A6
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Public records
belong to all of us
W
hen the Blue
Mountain Eagle
and other newspa-
pers request access to infor-
mation from the government,
it sometimes hits the “Wall of
No.”
Public records are part of
the regular diet of newsrooms.
But some public bodies throw
up tall hurdles — usually in
the form of big expenses — to
block access to those records.
Records that took public
money to produce.
Back in 2018, for example,
reporter Jackson Hogan with
the Bend Bulletin, now a sis-
ter paper to the Eagle, asked
the Bend-La Pine Schools for
a list and price of all apps and
textbooks bought for student
iPads, specifically those in use.
About a month later, the dis-
trict told him the cost of pro-
viding the information would
be $2,000.
Eight district staffers would
apparently have to work a total
of 18.5 hours to pull the infor-
mation. Then a lawyer with
the High Desert Education
Service District would have
to work six hours at $115 an
hour to review the informa-
tion and redact anything nec-
essary. The district offered to
give The Bulletin 50% off and
charge $1,000. Still, prohibi-
tively pricey for The Bulletin
and other newspapers.
Oregon House Bill 2485
seeks to enshrine 50% off for
journalists in law. It requires
state agencies to reduce public
records request fees by 50% if
the request is made in the pub-
lic interest. It requires state
agencies to entirely waive fees
if a public records request is
in the public interest and nar-
rowly tailored. And it requires
requests made by members of
the news media to be treated
as in the public interest.
State Rep. Karin Power,
D-Milwaukie, is sponsoring
the bill. She introduced it on
behalf of the Society for Pro-
fessional Journalists.
We certainly appreciate
the sentiment. But sometimes
50% is no deal. The cost still
can be the “Wall of No.”
News media is not defined
in the bill. That can be tricky.
Maybe the Eagle, East Orego-
nian or Bend Bulletin would
easily qualify. What about a
person who diligently tracks
and regularly writes about
education policy on a blog? Is
that person a member of the
news media? Are they acting
in the public interest?
As much as we like the idea
of getting 50% off, Oregon’s
public records law is Oregon’s
“public” records law. The
news media can play a critical
watchdog role and help spread
information. It just seems
unfair that a member of the
public could be charged dou-
ble for the same record as a
journalist. The member of the
public has just as much right
to it under Oregon law, not
just as much right at twice the
cost. And by charging journal-
ists half the cost, the costs of
providing information to other
members of the public would
presumably go up, because
they would be subsidizing the
work of journalists.
More than 40 bi‘im to
change Oregon’s public
records laws. Some seek to
block disclosure of informa-
tion to the public. Some seek
to make disclosure easier. We
are flattered the intent of HB
2485 is to help journalists tear
down the “Wall of No.” But
all Oregonians have the right
to know what their govern-
ment is doing.
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
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GUEST COMMENT
‘The forest for the trees’
By George Wuerthner
T
he recent article “Finding Com-
mon Ground on Active Forest
Management” quotes several
people about restoring forest health.
None of these people have expertise
on forest ecology, except James John-
son from the OSU forestry school.
The irony is that all these people,
including Johnson, ignore the science
from other scientists to promote log-
ging the forest.
The problem with the Malheur col-
laborative is an inability to see the for-
est for the trees. The focus is on trees,
not healthy forest ecosystems. Forest
logging degrades, rather than restores,
healthy forest ecosystems.
First, there is no scientific agree-
ment on the past fire history of the
Malheur forests. Yes, some of them
likely burned frequently (10-20 years),
but other studies suggest many for-
ests, particularly at higher elevations
in Eastern Oregon, burned at longer
intervals and often at mixed to high
severity.
The idea that “fire suppression”
has led to substantial changes in forest
density and conditions is overrated. It
ignores that fact that the middle of the
last century (1940-1980s) was moister
and cooler than in the past. This sig-
nificantly reduced ignitions and fire
spread. Nature was good at suppress-
ing fires.
Second, the goal of “active” man-
agement is to remove the natu-
ral factors that shape forest ecosys-
tems, including bark beetles, wildfire,
drought and other factors to “restore”
the forest to some pre-existing condi-
tions shaped by the historical condi-
tions at that time.
The problem is that we no lon-
ger have the same conditions. Climate
change is a new influence on the for-
ests of the West. Which trees have
the right genetic makeup to survive,
say drought or fight off bark beetles
or even to survive fires, is unknown.
I challenge any of the collaborative
members to walk through the forest
with me and tell me which trees have
the requisite genetics to survive, say
bark beetles or drought.
Furthermore, the idea that logging
can “restore” forests is absurd. Forests
are restored by the natural processes
mentioned above, including beetles,
fires, etc., since they respond to the
current climatic conditions and select
the trees that best adapted to the cur-
rent conditions.
Part of the premise for logging
is the idea that dead trees are some-
how undesirable. In reality there are
many species that live in mortal fear
of green forests.
Native bees increase in recent
high-severity burns. And 45% of the
bird species in the Northern Rock-
ies forests (which includes the Blue
Mountains) rely on dead trees for for-
aging, nesting and roosting. Dead
trees in streams provide the bulk of
habitat for aquatic species. And roads
created for logging constitute a sig-
nificant source of sedimentation in
streams and disturb and displace spe-
cies like elk.
Large trees (over 21 inches) store
the bulk of carbon in forests. Even
dead trees store huge amounts of car-
bon. Logging releases carbon, which
is why active forest management is
the most significant contributor to
greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon.
The single focus on restoring the
forest’s physical appearance shaped
by climatic conditions of a couple of
hundred years ago does not restore
the ecological processes that create
healthy forest ecosystems.
George Wuerthner is an ecologist
who has published 38 books includ-
ing two dealing with fire ecology. He
lives in Bend.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Mr. Adams did not agitate for a vio-
‘I am here to be an
Oppose the River
lent revolution against Mr. Washing-
Oregonian, not an
Democracy Act
ton. Rather he trusted that the pres-
ident
would
voluntarily
step
aside,
Idahoan’
To the Editor:
which he did, peacefully. Mr. Adams
To the Editor:
I am responding to the article in the
Feb. 10 issue of the Blue Mountain
Eagle regarding the petition to incor-
porate Eastern Oregon into Idaho. I
moved to Eastern Oregon because I
wanted to live in Eastern Oregon. Had
I wanted to be an Idahoan, I would
have moved to Idaho. If, after living
here, I changed my mind about Ore-
gon, I would have picked up stakes
and moved to Idaho.
If the Idaho border were to be
moved to incorporate us here, we
would be the new kid on the block.
Would Idahoans be happy to dilute
their resources by sharing those with
us? We certainly wouldn’t be tak-
ing our Oregon resources and ben-
efits with us to Idaho. As Ross Bur-
khart said in that article, the process to
change the border can take years, and
it isn’t guaranteed. And he says the
politics in Idaho can change and are
changing.
Our energy would be better spent
in communication with the powers
that be in Salem. Lynn Findley said as
much.
I am here to be an Oregonian, not
an Idahoan. So don’t impose on me
your dislike of Oregon and force me
to move just to remain an Oregonian.
I like where I am. If people feel Ore-
gon has disappointed them and Idaho
would be better, they have a choice
now to be in Idaho without changing
my life.
Eva Harris
Canyon City
‘The Republican
party I grew up with’
To the Editor:
John Adams had no use for George
Washington. He considered G.W.
uneducated, unfit for political posi-
tions. Yet, when Mr. Washington was
elected in 1788 and again in 1792,
was elected, peacefully, in 1796, and
a great national tradition was set in
motion.
The elections of 1960, 2000 and
2016 certainly could have been pro-
tested, but the losing party knew they
would get another chance in four
years.
In 2020, the Republican party
chose to abandon this 232-year-old
successful formula of a regular, four-
year peaceful revolution in favor of
lies and hate and violence.
The Republican party I grew up
with championed honesty, fiscal
responsibility, forthright politicians,
citizen responsibility and a bright
future for our children.
Now, not so much.
John Wolter
John Day
Health department
doing ‘wonderful job’
To the Editor:
Complaining about government
messes, both local and national, is
something we all love to do. And there
is usually plenty to complain about. So
sometimes we don’t even notice when
a government agency does a great job.
We noticed. The Grant County
Health Department has been doing a
wonderful job handling the big chal-
lenge of COVID-19 vaccinations.
Both vaccination events that we
attended at the fairgrounds were super
well-organized and efficient. These are
extraordinary challenges for a small
agency, and it is remarkable when
that work is done so well. And as one
fairgrounds worker told us when we
attended the first vaccination day for
seniors, “This is the biggest event we
have had here all year!”
The volunteers did a wonderful
job too.
Jim and Sue Kelly
Kimberly
If this new bill passes, 4,700 river
miles in Oregon will be included in
the wild and scenic designation. Con-
sidered a “remarkable achievement”
by some, while others see a mon-
ster land grab, a back door to more
“Lock-Up and Lock-Out.” Increas-
ing the buffer zone from one-quar-
ter to one-half mile on both sides
of the rivers, creates approximately
3,008,000 acres of de-facto wilder-
ness. Baker, Union, Wallowa and
Grant counties will be saddled with
700 miles. Wallowa County alone
440 miles. Management plans will
be developed by the U.S. Forest Ser-
vice or other agency. Presently the
Forest Service is way over its head
in managing the forest, so maybe
the other agency that is referred to in
the Feb. 13 article in the Baker City
Herald can take on the chore.
Unsettling, upsetting, disturbing,
this is happening under the term
democracy. How and when did we
lose control to a room full of poli-
ticians in Washington, D.C.? Have
we become so complacent this is
acceptable? Ignoring impacts and
input at the local level has become
standard operating procedure. Lack
of coordination with the counties
circumvents local input (coordina-
tion is the law). Failure to recog-
nize local concerns was the primary
factor in the Blue Mountains Forest
Plan Revision withdrawal. “Ditto,”
trying it again.
No one cares more for our pub-
lic lands and waterways then the res-
idents of Eastern Oregon. Federal
and state agencies use many tools to
protect and preserve special places.
Additional restrictions, outside those
presently available, are unwarranted.
I’m urging the Eastern Oregon
Counties Association to join in and
support Baker County’s opposition
to the River Democracy Act.
D.M. and Wanda Ballard
Baker City