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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 2018)
A4 Opinion wallowa.com November 21, 2018 Wallowa County Chieftain Gratitude tomorrow and all year T hanksgiving Day is upon us once again. I have always been of the opinion that every day should be a day of Thanksgiving, but unfortunately it’s only recognized once a year. Outside of Christmas, there is probably no other holiday that holds more tradition. Turkey. Stuffing. Cranberries. Pump- kin pie. Actually, pumpkin pie has never been part of my personal tradition. I have never liked the taste –– much to my mother’s dismay –– and the combination of spices has always given me heartburn. I’ll take apple or blueberry, thank you. I have had several sweet potato pies that were great. Pecan pie is also a good choice. Then there’s the tradition of watching football on Thanks- giving Day and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I enjoy a parade as much as the next guy, but my wife is a parade junkie. If there’s a parade being shown, we’re watching it. Macy’s has been staging the parade since 1924, which con- sidering the financial situation the company and most other large retailers find themselves in today, it’s really quite a commitment. Macy’s claims 3.5 million watch- ing on the ground in New York City Paul Wahl and another 50 million watching on television. It takes 8,000 volunteers to stage the parade. That would be every man, woman and child in Wallowa County plus a few more. The high school band from Grants Pass, Ore., will be there this year. The music is always top-quality. Wallowa County will have holiday parades of its own again this year 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 24, in Joseph and 5:30 p.m. Sat- urday, Dec. 8, in Enterprise. Mark your calendars, and come out and join the fun. You may even see an entry from The Chieftain in at least one of these parades for the first time in many years. One of my personal Thanksgiving favorites is the turkey induced L-Tryptophan nap Thursday afternoon. Strange how the years when we haven’t eaten turkey, I’ve napped nonetheless. Because of the tradition of mega-shopping the next day, one medical researcher posited that L-Tryptophan actually makes you want to buy things. And that explains the phenomenon. Black Friday isn’t quite what it once was as Cyber Mon- day (Nov. 26) has become increasingly popular. It’s always amazing to me after a day of thanksgiving and peace how peo- ple can get into fisticuffs the following morning brawling over toys. But it happens every year. Thanksgiving is also a good time of year to let those around you know how much you appreciate their efforts throughout the year. I am thankful for the staff at the Chieftain who make this newspaper possible each week. And there is a small army of folks whom we depend on in the community to keep us sup- plied with information. I won’t mention individual names here because I’d most likely forget someone I should have remembered, but we take the term “community” newspaper to heart. The saying is “it takes a village to educate a child.” I would co-opt that to say “it takes a village to produce a community newspaper.” WAHL TO WALL LETTER to the EDITOR Keep Veterans Day on Nov. 11 Shame on the government (federal, state, local) for “honor- ing veterans” on Monday, Nov. 12, when Veterans Day should always be Nov. 11. This is the day to honor all veterans, not the day after, which is just another excuse to have a three-day weekend or go shop- ping for Veterans Day sales. President Richard Nixon tried to change Veterans Day to coincide with a three-day weekend, veterans complained and this proposal was halted. Now it is being reintroduced. Please honor veterans on the day designated for Veterans Day, the 11th month of the 11th day on the 11th hour. Or more precisely, the entire day of Nov. 11. Thank you to all veterans for your service, especially my great uncle (Army Air Corp), my father (USAF), my brother, and my brother-in-law (both Marines). Kim Jeffords, USAF Joseph 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 verify identity. The Chieftain does not run anonymous letters. In terms of content, writers should refrain from personal attacks. It’s acceptable, however, to attack (or support) another party’s ideas. We do not routinely run thank-you letters, a policy we’ll consider waiving only in unusual situations where reason compels the exception. 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. (Drop down the “Opinion” menu on the navigation bar to see the relevant link). Old white men are losing their grip P olitics is the icing on the new cake being baked by American women. The decline of old white men in leadership roles has been going on for years, at least since Title 9 was approved back in 1976 — or at least women have been rising to meet us since that time. Ninety-five women in the U.S. House of Representatives is still only one in five, but it is a significant increase in the num- ber and percentage of women in national political leadership positions, and, when added to the number of women now serv- ing in state governments, a harbinger of more women’s voices louder and soon. You might remember Title 9 as the tool that brought high school sports to your daughters and granddaughters. There were no girls athletic teams in my big Califor- nia high school when I graduated in 1960. Or maybe, if your daughter or grand- daughter (or you) are a doctor or lawyer, you might remember that medical and law schools used to have tight reins on the number of women admitted to their professions. Of course those restrictions — the old “quotas” that preceded the “affirmative action” quotas in disrepute in many circles today — applied to boys and men of color as well as to women. And Jews. Yes, there was a time when universities were careful not to let enrollments nudge over 10 percent for students of Jewish heritage. I think the percentages of places open to all women and to all people of color were significantly lower. Some vague recollection about the black captain of our UC-Riverside team not getting into UCLA Medical School says that they only had room for three women and three blacks, presumably MAIN STREET Rich Wandschneider men, in 1964. But the ‘50s and ‘60s saw civil rights legislation, it was decided that separate but equal was not equal, Title 9 passed and women started playing basketball on the whole court against other schools. When I was young, (and don’t your kids and grandkids hate when you say that!) there were no black athletes at the University of Alabama or Mississippi or in dozens of other colleges. Jackie Rob- inson broke the “color” barrier in the Big Leagues in 1947, when I was five. And my father thought the boys should go to college and the girls could go to a junior college to learn nursing or secre- tarial work. Today there are more women in col- lege than men; equal numbers of men and women docs and lawyers, and women have run away with the veterinary busi- ness. Women’s soccer teams are prime time, at least during the Olympics, and there is a women’s professional basket- ball league and women’s beach volley- ball circuit. Oprah, a black woman, heads enter- tainment and financial empires, there are women in the higher reaches of business and technology, and some women actors command bright lights and big salaries. But white men still hang onto the grips of financial power in sports, entertainment and business. Am I wrong to think that this grip is slippery? And that it has coin- O regon farmers and ranchers face many challenges. In a global economy, they often cannot be assured of a decent price. In a changing climate, they might get too much or too little water in any given year. Added to that, they often face uncertainty over how their land will pass to the next generation. Farmland in Oregon is changing hands — fast. Two-thirds of Oregon’s agricul- tural lands — more than 10 million acres — will change hands in the next 20 years, according to research from Oregon State University. The same research tells us that up to 80 percent of Oregon farmers and ranchers may not have a succession plan. In this transition, productive agricul- tural lands may be subdivided into parcels too small to keep in production. Or they may be converted to nonfarm uses like residential or commercial development. Oregon won’t just be losing agricultural land — we will be losing our farming her- itage and important habitat for native fish and wildlife. All of that’s bad for farmers, bad for our economy, bad for our environment and bad for Oregonians’ quality of life. Last year, a bipartisan coalition in the legislature came together to solve this problem by creating the Oregon Agricul- tural Heritage Program to help farmers and rural communities plan for the future. The new program aims to provide grants that help Oregon’s farmers and ranchers plan for generational succession, and pro- tect or enhance the agricultural and con- servation values of their land. The next step happened 10 months ago, when the Oregon Agricultural Her- GUEST COLUMN Doug Krahmer and Bruce Taylor itage Commission was formed — made up of 12 leaders representing Oregon’s farming, ranching, conservation and tribal communities. Since then, these leaders have collectively volunteered hundreds of hours developing the program. But one of the key pieces of this puz- zle is unfinished: the Oregon Agricul- tural Heritage Program will remain an empty promise until the Legislature funds its implementation. If we want to provide reliability for Oregon’s farms and ranches, and the rural communities and fish and wildlife that depend on them, we need to invest in their future. Investing state funds in our agricul- tural heritage will also mean that Oregon can finally access the growing pot of fed- eral Farm Bill funds available to protect U.S. agricultural land. Each year, Oregon leaves millions of federal dollars on the table because we do not have a state grant program to match this USDA funding. Dedicating state funds to Oregon’s agricultural heritage will help us access these federal investments for our commu- nities, families, and fish and wildlife. It will also demonstrate the state’s commit- ment to our rural communities. Working lands support many different kinds of fish and wildlife habitats. Sage- brush habitat on large ranches is criti- M eMber O regOn n ewspaper p ublishers a ssOciatiOn Published every Wednesday by: EO Media Group USPS No. 665-100 P.O. Box 338 • Enterprise, OR 97828 Office: 209 NW First St., Enterprise, Ore. Phone: 541-426-4567 • Fax: 541-426-3921 Contents copyright © 2018. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. Columnist Rich Wandschneider lives in Joseph. How — and why — to save the family farm Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884 VOLUME 134 cided with a change in values? That there really was a time not so long ago when equal opportunity was as important as wealth, that medicine was a “calling” and finding a job to love was as important as the salary? Did men always behave as badly toward women as the #MeToo movement leads us to believe? Or is our bad behavior a response to that slippery grip on power? Are men left with being richer and physically more powerful than women? And white men left with watching black men of superior athletic skill dunk basket- balls and run for touchdowns but owning the teams, the entertainment networks and the shoe companies that feature the black athletes? The 95 women in the U.. House of Reprentatives — black, brown, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, gay and straight — rep- resent other millions of women out here. And they represent us (I’m a 76 year-old white guy). And in the handful of years I have left, I’d like to see that number go to 250. I’d like to see 50 women in the Senate and (more) women in governors’ chairs. And continue to see women doctors and learn from women writers and educators. In any fair world, women would have half the voices of knowledge and power. I don’t really care if women become rich — hasn’t made us men any better human beings. I’d rather we all learn to find people and places and work to love, that we do a better job of taking care of each other take better care of the earth that is burning up and flooding around us. Publisher Chris Rush, crush@eomediagroup.com Editor Paul Wahl, editor@wallowa.com Reporter Stephen Tool, steve@wallowa.com Reporter Kathleen Ellyn, kellyn@wallowa.com General manager Jennifer Cooney, jcooney@wallowa.com Administrative Assistant Amber Mock, amock@wallowa.com Advertising Assistant Cheryl Jenkins, cjenkins@wallowa.com cal for sage grouse. Flood-irrigated hay meadows in southeast Oregon sustain sea- sonal wetlands for migratory birds. Oak woodlands and savannas support almost 200 species of wildlife. And streams and rivers crisscross most working lands, providing fish habitat and wildlife corridors. Keeping farmers and ranchers who are good stewards of these lands in business through generational changes will help maintain these import- ant habitats for years to come. Gov. Kate Brown showed her support for this program by convening the work group of agricultural and conservation interests that developed the Oregon Agri- cultural Heritage Program. The legislature showed its support last session by providing funding to set up the Oregon Agricultural Heritage Com- mission. We now need our governor and legislators to invest $10 million in the 2019-2021 state budget to finally put this program to work. This is an investment in our agricul- tural heritage, working lands and wildlife, local economies, and Oregon’s way of life — big changes are coming, and we need to act now. Doug Krahmer is chairman of the Oregon Agricultural Heritage Commis- sion. The owner of Berries NW, he has previously served on the Oregon Board of Agriculture and Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board. Bruce Taylor is vice chairman of the commission and is a Portland-based coordinator for the Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture and the Intermountain West Joint Venture. Periodical Postage Paid at Enterprise and additional mailing offices Subscription rates (includes online access) Wallowa County Out-of-County 1 Year $40.00 $57.00 Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery See the Wallowa County Chieftain on the Internet Wallowa.com facebook.com/Wallowa twitter.com/wcchieftain POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Wallowa County Chieftain P.O. Box 338 Enterprise, OR 97828