A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Manage forests, or
watch them burn
F
or those who have not
witnessed the blast-
furnace heat and the
eye-stinging smoke of a
wildfi re along with the mass
destruction of timber, homes,
businesses and wildlife, the
recent fi res should be a learning
experience.
Nearly every corner of the
West was on fi re. From Arizona
to Washington state and from
California to Montana, 65
active fi res were burning 2.83
million acres. Those numbers
include only the fi res that were
10,000 acres or larger. The
average size of those fi res was
43,556 acres.
In some areas, including
Portland and Los Angeles, the
fi res got too close for comfort.
Drivers on Los Angeles
expressways could see fl ames
racing up the hillsides, and
Interstate 84 east of Portland
was closed as fi refi ghters
valiantly worked to keep the
wind-driven fl ames at bay.
For many Western city
dwellers, wildfi res just got
personal. They were no longer
something they watched from
afar, watching video snippets
from the safety of their homes
and apartments. The stench of
smoke could be smelled and
the raging fl ames could be seen
up close.
Firefi ghters were forced
to prioritize which blazes
to fi ght and which to let go.
They hoped to save the lodge
at Multnomah Falls in the
Columbia Gorge and the lodge
at McDonald Lake in Glacier
National Park. They battled to
keep fi res away from Yosemite
and Yellowstone national parks.
Among politicians, the
chatter was about how to
fund fi refi ghters — talk about
fi ddling while the West burns.
They want to make sure the
money for fi refi ghters doesn’t
come out of the U.S. Forest
Service budget but from the
money set aside for disasters.
This chatter has been going
on for years now, and any
effective member of Congress
would have gotten it passed and
signed by the president. But we
haven’t really seen much in the
way of effectiveness coming
out of Congress recently, have
we?
What they need to talk about
— and take action on — is the
absolutely irresponsible and
short-sighted way public lands
in the West are managed.
Let’s start with forests, shall
we?
At some point the Obama
administration decided nearly
all federal forests were off-
limits to logging, the best and
only way to manage forests.
For decades, foresters have
been warning that letting
forests go unmanaged will
only mean bigger and badder
wildfi res in the future.
We need federal managers
who are allowed to effectively
manage publicly owned forests.
Instead of taking out roads
from national forests, they need
to leave them in place. They
need to sell timber in strategic
ways that will make fi ghting
the next wildfi re easier.
In the vast open spaces of
the West they need to allow
more cattle grazing, which has
been shown to be an effective
way to keep down cheatgrass
and other weeds that burn hot
and kill the ecosystem. Juniper
trees need to be taken out of
all areas, including wilderness,
where they are destroying the
countryside and hindering the
recovery of the greater sage
grouse and other important
species.
The people who know the
West best are those who live
there. Federal managers need
to listen when people tell them
that they are setting up the
region for disastrous fi res. That
has happened time and time
again, especially in Oregon and
Washington state.
And don’t listen to critics
who holler that people just
want to clearcut the West. In
decades past, federal land was
actively managed — logged
— and the forests are still
a beautiful resource. Those
who say they don’t want one
tree cut down are simply
denying the fact that forests
need to be managed, or they
will eventually be destroyed
by wildfi re, bark beetles or
disease.
Managing forests and open
spaces will not put an end to
wildfi res, but it will reduce
their size and number.
F ARMER ’ S F ATE
The eighth day of the week
By Brianna Walker
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
Have you ever reached the end
of your week, barely making it half-
way on your “to do” list? Starting
out the week on last week’s list
seems a bit like combining with a
hopper that never fully empties.
To keep the hopper emptied and
the “to do” list short, one seems to
have to ignite the midnight petro-
leum frequently, and then suddenly
you fi nd that “spontaneous nap-
ping” has somehow found its way
to the top of your list. I fi nally got
my eight hours of sleep in — took
four days, but who’s counting?
Summertime seems to be the
worst for uncompleted lists: always
trying to squeeze an extra hour or
two out of each day. Each morning
we juggle the harvest balls of hay,
wheat and watermelons between
us and the crew. If we are lucky we
keep those balls bouncing between
us long enough to eat breakfast —
before noon!
Recently,
sit-
ting in the freshly
cut hay, drinking
a warm Gatorade,
looking into a
swather header that
obviously felt it
Brianna
had put in its eight
Walker
hours and want-
ed to go home, I
had an epiphany. Our lists aren’t
too long — our weeks are too
short. We need an eight-day week.
And I have the perfect name for
it: Someday. Just think what we
could get done!
How many times have you asked
your spouse about building that ex-
tra room on your house? Or having
a yard sale to clear out the clutter?
Or maybe building that tree house
for the kids? Yeah, you’ll get to that
“Someday.”
How wonderful would that be
to have Someday roll around every
week? I could fi nally get my sewing
room completed. My husband could
fi nally fi x his old Trans Am that has
held down the same piece of ground
for close to six years now — OK,
so that one might take “a month of
Somedays.” But just think of the
things you’ve been needing to fi n-
ish that would suddenly happen. I
might actually get my Christmas
tree taken down — but then again,
if I just wait a few more months I’ll
be ahead of the game. Someday, I’ll
be on top of my housework. Some-
day, I’ll learn that foreign language.
Someday. ...
My husband interrupted my
thoughts, “I got the header fi xed,
when do you want to fi nish swath-
ing?”
“Someday,” I smirked at him.
They say every day is a gift.
Well, if that’s true, then I’d like a
receipt for Monday. I’d like to ex-
change it for “Someday.”
Brianna Walker occasionally
writes about the Farmer’s Fate for
the Blue Mountain Eagle.
G UEST C OMMENT
Social Security for those who served
By Kimberly Hermann
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
The men and women who
served our country in the military
can count on Social Security to be
there for them throughout their
lives.
Active duty military members
earn credits toward Social Secu-
rity retirement benefits. Wounded
Warriors can receive expedited
handling of their claims to receive
disability benefits. We also pro-
vide survivor benefits for young
children and spouses of veterans
who have died.
You can learn more about how
Social Security helps our veterans
build a secure financial future for
themselves and their families at
socialsecurity.gov/people/veter-
ans.
Our newest initiative, Journey
to Success: Employment Tools
for Veterans with Disabilities, is
a five-part online guide that helps
certain disabled veterans return
to fulfilling employment in the
American workforce.
The guide highlights resourc-
es, such as career counseling, job
training and employment services.
You can access Journey to Suc-
cess at ssa.gov/people/veterans.
We know some veterans suf-
fered injuries so severe they
cannot return to their previous
work. However, for those veter-
ans who are interested in testing
their ability to find and main-
tain gainful employment, these
resources can help. We thank
all members of our military and
veterans for their service and
sacrifice.
To learn more about our pro-
grams and benefits, visit socialse-
curity.gov.
Kimberly Hermann is a Social
Security public affairs specialist.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
W HERE TO W RITE
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.
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
P UBLISHED EVERY
W EDNESDAY BY
• Long Creek — P.O. Box 489, Long
Creek 97856. Phone: 541-421-3601. Fax:
541-421-3075. Email: info@cityofl ong-
creek.com.
• Monument — P.O. Box 426, Monument
97864. Phone and fax: 541-934-2025.
Email: cityofmonument@centurytel.net.
• Mt. Vernon — P.O. Box 647, Mt.
Vernon 97865. Phone: 541-932-4688. Fax:
541-932-4222. 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: senecaoregon@gmail.com.
‘The deer are now
a remnant herd’
To the Editor:
Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife biologist Ryan Torland
discredits himself in the eyes of
old-timers in Grant County when he
asserts that the local deer herds are
“chugging along just fi ne.” Talk to
just about any old-time rancher or
Grant County hunter, and they will
tell you the truth: “The deer are just
a remnant herd of what they used
to be.” We know beyond a shad-
ow of a doubt that the deer herd is
not “chugging along just fi ne”; the
remnant is barely “chugging” at all.
This kind of “misdirection” is why
so many hold ODFW in contempt;
we don’t like to be lied to. We hold
our nose and buy our license, buy
deer hunt applications and, if suc-
cessful, know that 85 percent of us
will just be buying the right to take
our rifl es for a walk in the woods.
Oh, we enjoy the camping trip, the
camaraderie, the stories from the
good old days, but what we would
really like is a reasonable chance at
success for our dollars. Mr. Torland
may respond with numbers and
statistics, but those of us who have
been there and done that know the
truth. The deer are now a remnant
herd.
Reg LeQuieu
Mt. Vernon
L
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