Wednesday, June 9, 2021
A4
OPINION
WRITER’S
NOTEBOOK
Steve Forrester
Let’s relearn
how to live
together
I
t is a curse to live in an era you do not under-
stand. It is a fair bet that many Oregonians,
across the political spectrum, harbor that
anxiety.
In the recent Oregon election, five Eastern Ore-
gon counties voted in favor of joining Idaho. This
is a movement that’s been around for a while.
Although differing from the concept of the State
of Jefferson, conceived in 1941, to form a new
state from counties in southern Oregon and North-
ern California, it flows from the same sense of
marginalization.
Oregon is not unique in how its economic and
political cultures are frequently divided. Joel Gar-
reau gave the most complete explanation of this
reality in his 1981 book, “The Nine Nations of
North America.” State borders are artificial lines
that group together populations with discordant pri-
orities. If we were starting from scratch, all state
lines might bear little resemblance to what they are.
As with the State of Jefferson, Idaho annexing
elements of Eastern Oregon is unlikely to occur. It
would take agreement within the Salem and Boise
statehouses, as well as in Congress. Approval of
such a reconfiguration would give license to an
avalanche of similar efforts around the country,
setting a precedent few state and national leaders
would welcome.
While I don’t think the Idaho plan is good for
Oregon, I understand the emotional motivation
among Eastern Oregon voters. An author of the
separation concept, Mike McCarter, of La Pine, has
said: “Rural Oregon is in an abusive relationship
with Willamette Valley.” McCarter is the former
president of the Oregon Agribusiness Council and
the Oregon Association of Nurserymen.
Much of what chafes at rural people is Salem’s
and Portland’s ignorance of what lies east of Hood
River. That eventually comes down to natural
resources management.
Animosity toward Salem revolves around how
land uses are prioritized. In the broadest terms,
Oregonians who live beyond the state’s northwest
urban center too often are made to feel like bump-
kins for pursuing the economic opportunities at
hand, which despite impressive diversification,
still often revolve around agriculture and wood
products.
Conversely, the state’s urban zeitgeist is to see
other Oregonians as mired in an outmoded attach-
ment to traditional extractive industries — and
under the sway of Trumpist grievances.
One does not have to live in the broad dry
expanse of Eastern Oregon to feel the brunt of
Salem’s ignorance. Here at the mouth of the
Columbia River, Salem’s myopia was apparent in
2012 with former Gov. John Kitzhaber’s needless,
scientifically baseless and boneheaded attack on
gillnet fishermen. Gov. Kate Brown has lacked the
guts to undo Kitzhaber’s stupid policy.
Meanwhile, Portland’s largest city has become a
place that many of us no longer recognize. For me,
the transformation began years ago when The Ore-
gonian debased its product. Like it or not, a metro-
politan area is a media center. But that is no longer
the case with Portland.
The riots and vandalism have given down-
town Portland, sheathed in plywood, an ugly and
bereft look. The city’s weak political leadership
has enabled a catastrophe that has gone on about a
year, perpetuating a sense of a place not in control
of itself, and certainly in no position to lecture or
dictate to others.
The divisiveness illustrated by the Greater Idaho
idea is part of a larger nostalgia for the decades
immediately following World War II, when Oregon
viewed itself as overcoming petty differences in the
pursuit of sensible accommodations that generated
mutual success. Like most nostalgia, this rosy view
minimizes the hard negotiations — and occasional
hard feelings — that set the stage for a prosperous
and egalitarian period of progress.
Rekindling these conditions requires a delib-
erate and well-executed process. Respectful dis-
cussions coupled with concrete follow through are
what it will take to bridge Oregon’s urban-rural
divide.
While each of the 36 counties can’t go its own
way, or find greener political grass across the Idaho
border, Oregonians can and must do a better job of
listening to one another.
———
Steve Forrester, the former editor and publisher
of The Astorian, is the president and CEO of EO
Media Group.
LETTERS to the EDITOR
No money for trails
I have been interested in the terms and
conditions of the Forest Legacy Program
grant that landed the Wallowa County
$3,900,000 to purchase the 1,533 for-
ested acres on the East Moraine of Wal-
lowa Lake.
These tenets shall become part of
the conservation easement for the East
Moraine. A governmental agency must
own the land, the land will not dispose
of, modify the use of or change the terms
of the real property title without permis-
sion. It requires that no less than 75% of
the lands are in forest cover or will be
reforested in 10 years, 25% of the pro-
tected land may be in compatible non-
forest uses, including cultivated farm
land, pasture, grassland, shrub land, open
water and wetlands.
Require that the land be managed with
the purposes intended for farm and for-
estry and shall not convert the property
to other uses (no recreation uses listed).
Generally prohibit extensive surface dis-
turbances, that the conservation easement
must clearly describe the location and use
of these disturbances in advance.
Ironically, the commissioners
approved a legal summary of this pro-
posed “conservation easement” out-
lined inside a Baseline Document Report
(BDR) which appears to violate the
WCLUP Appendix 8, #3 — limit con-
flicting uses, allowing the landowner
to construct new roads for recreational
activities when they deem necessary.
Appendix 8 prohibits new access roads,
bicycle paths, pedestrian paths, drive-
ways on the Moraine because of the wild-
life funnel and increased human density.
Stop the new recreational trails.
Mildred Fraser-O’Callaghan
Joseph
What’s in a name?
Over the past few years I have
noticed a disturbing trend in the Chief-
tain, where our beautiful mountains
are being referred to as the Eagle Cap
Mountains or Eagle Caps, rather than
their proper name, the WALLOWA
MOUNTAINS.
CONTACT your REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. PRESIDENT
Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
U.S. SENATORS
Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande office: 541-962-7691
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
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 © 2021. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without permission is prohibited.
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office: 541-278-1129
Cliff Bentz
1239 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
Medford office: 541-776-4646
REPRESENTATIVES
GOVERNOR
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
SENATOR
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-423
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884
Periodical Postage Paid at Enterprise and additional mailing offices
Member Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association
Subscription rates (includes online access)
Annually
Monthly (autopay)
Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery
Published every Wednesday by: EO Media Group
VOLUME 134
The most recent example was in the
June 2 edition, Northeast Oregon Arti-
sans insert, where one of the advertisers
refers the them as the Eagle Cap Moun-
tain Range. In the May 26 edition of the
Chieftain the new district ranger called
them the Eagle Cap Mountains even
though the introductory paragraph of
the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
home page contains the following sen-
tence, “The Wallowa-Whitman National
Forest includes 2.3 million acres of pub-
lic lands extending from the Blue Moun-
tains and rugged WALLOWA MOUN-
TAINS down to the spectacular canyon
country of the Snake River.” In addition,
on the same page, the very office he will
work out of is called the WALLOWA
MOUNTAIN OFFICE.
Eagle Cap is a single peak located in
the Wallowa Mountains and the Eagle
Cap Wilderness lies in the heart of the
Wallowa Mountains, but the mountains
are still correctly know as the WAL-
LOWA MOUNTAINS. In the future let’s
try to refer to them as such.
Mike Crawford
Troy
General manager, Jennifer Cooney, jcooney@wallowa.com
Editor, Ronald Bond, rbond@wallowa.com
Reporter, Bill Bradshaw, bbradshaw@wallowa.com
Advertising Assistant, Cheryl Jenkins, cjenkins@wallowa.com
Designer, Andy Nicolais, anicolais@eomediagroup.com
• • •
To submit news tips and press releases, call 541-426-4567
or email editor@wallowa.com
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Chieftain on the Internet
Wallowa.com
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