THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2021
Baker City, Oregon
A4
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EDITORIAL
Research
shows
value of
forest work
The benefi ts of thinning crowded forests and
igniting prescribed fi res to get rid of the combustible
debris that’s left hardly qualify as newly discovered
truths.
But recent research led by scientists from the
College of Forestry at Oregon State University,
besides adding to the evidence that such work helps
protect forests from catastrophic wildfi res by reduc-
ing the fuel load, also shows that in some cases
thinning alone can yield tangible advantages even
before the managed fl ames are kindled.
James Johnston, a research associate at OSU,
and his colleagues published their fi ndings in Forest
Ecology and Management. The study, which looked
at years of data from areas in ponderosa pine for-
ests in Northeastern Oregon, “shows that mechani-
cal thinning can moderate fi re behavior even in the
absence of prescribed fi re,” Johnston said.
Johnston and the other researchers, including
Julia Olszewski, Becky Miller and Micah Schmidt
from the College of Forestry, Lisa Ellsworth from
OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences, and Mi-
chael Vernon of Blue Mountains Forest Partners,
used computer modeling to predict how fi re would
behave in areas that were thinned, as well as forest
parcels that weren’t.
Their research showed that although fuel on the
ground increases for a year or two after thinning,
the amount declines thereafter, as does the amount
of litter and duff on the forest fl oor.
The researchers’ fi ndings are important not
because they diminish the importance of prescribed
fi re.
Indeed, Johnston notes that prescribed burning
“is still a key tool for meeting fuel reduction and
fi re management objectives in the ponderosa pine
forests of the southern Blue Mountains and else-
where.”
But Johnston also points out that prescribed
burning, for a variety of reasons, can take longer to
be approved compared with thinning.
“Less than one-fi fth of the area treated with
mechanical thinning in the southern Blues has also
been treated with prescribed fi re,” he said. “Pre-
scribed fi re has been signifi cantly slowed by budget
constraints, local opposition to fi re use, and restric-
tions imposed by COVID-19 response measures.”
Weather can be an impediment, too. Prescribed
burning usually is done during spring and fall, but
in some seasons it’s either too wet for effective fi res,
or too dry to light them without the risk of fl ames
getting out of control.
Congress has over the past decade or so allocated
more money for projects, including thinning and
prescribed burning, in Eastern Oregon and else-
where. An example is the East Face project, which
includes about 48,000 acres of public land from the
Anthony Lakes Highway north to the Ladd Can-
yon area. The East Face project includes thinning
— some of which involves trees large enough to be
sold to mills — and prescribed burning. Much of the
work is along roads and ridgelines and is designed
to create fuelbreaks, places where fi refi ghters would
have a better chance of stopping a wildfi re. In all,
Congress has spent more than $17 million between
2012 and 2020 to thin about 215,000 acres in the
southern Blues.
The research from Johnston and his colleagues
shows that this public money is being well-spent,
and that lawmakers should seek to accelerate the
effort.
With climate change leading to longer and often
more severe fi re seasons, thinning and prescribed
burning are more vital than ever.
It’s gratifying to see scientifi c proof that thinning
by itself helps protect forests.
— Jayson Jacoby, Baker City Herald editor
Your views
Let’s work together to solve
poverty, global warming
We live together on our beautiful
Mother Earth, but we are recklessly
destroying both it and our society.
Relationships are becoming ever more
polarized and chaotic as we adopt par-
tisan sets of opposing facts about real-
ity, increasingly resist coming together
to solve our most basic problems, and
continue to allow big money to control
things.
Today, we face two overarching
threats: Widespread poverty and
global warming. The fallout from our
thoughts and actions — or inaction
— is becoming ever more stark and
ominous. It’s past time for deep and
meaningful change, well beyond what’s
left of the Build Back Better bill.
Poverty is closest to home. Many,
if not most, Americans are deeply
anxious and depressed about their
economic condition, based largely on
our 45-year history of lost jobs and
stagnant, low wages due to computer
automation and off-shoring.
Quiet desperation can provoke blind
trust and misplaced loyalty. We may
well be headed toward a loss of social
norms and toward the acceptance of
a right-wing, totalitarian society. The
January 6th “Save America” insurrec-
tion at the U.S. Capitol offers a preview.
Big and bold innovation and open-
minded collaboration are urgently
needed. For example, a Universal Basic
Income (UBI) of, say, $1,000 per citizen
per month would benefi t everyone,
as shown by the numerous UBI pilot
projects.
Similarly, a refundable carbon tax
would shift consumer demand away
from fossil fuels, while carbon tax
monies would be recycled to consum-
ers (say, $2,000 per family annually)
to prevent economic hardship. Top
economists support it.
Workable answers lie within reach.
Can we develop the community spirit
to adopt and implement them?
Do we have the political will to
heavily tax the income and wealth
handed to the very few who profi t from
our low, stagnant wages? Can we sur-
mount our knee-jerk aversion to new
taxes, even if they are refundable?
Let us avoid disaster on this small,
blue planet, and transform ourselves
and our society by treating each other
with respect and understanding.
Let us fi rmly reject chaos, sit down
together, vigorously engage, and allow
our heartfelt, mutual desires and long-
ings to be fully realized.
Marshall McComb
Baker City
Baker City Council should appoint
Randy Daugherty
Editor’s note: The author is the
brother of Baker City Council member
Shane Alderson.
Mayor Kerry McQuisten and
Councilors Joanna Dixon and Johnny
Waggoner Sr. need to get it together
and move on with conducting city busi-
ness. It’s time to have a full city council
again. I don’t know what personal,
political or other axes the mayor and
Councilors Dixon and Waggoner have
to grind with Randy Daugherty but it’s
clear he is the candidate most qualifi ed
to fi ll the open position.
He has dedicated many years to
serving Baker City in positions too
numerous to mention here, including
a previous stint as a city councilor. He
is certainly more qualifi ed than Mr.
Hughes, an individual who in my 50+
years here I have never even heard
of. Or the most recent candidate who
was either completely unprepared, was
not serious or incapable/unwilling of
following through on his application.
Baker City has many issues currently
and ahead that need to be addressed
with a full council, so I urge Mayor
McQuisten and Councilors Dixon and
Waggoner Sr. to vote to appoint Randy
Daugherty.
Mark Alderson
Baker City
Anthony Lakes would be a great
visitor center operator
As a business owner/employer that
depends on tourism, and therefore
tourism planning, marketing and
coordination, I was disappointed when
Anthony Lakes Outdoor Recreation
Association withdrew their bid for the
Visitors Services contract.
However, I was not surprised.
I participated in city council meet-
ings, communicated with each of our
county commissioners and attended
the horrifying “work sessions” where
it was obvious that Mayor McQuisten
had no intention of doing what was
best for our community. McQuisten has
made it clear since before being sworn
into offi ce this year that she wanted to
fi ght over the dedicated room tax mon-
ies and control of TLT. She has under-
mined volunteers and public servants
that have successfully worked together
for the past 15+ years making tourism
options in Baker County something
that people around the Northwest, and
in fact, around the world, are aware of.
There has been confl ict concerning
the contract for many years. I was not
alone in my excitement that ALORA
was submitting a proposal. The efforts
of the dedicated volunteer board at
ALORA have been incredibly success-
ful, expanding tourism options while
providing extraordinary service to local
residents.
After reviewing all proposals, the
TLT committee recommended that the
contract be awarded to ALORA last
year. The commissioners put off the
decision, even though the TLT board
volunteers tasked with making the
referral had done their work.
The TLT committee recommended
that the contract be awarded to
ALORA again this year, even after the
Request for Proposals was changed to
suit McQuisten.
McQuisten has made infl amma-
tory accusations against community
volunteers, as well as successful entre-
preneurs that create jobs and public
servants. McQuisten is a bully and is
relentless — at the expense of all that
teamwork has built to create. Her pub-
licly stated barbs take a toll on us all
and make our work more diffi cult.
Even with the support of the TLT
committee and most of the businesses
with a vested interest in tourism, it
is no surprise that the board mem-
bers of ALORA could see the writing
on the wall. We all have work to do.
The opportunities that our gorgeous
county offers to residents and visitors
is a calling that never lets up. We are
able to thrive by working together but
constantly having to defend your work,
your staff and your mission is not
something that is effi cient, effective nor
healthy.
The fact that Anthony Lakes
Mountain Resort even exists today, a
precious and tangible benefi t to Baker
County, is due to those volunteers.
They saw an opportunity and created
a nonprofi t organization to operate an
asset that would have been lost with-
out their vision and perseverance.
Working together has always
worked for Baker County.
Does McQuisten even know that
history? Does she care?
Beverly Calder
Baker City
Feeling confi dent among
vaccinated mask-wearers
My beautiful wife and I recently
made our fi rst trip to heaven. We had
never been to Hawaii. It was not easy,
the protocols were strict. Proof of vac-
cination, online forms, all of it requiring
computer skills (accomplished by my
more technically advanced spouse).
My generous sister and brother-in-law
invited us, having secured a free room
at a premier resort (something about
accumulated points). This was their
fourth or fi fth visit, they were excited
to have us share the experience.
From the second we stepped on the
plane I knew this trip would be special.
Every person on the plane had been
vaccinated or had proof of COVID neg-
ativity. All persons wore masks cover-
ing both mouth and nose. There was no
selfi sh whining. I felt completely safe
for the fi rst time in a long while. These
feelings were reinforced on arrival.
No one protesting, no unvaccinated
idiot crisis at the hospitals, everyone
respectfully wore masks when around
others. There was peaceful compliance
with all mandates, suggested or other-
wise. The most noticeable thing? Ev-
eryone was happy, every tourist, every
local! No angry marching crybabies, no
teachers, parents, health professionals,
police, fi refi ghters carrying ridicu-
lous signs claiming some fabricated
constitutional right enabling them to
disrespect and infect others.
We traveled most of the Big Island
and saw not one racist Confederate
fl ag, not one disgusting idolization of
Trump, not one Trump anything! Not
only were these people happy but also
intelligent. We heard no ridiculous
anti-science or voter fraud conspiracy
theories, no silly outrage. We saw no
disgruntled loser frowns. We heard no
incessant “me, me, me” “my rights, my
rights ...” We witnessed no meaningless
unfruitful rallies. There was no suf-
fering through redfaced, fi st pumping
maniacs shouting about anything and
everything they just didn’t like. A true
paradise, only happy smiling “healthy”
people, so refreshing.
Mike Meyer
Baker City