Wednesday, March 30, 2022
A4
OPINION
OTHER VIEWS
Oregon
Trail is a
two-way
street
T
he political leadership in the West
needs to take note of the growing
number of farm families who are
picking up stakes and moving east.
In the 1840s, white settlers from east of
the Mississippi River started making the
arduous journey west, pushing up the Ore-
gon Trail to the Pacific Northwest.
Others followed the trail to Fort Hall in
present-day Idaho, then turned southwest on
the California Trail to reach the gold fields
of the Sierra Nevada and the farmland of
the Central Valley.
Land was cheap and opportunity was
within relatively easy grasp. The West
offered fewer restrictions than were in place
in the established eastern communities.
Many longtime farm and ranch families
proudly point to their pioneer heritage.
But over the past decade or so, there’s
been a small but growing number of farm
families picking up stakes and moving east
of the coastal states to escape tough busi-
ness climates.
It’s a reverse Oregon Trail of sorts, with
modern-day emigrants moving to Idaho,
Montana, the Plains and the Midwest.
While it can hardly be described as a
mass exodus, people are noticing an uptick
in the number of farm operations moving
east.
“People have talked about moving for
years and years, but now people are actu-
ally doing it,” said Ryan Jacobsen, manager
of the Fresno County Farm Bureau in Cali-
fornia. “Statistically, it’s still probably a blip
on the radar. But it’s crazy that it’s actually
happening.”
Farmers cite several reasons for moving:
seeking less-crowded places; political con-
cerns; COVID protocols; estate taxes, reg-
ulations and associated costs; opportunities
for expansion; “climate migrants” fleeing
drought; and farmers seeking more-secure
water supplies.
The common thread is that farmers and
ranchers are moving to places where they
believe their businesses — and families —
can better thrive.
The tax and regulatory climate on the
West Coast has made it increasingly difficult
for family farming operations.
Carbon policies have made fuel more
expensive. COVID regulations have
reduced the availability of labor, and thus
have reduced yield while increasing costs.
State legislatures have grown openly hos-
tile to agriculture, proposing gross receipt
tax schemes that would turn the already pre-
carious economics of farming on its head.
They have adopted alternative energy
policies that encourage converting farm-
land into wind and solar energy facilities.
They’ve proposed increasing riparian buf-
fers. They have restricted common pesti-
cides, herbicides and fumigants.
Most farmers can’t pick up and leave.
But, they can sell out to bigger operations.
Through increased regulation and legisla-
tion, state governments will hasten the con-
solidation of the industry, and the ruin of the
rural communities that depend on a viable
population to thrive.
—Capital Press
LETTERS to the EDITOR
Landowners could leave
legacy of generosity
Legacy building is a powerful human
drive. We yearn to leave something
enduring to be remembered by.
Opportunities for creating legacies
vary. Leo Adler’s generosity will be cele-
brated for generations by individuals and
organizations in Baker City. La Grande’s
Cook Library and Max Square commem-
orate Maxine and Tom Cook. Most leg-
acies strive to enhance quality of life by
expanding access to education, recreation,
human interaction and nature.
Community trails have all the qualities
great legacies are made of. They connect
towns, friends and families to nature and
healthy activities. The world needs more
opportunities for communicating and
exercising in nature.
Uncounted hours and dollars have
gone toward the creation of two pub-
lic trails, one from Elgin to Joseph and
another between La Grande and Island
City. Finances were lined up and enthu-
siastic anticipation nearly unanimous.
However, vehement opposition by a few
property owners brought both dreams to a
halt. That could well become their legacy.
Landowners along other public trails
have learned their fears were unfounded
and that trails improve their lifestyles
and land value. They are happy to have
opened their hearts and land to others.
Let the Wallowa Union Rail Author-
ity, county commissioners and a few ded-
icated trail people schedule a conciliatory
meeting. Local landowners could review
their initial responses: fear of strangers
and loss of privacy. They could emerge
as local heroes today and remembered
for generations for generosity rather than
obstructionism.
Mary McCracken
La Grande
Commissioners’ bashing of
west siders is a ‘cheap trick’
The county commissioners are flus-
tered (Commissioners flustered with Leg-
islature, March 9, 2022), as ever, by leg-
islative actions in Salem, bemoaning
the passage of an agricultural overtime
bill that ensures workers a decent wage
earned in an ever hotter, more hostile
environment.
They say the law will hurt ranchers
because of their special lifestyle, but pro-
visions exempt salaried employees and
provide tax credits for overtime pay, and
requires the state to make recommenda-
tions for establishing grant, loan or other
programs to assist employers in mitigat-
ing costs of complying with the law.
All farm operations are special in their
own ways, and livestock producers need
to step up for their workers like every-
body else.
Commissioner (Todd) Nash was bit-
ter at the failure to add $1 million to the
wolf compensation fund (in addition
to $400,000 recently added and as-yet
unspent). This $1 million was earmarked
for full market compensation for cat-
tle claimed “missing” by livestock pro-
ducers, relying on assertions unsupported
by verifiable evidence in a process lack-
ing transparency. And these funds would
be applied to claims going back years.
“Missing” cattle compensation opens a
loophole as big as 12 barn doors to the
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What did we do to
deserve this?
Ouch!
My wife and I are elderly, living on
a fixed retirement income. Last week
we bought another ton of wood-pellet
fuel to heat our home; $50 a ton more
than Jan. 1, 2022.
I know who did this to us.
Big question: What did we ever do to
him to deserve this?
Please help us — answer please.
Ouch!
Milo Schleifer
Enterprise
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Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884
VOLUME 134
mistaken or the unscrupulous, and it’s a
good thing for taxpayers and the integrity
of the compensation program that this bill
failed. As it is, taxpayers fully compen-
sate ranchers for all confirmed and prob-
able losses to wolf predation, for extra
work entailed in stock management due
to the presence of wolves, pay for tools
and equipment and pay for state-funded
range riders.
Oh, the commissioners then went on
to beat up the “urbanites” for not think-
ing we had libraries, conveniently forget-
ting that in 2017 our commissioners actu-
ally voted to close the Wallowa County
Library. And then later on did the same
with the recycling program, like we’re
happily marching backwards. Slamming
west siders is a cheap trick, when it’s their
tax money and their tourist and invest-
ment dollars that provides our infrastruc-
ture and quality of life.
Wally Sykes
Joseph
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