A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Western
governors offer
prudent
ESA proposal
S
ince it was passed in
1973, the Endangered
Species Act has been all
but untouchable by members
of Congress, who consider
amendments to the law with the
same trepidation they would
if they were climbing over an
electric fence.
It’s not that the ESA is
perfect — far from it. Rather
it’s fear of retribution from
environmental groups who see
the law as their meal ticket
and a weapon they use against
anyone who doesn’t share
their enthusiasm for shutting
down economic activities
across the West to “save” local
populations of various species.
That’s why an effort by
the Western Governors’
Association is so interesting.
The top elected officials in
the western-most 21 states
and three Pacific territories —
Republicans and Democrats
— took on the challenge of
studying the ESA to determine
how they could make it work
better.
Headed by Wyoming Gov.
Matt Mead, the association
first invited people from
around the West to talk about
the law. The governors’
recommendations are the result
of those initial conversations
and “drilling down” to develop
ideas for addressing the law’s
shortcomings.
It was not easy. The ESA
is complicated and riddled
with strict deadlines. In fact,
the deadlines are part of the
problem, the governors found.
They were added in 1982 and
have provided environmental
groups with the hammer they
wanted to force the federal
agencies to pay them whenever
they miss a deadline.
The governors recommended
that the deadlines be made
more realistic. They also
recommended the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service be allowed to
prioritize petitions for species
of concern. Those species that
are already the subject of on-
the-ground conservation efforts
would be a lower priority
than other species that are
not being helped. This would
allow time to determine how
any conservation efforts are
working before the USFWS
jumped in.
Such recommendations
represent a well-thought-out
starting point for making the
ESA better and more effective.
They “would require
agencies to consider
conservation efforts and give
them time to work,” David
Willms, a policy adviser
to the Wyoming governor,
recently told the Idaho Water
Users Association’s water law
conference.
Regardless of its intentions,
the ESA overloads federal
agencies, exposes them to
needless lawsuits and prevents
wildlife and land managers
from using all the tools at their
disposal to do their jobs.
Getting rid of the ESA,
however, is probably
not realistic, since every
environmental group would
most likely hit the panic button
at the mention of repeal.
But the case the Western
governors make for judiciously
modifying the ESA to make
it more effective — and
ultimately save more species
in need of help — is difficult
for even the most ardent
environmentalist to resist.
F ARMER ’ S F ATE
Crazy ‘two-canoe’ ideas
By Brianna Walker
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
“The more things change, the
more they stay the same.” I couldn’t
help but think of the epigram of
Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr while
reading with my son one afternoon.
The story was one of a young
boy and his family traveling from
Tennessee to Texas in 1852. The
challenges they faced often made
my son stop and wonder. Why
would they conserve gun powder —
couldn’t they just buy more? Why
did they eat everything they shot
— even when it was gristly, fatty
meat like raccoon? Why didn’t they
heat up the water after every person
took a bath? What was a flint, and
why didn’t they just use matches? In
these ways, the story seemed far re-
moved from us — that is, until they
got to a crossing at St. Francis River.
There was a ferry to take the
wagons across. People were swim-
ming children and animals across.
There was also a trapper who was
taking people across in his canoe. As
he was charging much less, he was
doing much more business than the
ferry driver.
“Too bad you can’t haul wagons
in them canoes,” said one man from
Kentucky.
“Who says I can’t?” the trapper
replied.
And so it was that, while the
wife protested, the man from Ken-
tucky made a deal with the trapper
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.
• Long Creek — P.O. Box 489, Long
Creek 97856. Phone: 541-421-3601. Fax:
541-421-3075. Email: info@cityoflong-
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.
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
P UBLISHED EVERY
W EDNESDAY BY
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.
SALEM
• Gov. Kate Brown, D — 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).
• Oregon Legislative Information —
(For updates on bills, services, capitol
or messages for legislators) — 800-332-
2313.
the rifle-armed lady on the shore.”
He looked at me with confusion. I
began telling him a story that hap-
pened when he was just a year old.
My husband and I had flown back
east to drive home two pickups. My
husband rented a trailer, and we were
planning on driving one and hauling
the other. But to save a few bucks,
he rented the “$1 canoe.” The trailer
wasn’t long enough or wide enough
so he used boards, and ramps, a hi-
lift jack and a lot of ratchets to get
the pickup on it. When it was final-
ly on, it looked precariously like I
imagine that wagon did on those two
canoes.
We drove just a few painful
miles — that trailer fishtailing like
crazy. I didn’t know if I should be
more afraid for us, the cars passing
us or the pickup whose back tires
were overhanging the trailer on
long boards. I could empathize with
Kentuckian’s wife. I wished I would
have had a rifle!
“So what happened?” my son
asked.
“Thankfully we stopped before
the ‘canoes’ sank. Then you and I
drove one pickup home, and Daddy
drove the other along with his cheap
trailer. The moral of the story is that
shortcuts don’t often work out in the
long run.”
“Maybe not,” he grinned, “but
they sure are funnier to talk about.”
Brianna Walker occasionally
writes about the Farmer’s Fate for
the Blue Mountain Eagle.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
Happy to see
Hammonds pardoned
W HERE TO W RITE
to take his canoe
for less than half of
what the ferryman
was charging. Two
canoes were lashed
to the wagon —
and somehow they
Brianna
managed to get one
Walker
under the left set of
wheels and the oth-
er under the right — then the wagon
started across the river.
The ferryman, having just lost a
$3 fare, started stomping on his hat
and cursing, while the rest of the peo-
ple stared in amazement and laugh-
ter at the wagon crossing the river on
two canoes. About halfway across,
the canoes seemed to go down a hair
in front. Then in the back.
“Paddle faster,” the Kentucky
man pleaded.
But it was to no avail. A full 30
feet from the shore, water poured
over the sides of a those canoes, and
they sank like rocks. The trapper
began swimming for his life — not
afraid of drowning, but powerfully
alarmed at the rifle the wife of the
Kentucky man was aiming in his di-
rection.
My son could no longer contain
his laughter. He let the book fall to
his chest as he laughed and coughed
and snorted. “What a silly thing to
do,” he giggled. “All to save $2.
Couldn’t he tell it was a bad idea?”
“Well, my son, someday you will
understand: It’s a guy thing. And
most wives will be able to relate to
To the Editor:
I appreciate the work of Rep.
Greg Walden, persevering until
justice was accomplished in the case
of Dwight and Steven Hammond. I
am grateful to President Trump for
reviewing this case and seeing his
way clear to right a terrible injustice.
Hopefully these Eastern Oregon fam-
ilies can put their lives back together
and once again enjoy the unique life
of the high desert. I trust their expe-
rience will not be in vain and all in-
volved will have learned from what
has transpired and save other ranch-
ers from such a fate. Government has
its place but not when it overreaches
to “shock the conscience” as was stat-
ed by federal Judge Michael Hogan,
who presided over the case and used
his discretion in sentencing. These
men have more than served their
time, and I am so happy to see this
ridiculous decision overruled and the
Hammonds pardoned.
Cheryl Cruson
Ontario
Walden did
the right thing
To the Editor:
The Hammond pardon was se-
cured by a great many people. It was
like a huge jigsaw puzzle with many
different pieces that all had to go to-
gether at the right time to make it hap-
pen. Everyone was working to cor-
rect and make right a grave injustice.
Congressman Walden was a big
piece of the puzzle to help secure the
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
P UBLISHER ............ ..................... C HRIS R USH , CRUSH @ EOMEDIAGROUP . COM
E DITOR & G ENERAL M ANAGER ... S EAN H ART , EDITOR @ BMEAGLE . COM
R EPORTER ............................... R ICHARD H ANNERS , RICK @ BMEAGLE . COM
C OMMUNITY N EWS .................... A NGEL C ARPENTER , ANGEL @ BMEAGLE . COM
S PORTS ................................... A NGEL C ARPENTER , ANGEL @ BMEAGLE . COM
M ARKETING R EP ....................... K IM K ELL , ADS @ BMEAGLE . COM
O FFICE M ANAGER ..................... L INDSAY B ULLOCK , OFFICE @ BMEAGLE . COM
O FFICE A SSISTANT .................... A LIXANDRA H AND , OFFICE @ BMEAGLE . COM
presidential pardon for Dwight and
Steven Hammond of Harney County.
Walden did the right thing. Those
of us in Congressional District 2, who
can actually vote for Walden and re-
ally know the issues, are grateful for
his help.
Those who are familiar with the
case and issues are fully aware the
pardon was justified. The Hammond
family is a ranching family in East-
ern Oregon who help feed the world.
They are not domestic terrorists.
Now, in comparison, President
Obama pardoned over 600 individ-
uals. Most were hardened criminals
dealing in hard drugs, theft and other
crimes, which are a threat to society.
He let these types out on society.
Where was the hue and the cry about
these pardons? Congressman Walden
did the right thing!
Suzan Ellis Jones
Bridgeport
Righting a
wrongful situation
To the Editor:
In the 1800s, brave and indepen-
dent individuals suffered hardships
and trials to reach Oregon. These
founders of our state had strongly
held beliefs about their God, their
county and their Constitution. Having
strongly held beliefs is still the back-
bone of Oregon.
It was a black eye for those strong-
ly held beliefs when the notion of
federal control for public lands ex-
ploded into a confrontation at the
Malheur refuge. The situation soon
became fodder for late night TV hosts
and wild stories circulated the na-
1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION RATES
(including online access)
Grant County .....................................$40
Everywhere else in U.S. .....................$51
Outside Continental U.S. ....................$60
Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION Email: www.MyEagleNews.com Phone: 541-575-0710
tion about a “terrorist” activity loose
in Oregon. Steve and Dwight Ham-
mond went to prison. Twice. Both
of these men served their allotted
time for allowing a controlled burn
to spread beyond their land. In 2016,
under the Obama Administration,
Chief Judge Aiken ruled that these
men must go back to prison in order
to serve a mandatory minimum spe-
cially designed for terrorists.
What started all this? Steve Ham-
mond started several back fires after
lightning started a blaze that threat-
ened his winter feed for his cattle. It’s
amusing to note that our government
does similar things for similar rea-
sons. They have controlled burns that
have migrated on to private lands.
When that happens, the government
does not brand itself as a terrorist,
nor does it call for its own arrest,
conviction and imprisonment. How-
ever, Dwight and Steven Hammond
were sentenced to prison. The entire
situation was made of many wrongs.
I appreciate President Trump for his
pardon of the Hammonds. He righted
a very wrongful situation. Congress-
man Greg Walden has put forth the
legislation H.R. 983 that would en-
sure that farmers and ranchers would
never again be prosecuted as terror-
ists for range management fires.
This isn’t a political letter. This is
an Oregonian letter. It is applauding
people who do the right thing. One of
Oregon’s strongly held values con-
cerns the larger issue of federal con-
trol of public lands. May Oregon
always be home to brave and inde-
pendent individuals with strongly
held beliefs.
Zee Koza
La Grande
Periodicals Postage Paid at John
Day and additional mailing offices.
POSTMASTER
send address changes to:
Blue Mountain Eagle
195 N. Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845-1187
USPS 226-340
Copyright © 2018 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.
www.facebook.com/MyEagleNews
@MyEagleNews