A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Once again,
it’s time to
fi x the ESA
A
federal judge has
dismissed a third
lawsuit fi led by an
environmental group to stop
the U.S. Fish and Wild-
life Service from shooting
barred owls in an exper-
imental attempt to boost
numbers of the endangered
spotted owl.
At the same time, the ser-
vice is struggling to explain
if the program made any
difference.
Northern spotted owls
were listed as threatened
under the Endangered Spe-
cies Act in 1990. Environ-
mental groups blamed its
dwindling numbers on the
logging of old growth for-
ests, the owl’s preferred hab-
itat. As a result, logging in
the Northwest, particularly
on federal lands, was greatly
reduced.
While this had a devas-
tating impact on local econ-
omies built on the timber
industry, it didn’t seem to do
much for spotted owl pop-
ulations. Wildlife managers
say that’s because another
species, the barred owl,
moved into the territory.
The barred owl is native
to the Eastern United States,
though for more than a cen-
tury it’s been making its way
farther west. It’s bigger and
more aggressive than the
spotted owl, pushing its lit-
tle cousin out of its territory.
It also is more adaptable,
preying on a variety of small
animals, birds and reptiles
where the spotted owl has a
more limited diet.
Five years ago, the Fish
and Wildlife Service began
an experimental program
of shooting barred owls in
selected locations to reduce
pressure on spotted owls.
The project is controver-
sial, even within the service,
because it involves kill-
ing one protected, although
plentiful, species to revive
another.
Enter the Friends of Ani-
mals, which has fi led three
separate lawsuits to block
the service from shooting
barred owls. Each has been
dismissed. Last month, U.S.
District Judge Ann Aiken
ruled the nonprofi t lacked
the legal standing to fi le its
third complaint in federal
court. The group plans an
appeal.
For its part, the govern-
ment has not been able to
show the program has done
anything to boost spot-
ted owl populations. It has
markedly reduced barred
owl populations. Since
the experiment began, the
agency has removed 2,086
barred owls through the end
of 2018, up from 1,148 at
the end of 2017.
The service hopes to have
enough data compiled this
month to have a more con-
clusive analysis of the pro-
gram by mid year.
So, the saga of the spotted
owl continues.
All of this would be
somewhat amusing if farm-
ers, ranchers and loggers in
the Pacifi c Northwest didn’t
have a stake in the Endan-
gered Species Act and wild-
life restoration projects
undertaken by government
agencies.
One of the most vex-
ing aspects of the ESA is
the lawsuits that it gener-
ates. Farmers and ranchers
too often fi nd themselves
the defendants. But the gov-
ernment — i.e. taxpayers —
isn’t immune to lawsuits.
Any time the govern-
ment kills one species —
sea lions, cormorants, barred
owls — in an attempt to save
another, someone sues. Who
could foresee that?
We love a good farce, but
this whole affair is just one
example of how the ESA is
fundamentally broken. Con-
gress must fi x it.
WHERE 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@
centurylink.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
Published every
Wednesday by
Where are the protections for ranchers?
By Robyn H. Smith
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
It seems a weekly routine, read-
ing about new depredations on
livestock in the Capital Press, hear-
ing neighbors talk about sightings
over breakfast at the local café and
fi nding ourselves in heated conver-
sations about the “wolf problem.”
Ranchers are restless without
answers on this habitual issue, a
terror in many rural communities.
When I share an article about wolf
attacks on OCA’s Facebook page,
the comment “What is the Oregon
Cattlemen’s Association doing to
fi x this problem?” becomes ever
more prevalent.
The Oregon Wolf Plan revision
was due in 2015, but stakeholders
including OCA, ODFW, Defend-
ers of Wildlife, Oregon Wild, OFB,
Oregon Hunter’s Association and
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
have failed to fi nd middle ground
on this plan, and here we are, 2019,
with no answers for the hardwork-
ing citizens of this state.
The Cattlemen’s Association
continues to put ranchers fi rst and
refuses to ignore these shattering
attacks on cattle producers by com-
promising on a plan that brushes
concerns under the table. Roger
Huffman, OCA’s Wolf Task Force
Committee chair from Union, calls
the current situation “chronic dep-
redation” because multiple attacks
are occurring with no response or
resolution from ODFW, and so the
problem continues to amplify.
Many of you may have read
the Capital Press article about Ted
Birdseye in Jackson County, who
awoke on New Year’s Day to fi nd
an injured, 5-month old calf with
2 feet of intestines hanging out of
its backside. This has become “just
another day at the offi ce” for Bird-
seye as he has suffered at least fi ve
calf kills and one guard dog kill in
Todd Nash, OCA treasurer,
has been a vocal representative
for OCA throughout this stake-
holder process, and he says there
are three points cattlemen will not
compromise on in this negotia-
tion: 1) all wolves should be col-
lared or tracked; 2) clear manage-
ment zones should be created; 3)
local biologists should have con-
trol of lethal take circumstances.
Likewise, OCA is pushing for
all non-lethal measurements to
be paid for by the government
because farmers and ranchers
should not be responsible for those
exorbitant costs on top of their suf-
fered losses. Where is the account-
ability for farmers and ranchers?
Where is the governmental protec-
tion for state citizens? It has been
made clear, through the years,
those rights and protections are not
valued when it comes to wolves.
With environmental groups
refusing to come to the table, it’s
unclear how ODFW will proceed
with stakeholder recommenda-
tions. On Jan. 8, the stakeholder
meeting went on as planned, and
the groups that participated gave
their fi nal opinions on ODFW’s
proposal, which may be adopted
in March. The Oregon Cattle-
men’s Association is now focus-
ing on bringing this conversation
to Washington, D.C., with the
help of members from across the
state.
If you have suffered prop-
erty loss or distress as a result of
wolves, please write a letter to
Oregon Cattlemen’s or email me
at robyn.smith@orcattle.com. Per-
sonal statements are encouraged
because those who have power
over the fate of the Wolf Plan need
to hear directly from the people
with the most at stake.
Robyn H. Smith is the commu-
nications director for the Oregon
Cattlemen’s Association.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
City overreaches to when asking for the bond was a A day of service
training area.
complete fi re hall
To the Editor:
The city and fi re chief went
To the Editor:
I attended two meetings Jan. 8,
one for the rural fi re district and
one for John Day City Council.
On the agenda, two resolutions
raised my eyebrows, and I needed
to investigate.
This involved a $306,000 loan
from the city’s water fund to the
general fund for the completion of
the fi re hall. And then a $169,000
loan from the city to the rural
fi re district so the district could
pay for about half of the tenant
improvements at the fi re hall.
So, now, not only do we owe
for a bond to construct the fi re
hall, but an additional $300,000
over and above. It is deceiving
to the taxpayers involved. This
amount was accrued on cost over-
runs. All sorts of excuses were
given.
The bottom line is it was
incompetency on all parties
involved before and after con-
struction. They didn’t have
enough money to fi nish the south
end of the building. The selling
point on this part of the building
Publisher............ ......................................Chris Rush, crush@eomediagroup.com
Editor & General Manager ...............Sean Hart, editor@bmeagle.com
Reporter ...................................................Richard Hanners, rick@bmeagle.com
Community News .................................Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com
Sports ........................................................Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com
Marketing Rep .......................................Kim Kell, ads@bmeagle.com
Administrative Assistant ..................Makenna Adair, offi ce@bmeagle.com
Offi ce Assistant .....................................Alixandra Hand, offi ce@bmeagle.com
off on another spending spree and
thought they needed to expand
city hall. In turn, the idea was sent
to the fi re districts and approved in
a sales pitch.
First off, board members are
elected to be responsible for our
money. They chose to follow the
sheep over the cliff.
I brought this up to the city
council. Their solution was to
ignore the situation with a shrug
of their shoulders, and they went
through with it anyway, as their
belligerent attitude has been since
hiring this city manager. Again,
following the sheep over the cliff.
The city of John Day is once
again in an overreach era. While
the present goals are nice, the
long-term goals are catastrophic.
Taxpayers from all of Grant
County should be concerned and
especially those in the city. After
the dust settles, you and you alone
will either have to fi le bankruptcy
or pass another bond to pay your
creditors.
Bob Pereira
John Day
1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION RATES
(including online access)
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
2018. If Birdseye’s situation is not
“chronic depredation,” then what
is?
Birdseye is not permitted to
take lethal action against the
wolves who are scarfi ng down his
property for supper. The wolves
are still federally protected under
the Endangered Species Act west
of highways 395, 78 and 95. This
is the story for ranchers across the
state, some of whom may face
$20,000 or more in losses from
wolves in a given year. So, the
question returns to stakeholders,
what are you doing to protect the
ranchers of Oregon?
The Governor’s Offi ce has
failed to answer that question, and
the monthly stakeholder meet-
ings have only been a means to
delay the response further. On
Jan. 8, a stakeholder meeting was
planned in Portland, a draft of the
revamped Wolf Plan from ODFW
was sent out before Christmas, and
there was much to discuss in the
new year. However, in true fash-
ion, the day before the stakeholder
meeting, an article on Oregon-
Live detailed that The Center for
Biological Diversity, Defenders of
Wildlife, Oregon Wild and Casca-
dia Wildlands would be pulling out
of the stakeholder process due to
the lack of their recommendations
being accepted.
Mark Bennett, a stakeholder
representative for the Oregon Farm
Bureau and Baker County com-
missioner, says there is a 33 per-
cent average growth rate per year
in the wolf population, but even
with this growth, the management
strategies remain stagnant. The
Oregon Cattlemen’s Association
and other like-minded groups such
as Oregon Farm Bureau, Oregon
Hunter’s and Rocky Mountain Elk
refuse to ignore the need for a new
system to handle the rapidly grow-
ing population of wolves.
Grant County .........................................$40
Everywhere else in U.S. .......................$51
Outside Continental U.S. ....................$60
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POSTMASTER
send address changes to:
Blue Mountain Eagle
195 N. Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845-1187
USPS 226-340
Phone: 541-575-0710
In 1993, Congress declared
the Martin Luther King Jr. fed-
eral holiday as a “National Day
of Service.” The Corporation for
National and Community Service
(Americorps and other services
corps) is charged with coordinat-
ing efforts to carry out this mis-
sion. I know of no organized plan
here in Grant County.
Hopefully next year there will
be one. This coming Monday,
Jan. 21, folks can help an elderly
neighbor with a chore, take a meal
to a shut-in, call the senior cen-
ter and commit to be a volunteer
to deliver meals (541-575-2949)
or perform any other kind of ser-
vice that they feel fi t and moved to
perform.
In 1967, King said, “I have
decided to stick with love. Hate
is too great a burden to bear.” By
commemorating King’s birthday
with service to others, his legacy
will be honored, not in song, but
in action.
Nancy Nickel
John Day
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Blue Mountain Eagle
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