OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
A4
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
Santiam salvage
logging a good
plan for Oregon
T
he state of Oregon’s plan
to salvage the timber in a
small part of the Santiam
State Forest is a win-win both
for the people who live and
work there and for the people
who own it — the taxpayers.
The state Department of For-
estry wants to salvage the tim-
ber off 3,000 acres of the forest.
That’s about 19% of the portion
of the forest that was burned
during the Beachie Creek, Lion-
shead and Riverside fi res last
September and about 6% of the
forest as a whole.
Many who live in the area
remember those fi res. Wind-
driven blazes became blow
torches ripping through the can-
yons and over the ridges. Before
the fi res were extinguished,
hundreds of houses had been
destroyed and thousands of peo-
ple had been left homeless.
Many are still living in tempo-
rary quarters as they pick up the
charred remnants of their lives
and livelihoods.
Comes now seven environ-
mental groups that want to stop
any salvage logging in the state
forest. They went to court in
Multnomah County — Portland
— hoping to fi nd a judge who
will shut down the operation.
Upon reading their com-
plaint, the groups acknowledge
that “the vast majority of the
burning occurred on tree plan-
tations within the Santiam State
Forest...”
Presumably, that means those
trees were intended to be har-
vested sooner or later. Now that
they have burned, the Depart-
ment of Forestry only wants to
get some value out of them for
the taxpayers before they rot or
otherwise become worthless. It
should also be noted that allow-
ing those trees to rot would
release greenhouse gases such
as carbon dioxide.
It’s obvious some people
are completely opposed to the
timber industry. But trying to
impose that opinion on every-
one else all of the time seems a
bit, well, unrealistic.
As a society, we need tim-
ber. Nearly all houses and apart-
ments are built using at least
some lumber. Innovative build-
ing materials such as mass ply-
wood and cross laminated tim-
ber are just a couple of new
ways to construct houses and
buildings using this plentiful
resource.
Better yet, trees are a renew-
able resource and climate
friendly. They absorb mass
quantities of carbon diox-
ide‚ a greenhouse gas — while
they grow, and then sequester
it when they are used to build
houses and other structures.
No one is saying every
square foot of Oregon — or
anywhere else, for that mat-
ter — should be clear cut. Far
from it.
All many people are saying
is state and national forests rep-
resent a perfect opportunity for
multiple use. Yes, recreation is
one of those uses. So is habitat.
But so is timber production.
The state Department of For-
estry got this one right. The
highest and best use of that
burned state forest is to salvage
those trees, maintaining their
value, providing jobs for Orego-
nians and homes for everyone,
including environmentalists.
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.
• Long Creek — P.O. Box 489, Long Creek
97856. Phone: 541-421-3601. Fax: 541-421-
3075. Email: info@cityofl ongcreek.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.
SALEM
• Gov. Kate Brown, D — 254 State Capitol,
Salem 97310. Phone: 503-378-3111. Fax:
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Published every
Wednesday by
503-378-6827. Website: governor.state.or.us/
governor.html.
• Oregon Legislature — State Capitol, Salem,
97310. Phone: 503-986-1180. Website: 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,
oregonlegislature.gov.
• Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale — 900 Court St.
NE, S-301, Salem 97301. Phone: 503-986-
1730. Website: oregonlegislature.gov/fi ndley.
Email: sen.lynnfi ndley@oregonlegislature.
gov.
• Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane — 900 Court St.
NE, H-475, Salem 97301. Phone: 503-986-
1460. District address: 258 S. Oregon St.,
Ontario OR 97914. District phone: 541-889-
8866. Website: oregonlegislature.gov/fi ndley.
Email: rep.markowens@oregonlegislature.
gov.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
N.W., Washington, D.C. 20500; Phone-
comments: 202-456-1111; Switchboard:
202-456-1414.
• U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D — 516 Hart Senate
Offi ce Building, Washington D.C. 20510.
Phone: 202-224-5244. Email: wayne_kinney@
wyden.senate.gov. Website: http://wyden.
senate.gov Fax: 202-228-2717.
GUEST COMMENT
Defending life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness
By Tim Smith
Gretchen Bates, Melodi Molt
and all members of the Harney
County Republican Central Com-
mittee put on an educational and
informative program last Satur-
day, dealing with our current polit-
ical mess.
Speakers Kevin Mannix (Man-
nix Law), Richard Burke (West-
ern Liberty Network), Aoibheann
Cline (NRA), Rep. Mark Owens
(House District 60) and myself
(Harney County for the State of
Jefferson) focused on the current
issues facing Oregon and espe-
cially Rural Oregon.
It was unfortunate that more
Eastern Oregon people did not
take advantage of this opportu-
nity to become more informed and
active.
I think the strongest theme on
tap was the need and importance
of developing and sustaining a
local government and strong local
conservative leaders to carry for-
ward issues such as protecting our
Second Amendment rights, fend-
ing off the radical attacks on our
energy and businesses through the
proposed cap and trade bills and
allowing free enterprise to thrive
in Oregon.
It was made clear that neither the
state nor the federal government, as
they are currently constituted, will
protect the constitutional rights of
the people of Oregon.
We have to build and sustain
local government to its maximum
legal sovereignty in all matters
not given to the state or federal
government.
In order to stand up to the
abuses being cast upon us by the
one-party rule in Oregon and in
Washington, D.C., it is up to us
locally to establish our lives and
future!!
A few action items were
emphasized:
1) Get and support good con-
servative people to run for every
public office at the city and
county level. State and federal
government largesse is not going
to make your life sustainably
better!
2) Pay attention to and get
active on the issues that affect
your and your family’s everyday
life. One question, as always, was
how do we inform and educate
the general population about the
truth and facts about the changes
that are oppressing us in rural Ore-
gon. One answer is to find those
groups that are trying to educate
and inform on those issues that
are important to you, and either
join them or follow and share
their work and information. This
is especially important in commu-
nities like Harney County where
we are media challenged and have
to count on the unreliable social
media outlets to get and distribute
our information.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
‘Number one
COVID-19
sanctuary’
To the Editor:
We are number one! Congratu-
lations to all in Grant County who
made this achievement possible. We
are leading everyone else in the race
to become the designated COVID-
19 sweet spot.
How, you may ask, did we
achieve such prodigious recogni-
tion? Well, it was not easy.
Firstly we had to embrace the
antivax movement, even though
President Trump announced on
April 17 that the antivax push
was a “deranged pseudo-science”
(his words, not mine, I assure
you).
We got over that hurdle only to
be hit with the CDC propagandist
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of
the CDC, who tried to sway us with
this: “Vaccinated people do not carry
the virus, they don’t get sick, they
do not spread the disease. That’s not
just in the clinical trials, it’s also in
real-world data.”
But we persevered. We spurned
the needle, we tossed the masks, we
proudly shut our businesses down,
we gladly closed our schools. We
could not be tempted away from our
lofty goal.
And we won! Number one
COVID-19 sanctuary! Go team.
John Wolter
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
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
(including online access)
Editor & General Manager ...............Sean Hart, editor@bmeagle.com
One year ..................................................$51
Monthly autopay .............................. $4.25
Outside Continental U.S. ....................$60
Reporter ...................................................Rudy Diaz, rudy@bmeagle.com
Reporter ...................................................... Steven Mitchell, steven@bmeagle.com
Sports ........................................................sports@bmeagle.com
Multimedia ............................................................. Alex Wittwer, awittwer@eomediagroup.com
Subscriptions must be paid
prior to delivery
Marketing Rep .......................................Kim Kell, ads@bmeagle.com
Online: MyEagleNews.com
Periodicals Postage Paid
at John Day and additional
mailing offi ces.
POSTMASTER
send address changes to:
Blue Mountain Eagle
195 N. Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845-1187
USPS 226-340
Offi ce Assistant .....................................Alixandra Hand, offi ce@bmeagle.com
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
3) Consistently remind our
local and state elected officials
that they are hired by us to work
for the people and not for the
established government body. A
strong and thriving community
will always be able to support
its government, but a dominat-
ing government body will always
make it difficult for its people to
survive. A government of, by and
for the people will not perish, but
a society of, by and for the govern-
ment will surely fail!
4) Start or continue to do the
things that are right for you and
your business. At some point the
current constitutional and judi-
cial abuses in our faces will be
brought to justice as long as we
stand strong and continue to push
back for a free and just constitu-
tional republic!
5) We have a new sheriff, dis-
trict attorney and circuit court
judge, which gives us the poten-
tial to have these officers work
for the interests of the people
of Harney in a way not seen for
some time. Make your needs and
interests known to these public
servants!
6) Contact all three members of
the county court and let them know
you support a strong and endur-
ing Second Amendment sanctuary
ordinance for Harney County!
Tim Smith is a member of
Harney County for the State of
Jefferson.
Phone: 541-575-0710
Copyright © 2021
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.
facebook.com/MyEagleNews
@MyEagleNews