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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (May 6, 2015)
A4 Opinion Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, May 6, 2015 Use common sense before water woes swamp the West T he folks in Klamath Falls DUHKRSLQJIRUWKHEHVW As they look at a sparse snowpack in the mountains and a forecast for another dry summer, they maintain their RSWLPLVP They say they’ve seen it before — in 2001, ’02 and ’03 — and despite the outlook they remain optimistic that somehow enough water will UHPDLQDYDLODEOHIRUWKHLUFURSV Like the rest of the West, the Klamath region’s economy GHSHQGVRQZDWHU:LWKRXW adequate water, the farms and ranches, and the economy that depends on them, face another GLI¿FXOW\HDU But the sad irony is that such hardships could have been DYRLGHG&RPPRQVHQVHFRXOG KDYHKHOSHGWKHP Common sense dictates that a region with periodic water shortages should have more VWRUDJH5HVHUYRLUVDTXLIHU recharge, lake taps and any other practical means of storing water that is often plentiful in the winter but scarce in the VXPPHUQHHGWREHSXUVXHG<HW precious little has been done at the federal, state or local levels WRFUHDWHPRUHVWRUDJH The problem is not unique WRWKH.ODPDWK)DOOVUHJLRQ Pick a state in the West, and the lack of adequate water storage is the primary problem facing DJULFXOWXUH,Q&DOLIRUQLDLW¶V becoming a challenge that crosses urban-rural lines, affecting a broad range of water XVHUV The debate over climate change and its causes FRQWLQXHVEXWWKHUDPL¿FDWLRQV are clear: growing contention over a valuable resource that’s LQOLPLWHGVXSSO\2QHSDUWRI that discussion should focus on ZDWHUVWRUDJH When winter precipitation comes in the form of rain instead of mountain snows, common sense dictates that some of it should be stored, yet only a few storage projects are LQWKHZRUNVDURXQGWKH:HVW In California, spurred by a four-year drought, voters have approved the construction RIWZRUHVHUYRLUV+RZHYHU state leaders haven’t even GHFLGHGZKHUHWREXLOGWKHP Elsewhere, a few small reservoirs and aquifer recharge projects are contemplated or are XQGHUZD\ Such projects are desperately QHHGHGDQGQRZ The federal Endangered Species Act also plays a role in our water crises, pitting ZDWHUIRU¿VKDQGRWKHUVSHFLHV DJDLQVWWKHQHHGVRIWKHSHRSOH Billions of dollars have been VSHQWRQKHOSLQJ¿VKZKLOH little has been spent in the past \HDUVRQZDWHUVWRUDJH If farmers and ranchers want a preview of where this is headed, they don’t have to ORRNIDU:HVWHUQDQG6RXWKHUQ Oregon depended on the timber industry for generations, yet they have struggled to survive after the northern spotted owl was listed as threatened under WKH(6$ But no matter what one’s viewpoint is on the ESA or climate change, all sides should agree that more water storage is desperately needed across the :HVW It’s a matter of common VHQVH Blue Mountain EAGLE 195 N. Canyon Blvd. • John Day, OR 97845 541-575-0710 • Fax 541-575-1244 Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper USPS 226-340 John Day, Oregon MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION P UBLISHER E DITOR A DMINISTRATIVE A SSISTANT E DITORIAL A SSISTANT C OMMUNITY N EWS S PORTS M ARKETING R EP C USTOMER S ERVICE R EP Marissa Williams, marissa@bmeagle.com Scotta Callister, editor@bmeagle.com Kristina Kreger, kristina@bmeagle.com Cheryl Hoefler, cheryl@bmeagle.com Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com Kim Kell, ads@bmeagle.com Lindsay Bullock office@bmeagle.com PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY BY: EO Media Group 3HULRGLFDOV3RVWDJH3DLGDW-RKQ'D\DQGDGGLWLRQDOPDLOLQJRI¿FHV SUBSCRIPTION RATES (including online access) Grant County Elsewhere in Oregon Continental U.S., Outside Oregon Outside Continental U.S. 1 year $40.00 $48.00 $55.00 $60.00 Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery See the Blue Mountain Eagle on the Internet www.MyEagleNews.com POSTMASTER — send address changes to Blue Mountain Eagle 195 N. Canyon Blvd. John Day, OR 97845-1187 Copyright © 2015 Blue Mountain Eagle All rights reserved. No part of this publication covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means — graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, taping or information storage and retrieval systems — without written permission of the publisher. L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR Out of bounds To the Editor: Do you want your access to pub- lic lands treated like a basketball game, where you have to worry about if you are “in bounds” or “out of bounds” and have to live with the penalties of not staying within the boundaries set forth by the Forest Service? That is exactly what your life will be if the proposed designa- tion of routes language and travel management plan are put into place RQRXUQDWLRQDOIRUHVW Currently you are allowed to openly and freely access the Wal- lowa-Whitman and Malheur Na- tional Forest via motorized means at your discretion unless otherwise not- ed by wilderness areas or areas spe- FL¿FDOO\WDUJHWHGDVQRQPRWRUL]HG Once roads areas are designated, all motorized use off those roads will be prohibited (within a given buffer along the road), going from an open forest system to a closed forest sys- WHP Much like the basketball court where you are not allowed to leave the court, motorized access will be disallowed from roughly 95 percent RI\RXUSXEOLFODQGV<RXPD\RQO\ play on the court the Forest Service allows, which will be along their se- lected roads, and if you play outside those lines, you will be penalized up WRDQGRURQH\HDULQMDLO When did you turn over your right of motorized access to the For- est Service? Did any of you sign a GRFXPHQW JLYLQJ 0U 0RQWR\D RU 0U 3HQD WKH DXWKRULW\ WR GHFLGH when and where you traveled? Offenses will get you penalized if you go outside the designated area IRU ¿UHZRRG FXWWLQJ UHWULHYLQJ ELJ game, dispersed camping, accessing historic berry and mushroom picking areas, accessing historic hunting ar- eas, or simply recreating in your fa- YRULWHDUHDMXVWWRQDPHDIHZ If you do not agree that our mo- torized access should be restricted, please let Secretary Tom Vilsack WRPYLOVDFN#XVGDJRYDQG5REHUW %RQQLH UREHUWERQQLH#XVGDJRY know how their staff is failing our FRPPXQLWLHVDQGIDPLOLHV John George Bates hundreds of pages of indecipherable jargon the average person cannot wade through, including burn plans HQFRPSDVVLQJ*DOHQDFHPHWHU\ When the Forest Service uses my federal tax dollars to turn my public forest into a police state, I want my money back and that of my ancestors IURPWLPHLPPHPRULDO Discouraged from submitting a newspaper commentary, I was amused to see a member of the For- est Service-fed Blue Mountain For- est Partners (BMFP) given editorial OLFHQVH WR VXSSRUW WKHLU IDUÀXQJ IRUHVWPDQDJHPHQWHIIRUWV1RLQGL- cation of credentials for BMFP orig- inators wanting to “help wisely man- DJH WKH QDWLRQDO IRUHVW´ 7KH PDLQ organization is composed of people primarily from out of state or met- ropolitan origin who provided input IRUORFDO)RUHVW6HUYLFHGRFXPHQWV They have “loggers, timber company and service contract reps, retired Forest Service employees, ranchers and others” to lend them FUHGHQFH 7KH ORFDO &LWL]HQV IRU Public Access group is comprised of a sizable representation of loggers, retired Forest Service employees, ranchers, and local long-established citizenry fully capable of governing WKHLURZQQDWLRQDOIRUHVW It was stated that the BMFP was formed 10 years ago to end the tim- ber wars that were strangling the ORFDOHFRQRP\7KHRQO\WKLQJVWUDQ- gling the local economy was the For- est Service’s stranglehold on timber KDUYHVW7KHQWKH³K\SHWKDWZHDUH EHLQJORFNHGRXWRIWKHIRUHVW´ +HUH¶V QHZV E\ )6 GH¿QLWLRQ Level 1 roads are closed roads and they constitute a major percent of all URDGV LQ DOO SURMHFWV 7KHUH PD\ EH trouble in paradise because report- edly the BMFP cannot get full group consensus on road reduction issues for their draft vegetation recom- mendation document resulting from the fact that the Forest Service road closures are sometimes lacking the EDFNJURXQG VFLHQFH RU VLWH VSHFL¿F UDWLRQDOHIRUFORVXUHV Judy Kerr Canyon City the community where inappropriate EHKDYLRUFDQSRSXSDWDQ\WLPH)RU example, I personally have over- heard men at checkout counters in John Day make sexual innuendos, or make what they think are humorous suggestive comments, or personal remarks about a woman’s appear- ance when they think others cannot KHDU WKHP 8VXDOO\ WKH ZRPDQ MXVW completes the transaction without FRPPHQW+HUFRQGLWLRQLQJPD\EH “oh well, he is just that way,” or “he is a local business owner so don’t make an issue about it,” even if she LVXQFRPIRUWDEOH How can we allow ourselves as adults to be assaulted this way in the marketplace, workplace, even vol- unteer environments and then talk to teens about how to treat each other in personal relationships? How do we teach our youth about respect for themselves, others and boundaries when we won’t demand it for our- selves? Leslie Barnett Long Creek Pot’s healing powers To the Editor: I can no longer be silent and al- low more lies and deception to be XWWHUHGDERXWPDULMXDQD2XUFRXQ- try has been denied this wonderful plant for almost a century and it is SDVW WLPH IRU WKH WUXWK 7KH SURKL- bition was started with a systematic program of lies and deceit fueled by JUHHGDQGELJRWU\ We are smarter than that now, and the majority of the country now knows the truth that the government has been lying to us about marijua- QD 7KH IHGHUDO JRYHUQPHQW WRRN D patent on the healing medicine in marijuana over 30 years ago! Anyone can now go on their computer and see literally thou- sands of articles and testimonials of the healing powers of this plant, with virtually no harmful side af- IHFWVXQOLNHSKDUPDFHXWLFDOV It is time to come out of the dark ages and end the bigotry and lies DQG VWDUW WKH KHDOLQJ 6WRS GHPRQ- izing the patients that desperately QHHGWKLVPHGLFLQH6WRSLQFDUFHUDW- Teach respect, ing patients and anyone that choos- boundaries es to use this virtually harmless To the Editor: SODQW A police state? I appreciated the April 29 column, The government has funded To the Editor: ³*UDQW&RXQW\6KRXOG7DNH/HDG hundreds of studies in the past to When the Forest Service uses my DQG 7DON$ERXW ,W´ E\ 0DWW ,SVRQ try and prove negative things about tax dollars to publish environmen- I cannot add to his excellent com- marijuana, to no avail; they are tal documents restricting access to ments except in one area: “We can now funding the miraculous heal- public lands and, in a petty personal all play a role in modeling healthy ing properties and the truth is being vendetta, marginalizes the important behaviors, promoting positive skills, UHYHDOHG (GXFDWH \RXUVHOYHV KHDO \RXUVHOYHVJRLQSHDFH role of a local law enforcement of- DQGFUHDWLQJVDIHHQYLURQPHQWV´ Rick McDonough ¿FHU WKHQ , ZDQW P\ GDPQ PRQH\ To apply this concept for teens Monument EDFN 7KH VDPH GRFXPHQW FRQWDLQV requires personal awareness out in L etters policy: Letters to the Editor is a forum for Blue Mountain Eagle readers to express themselves on local, state, national or world issues. Brevity is good, but longer letters will be asked to be contained to 350 words. No personal attacks; challenge the opinion, not the person. No thank-you letters. Submissions to this page become property of the Eagle. The Eagle reserves the right to edit letters for length and for content. Letters must be original and signed by the writer. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Writers should include a telephone number so they can be reached for questions. Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday. Send letters to editor@bmeagle.com, or Blue Mountain Eagle, 195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845; or fax to 541-575-1244. W HERE TO WRITE Washington, D.C. The White House, 1600 3HQQV\OYDQLD $YH 1: :DVKLQJWRQ '& Phone-comments: 202-456- 1111; Switchboard: 202- 86 6HQ 5RQ :\GHQ '²+DUW6HQDWH2I¿FH %XLOGLQJ :DVKLQJWRQ '& 3KRQH (PDLO ZD\QHBNLQ- QH\#Z\GHQVHQDWHJRY :HEVLWH KWWSZ\GHQVHQ- DWHJRY)D[ 86 6HQ -HII 0HUNOH\ D — 313 Hart Senate Of- ¿FH %XLOGLQJ :DVKLQJWRQ '& " 3KRQH (PDLO VHQDWRU# PHUNOH\VHQDWHJRY )D[ 2UHJRQRI¿F- es include One World Trade &HQWHU 6: 6DOPRQ 6W6XLWH3RUWODQG25 DQG6(6HFRQG 6W 6XLWH 3HQGOHWRQ 253KRQH )D[ 86 5HS *UHJ:DOGHQ R — (Second District) 1404 Longworth Building, Wash- LQJWRQ '& 3KRQH 1R GLUHFW HPDLO EHFDXVH RI VSDP :HEVLWH ZZZZDOGHQ KRXVHJRY )D[ 0HGIRUG RI¿FH North Central, Suite 112, 0HGIRUG253KRQH )D[ Pending Bills: For infor- mation on bills in Congress, 3KRQH Salem *RY.DWH%URZQ'² 254 State Capitol, Salem 3KRQH )D[ :HEVLWH ZZZJRYHUQRU VWDWHRUXVJRYHUQRUKWPO Oregon Legislature — 6WDWH&DSLWRO6DOHP 3KRQH :HEVLWH ZZZ OHJVWDWH RUXVLQFOXGHV2UHJRQ&RQ- stitution and Oregon Re- YLVHG6WDWXWHV 6WDWH 5HS &OLII %HQW] R-Ontario (District: 60), 5RRP+6WDWH&DSLWRO &RXUW 6W 1( 6DOHP 25 3KRQH (PDLO UHSFOLII- EHQW]#VWDWHRUXV :HEVLWH ZZZOHJVWDWHRUXVEHQW] KRPHKWP 6WDWH 6HQ 7HG )HUULROL R — (District 30) Room S-223, State Capitol, Salem 3KRQH (PDLO VHQWHGIHU- ULROL#VWDWHRUXV (PDLO 7)(5#DROFRP 3KRQH :HEVLWH ZZZOHJVWDWHRUXVIHUULROL Oregon Legislative In- formation — (For updates on bills, services, capitol or messages for legislators) —