A4
I
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Protect
ranchers,
not wolves
magine for a moment that
you have a new job. You are
to manage an alpha predator,
known to be one of the most
efficient and voracious hunters
in the wild. This predator doesn’t
just hunt for food, it teaches its
young by practicing how first to
isolate an animal, chase and wear
it down and then grab it from
behind and tear it apart while it’s
still alive — altogether a horrific
scene.
Now imagine that near your
predators are farms and ranches,
where families have raised cattle,
sheep and other livestock for
generations. They were making
a living on those ranches long
before your predators were
allowed back into the region.
Yours is a thankless job.
You know that most of your
predators will stay away from
livestock, but you also know that
it is inevitable that some of the
predators will hunt cattle, sheep
and even llamas. You know that
a cow, a calf, a ewe or any other
animal has no chance against
your predators.
Considering these facts, what
is the first step you’d take in your
new job? Cross your fingers and
hope the predators find enough
elk and other wildlife and stay
away from livestock? Make
excuses for the predators every
time they tear a calf or a lamb
into shreds? Pretend the attacks
were by an “undetermined”
animal?
This scenario and these
questions have been played out
across the West as state and
federal wildlife managers try to
figure out what they’re doing in
managing wolves. In varying
degrees, they have succeeded in
losing the trust of the people who
live in wolf country.
Ranchers are forced to stand
by as tens of thousands of dollars
of livestock are repeatedly killed,
injured and traumatized by
wolves. Then the ranchers are
blamed for “not doing enough”
to stop the attacks. It’s much the
same argument as telling a crime
victim that you “deserved” to be
attacked and it was “your fault”
because you were in the “wrong
place.”
It got so bad last summer
in Washington state that a
researcher was treed by wolves
— twice — while wildlife
managers dawdled after she
called for help on her satellite
phone. A helicopter crew
from another agency rescued
her. If it weren’t for that
state Department of Natural
Resources crew, who knows
what would have happened. The
researcher probably would have
been blamed, though.
Since the mid-1990s when
the first 66 wolves were put in
Idaho and Yellowstone National
Park, wildlife managers and
some members of the public
have laid all blame on ranchers
and others. It continues today, as
wolves from British Columbia
arrive in Washington state and
wolves from Idaho spread
across Oregon and northern
California.
In every instance, the
onus is put on the ranchers
to protect their livestock
from the predators. This is
backwards. It should be up to
the wildlife managers to assure
the wellbeing of livestock. The
ranchers have done nothing
wrong. In some areas they are
not even told where wolves are
so they can move their cattle.
In other areas, the implication
is that just by having cattle the
ranchers are at fault.
Washington and Oregon are
in various stages of rewriting
their wolf plans. In Oregon,
a group of conservationists
and ranchers, working with
a mediator, have developed
a proposal to have wildlife
managers work proactively with
ranchers to protect livestock.
While this may seem obvious to
any neutral bystander, it marks a
breakthrough in common sense,
if nothing else.
Many ranchers have lost faith
in wildlife managers. They don’t
even report wolf attacks on their
livestock. They don’t trust them.
After so many years, it’s time
wildlife managers worked to earn
that trust.
The ranchers and their
livestock need protection, not the
wolves.
F ARMER ’ S F ATE
3 rings and 30 seconds
By Brianna Walker
For the Blue Mountain Eagle
“Hi, my name is ...”
“... you say you are from?”
“... and your favorite hobby is?”
BBBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
I smiled and grinned at — John?
Jim? Jack? What did he say his
name was? The next John, Jim or
Jack sat down, and I stuck out my
hand for another handshake.
“Hi, my name is...”
“... your favorite movie is?”
BBBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
He stood up, and the chair was
briefly vacant before another young
face sat staring at me. I have often
wished that people would come
with a 30-second movie trailer, so
you would know what you’re get-
ting yourself into before you buy
the three-hour movie — but I may
have to rethink that, as 30 seconds
may be too long for some people!
I crossed my legs then leaned
forward in the chair. The young
man sitting across from me leaned
back.
“I didn’t quite catch your
name,” I said, leaning closer, try-
ing to read his name tag.
He strained back as far as his
chair would allow while he mum-
bled incoherently. I smiled, my
most “it’s OK, I am not going to
bite you” smile, and nodded as if I
had understood his mumbled name.
“Are you from this area?” I
questioned.
He moved his head. I couldn’t
tell if it was in the affirmative or
not.
“Family?” I asked.
Again the same head move-
ment.
“Activities? Hobbies?”
Nothing.
“Coffee?” I asked in despera-
tion.
I had no idea just how long a
minute could be.
BBBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
This time it was the fire alarm
that ended the conversation. I don’t
know who was
more relieved to be
finished as he near-
ly knocked over the
chair heading for
the nearest exit.
I had happily
Brianna
left the world of
Walker
dating 14 years
ago. I left it with
no regrets, no feel-
ings of unfulfilled experiences or
unmet expectations — I had found
the man who would become the
tractor to my baler, the butter to my
popcorn, the crimson to my gray.
When we married, getting to
know your significant other was
still a slow and relatively tradition-
al process: no texting, no social
media — and certainly no speed
dating.
Although if there would have
been, I am sure I could have se-
quenced my questions for maxi-
mum speed of elimination. Water-
melon or cantaloupe? John Deere
or Massey Ferguson? Komatsu or
Hyster? You don’t know the dif-
ference? Next! I may have saved
myself some painful dating expe-
riences.
While I may have escaped ac-
tual speed dating, tonight’s event
was based on the same concept.
I had accepted a position as a
freshman mentor at the local col-
lege. To facilitate the meeting be-
tween the students and mentors,
the college had set up the room
with the musical-chair/speed-dat-
ing concept.
Occasionally the 30 seconds
would fly by, the buzzer cutting the
conversations short, while others
hung long and painfully pregnant
in the air, begging for the buzzer to
signify an end to this misery.
Many times I wished my shirt
had a giant QR code on the front
— just scan it and save us both the
stilted conversation. Either that or
a 30-second commercial of myself
that I could just set on repeat.
Hours later, I fell into my hus-
band’s arms at home.
“How did it go?” he asked.
“Great,” I sighed, kicking off
my boots. “There’s nothing like
‘speed-dating’ to make you real-
ize just how long 30-seconds can
be!”
Later that night, I was snuggled
on the couch reading a chapter to
the family before bed. I closed the
book when I noticed my sleeping
family. The baby was snuggled
with the cat, my oldest had nodded
off still clutching his colored pen-
cils and my husband snored softly
in the recliner.
I once read that a man reserves
his deepest and most true love not
for the woman in whose company
he feels electrified, but the one in
whose company he feels tender
drowsiness. I smiled contentedly
for a moment before whispering
loudly in my husband’s ear, “BBB-
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!”
“What?!” He woke up sputter-
ing.
I smiled. “It’s so great when you
find that one person you want to an-
noy in 30-second increments for the
rest of your life!”
He glared at me groggily, “It’s
also true what they say about the
three rings of marriage ...”
“BBBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZ,
your time is up!” I tried to interrupt
him.
“First, the engagement ring ...”
“BBBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!”
“Then the wedding ring ...”
“BUZZ BUZZZ BUZZZZZZZ!”
I whisper-shouted.
“Then the suffer-ring.”
Brianna Walker occasionally
writes about the Farmer’s Fate for
the Blue Mountain Eagle.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
People still read
newspapers
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
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
P UBLISHED EVERY
W EDNESDAY BY
• 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.
Vernon 97865. Phone: 541-932-4688. Fax:
541-932-4222. Email: cmtv@ortelco.net.
To the Editor:
According to a recent online
article in Editor & Publisher, a
Nielsen Scarborough study sug-
gested “that in an average month,
169 million adults read a U.S.
newspaper.
They may be reading it in one
or more iterations — in print, on
the web, via a mobile app, cour-
tesy of an e-newsletter or through
a social media news feed.” (edi-
torandpublisher.com)
Some 58 percent of people
ages 16 and older reported they
regularly read newspapers. There
are not noteworthy differences
across communities in the num-
bers of people who regularly read
newspapers.
But 57 percent of suburban
residents and 56 percent of urban
dwellers are more likely to read
their newspapers on handheld
devices than 45 percent of rural
residents, according to a 2012 ar-
ticle by the Pew Research Center.
(pewinternet.org)
“Print isn’t going away. If you
are from Cleveland, then you
were probably one of the thou-
sands who wanted a print copy
of the Plain Dealer that was re-
leased the day after the Cavaliers
won the NBA Championship…
So why in the digital era would
people from all over want the
print version? Nostalgia. The
print newspaper is memorabilia
people can keep forever.” (ad-
vance-ohio.com)
“A newspaper is the center
of a community, it’s one of the
tent poles of the community, and
that’s not going to be replaced by
Web sites and blogs,” declared
Michael Connelly.
And I agree.
Melissa Martin
Wheelersburg, Ohio
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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