Wednesday, February 16, 2022
A4
OPINION
OTHER VIEWS
Worries
about the
River Act
regon’s U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff
Merkley, cleverly included the word
“Democracy” in their bill, introduced a
year ago and pending in Congress, that would
nearly triple the mileage of waterways in the
state under the federal Wild and Scenic Riv-
ers system.
That august word, so beloved in America,
tends to burnish whatever it’s applied to.
But although the senators used the dem-
ocratic tactic of soliciting suggestions from
the public about which streams to include in
their River Democracy Act, that’s not the most
appropriate method when it comes to poten-
tially imposing federal protection, and the
associated potential restrictions, on an esti-
mated 3 million acres (based on the pro-
posed mile-wide corridor along the included
streams). That includes about 104,000 acres
in Baker County along segments of 31
waterways.
The 1968 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act is
intended to protect rivers that have “outstand-
ing natural, cultural and recreational values in
a free-flowing condition.”
“Flowing” obviously requires water.
And although another key word in the 1968
Act — “outstanding” — is decidedly subjec-
tive, the senators should use more informed
criteria in crafting their bill than the pref-
erences of a minuscule percentage of the
state’s population. Wyden and Merkley said
they received nominations from about 2,500
Oregonians.
Protecting streams is a worthwhile goal, to
be sure.
And designating streams under the Wild
and Scenic Rivers Act does not restrict activi-
ties on adjacent public land (private land isn’t
affected) nearly as stringently as another fed-
eral law, the Wilderness Act.
Yet the bill would prohibit new mining
permits on public land in the corridors along
designated streams (existing permits would
be grandfathered in, according to Wyden’s
spokesman, Hank Stern).
The bill also could thwart efforts to thin
overcrowded forests. That’s a problem rife
in the Blue Mountains and one that increases
the risk of catastrophic wildfires which would
sully any values, outstanding or otherwise, that
a stream has.
Wyden points out that the River Democ-
racy Act would not prohibit logging in stream
corridors to reduce the risk of wildfires. He
also notes that reducing fire risk, with a focus
on using prescribed fire to curb fuel loads, is
among his chief goals for public lands. The bill
also would require agencies that manage des-
ignated corridors — primarily the Forest Ser-
vice and Bureau of Land Management — to
assess wildfire risks in each corridor.
That all sounds promising.
But it’s hardly far fetched to fret that a wild
and scenic river designation would embolden
environmental groups to legally challenge rea-
sonable thinning projects under the guise that
such work would harm the corridor’s “out-
standing” values.
And prescribed fire, though a valuable tool
whose use should be expanded on public land,
in many places must be preceded by tree-cut-
ting, lest the “managed” fire do more harm
than good.
Ultimately, the River Democracy Act is a
bit premature. Rather than giving federal pro-
tection to 4,700 miles of streams in one fell
swoop, and then figuring out later not only
how to manage them but whether they actu-
ally met the standards of the Wild and Scenic
Rivers Act, Wyden and Merkley should call
for a more thorough study of the nominated
segments and present a refined list in future
legislation.
— Baker City Herald
O
LETTERS to the EDITOR
Judgment of God is
coming to America
Donald Trump was the strongest sup-
porter of Bible believers of any president,
and what he’s done for evangelicals, as
it relates to Israel. My question to you is
what was the cause of Donald Trump los-
ing the election? And what was the case
of the plague and riots and natural disas-
ters? You might say Twitter and Facebook
and their lies. You might say it’s godless
media, but I can tell you the cause.
The cause of Donald Trump losing
the election was the judgment of God on
America. It’s the same reason the plague
came. Floods came, fires came and cit-
ies’ monuments were torn down. The
judgment of God brought the COVID
on our nation. It is the same reason we
were humiliated in such a terrible way in
Afghanistan, and the same reason Biden
won.
The spirit of the Antichrist will try to
convince you that it wasn’t the judgment
of God, so you will fight with flesh and
blood rather than battling with principali-
ties and powers and repent. The Antichrist
has, in fact, impacted the church. Not all
of them, but many of them. Instead of
revivals, prayer meetings, Sunday night
services and people crying out to God, no
preaching on judgment of fear of hell.
If you truly want to save America,
we should all come together, have reviv-
als and prayer meetings. We can only do
it on our knees and by allowing the Holy
Spirit to save America from an Antichrist
spirit. Do you hear sermons on suffer-
ing for Christ, or hell or judgment? If not,
why not?
Roger Weishoff
Enterprise
Questions need to
be asked of the OHA
Editor, your questioning of the Oregon
Health Authority about the assignment
of “COVID-19” death of our friend Terri
Malec is greatly appreciated. Bringing
these questions to light is important: They
implicate the OHA as merely another tool
of those who wish to impose an authori-
tarian tyranny upon us. C.S. Lewis noted
CONTACT your REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. PRESIDENT
Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. 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
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
EDITORIALS: Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the Wallowa County Chieftain editorial board. Other
columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of
the Wallowa County Chieftain.
LETTERS: The Wallowa County Chieftain welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues
and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The newspaper reserves the
right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and products or letters that
P.O. Box 338 • Enterprise, OR 97828
Office: 209 NW First St., Enterprise, Ore.
Phone: 541-398-5502 • Fax: 541-426-3921
Contents copyright © 2022. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without permission is prohibited.
• • •
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-423
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
infringe on the rights of private citizens. Letters must be signed by the author and include the city of
residence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not be published. Unsigned letters will
not be published.
SEND LETTERS TO: editor@wallowa.com, or via mail to Wallowa County Chieftain, 209 NW 1st St.
Enterprise, OR 97828
General Manager, Karrine Brogoitti, kbrogoitti@eomediagroup.com
Editor, Ronald Bond, rbond@wallowa.com
Reporter, Bill Bradshaw, bbradshaw@wallowa.com
News Assistant, Cheryl Jenkins, cjenkins@wallowa.com
Classifieds/Inside Sales, Julie Ferdig, jferdig@bakercityherald.com
Advertising Assistant, Devi Mathson, dmathson@lagrandeobserver.com
To submit news tips and press releases, call 541-398-5502
or email editor@wallowa.com
SENATOR
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
Member Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association
USPS No. 665-100
Cliff Bentz
1239 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
Medford office: 541-776-4646
REPRESENTATIVES
GOVERNOR
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office: 541-278-1129
Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884
VOLUME 134
that of all tyrannies, one imposed for the
“greater good” would be the worst; any-
one questioning authority becomes a
pariah in the fearful mob. The evils done
to our people and their livelihoods over
the last two years are too numerous to list.
The Center for Disease Control and
Prevention has revealed that far fewer
people actually died from COVID as
opposed to the numbers of those who
were counted as such. Uglier truths are
yet to reach the general public regarding
the deadly adverse effects the so-called
COVID vaccines are creating in our pop-
ulation. Why are these vaccine manu-
facturers not liable for harm done? This
so-called “pandemic” was spun up for
the benefit of corporations such as Pfizer
and inside-traders of their stocks, many of
whom are sitting in Congress.
A wise epigram: An agent from the
Bureau of Indian Affairs went to a reser-
vation and said to the chief, “I am from
the government and I am here to help
you.” The chief replied, “Make up your
mind.”
Stuart Vencill
Joseph
Published every Wednesday by: EO Media Group
Periodical Postage Paid at Enterprise and additional mailing offices
Subscription rates (includes online access)
Annually
Monthly (autopay)
Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery
See the Wallowa County
Chieftain on the Internet
Wallowa.com
facebook.com/Wallowa
twitter.com/wcchieftain
1 Year
$51.00
$4.25
POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to
Wallowa County Chieftain
P.O. Box 338
Enterprise, OR 97828