VIEWPOINTS
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
A5
OTHER VIEWS
Adam Bronstein
Wolf
management
in Oregon is
a train wreck
I
recently received another email update
from Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife’s Wolf and Livestock Updates
list. I opened the message and clicked the
link anticipating bad news.
Another wolf had been killed by the
department in Northeastern Oregon. A
2-year old male trapped, tranquilized and
then euthanized by the state. His crime?
Being a member of a community of native
carnivores trying to make a living on a
landscape overrun with domestic livestock
that have displaced their traditional food
sources, mainly elk and deer.
This young wolf was a member of the
Chesnimnus Pack, near the town of Joseph,
whose range encompasses many active fed-
erally managed grazing allotments on the
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. Reports
of depredations — wolves killing livestock
— attributed to the Chesnimnus Pack began
rolling in this April, which resulted in fish
and wildlife officials issuing an order to kill
two wolves before the end of April.
In June, an additional four wolves
were marked for death. As of today, three
of those six wolves have been wiped out
by the state. Not included in this tally is
the additional wolf lost at the hands of a
poacher in January. This onslaught of death
comes on the heels of a bloody 2021 for
Oregon, where 26 wolves were documented
killed, up from 10 in 2020.
Killing wolves is counterproductive to
many of the wildlife management and hab-
itat conservation programs administered
by the ODFW and undermines the benefits
that having wolves on the landscape brings
to all of us. After wolves were reintroduced
into Yellowstone National Park, the ecol-
ogy of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
began to reset itself.
Riparian areas — biodiversity hotspots
— soon recovered from overgrazing by
deer and elk because wolves began keep-
ing them constantly on the move. This dis-
persed movement allowed plant commu-
nities to reestablish themselves, providing
home and sustenance to a host of species.
Trout, juvenile salmon and steelhead are
provided with cooler water refuges, more
insects to eat and more cover from preda-
tors because of the shade and habitat pro-
vided by streamside vegetation.
Birds and land animals also rely on
riparian areas for food, shelter and breeding
habitat. Promoting biodiversity helps ward
off extinction where one species’ existence
is dependent on another’s. We are now in
the throes of the sixth mass extinction and
we humans depend on a functioning bio-
sphere for our own survival.
As wolves rightfully return to their
native range across Northeastern Oregon
and the rest of the state, livestock produc-
ers will experience more losses unless they
change the way they operate. Based on past
and current responses, department offi-
cials seem primed to continue slaughter-
ing wolves at an increasing rate in lockstep
with the wolf recovery.
These dead livestock, however, are
mostly due to mismanagement. The vast
majority of livestock taken by wolves are
calves, which are tender, small-bodied and
easy prey. If livestock operators wanted to
cut their losses to wolf predation by wide
margins, they could leave their young-of-
the-year at the home ranch with their moth-
ers to nurse until they are ready to fend for
themselves before releasing them.
Perhaps the most maddening aspect to
this ongoing saga is the agency’s disregard
for the best available science. We know
now that when managers kill wolves and
deplete a pack, the remaining wolves tar-
get livestock with more vigor, because live-
stock are the easiest prey. It is a vicious
cycle of death until an entire pack is
extirpated.
Take for example the Lookout Pack, also
from Northeastern Oregon. Eight wolves
were lethally removed for killing livestock
in the fall of 2021, decimating the pack to
the point where no breeding pair remained.
Killing off entire packs of wolves simply
cannot be the answer.
The influence peddled by the livestock
industry must no longer reign supreme over
wildlife management here in Oregon and
across the West. This largely unchecked
hegemony has resulted in untold slaugh-
ter of wolves — and myriad other creatures
ranging from beavers to prairie dogs —
over the centuries. Times must change.
We should demand better of our wildlife
managers who are supposed to safeguard
all of our wildlife in the public trust for all
Oregonians.
———
Adam Bronstein is the Nevada-Oregon
director for Western Watersheds Project, a
nonprofit conservation group dedicated to
protecting and restoring wildlife and water-
sheds throughout the American West. This
column originally appeared on the Oregon
Capital Chronicle website.
Making the ‘People’s House’ safe
Staff have relocated. If you’re looking
for the governor’s office, go to the nearby
State Library across the Capitol Mall.
History buffs will recall that the pre-
vious capitol burned to the ground on
April 25, 1935. A young Mark Hatfield was
among the Salem residents who came out
to witness the inferno. Though long ago,
that experience illustrates the relevance of
the safety improvements underway.
The construction almost didn’t hap-
pen and was delayed for years by biparti-
san opposition. Courtney was the cheer-
leader for what in 2015 was a $337 million
project. At crunch time, House Speaker
Tina Kotek, D-Portland, and House Major-
ity Leader Val Hoyle, D-Eugene, said the
seismic improvements were needed but the
time wasn’t right.
Joining them in voting “no” on a com-
mittee vote that effectively stopped the
Courtney was not happy: “When the
magnitude 9 quake hits, the loss of life
and property across our state will be tre-
mendous. The decision not to complete
this project ensures that those losses will
include the Oregon State Capitol and the
people inside it.”
He persevered instead of knocking
Dick Hughes
heads to get his way that year. The Leg-
islature embraced a much smaller, $59.9
he gold man atop the Oregon State
million project the next year as the first
Capitol has gone dark. A cavernous
phase of the Capitol Accessibility, Mainte-
nance and Safety project. The 2020 Legis-
hole has arisen at the building base-
lature added phase 2 at $70.8 million. With
ment; another is on its way. The governor,
new leadership in the Oregon House this
secretary of state and state treasurer have
year and Courtney finishing his final term
been ousted from their offices. Guided tours
as Senate president, the 2022 Legislature
of the Capitol are gone until 2025.
approved the big phase 3: $375 million.
Those development are purposeful. Such
Lawmakers are used to conducting
is the price — half a billion dollars plus a
meetings and public hearings virtually, so
few years of temporary inconvenience — for
restricted access to committee rooms no
finally making the “People’s House” safe for
longer was an impediment.
the people.
The construction schedule was
The Capitol was in
reconfigured so the House and
such sad shape seismi-
“HISTORY BUFFS WILL RECALL THAT THE
cally that in 2015, state
Senate could use their cham-
PREVIOUS CAPITOL BURNED TO THE GROUND ON
bers during the legislative ses-
Senate President Peter
sions. Work should wrap up in
Courtney, D-Salem, told
APRIL 25, 1935. A YOUNG MARK HATFIELD WAS
late 2025.
my colleagues and me:
AMONG THE SALEM RESIDENTS WHO CAME OUT
The big hole on the north
“Given what we know,
side of the Capitol and one that
we should close the Cap-
TO WITNESS THE INFERNO. THOUGH LONG AGO,
will emerge farther west are
itol down today. At least
we should protect kids
so workers can get under the
THAT EXPERIENCE ILLUSTRATES THE RELEVANCE
from coming in,” refer-
building, gut the lower level,
OF THE SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS UNDERWAY.”
ring to school field trips.
hook up additional water and
There’s more. The
sewer lines, put in temporary
plumbing is so bad that
shoring, remove the existing
project from moving ahead were Rep.
the drinking fountains are unusable. The
cement columns and place new columns
HVAC system could run hot in summer, cold Tobias Read, D-Beaverton; Rep. Greg
and devices to keep the structure stable
Smith, R-Heppner; and Sen. Fred Girod,
in winter, with creaky ventilation. Parts of
during the quake.
R-Lyons. Siding with Courtney were Rep.
the building lacked fire sprinklers and other
As for the Oregon Pioneer atop the Cap-
itol — colloquially known as the gold man
safety devices, including safe exits and suffi- John Huffman, R-The Dalles, and Sen.
cient staircases. The building was inhospita-
— Capitol Accessibility, Maintenance and
Richard Devlin, D-Tualatin.
ble to anyone using a wheelchair, scooter or
Safety Director Jodie Jones told me that
The price tag, uncertain public support
stroller.
crews will seek a workaround to again illu-
and inconvenience bothered some law-
makers. During construction, the Legisla-
minate the statue at night.
The first phases of the renovation and
ture and other officials would have had to
By the way, some Oregonians love the
reconstruction corrected some deficiencies,
vacate the Capitol and use the renovated
Capitol’s design. Some despise it, com-
especially in the 1977 legislative wings. The
plaining the top looks like a cake ornament
Public Utility Commission building — a
final, most expensive phase centers on the
former Sears store near the Capitol Mall — or a bowling trophy. What say you?
largest, oldest portion — the Capitol com-
pleted in 1938. So that work can be done, that as their temporary capitol.
———
Dick Hughes has been covering the
area has been closed to the public, officehold-
As a result, initial project staff were let
ers and legislative employees since July 1.
Oregon political scene since 1976.
go; $25 million already had been spent.
OTHER VIEWS
T
VA shows pitfalls of government health care
OTHER VIEWS
Sally C. Pipes
I
n the fall of 2020, a patient in Augusta,
Georgia, went to the local Veterans
Affairs medical center for a minimally
invasive urologic surgery, according to a
new report from the VA’s Office of Inspec-
tor General.
Less than two weeks later, the OIG
reports, he was dead. The Inspector General
concluded that there had been “multiple defi-
ciencies” in the patient’s care. Among them,
his doctor allegedly failed to account for his
history of chest infections and alcoholism.
Sadly, this is just one of countless exam-
ples of the VA’s failure to provide adequate
care. And it shows why proposals to nation-
alize U.S. health care — like Sen. Bernie
Sanders’ bill to establish Medicare for All,
which he reintroduced in May — are bad
news.
Every six months, the VA’s Inspector
General submits a report to Congress on
the agency’s performance. And every six
months, the story is the same: gross incom-
petence, fraud, long wait times and substan-
dard care.
The OIG’s most recent report, which cov-
ered October 2021 to March 2022, identified
more than $4 billion in “monetary impact”
— waste, questionable spending, fraud and
the like. Investigations into offending behav-
ior led to more than 100 arrests for crimes
that included wire fraud and bribery. One
Louisiana doctor had received more than
$650,000 in kickbacks from a medical sup-
ply company.
But while the waste and criminality are
galling, the patient stories are worse.
A veteran who sought treatment and even-
tually died at a VA center in New Mexico
waited 175 days for a CT scan for possi-
ble lung cancer, according to the OIG. Then,
even though the results showed signs of can-
cer, the patient did not receive a follow-up
biopsy. The patient eventually received a
conclusive cancer diagnosis at a non-VA
hospital.
The OIG also reported on a patient who
died 17 days after being discharged from
a VA medical center in Gainesville, Flor-
ida, after a 33-day hospital stay. The Inspec-
tor General concluded that the facility “failed
to develop a discharge plan that adequately
ensured patient safety and continuity of care.”
Even patients not in imminent danger face
the stress of extremely long waits. At the VA
clinic in Anaheim, California, at the begin-
ning of June, new patients could expect to
wait 29 days for an appointment. At the three
clinics in Jacksonville, Florida, the average
wait in early June was 52 days. And at one
clinic in Fayetteville, North Carolina, earlier
this month, it was 96 days.
None of this should be especially surpris-
ing. Long waits and sloppy care characterize
single-payer health care all over the world.
Canadians face a median wait of more
than 25 weeks for treatment from a special-
ist following referral by their general prac-
titioner, according to the Fraser Institute, a
Canadian think tank. Such delays have seri-
ous consequences. SecondStreet.org, another
Canadian think tank, found that over 11,500
Canadian patients died while waiting for
surgeries, procedures or diagnostic scans
between 2020 and 2021.
Canada and the VA offer a glimpse of the
subpar treatment, needless suffering and ram-
pant fraud and abuse we can expect under
Medicare for All.
———
Sally C. Pipes is president, chief executive
officer and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health
Care Policy at the Pacific Research Institute.