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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 8, 2020)
OPINION Blue Mountain Eagle A4 Wednesday, July 8, 2020 Oregon ranchers face tough choice C attle ranchers in Or- egon’s wolf country face a dilemma when a calf or cow turns up dead: Re- port it to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and time the response with a calendar, or ignore it and eat the cost of the animal. That’s not much of a choice, particularly because wolves have been in Oregon for 14 years now. That’s plenty of time for the state’s wildlife managers to come up with a better system for determining how a cow or calf died. Fewer ranchers are even bothering to report wolf attacks on their cattle. The state’s own statistics show that. Nearby sheriff’s offices say they are ready, willing and able to inspect the car- casses and determine a cause of death. Even the state’s top carnivore biologist says a wolf attack looks like a “bomb went off.” It doesn’t sound like it takes a Ph.D. in wildlife man- agement to determine whether a calf was killed by a wolf. Environmentalists, who side with state biologists, say, in so many words, that sher- iff’s deputies can’t be trusted to investigate a depredation because ranchers will pressure them. That, of course, is non- sense. Sheriff’s deputies are trained to investigate all sorts of crime scenes, including murders. If they can do that, they can surely check out a dead calf. Yet the state insists only its biologists can do the inspections. The only problem with that is the delay in getting a state biologist to the scene of a dep- redation. It can take days, which allows scavengers to strip the carcass and destroy the evidence. The state faces two challenges. The first: ODFW is under- staffed. The department has just hired three people who will be spread across the entire state. And once the reality of budget cuts brought on by the COVID-19 shutdowns take hold, the odds of adding more staff — or even keeping staff — will likely shrink. The second: Most depre- dations take place in the back country. Getting there is often not quick or easy. That’s why a local sheriff’s deputy could just do the inspection and take pictures. If state biologists feel the need to follow up, they could do that on their own schedule. We realize the state biol- ogists are excited about hav- ing their very own wolves to manage, but it seems to us that they spend more time trying to manage ranchers than the wolves. Especially in the east- ern one-third of the state where the federal Endan- gered Species Act no longer forces everyone to put up with wolves that repeatedly kill cat- tle, the state needs to step up its activities. The department comes across as wolf apolo- gists instead of managers. As the wolf population con- tinues to increase in Oregon — at least 158 are in the state, mainly in the northeastern corner — we urge ODFW to allow sheriff’s deputies to help them investigate depredations. It’s not difficult, and some of the deputies have more expe- rience with wolves and live- stock than the state’s biolo- gists. Others can be trained. For ranchers, a lot of money is at stake in the form of dead cattle. For the state’s biol- ogists, their credibility is at stake. FARMER’S FATE Mud and mascara I recently heard a program dis- cussing makeup and cosmet- ics. Being confined to the inside of a vehicle on a recent anniversary/business trip to Cali- fornia, we read a lot of books, lis- tened to audiobooks and tuned in to satellite radio entertainment — where we heard mention of the average annual cost of wom- en’s makeup. The numbers seemed ridiculously high, and I had to pull out my phone to see what Google had to say — because apparently in today’s world Google is smarter than Webster’s. I don’t wear a lot of makeup — OK, to be honest, my whole makeup bag consists of a tube of mascara, an eyeliner pencil, a handful of bobby pins and a pock- etknife. So imagine my surprise when article after article popped up listing the amount the average woman in the U.S. spends to be between $225,360 and $300,000 on makeup in her lifetime! Even if you take the lower of those two numbers, that breaks down to $3,756 a year — or $313 a month! Women in New York supposedly spend the most at $11 per day on makeup, while women in Montana spend the least at only $3.50. Several of the articles also mentioned that the average trip through the makeup isle rings in at $43 — and who said you couldn’t buy beauty? That next morning in the hotel, 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. • Long Creek — P.O. Box 489, Long Creek 97856. Phone: 541-421-3601. Fax: 541-421-3075. Email: info@ cityoflongcreek.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. Blue Mountain EAGLE Published every Wednesday by I dumped out the few meager items in my makeup bag, looking for more bobby pins — a search that most women know all Brianna too well. I grew up Walker sharing a bathroom with two sisters, and you’d have thought we would have had bobby pins to spare — but they disappear with such rapid and frequent occurrence that would nearly make one believe they were raptured. For it’s not as if they just get lost and then even- tually reappear — no, they disap- pear never to be seen again. Perhaps bobby pins become reincarnated into those odd herbal pills that no one can remem- ber buying that fill up the medi- cine cabinet and the pony fasteners become that shelf of strange smell- ing lotions that no one wants to use. I checked each crease of my little makeup bag for stray bobby pins, finding just enough to finish putting my hair up. I’d barely finished, when my small eyeliner pencil went rolling across the vanity. I sandwiched it with my hip before it could hit the floor. I am all for natural beauty (a.k.a. too lazy to actually buy or To the Editor: Let’s get something straight at the outset. I don’t like wearing a mask anytime. They are uncom- fortable, they make my glasses steam up and I feel like an idiot with one on. I also don’t think that wearing a mask will protect me from the coronavirus. The data do not support that. Does the virus scare me? No more than the fact that I’m going to die soon anyway. I can live with that, and I can live wearing a mask. What scares me more is the idea that I might get sick and spread the disease to someone else and they die or are injured for life by it. I don’t want that on my conscience. So I will reluctantly wear the mask. It’s not a big deal. I wear a seatbelt. I don’t drink and drive. I follow my doctor’s advice (mostly), and I care about my neighbors. That is what wearing a mask comes down to. It’s not a matter of defending my constitu- tional rights. It is a matter of lov- ing my neighbor. And that is the second highest commandment of the Lord. So when I am forced to put that mask on, I think of the sacrifice he made for me and say amen! Jef Bryant Prairie City ‘Restore our parks and vote for this bill’ To the Editor: For over 40 years, I worked for the National Park Service, 18 of which was as superinten- dent of John Day Fossil Beds. I know the challenges of main- taining critical site infrastruc- ture like roads, visitor centers, water and electrical systems, and more in the face of limited funds from Congress and an ever-grow- ing list of postponed but neces- sary repairs. I wrote a letter to this paper in 2017 when the deferred mainte- nance backlog at the Fossil Beds was roughly $1.5 million. Fiscal year 2018 numbers now show a more than $2.1 million backlog, and system wide, NPS is facing a nearly $12 billion deferred main- tenance backlog. A solution, long overdue, may be on the horizon. Biparti- san legislation, the Great Ameri- can Outdoors Act (S. 3422/H.R. 7092), has passed the Senate and is now before the House. The bill would direct up to $9.5 billion in non-taxpayer monies over five years to address priority repairs in national parks and on other pub- lic lands. Those dollars represent an investment not only in our national parks but in local econo- mies. NPS data show that 197,000 park visitors spent an estimated $9.6 million in our local com- munities when visiting the Fossil Beds in 2019. Ensuring that NPS sites are able to meet the needs of their visitors is good for parks, good for local economies and good for businesses looking to get back on their feet. Our Oregon congressional leaders should do what they can to restore our parks and vote for this bill. Jim Hammett John Day 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 1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION RATES (including online access) Editor & General Manager ...............Sean Hart, editor@bmeagle.com Grant County .........................................$45 Everywhere else in U.S. .......................$57 Outside Continental U.S. ....................$60 Reporter ...................................................Rudy Diaz, rudy@bmeagle.com Reporter ...................................................... Steven Mitchell, steven@bmeagle.com Sports ........................................................sports@bmeagle.com Marketing Rep .......................................Kim Kell, ads@bmeagle.com Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery Online: MyEagleNews.com 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 Office Assistant .....................................Alixandra Hand, office@bmeagle.com MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION apply) — but a little mascara and eyeliner never hurt anyone. I was thinking that perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to wear a little more makeup — it was our anniversary trip after all. Maybe my husband would like it if I spent a little more time get- ting pretty, and didn’t rely on dirt to shade my eyelids and mud to rouge my cheeks. Since my makeup case literally has no makeup other than eyeliner and mascara, I didn’t have a lot to work with — but I did have a lit- tle time. My husband was around the corner, on the phone with Les Schwab looking to find a replace- ment wheel for one of our old semi trucks. “Is that aluminum?” I heard him ask, as I carefully drew a charcoal black line across my eyelid. “I don’t want a steel one,” he laughed. “See if you can find me an aluminum one — I wanna put as much lipstick on that old pig as possible!” I finished the rest of eyeliner to even out my other eye, but as I put the pencil back in my bag, I decided I am totally fine being a mud and mascara kind of girl. Brianna Walker occasionally writes about the Farmer’s Fate for the Blue Mountain Eagle. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Wearing a mask is ‘loving my neighbor’ WHERE TO WRITE I AM ALL FOR NATURAL BEAUTY — BUT A LITTLE MASCARA NEVER HURT ANYONE. Phone: 541-575-0710 Copyright © 2020 Blue Mountain Eagle All rights reserved. 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