be top-of-mind for our manager of more than 300,000 square miles of America – the size of the nation of Turkey.) Twenty-irst century ires are a natural disaster of the irst order and deserve to be treated as such. This means inding federal funds speciically to ight them. The $2.6 billion spent by the Forest Service in 2015 could have a dent in long-deferred property maintenance. Logging is the logical way to generate funds for ireighting, as well potentially being useful in creating ire breaks around residential areas that have encroached upon forestland. Forest thinning, although not an eficient way of commercially harvesting, might also improve forest health while reducing ire danger. Logging opponents are understandably skeptical when it comes to Forest Service harvest plans. For decades, wildire prevention served as a convenient excuse for timber sales. In many cases, these sales cost taxpayers more than they brought in. The Reagan administration was particularly notorious. It was the backlash against its malfeasance that ushered in forest management crafted by litigation. But it now is time to treat dying forests as the emergencies they are. Reasonable, scientiically sound harvests can improve forest health while providing funds for ire suppression. It’s time for a meeting of minds on this complex and emotionally fraught issue. Letters Policy Letters to the Editor are subject to editing and should be limited to 275 words. Writers should also include a phone number with their signature so we can call to veri- fy identity. The Chieftain does not run anonymous letters. You can submit a letter to the Wallowa County Chieftain in person; by mail to P.O. Box 338, Enterprise, OR 97828; by email to editor@wallowa.com; or via the submission form at the newspaper’s website, located at wallowa.com. USPS No. 665-100 P.O. Box 338 • Enterprise, OR 97828 Ofice: 209 NW First St., Enterprise, Ore. Phone: 541-426-4567 • Fax: 541-426-3921 Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884 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 Scot Heisel, editor@wallowa.com Stephen Tool, stool@wallowa.com Kathleen Ellyn, kellyn@wallowa.com editor@wallowa.com Jennifer Powell, jpowell@wallowa.com Robby Day, rday@wallowa.com Cheryl Jenkins, cjenkins@wallowa.com Periodical Postage Paid at Enterprise and additional mailing ofices 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 POSTMASTER — 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 134 You can take the boy out of Wallowa County but you can’t take the sting out of getting scalded. That’s an old saying, right? Well, if nothing else it’s a young saying now. Matt Bell is from these here Wallowas but makes his living playing music these days. He’s based down in New Orleans but goes out on the road with his wife Joy every year, playing shows all over the map. Matt and Joy were on the East Coat a while back on a music tour and got a rare couple days off to rest up at Greg Krolick’s house in North Carolina. Greg’s another long- time Wallowa Countian who a lot of you know. Heckuva musician himself and does some real spiffy artwork, too, including posters for Matt’s different bands. So Matt is in the home of his Wal- lowa County buddy and feeling good. Wakes up to an idyllic morning. Birds a-chirping, sunbeams coming in at a slant, all that jazz. He brews him some coffee. Goes real strong on the blend. Joy is still asleep. As the coffee sits there steeping, Matt opens the cupboard and the irst coffee mug he sees is a Ted Juve Olaf mug. Just perfect. It’s some of Ted’s early work and an Olaf mug is also kind of an old friend, so the Wallowas are strong with Matt on that North Caro- lina morning as he pours the coffee and goes for his irst sip. I should mention this was not iced coffee. That comes into play here direct- ly. Also, quick disclaimer. What we’re about to hear does not, in any way, re- AND FURTHERMORE Jon Rombach lect on the craftsmanship of Ted Juve. Ted knows his stuff. Olaf pottery is about as durable as it comes. I’ve driv- en off with a Juve mug on the roof and had it bounce out ine. Just keep in mind that Greg Krolick is a Wallowa Coun- ty guy from way back and this particu- lar coffee cup had been well-loved and used and maybe even had undergone a spot of repair on the handle sometime in the past. Pre-existing condition. Keep that in mind. OK. Back to Matt and the morning and all that. Yeah, so, Matt goes to take his irst sip of this perfect cup of coffee on a beautiful morning, illed with thoughts of home and good friends and that is the moment, as he brings it to his lips, when the handle breaks. Matt was not wearing his ireproof pajama pants at the time, so the scalding coffee exits the free-fall- ing cup and splashes this very hot liquid onto, let’s see … how about we call it Matt’s “lower torso region.” Yeah, let’s go with that. I enjoy this awful, terrible story so much because I had a similar turn of events one idyllic Wallowa County win- ter morning. Fresh snow. The mountains looked a couple hundred feet taller in the crisp, clear air. It was just a privi- lege to be alive and beholding such a glorious day. Two minutes later I was whistling a merry tune while getting in some wood, slipped on ice, cracked my tailbone and a chunk of wood rolled out of the upset wheelbarrow and broke my pinky inger. Just like that. I still stop oc- casionally and realize just how beautiful it is out here. Then I look around for po- tential hazards. Go hear Matt Bell make music while he’s in town. You can thank me later. His band, The Wasted Lives, will blow sweet sounds from the Enterprise Court- house Gazebo at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 7. On Saturday the 9th you almost can’t miss hearing one of his bands. Wasted Lives play the Bowlby Bash at 3 p.m., then magically turn into The Bad Penny Pleasuremakers for the “All That Jazz” fundraiser concert at the Josephy Center, starting at 7. Wear your best 1920s garb for that. Then Matt will pre- sumably drink some coffee — carefully — because they go play the Hurricane Creek Grange late shift at the communi- ty dance. That’s a lot of melodies in 24 hours. He’ll be teaching at the Wallowa Fiddle Tunes camp starting July 10, then those Bad Pennies show up at Terminal Gravity at 7 p.m. Friday, June 15. Phew. Gonna need a lot of coffee for that schedule. Check the handle, Matt. Check the handle. Jon Rombach is a local columnist for The Chieftain with a crooked pinky. Our street of a thousand lags It was an honor to witness and partic- ipate in a spectacle that was truly a fan- tastic sight to see. From the length and breadth of Wallowa, people converged July 4 for a sight that brings a smile to your face and always lifts you up — the American lag. Standing at Cougar Field and looking east, the street was packed with lags for our 10 whole blocks. There had to have been 6,000 (accuracy of number was a guess) lags waving in the breeze. But, for one thousand more people (mostly kids) 1,000 American lags were given out to honor and thank the 1,000 veterans who reside in Wallowa County. Every hand that held those colors high had a smile beneath it. I only regret that I ran out of lags before the end. My reward was see- ing 1,000 faces light up with a smile when they took hold of and waved Old Glory. So vets, on Monday we gathered to honor this holiday and wave our lag. Know that for one hour, someone in Wal- lowa was waving a lag for you. Thanks for your service, remembering that some gave all, all gave some for God and coun- try. The turnout and the weather were both incredible. The street through downtown was shoulder-to-shoulder and in places GUEST EDITORIAL Scott Taylor three deep. The early birds snagged the best spots in the shade on a truly gorgeous day with the snow-capped peaks smiling down on us. At 11 a.m. members of the VFW led the parade, carrying the colors with digni- ty and honor that brought tears to the eye of many — OK, a lot. And that was the start of Wallowa’s Community Fourth of July Parade. Following the colors was our beloved grand marshal, Vera Henderson, riding comfortably in a beautiful, antique con- vertible piloted by her son Elwane. I’ve never been good with numbers, but the 800-plus residents of Wallowa watched their town grow by about 6,500 people. So, if all of Wallowa County wasn’t here, it sure looked like it. You missed an ex- traordinary day if you weren’t able to attend. And believe me, you’ll never see Peggy Gentil coming out a birthday cake except in Wallowa. So loats, bikes, horses, cars, groups, individuals and entries of all shapes and sizes were on hand to celebrate. Even one very cute pink pig and some good looking hogs, too. To give credit to a few would not give credit to all the imagination and hard work to everyone who participated — well done! And the parade went on for an hour, at least. With bells, whistles and sirens going full blast, the end was coming closer with the Fire Department getting ready to do some serious cook- ing. And the band played to a welcoming crowd. A good time was had by all. Well, the food has been consumed, the ire hall cleaned and the engines put back in their bays. The crowd has walked our street, and most were heading to Shake the Lake after a short walk or siesta. I walk up to First Street and look east and then back west. The sidewalks are now empty, the trafic is light and we’re back to “normal”. I stand on the corner and smile with arms outstretched to a fu- ture that holds promise, security and free- dom. Wallowa aimed high and hit the mark. For me, this day was better than anything Disneyland had to offer because it’s our town, with a street of a thousand lags. I’m proud of it and always will be. SMSGT Scott Taylor, USAF (ret), resides in Wallowa. Slow down, watch for animals on the road p ublished every w ednesday by : EO Media Group Subscription rates (includes online access) Wallowa County Out-of-County Bell’s musical homecoming Today started out like a normal, beautiful summer morning. As we sat on the deck, a number of vehicles passed our house on Dobbin Road just outside of Joseph. Anyone who drives by where we live knows that the dogs who live here have a tendency to chase vehicles now and then. However, they continue to drive by our house very fast. Living in a rural setting, everyone knows that dogs run, horses get out, cows end up in the road and deer cross whenever. Should the dogs be in the road? Of course not. But it is known that these labs do that from time to time. Yet the neighbor down the road, who has driven by this house 100 times or more, came LETTERS to the EDITOR speeding by this morning and hit and killed one of the dogs that lives here. This is a senseless loss, caused by a driver too ignorant to slow down when he knew about these dogs. I f I had not run out to the dog in the road, I doubt this driver would have even stopped. It was 200 yards down the road or more as it was, by the time he inally got stopped. This driver got out and started yelling at me that “he tried to slow down, and miss the dog.” I told him to get out of here, as he didn’t even make any effort to slow down. No skid marks, no swerve marks — nothing but deadly speed that killed an animal that could not have been more loving and loved more. Our hearts are broken, the tears fall, but Lily is gone, due to a driver with no regard for life of any kind, it would ap- pear. Drivers, just don’t go down a rural road at 60 mph and expect to miss or avoid a damn thing. Animals especially will dart out in the road at a moment’s notice around homes and buildings. This was senseless. Your irresponsibil- ity killed someone we loved more than we can say. Doug Dutton Joseph
