NORTHWEST LETTERS
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
A5
Walden fi elds forestry, immigration, economic questions at Town Hall
By Ellen Morris Bishop
Wallowa County Chieftain
U.S. 2nd District Con-
gressman Greg Walden
explained his recent work,
listened to constituents,
and answered questions at
a town hall meeting in Wal-
lowa on Sunday, June 30.
About 30 people attended
the meeting. It was part of
Walden’s’ 5 Day, 942-mile
town pre-4th of July sprint
to hold 13 town halls.
Four concerns domi-
nated the meeting: Timber
and other natural resource
issues, health care and
Medicare, robo calls, and
immigration.
Walden kicked off the
meeting with a summary of
his recent legislative work.
“The improvements to
the farm bill that we made
last year are now law,” he
said. Many of those apply
to timber harvest on fed-
eral lands, including the
application of “Categori-
cal Exclusion” (CE) to the
harvest and management of
tracts up to 3000 acres to get
action for disease and insect
infestation, hazardous fuels
reduction, and collaborative
working landscape proj-
ects. Walden’s work on the
Farm Bill has also allowed
expanded good neigh-
bor policy so that states
and local governments can
play a bigger role in work-
ing with the Forest Service
to get ahead of problems,
Walden said.
Oregon Congressman Greg Walden fi elds questions on timber
salvage and other topics at his town hall meeting June 30 at
the Wallowa Senior Center.
“But there is more that we
need to do, he said. Walden is
advancing the Resilient Fed-
eral Forest Act that “…pro-
vides the ability to clean up
the forest after fi res, remove
burned, dead trees while they
still have value, and replant
forests for the next gener-
ation,” he said. “Too often
these trees just rot and fall
over and produce fuel for the
next fi re. Id like to see us get
in there in a timely basis, get
the burned dead timber out
of there on a timely basis.”
Harvesting larger diam-
eter trees can also contrib-
ute to forest health, Walden
noted. “We are still stuck
with the 21” diameter rule on
the east side, which I think
was put in by Clinton admin-
istration but now stands in
the way of timely scientifi c
and active forest manage-
ment, so we would get rid of
that. “
Continuing his emphasis
on harvesting trees killed by
fi re, Walden noted that 75%
of carbon emissions occur
after the fi re as the wood and
burned materials decay. “So
if you are concerned about
emissions its good to limit
the fuels and then get the
fi res out,” he said.
Walden’s other major
accomplishment has been
his work to limit “robo-
calls”. There were 47.8 bil-
lion unwanted, spoofed and
illegal robocalls in Amer-
ica last year. The 541 area
code received 12.8 million
of them.
So Walden has introduced
the Stopping Bad Robocalls
Act. It empowers the FCC
to track calls from overseas
and requires U.S. carriers to
use authentication technol-
ogy that can block disguised
or “spoofi ng” calls. “Your
phone may show a call
coming in from a Wallowa
County number,” Walden
said, “but it’s coming from
India or somewhere.”
When time came for
questions, several Wallowa
County residents expressed
concerns that their Medi-
care benefi ts were not able
to cover needs that included
higher technology hearing
aids or admission just for
observation to a hospital.
Forest Service manage-
ment and harvest—or lack
thereof—from the 2017
Grizzly Fire prompted ques-
tions and comments about
forestry. Issues included
the movement of bugs and
diseases moving from the
burned area onto private for-
ested lands.
“We have a lot of dis-
eased trees that are over
the 21” and we cannot har-
vest those and get them out
of the system to take care
of the disease problem. It
doesn’t make sense to have
to harvest the young trees
that are growing and leave
the dead and diseased ones
behind,” said one frustrated
landowner.
Several other people
questioned Walden about
his response to the ongo-
ing immigration crisis at
the southern border, espe-
cially for children. In
response, Walden explained
that he had voted for a sen-
ate bill that provided strictly
humanitarian care for asy-
lum-seekers. “The bill is all
humanitarian aid,” he said.
“It provides up to 2.88 bil-
lion for care of unaccom-
panied minors and others.
There is no funding for a
wall in that bill.”
“The border is very
much a humanitarian cri-
sis,” Walden said. “This is
the safest many of these
people have been since they
left their home countries
because now they are out of
the hands of the coyotes and
away from the drug cartels
they just marched through.
We are taking care of the
children as fast and as best
we can. We never should
have separated those kids at
Judge extends order against Hammonds’ grazing allotments
By George Plaven
Capital Press
PORTLAND — A federal
judge on Friday extended a tem-
porary restraining order against
two Eastern Oregon ranchers,
preventing them from graz-
ing cattle on a pair of public
allotments.
Environmental groups sued
the government in May over
reissuing grazing permits for
Dwight and Steven Hammond,
whose imprisonment for set-
ting arson fi res sparked the
2016 occupation of the Malheur
National Wildlife Refuge near
Burns.
The lawsuit, fi led by the
Western Watersheds Project,
WildEarth Guardians and the
Center for Biological Diver-
sity, seeks to overturn the Ham-
monds’ grazing permit, which
was reissued by former Interior
Secretary Ryan Zinke in Jan-
uary. President Donald Trump
pardoned the Hammonds in
July, 2018.
The environmental groups
have requested a preliminary
injunction against grazing cat-
tle on the Mud Creek and Har-
die Summer allotments near
Steens Mountain while the law-
suit is pending to protect popu-
lations of sage grouse and red-
band trout.
U.S. District Judge Michael
Simon issued a temporary
restraining order against grazing
on the allotments. The order was
set to expire July 2.
During
Friday’s
hear-
ing, Simon extended the order
through July 17, allowing more
time for attorneys to submit
additional evidence in the case.
2019
Capital Press File/Capital Press
Cattle graze in Eastern Oregon. A federal judge has extended a
temporary restraining order preventing ranchers Dwight and Steven
Hammond from grazing cattle on two allotments.
Simon said he will rule on
the preliminary injunction by
then, though he will need time to
review the new material.
Originally, Stephen Odell, an
attorney for the federal govern-
ment, had proposed a compro-
mise on the injunction in which
the Hammonds would have
refrained from grazing on Mud
Creek in 2019, and to reducing
grazing on Hardie Summer from
50% utilization to 30%. But, he
said, the sides could not come to
an agreement.
Both Dwight and Steven
Hammond were at the hearing.
Steven Hammond declined to
talk about the case.
The hearing proceeded with
with seven hours of testimony
from witnesses, who discussed
JULY 12th - 13th
how cattle grazing would affect
the sage grouse and redband
trout.
Clait Braun, a sage grouse
expert who has studied the
bird since 1973, said he was
“shocked” by habitat conditions
on the Mud Creek allotment
due to grazing and wildfi re. He
estimated it could take up to 60
years for the land to recover, and
said it should not be grazed for
the foreseeable future.
“It is going to take time
for forbs and native grasses to
become re-established,” Braun
said.
Boone Kauffman, a profes-
sor of forest ecology at Oregon
State University, said cattle also
tend to prefer grazing in cooler,
greener riparian areas before
Joseph State
Airport (KJSY)
lowa County
l
a
W
Fly-In
and Airshow
going to the uplands. That can
lead to overgrazing, trampling
streambanks and harming water
quality, he said.
Matthew Obradovich, a
wildlife biologist for the Bureau
of Land Management Burns
District, pushed back against
the notion that cattle grazing is
universally harmful to habitat.
Grazing can help keep down
fi ne fuels on the range that are
driving bigger and hotter wild-
fi res, he said.
Obradovich also said graz-
ing on the allotments would not
pose signifi cant harm to sage
grouse on either the Mud Creek
or Hardie Summer allotments.
For Simon to grant a pre-
liminary injunction, the plain-
tiffs must prove that grazing
will cause irreparable harm to
the species. Neither allotment
has been grazed for the last fi ve
seasons.
Both the Oregon Farm
Bureau and Harney County,
Ore., also fi led briefs opposing
an injunction.
“The consequences of a pre-
liminary injunction on a rancher
and their community can be
extreme, and it should only be
granted where the plaintiff has
made a true showing of irrepa-
rable harm,” the Farm Bureau
wrote. “The harm alleged by
plaintiffs in this case does not
rise to this level, and OFB’s
membership is concerned about
the precedent that would be set
by this decision.”
Harney County wrote that
the injunction should be denied
because halting grazing would
exacerbate the risk of wildfi re
and negatively impact the local
agricultural economy.
the border in the fi rst place.
That was wrong. I voted last
July to prevent that from
ever happening again.”
The last major issue
raised at the meeting came
from commissioner Todd
Nash. It was a wholly eco-
nomic one.
“The commodity prices
that we see here at the
ground level have not kept
pace with infl ation,” he said.
“I did some calculations and
going back to 1959, a $500
calf would be worth about
$1870 today, just on the
basis of infl ation. But today,
calves are worth about $750.
Timber prices the same way.
We’d be up over $1500 for
Doug fi r — we get $300
most of the time. The trade
policies we were hoping this
president would capture for
the rural areas are not there.
When I talked with Sonny
Perdue last summer he said
“Be patient.” And there is, or
was, a level of patience, but
that’s running out.”
Walden seemed to agree
but offered little conso-
lation except to hope that
newly opened negotiations
with China and elsewhere
would improve commod-
ity prices and demand for
Wallowa County producers.
“I’ve never been a big tariff
fan,” he said. “The clock’s
ticking. If we don’t get these
agreements nailed soon, it’s
likely that we’ll be losing
market share for wheat and
other commodities that we
raise.”
LETTERS to the EDITOR
No test of Attainer shall be
required
To Hold public offi ce.
That is a Religious Test.
I Suppose that is a Good Thing.
Behavior itself speaks Louder
than Words.
But How about a Stupidity
Test?
If you think turning Wolfs
Loose in the Wild, is a good idia
Please Stand up. Make Yourself
Known.
IN My oppinion, You Are
Stupid,
unfi t for offi ce.
Suggestion: Do Not Sit down
Again,
Move to the Back Door, pick-up
Severance check on your way
out.
Do Not Re apply.
When this state was fi rst formed
The First Thing The Legislature
did, Was to Remove the Wolf
Because it made cents.
How Long? Probably untell
Someones child gets Killed by
Wolf.
Sound Logic Demands this
Ought NOT Happen.
Sincerely
Thomas B. Harrington
Joseph
Editor’s note.
This letter was received at The
Chieftain as a hand-printed mis-
sive on Monday, July 1st.
The letter above is as accurate
a reproduction of his letter as pos-
sible. Attempts to reach Mr. Har-
rington to confi rm his intended
usage and style were unsuccessful.
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House
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Friday July 12
Banquet at 5:30pm
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Saturday July 13
Admission: $5. / Time: 7am-2pm
Airshow, Static Displays and
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$ 10. + Admission / Time: 7-10am
(10 and under entry/eat FREE)
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about the event visit:
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541-263-2793
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