A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, November 3, 2021
OUR VIEW
Senators shoot
wide of the
mark with
wolf letter
ardon us if we stifl e a
yawn in response to a
letter 21 U.S. senators
penned the other day.
New Jersey Sen. Cory
Booker and Michigan Sen.
Gary Peters led the letter-writ-
ing campaign to call on Inte-
rior Secretary Deb Haaland
to protect gray wolves from
being hunted for about eight
months. The U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, which is a
part of the Interior Depart-
ment, is already reviewing the
status of wolves in the West.
The senators just fret, need-
lessly, that a lot of wolves will
be killed in the meantime.
Judging from the lan-
guage of the letter, one would
think wolves were again on
the verge of extermination. In
reality, their problem was with
states such as Idaho and Mon-
tana, which have plenty of
wolves.
For example, Idaho has
an average of about 1,500
wolves. The total harvest of
wolves during each of the
past two years was about 500
wolves, but the populations
have rebounded both years to
1,500. Reproduction is a spe-
cialty of wolves.
The Capital Press previ-
ously reported that the state
Fish and Game Commis-
sion last summer established
wolf seasons from Nov. 15 to
March 31 on public land in 43
hunting units where elk are
below population objectives
or where there are histories of
chronic livestock depredation.
It left unchanged all other wolf
hunting and trapping seasons
on public land. Idaho has 99
hunting units.
That hardly sounds like
wolves will be eradicated.
In fact, that sounds a lot like
prudent management of a
predator.
Similarly, Montana, which
has about 1,100 wolves, has
been adjusting its wolf sea-
sons to avoid confl icts with
other protected species. A
total of 38 wolves have been
harvested this fall, according
to the state’s Fish and Wild-
P
life Commission.
Yet the wolf experts in the
U.S. Senate want the hunting
stopped.
“If continued unabated
for this hunting season, these
extreme wolf eradication pol-
icies will result in the death of
hundreds of gray wolves and
will further harm federally
protected ecosystems like Yel-
lowstone,” the senators wrote,
referring to three wolves that
were killed outside the park in
Montana.
The other authors were Pat-
rick Leahy, D-Vt.; Kirsten
Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; Jack
Reed, D-R.I.; Richard Blu-
menthal, D-Conn.; Bernie
Sanders, I-Vt.; Jacky Rosen,
D-Nev.; Dianne Feinstein,
D-Calif.; Alex Padilla, D-Ca-
lif.; Sheldon Whitehouse,
D-R.I.; Mazie K. Hirono,
D-Hawaii; Chris Van Hol-
len, D-Md.; Chris Murphy,
D-Conn.; Tammy Duck-
worth, D-Ill.; Catherine Cor-
tez-Masto, D-Nev.; Elizabeth
Warren, D-Mass.; Sherrod
Brown, D-Ohio; Brian Schatz,
D-Hawaii; Robert Menen-
dez, D-N.J.; and Ed Markey,
D-Mass.
You’ll note that, with the
exception of Upper Michigan,
none of the states they rep-
resent has a signifi cant num-
ber of wolves. We suspect the
purpose of the letter was more
to curry favor with environ-
mental groups than to protect
wolves, which, by the way, are
doing just fi ne. They continue
to spread across the West with-
out any help.
Here’s an idea. We propose
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice deliver 200 wolves to
each of the states those sen-
ators represent. Send 200
each to New Jersey, New
York, Massachusetts, Califor-
nia, Ohio, Illinois, Nevada,
Rhode Island, Connecticut and
Maryland.
And don’t forget about
Hawaii.
Let’s just see how that
works.
COMMENTARY
River bill has big problems
S
en. Ron Wyden has proposed
adding over 4,700 miles of
waterways to the federal Wild &
Scenic Rivers System in Oregon. With
half-mile no-touch buff ers, the River
Democracy Act will apply access and
management restrictions to 3 million
acres of federal land, much of it in our
communities in Northeastern Oregon.
There are signifi cant issues still unad-
dressed and important questions still
unanswered for such a consequential
bill that is now moving through the
U.S. Senate.
For starters, there no detailed maps
available from federal agencies that
allow Oregonians to see where these
designations are located, and how
these designations would aff ect pri-
vate property, public access, and other
traditional uses such as ranching. The
only available map on the Internet
appears to be produced by a Portland
environmental group that helped write
the bill.
Secondly, the original Wild & Sce-
nic Rivers Act was intended to pre-
serve certain rivers with outstanding
natural, cultural, and recreational val-
ues in a free-fl owing condition. From
a list provided by the bill’s supporters,
we know that 85 percent of the bill’s
Wild & Scenic designations would
be applied to small creeks, gulches,
draws and unnamed tributaries —
many of which are not free-fl owing
and do not even carry water through-
out the year.
Sen. Lynn
Findley
the River Democracy Act will add
more restrictions to 3 million acres at
a time when land management agen-
cies are already struggling to imple-
ment proven and proactive for-
est management activities to reduce
the risks of wildfi res to forests and
watersheds.
The reasons for agency inaction
include a lack of funding and per-
sonnel, and the cost and time it takes
them to satisfy exhaustive analysis
and regulatory requirements. In addi-
tion to the half-mile buff ers, the River
Democracy Act will require agen-
cies to prepare exhaustive river man-
agement plans that will take years to
complete, drain agency resources, and
open the door to ongoing and addi-
tional litigation.
Proponents of the bill claim the
River Democracy Act will support
wildfi re prevention eff orts and pro-
tect private property rights. Yet history
shows that Wild & Scenic River des-
ignations only encourage more law-
suits and analysis paralysis, especially
where they intersect with private prop-
erty and other public land uses.
As this bill advances through Con-
gress, citizens should be asking: what
does the bill actually do, why is it nec-
essary, and does it really benefi t rural
and frontier Oregon?
Sen. Lynn Findley (Senate District
30) and Rep. Mark Owens (House
District 60) represent Eastern Oregon
in the state Legislature.
Rep. Mark
Owens
If these small creeks, gulches,
draws and unnamed tributaries are
worthy of such a designation, why
does this bill subvert the careful
administrative study and review pro-
cess under the original act? And why
does this bill impose half-mile buf-
fers in these areas, when the Wild &
Scenic Rivers Act only calls for quar-
ter-mile buff ers?
Federal lands are at high risk of
wildfi re and need active manage-
ment, thinning and fuels reduction
work. Wildfi res in recent years have
scorched watersheds and degraded
water quality as sediment and ash is
deposited into our river systems. In
2020, over 76 percent of acres burned
in Oregon occurred on lands managed
by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau
of Land Management.
Management is already restricted
in riparian areas. Would imposing
even more restrictions through Wild
& Scenic designations and half-mile
buff ers really make it easier to reduce
wildfi re risks?
Oregonians are right to ask why
OFF THE BEATEN PATH
Tastes like chicken — or does it?
ccasionally someone off ers me
an unusual food. To entice me
to eat it, they say, “It tastes like
chicken.”
My gold standard for chicken
developed from a family experience.
One year we bought two batches of
baby chicks — one batch to grow
into laying hens, the others, a hybrid
meaty breed, were destined for Sun-
day dinners and picnics featuring fried
chicken.
This butcher fl ock, noted to be
fast-growing birds, were big eaters. It
seemed as though they guzzled down
a semi-load of grain and a day later
they looked like small turkeys. When
butchered, the meat birds averaged 13
pounds. Drumsticks looked like the
kind of muscle one expects to see on
a professional bodybuilder. We sus-
pected the chickens spent their nights
pumping iron and their days eating.
After the meaty birds were dressed
out, we roasted, baked, fried and
turned some into rich-bodied soup
O
laced with home-
made noodles — the
egg noodles courtesy
of laying hens. The
meat turned out lean,
moist and full of fl a-
vor — our gold stan-
dard chickens.
When someone
Jean Ann
say a food “tastes
Moultrie
like chicken,” I hav-
en’t found they are speaking about our
gold standard chickens. It seems more
likely they are referring to a 10-year-old
rooster with a terminal case of shingles.
Now when someone fi xes me food
that “tastes like chicken,” I know I’m
off ered something that tastes some-
where between pan-fried dog food and
a diced and chopped tractor tire boiled
in a cream sauce.
The list goes on as to what some
people invite others to eat: alliga-
tor, beetles, locusts, wooly mammoth,
snake, etc. — all reported to have
“chicken-like fl avor.” A cook reports
the snake stinks during the frying pro-
cess, which should be a clue to diners
about its palatability.
These chicken-fl avored foodies
don’t malign beef. I’ve never heard any-
one say, “Crocodile tastes like Angus
beef steaks.”
A club titled Friends of Poultry
united to curb the “like chicken” move-
ment. Fear had risen that this prac-
tice unchecked could spread to other
foods like lava washing over sugar
cane fi elds. Someone could make a
claim about a vegetable. “Boiled cab-
bage tastes like carrot cake with cream
cheese frosting.” Or “mashed rutabagas
taste like Marionberry pie.”
To combat this, a Truth in Flavors
bill has been drafted which includes
notice that one cannot claim some-
thing tastes like chicken — unless it is
chicken. Public discussion to follow.
Jean Ann Moultrie is a Grant
County writer. It has been rumored that
she off ered houseguests oatmeal that
tastes like chocolate chip cookies.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Can’t control smoke
from controlled burns
To the editor:
I’m curious: What is the dif-
ference
between
“wildfire”
smoke, that is hazardous and
contributes to the greenhouse
effect by sending carbon par-
ticles into the atmosphere, and
all of the “controlled burns”
smoke?
Maybe someone a little smarter
than me can explain that. And
maybe they can come up with
another way to reduce fuels or thin
out the amount that has built up
over the last 30 to 40 years. Please
help!
Ken Koser
Prairie City
Biden has America
on the edge of ruin
To the editor:
Joe Blo works down at the saw-
mill piling lumber. He works 40
hours a week and makes, let’s say,
$18 an hour, or roughly $2,880 a
month before taxes.
Joe Biden works at the White
House doing nothing. He works (?)
Blue Mountain
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
(including online access)
EAGLE
Editor ........................................................Bennett Hall, bhall@bmeagle.com
One year ..................................................$51
Monthly autopay .............................. $4.25
Outside Continental U.S. ....................$60
Published every
Wednesday by
Reporter ...................................................... Steven Mitchell, steven@bmeagle.com
Sports ........................................................sports@bmeagle.com
Multimedia ............................................................. Alex Wittwer, awittwer@eomediagroup.com
Marketing Rep .......................................Kim Kell, ads@bmeagle.com
Subscriptions must be paid
prior to delivery
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
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
Phone: 541-575-0710
hours a week and makes $400,000
a year with probably no taxes, plus
benefi ts — medical, Air Force One
and on and on!
So after nine months, Joe Blo has
moved enough lumber to build God
knows how many houses while Joe
Biden has screwed up so bad he has
ruined God knows how many Amer-
ican lives.
Something is not right here and
needs to be corrected real soon.
We are on the edge of ruin and
people need to wake up and real-
ize this.
Eddy L. Negus
Prairie City
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