A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
A wilderness
proposal
gone wild
R
esidents of Malheur
County, Ore., are wise to
be suspicious of a plan
to designate 43 percent of their
county as a wilderness area.
They should continue to
resist the proposal any way
they can.
It’s a tradition among
outgoing Democratic presidents
to set aside massive swaths
of the West as wilderness
areas. They do it to make
themselves look pretty to the
environmental community.
Jimmy Carter holds the
record, setting aside 27 million
acres of Alaska as wilderness
during his single term.
Bill Clinton set aside 9.2
million acres of wilderness as
he was heading out the door.
Now it’s President Barack
Obama’s turn.
You’ll note that in all of
the above cases, the people
who live in those areas were
steamrolled.
That’s why we’re
concerned about the Owyhee
Canyonlands Conservation
Proposal, which would
designate a little more than 2
million acres as wilderness and
50 miles of rivers as wild and
scenic rivers.
Under the Wilderness Act
of 1964, “no temporary road,
no use of motor vehicles,
motorized equipment or
motorboats, no landing of
aircraft, no other form of
mechanical transport and
no structure or installation”
is allowed except as a
way to meet the minimum
requirements of administering
the area.
Even using vehicles to take
out juniper trees, which ruin
greater sage grouse habitat,
is banned. A federal judge
recently ruled that motorized
vehicles couldn’t be used to
help clear junipers from a
wilderness study area near
Steens Mountain in south-
central Oregon. And note the
name of the plaintiff in the
lawsuit: the Oregon Natural
Desert Association, which is
behind the plan for Malheur
County.
Though proponents such
as ONDA promise that
grazing allotments would be
grandfathered in, ranchers
there ¿nd little comfort in the
assurance.
Bob Skinner, a rancher,
reminded the 500 people who
gathered in the Adrian High
School gym recently that
proponents of the plan, such as
ONDA, are litigators.
“Once this gets to court, all
bets are off,” he told the crowd.
The irony of the meeting was
provided when Brent Fenty,
executive director of ONDA,
told the crowd he wants to stop
mining and oil and gas drilling.
“We all care about the
Owyhee and want to keep it
the way it is today, we just may
disagree on how we do that,”
he said.
Indeed.
The most troubling aspect
of this plan is the Obama
administration hiding its
intentions from members of
Congress. Rep. Greg Walden,
R-Ore., represents Malheur
County. He says he has asked
the administration to tell the
truth about the plan, but has
thus far received no answer.
State Rep. Cliff Bentz,
R-Ontario, organized the
Adrian meeting and plans to
send a video of it to the White
House in hopes that members
of the administration will
understand what’s at stake.
We often write about the
“urban-rural” divide. This is the
perfect example of where it’s
getting wider. Proponents —
nearly all from cities — want
to impose wilderness status on
rural residents. The urbanites
don’t care what the rural
residents think or that it will
ultimately eviscerate the local
economy.
There is precious little in the
record to show that the Obama
administration will listen to the
people of Malheur County. The
administration has a long track
record of imposing regulatory
shock and awe on rural parts of
the West. The Environmental
Protection Agency’s Waters of
the United States regulations
and the Department of
Labor’s “hot goods” actions
against farmers are just two
prominent examples of how
federal agencies overstep their
statutory authority.
And consider this: There
is also nothing in the record
to indicate that proponents of
designating more wilderness
in Malheur County care even a
tiny bit about the people who
live there — or anywhere else
in the rural West.
W HERE TO WRITE
GRANT COUNTY
Grant County Courthouse — 201 S.
Humbolt St., Suite 280, Canyon City 97820.
Phone: 541-575-0059. Fax: 541-575-2248.
Canyon City — P.O. Box 276, Canyon
City 97820. Phone: 541-575-0509. Fax:
541-575-0515. Email: tocc1862@centu-
rylink.net.
Dayville — P.O. Box 321, Dayville
97825. Phone: 541-987-2188. Fax: 541-
987-2187. Email:dville@ortelco.net
John Day — 450 E. Main St, John Day,
97845. Phone: 541-575-0028. Fax: 541-
575-1721. Email: cityjd@centurytel.net.
/RQJ&UHHN — P.O. Box 489, Long
Creek 97856. Phone: 541-421-3601. Fax:
541-421-3075. Email: info@cityoÀongcreek.
com.
Monument — P.O. Box 426, Monument
97864. Phone and fax: 541-934-2025.
Email: monument@oregontrail.net.
0W9HUQRQ — P.O. Box 647, Mt. Vernon
97865. Phone: 541-932-4688. Fax: 541-
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
P UBLISHED EVERY
W EDNESDAY BY
932-4222. Email: cmtv@ortelco.net.
Prairie City — P.O. Box 370, Prairie City
97869. Phone: 541-820-3605. Fax: 820-
3566. Email: pchall@ortelco.net.
Seneca — P.O. Box 208, Seneca
97873. Phone and fax: 541-542-2161.
Email: cityseneca@centurytel.net.
SALEM
*RY.DWH%URZQ' — 254 State
Capitol, Salem 97310. Phone: 503-378-
3111. Fax: 503-378-6827. Website: www.
governor.state.or.us/governor.html.
Oregon Legislature — State Capitol,
Salem, 97310. Phone: (503) 986-1180.
Website: www. leg.state.or.us (includes
Oregon Constitution and Oregon Revised
Statutes).
6WDWH5HS&OLII%HQW]5-Ontario (Dis-
trict: 60), Room H-475, State Capitol, 900
Court St. N.E., Salem OR 97301. Phone:
503-986-1460. Email: rep.cliffbentz@state.
or.us. Website: www.leg.state.or.us/bentz/
home.htm.
Oregon’s veterans continue to serve
Guest editorial
by Cameron Smith
Veterans Day is one day to
honor the service and sacrifice
of all who have raised their
right hand, worn the uniform,
defended our freedom and stood
guard over our peace.
Across our 70-year history,
the Oregon Department of
Veterans’ Affairs has witnessed
generations of service members
returning home and then using
their hard-earned leadership
skills and experience to
significantly contribute to our
communities.
What many citizens may not
know is that one out of every 12
Oregonians is a veteran. While
our veterans gain great strength
from their service, it is not
surprising that many can face
challenges as they reintegrate
home. For those impacted
by their service, we must
understand their tenacious spirit
and resiliency. They deserve
nothing less than the best in
care, resources and support.
There is never a doubt,
though, that our learned
resilience, idealistic pride and
unwavering dedication to our
families, community and each
other is stronger because we
served in uniform.
Take the recent examples of
young returning veterans from
Oregon like Alek Skarlatos
and Chris Mintz. Skarlatos
captured international headlines
She is a leader for both our
fastest growing demographic,
women veterans, and for all
veterans across Oregon.
While our focus is on
our veterans, we also must
remember the service and
sacrifice of our military and
veteran families. Judi Van
Cleave of Portland was elected
as the National President of
Gold Star Wives of America.
Her late husband was a disabled
Korean War veteran.
Judi’s significant service
for two decades with Gold Star
Wives of America continues
to honor our fallen and their
families.
Across our team at the
Oregon Department of Veterans’
Affairs, many of us are
veterans and family members
of veterans, and we continue
to be inspired by our current
service members, veterans and
their families. We are honored
and privileged to serve them —
not just on Veterans Day, but
throughout the year. It is their
individual stories that make
up the incredible fabric of our
community.
No matter the branch of
service, no matter the era, no
matter who we are, or where we
live, we stand proudly together.
We are Oregon veterans.
Cameron Smith served three
tours in Iraq as a U.S. Marine
captain and is the director of the
Oregon Department of Veterans’
Affairs.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
Learn from
the disaster
Letter to the Editor:
Well, we are about to relo-
cate. We are about to move to
Prairie City. As the old saying
goes, “It ain’t our druthers.” It
is a forced move brought on by
the Canyon Creek Complex Fire,
a fire that didn’t have to happen.
I have developed a goodly bit of
bitterness in that regard over the
past few weeks.
For several years, I have
screamed for the forest service
to put the fire out instead of
setting around while it burned
itself out. A good example was
the Berry Creek lightning strike.
One or two more helicopter
bucket drops of water or retar-
dant, even dirt for that matter,
and my house as well as several
others up Canyon Creek might
well still be here, just one or two
bucket drops.
But that didn’t happen. I was
told that a couple of ground
crews were on the scene and they
had a trail around the fire and
were letting it burn out. Well,
it burned out alright. The unex-
pected jumped up and the wind
took care of the rest. Just think, a
bucket or two more of water pri-
or to that and our houses might
still be here. I know, it is too
late for our houses, but maybe
someone else in some other in-
cident might benefit. Put the fire
out!
I hope that in the future a les-
son was learned in this disaster.
Put the fire out. Maybe some-
body else’s house can be saved.
Just one or two buckets more
and maybe we could have avoid-
ed the heartache that we didn’t
deserve.
Dean Elliott
Canyon City
An initiative
for vote in 2016
Letter to Editor:
On May 21, 2002, this question
was approved by 67 percent of vot-
ers: “Shall Grant County Citizens
participate in Stewardship of Nat-
ural Resources on Public Lands?”
The last sentence of the summa-
ry states, “Grant County Citizens
may participate in stewardship of
natural resource(s) on public lands
within the county, when those re-
source(s) or use of the resource(s)
become detrimental to the health,
welfare and safety of the people.”
Does anyone have any doubts
about the Canyon Creek Complex
Fire or the potential Àooding as a
result of the ¿re being detrimental
to the health, welfare and safety of
the people?
The Sheriff responded with a
natural resource plan that will be
bene¿cial to citizens of the coun-
ty. The plan will be introduced as
an initiative for a vote in 2016.
There is no doubt the plan will be
approved by voters. Then it will
be up to the people to hold those
responsible for the health, welfare
and safety of the county to do their
sworn duty.
I request the Blue Mountain
Eagle to publish a “fair and bal-
anced” report so that citizens can be
accurately and honestly informed
concerning the huge detrimental ef-
fect the ¿re and future Àooding will
have on the people of the county.
Jim Sproul
Canyon City
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. We
must limit all contributors to one letter per person per month. 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.
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
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MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
for thwarting a
terrorist attack
while traveling in
France after his
deployment in
Afghanistan with
the Oregon Army
National Guard.
Cameron
Similarly, Mintz,
Smith
an Army veteran,
also chose to run toward chaos
on the Umpqua Community
College campus to help protect
fellow students.
He was shot multiple times
and, thankfully, continues to
recover for his young family
and community.
These stories have made the
national news, but our local
veterans communities are filled
with everyday examples of
inspiring continued service.
Bill Griffith is a former Navy
Corpsman who served in
Vietnam and is continuing to
serve his fellow veterans as an
award-winning volunteer Long
Term Care Ombudsman. He
was recently recognized for his
advocacy for our aging veterans
at the Oregon Veterans’ Home
in The Dalles and other skilled
nursing facilities, receiving the
Governor’s Volunteer Award in
October.
A recent appointment to
ODVA’s Advisory Committee,
Kim Douthit, is a Coast Guard
veteran and continues to serve
student veterans in her role
as a veterans’ coordinator at
Portland Community College.
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