NEWS
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
A5
Stop the knee-jerk reactions and write good laws
I
actually sat and watched most
of the Democratic debate this
week. The one thing that I
took away from it was a Presiden-
tial candidate in a national debate,
coming right out and saying
that he wanted to take away our
AR-15’s and AK’s, and getting a
pretty good response. What both-
ered me the most was the reaction
of the people there. They seemed
very supportive of this whole idea
of giving away their 2nd Amend-
ment rights. I wonder if they
really know what they would be
giving up.
We are talking about abrogat-
ing one of the Amendments to our
constitution. This scares the hell
out of me. How soon before some-
one decides that we really don’t
need the right to free speech? Or
that we really don’t need a trial
and jury of our peers?
For years, candidates have said
that we need “common-sense gun
laws.” I’m still waiting for a com-
mon-sense gun law that does not
A VIEW FROM
THE GALLERY
Kim Hutchison
infringe upon our rights. (Infringe
– 1. To transgress; violate. 2. To
encroach; trespass — American
Heritage Dictionary.) The 2nd
Amendment is the only one to
state “shall not be infringed.” This
should give you an idea of how
much importance our founding
fathers placed on this amendment.
In its June 26, 2015, decision,
a 5-4 majority of the Supreme
Court of the United States ruled
that the 2nd Amendment con-
fers an individual’s right to keep
and bear arms. In order to remove
these rifl es legally, they would
have to change our constitution
and remove the 2nd Amendment.
Our Founders deliberately made
changing the constitution diffi -
cult. That’s why we have to have
¾’s of the states ratify a proposed
change. Not an easy thing to do.
Our current crop of candidates
want to remove these “weap-
ons of war” from our streets, but
their understanding of modern
rifl es seems to be a little limited.
AR-15’s are semi-automatic rifl es.
One trigger pull, one round fi red.
Same with civilian AK’s. Nei-
ther AR-15’s or civilian AK’s are
assault rifl es, nor are they 3-round
burst or full auto capable. No
country in the world sends their
troops into battle with a AR-15 or
a civilian model AK. They would
get their butts handed to them in a
hurry. AR’s and AK’s can be shot
rapidly; rapidly and accurately,
that’s another story. More people
are killed every year with hand-
guns than are killed with rifl es of
all kinds (FBI Crime Stats).
I understand that we have a
violence/mental health problem
in our country. However, tak-
ing away someone’s right to own
a weapon because someone else
shot up a store with that kind of
weapon is insanity. Ask almost
any law enforcement offi cer and
they will tell you that when they
run across someone with men-
tal health problems, it’s almost
impossible to force them to get
the help they need. We all know
someone that really should not
own a weapon, handgun or rifl e.
That being said, until they are
arrested, tried and convicted of a
crime they have a constitutional
right to bear arms. This brings me
to Red Flag Laws.
I’ve read through Oregon’s Red
Flag law and I’m not real com-
fortable with it as it is written.
(ORS 166.525-543 in case you
would like to read it for yourself,
and I recommend that you do. My
thanks to Offi cer Curtis for help-
ing me fi nd it.) I understand why
there is a push to remove danger-
ous weapons from violent or sui-
cidal people. I’ve also read-up on
how this law has been put into
effect so far. On many of the cases
I read about, I have to agree with
having these people’s weapons
removed by the court. Most of
these people had already commit-
ted a crime that would preclude
them from owning a weapon. But
the idea of taking away a per-
son’s rights based on the premise
that that a person might commit a
crime in the future, makes the hair
on my neck stand up.
This drive to preempt crime is
treading very close to trampling
on all of our rights as citizens of
this great nation. This is an area
that we need to be very careful
when writing laws. After talking
with a local representative about
the Red Flag Law, I found out
just how hard it will be to change
or fi x a law that is already on the
books. So, we need to get it right
the fi rst time. A message to all our
lawmakers… Stop with the knee-
jerk reactions or emotions and
write good laws. Not ones that
will be overturned the fi rst time
they are challenged in court.
Weighing in on the Lostine River corridor: Nature as we know it is at stake
OTHER VOICES
‘AS A VISITOR TO WALLOWA COUNTY FOR
OVER SIXTY YEARS, AS ONE WHO HAS SPENT
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS EXPLORING BURNED
FORESTS THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHS…I
WISH TO WEIGH IN ON WHAT TO DO FOR
THE LOSTINE RIVER CORRIDOR.’
John Marshall
A
s a visitor to Wal-
lowa County for
over sixty years, as
one who has spent twen-
ty-fi ve years exploring
burned forests through pho-
tographs, and as a person
privileged with many a dis-
cussion with the best of
experts, I wish to weigh in
on what to do for the Los-
tine River corridor. The sit-
uation in the Lostine is seri-
ous. Lives are at stake here,
so is nature as we know it.
After having been absent
for many years, when I
drove up the Lostine River
Road this summer to back-
pack into the Granite Gulch
Fire in the Eagle Cap Wil-
derness, I was shocked
at how thick the forest is.
Aerial photos taken in 1956
and 2011 validate my per-
ception. I wonder what it
looked like in 1900?
Essentially, by up-end-
ing the ancient rhythms of
fi re, the Forest Service with
good intentions and broad
public support, fundamen-
tally changed our forests
not just in the Lostine, but
everywhere. Historically
it was many small fi res,
and the occasional large
ones, followed by partial
re-burns that kept fi re and
insects in check, and under-
lied the broad spectrum of
plants and animals. Instead
of avoiding fi re, we are now
set up to have it in a way
that is more destructive than
John F. Marshall
Lostine River at Maxwell Lake Trailhead bridge.
benefi cial.
In a period of a cou-
ple of days under hot dry
windy conditions, the Los-
tine could literally go from
being a thick continuous
patch of green to a place
with few live trees. Recog-
nizing that hazard, the For-
est Service is trying to fi nd
a way to interrupt future
fi re along the narrow strip
of road surrounded by Wil-
derness on both sides. In a
way the Forest Service pro-
posal is a half-measure,
but it is the best it can do.
Unfortunately, one sector of
the environmental commu-
nity, that mistakenly views
the Lostine as pristine and
does not see the danger has
intervened.
The very idea of trees
being cut in a much-loved
area and logs sent to mills
is the rub. For years the
Forest Service had to “get
out the cut”, with unrealis-
tic targets set by congress.
Stumps and scrawny lit-
tle trees occupy too many
places where magnifi cent
ponderosa pines once stood.
That logging done intel-
ligently might actually be
helpful, even essential to the
forest, is a foreign concept
to many. The compromise
offered by David Mildrex-
ler of Eastern Oregon Leg-
acy Lands of taking only
eight inch and smaller trees
is not the answer. It does
not address the need for
gaps and openings where
fi re might extinguish when
relative humidity goes up
at night, places where fi re
would drop to the ground
and fi re-fi ghters would have
a measure of safety, and
success.
A commercial logging
component is needed not
just to restore the forest to
an earlier condition, but to
fund the work of taking out
tens of thousands of small
trees that will have to be
piled and burned or chewed
up by machinery. Pro-
tected are any trees larger
than 21 inches in diameter.
Getting work done on the
National Forests these days
is tough. Staffi ng on the
Wallowa-Whitman National
Forest is down by 67%
from 1994. The lawsuit and
appeals of Oregon Wild,
and Greater Hells Canyon
Council must have come
like a kick in the knee to a
weakened agency.
To be clear, following
the Forest Service plan for
the Lostine does not ensure
that the inevitable big fi re
does not end badly. It does
not ensure that every vis-
itor will get out alive, or
that every old growth tree
survives. What it does is
gives the agency a leg-up in
being able to fi ght fi re, and
improves the odds of sur-
vival for man and nature.
Cutting openings in the for-
Hells Canyon dam boat ramp to be improved
Work planned July
1–Oct. 15, 2020
Travis Mason-Bushman
USFS
JOSEPH, Ore.—Thanks
to partnerships with the Ore-
gon State Marine Board
and Idaho Power, the Wal-
lowa-Whitman
National
Forest will rehabilitate the
popular Hells Canyon Creek
boat ramp on the Snake
River in the Hells Canyon
National Recreation Area.
The project was authorized
in a decision signed on Mon-
day, Sept. 16.
“We are pleased to be
able to provide safer access
to the Wild and Scenic Snake
River,” said Mark Bingman,
deputy district ranger for
Hells Canyon National Rec-
reation Area. “This work
wouldn’t be possible with-
out the cooperation and sup-
port of our partners.”
Over the last 25 years,
river currents have eroded
the ramp’s concrete sur-
face and rip-rap. The ramp
Serving our
Community!
Dr. Geoff
Maly
is used by boaters to access
the Snake River below Hells
Canyon Dam, and the dam-
age has made it more dif-
fi cult to safely launch and
take out boats.
Next year, through a
$364,000
rehabilitation
project, the ramp will be
restored and reinforced by
drilling holes and pumping
concrete grout underneath
it, fi lling voids and increas-
ing stability. In addition, rip-
rap will be replaced to pro-
tect the ramp against future
erosion. The project will
PET OF
K
THE WEE
take place during a window
between July 1 and October
15, 2020, in order to protect
fi sheries.
Partnerships with the
State of Oregon and Idaho
Power are key to the proj-
ect’s successful completion.
The Oregon State Marine
Board provided funding for
project design, and granted
more than $200,000 for
construction. Idaho Power
contributed $116,000 in
matching funds, while the
Wallowa-Whitman is con-
tributing $48,000.
www.windingwaters.org
541-426-4502
Exploring Wild Headwaters
A Study of Stream Networks, Geology, and
Transpiration in the River of No Return Wilderness
Thurs, Oct 3rd • 7pm • FREE!
John Whiting, MS
Geosciences, Idaho State University
John’s research to improve understanding of remote mountain watershed
hydrology took place in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness in
2014 and 2015. Based out of the University of Idaho’s Taylor Wilderness
Research Station on Big Creek, John bushwhacked up small headwater
streams and determined water use of Douglas-fir trees. The collaborative
effort between Idaho State University geologists and the Taylor Ranch
crew sheds light on the question of what happens to snowmelt and
rainwater in the rugged Salmon River Mountains.
ENTERPRISE
HOURS:
Monday - Friday
7:00am to 7:00pm
Saturday
9:00am to 1:00pm
Department of Youth Services
Wallowa Valley Center for Wellness
BHF • BHF • BHF Winding Waters Clinic • Community Bank
Umatilla Morrow Head Start
City of Wallowa Library • NEON
Joseph United Methodist Women
Building Healthy Families Jean & Clem Falbo • Soroptomists •
541-426-9411 Grace Lutheran Church • Debbie Gay
Wallowa County Extension • USDA
oregonbhf.org
508 N. Main • Joseph • 541-263-1663 • wallowology.org
A neutered, tuxedo kitty
born JUNE, 2019. Litter
box trained, up-to-date
on shots and de-worming.
Cash is full of energy,
playful, loving and fun!
This guy is handsome and
he knows it! Cash will do
great in a home with
kids to play with!
In Enterprise & Joseph
BUILDING
HEALTHY
FAMILIES
VOLUNTEER
OF THE
MONTH
This month we are thanking all of our
wonderful Volunteers and Sponsors
for Summer Lunch in the Park.
Because of you we were able to serve
2,689 meals to Wallowa County youth
in 3 different locations throughout the
summer. Thank you
for your generosity
and service!
Natural History Discovery Center
Brought to
you by,
Meet Cash
A Non-Profit Community Health Center
est will provide sunny hab-
itat for everything from
bumblebees to elk. An
emphasis on retaining the
shady nature of the Lostine
makes it more likely that the
very thing most cherished
will be destroyed.
John F. Marshall is a
biologist and photogra-
pher whose career includes
working with Dr. Paul Hes-
sburg of the University
Washington School of For-
estry and USFS to docu-
ment forest conditions and
health. Marshall’s latest
work is a collaboration with
Wallowa resources and the
USFS to re-photograph and
document views and forest
conditions recorded from
lookouts in Oregon and
Washington in the 1930s.
SPACE RESERVATION
DEADLINES
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Ad copy is DUE on Monday at 10am.
Ads MUST be approved by
Tuesday at NOON.
Contact Jennifer Cooney at jcooney@wallowa.com • 541-805-9630
Available for Adoption
Contact Josie at 541-398-0467
$45 adoption fee
http://www.wallowacountyhumanesociety.org/
209 NW First St., Enterprise • 541-426-4567