A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, February 2, 2022
OTHER VIEWS
Far too many
unknowns
remain with
River Act
Editor’s note: Do you have a point you’d like to make or an issue you
feel strongly about? Submit a letter to the editor or a guest column.
S
ome things from 2021 are still lingering in 2022, like the River
Democracy Act that Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley are pushing.
They are trying to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968.
For several months I’ve been following this issue and still there are
no answers to many revolving questions. Like why are
some of the designated streams not streams at all, but
dry washes? Why are the stream buff ers increased from
a quarter-mile to a half-mile? The act has pages of coor-
dinates of the streams, rivers and dry gulches to be pro-
tected, but not one map.
In May, the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association asked
for the maps and then they asked again in November.
As of this writing, we still don’t have the maps from
Matt
Wyden’s offi ce. I know of two counties in Eastern Ore-
McElligott
gon that have, at their own expense, hired an engineering
fi rm to map the coordinates in the act in order to have a visual map of the
aff ected streams. These visual maps give the county a picture of how this
act will impact them.
It is unconscionable that any county government should have to spend
money from its general fund to map these streams when information
should be available upon request from Wyden or Merkley. Yet they con-
tinue to ignore the requests. How will this aff ect livestock grazing and
other natural resource users?
This act talks a lot about fi re resiliency but supplies no details as to
how locking up 3.1 million acres of federal land will reduce threat of fi re
to land, lumber, and lives. What will the long-term economic eff ect of this
bill be on rural Oregon? Wyden and his team expound on the great bene-
fi ts of tourism and the dollars spent on recreation. “Money will fl ow like
manna from the gods to rural Oregon.”
That’s the well-polished sales pitch and talking points pounded into
their heads at staff meetings. When hikers, bikers and ATVers visit rural
Oregon, most of them bring their own tents, campers, or RVs. They fi ll
their coolers and gas tanks at home and don’t spend much in the small
towns they drive through. Wyden’s bill has a $30 million price tag. Not
just for the fi rst year but every year — forever. Only $5 million of that is
earmarked; what is the other $25 million for? They haven’t answered that
one either.
The original intent of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was to preserve
certain rivers with “outstanding natural, cultural and recreational values
in a free-fl owing condition.” This act as presented is a vast departure from
the original Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. If this act passes into law, it will
set grave precedent that will enable lawmakers to circumvent protocol
and procedures. Our senators were elected to represent all Oregonians,
not a select demographic.
Please take the time to look up SB 192. If you don’t like what you see,
if you don’t want another 4,700 miles of streams and 3.1 million acres of
Oregon locked up, reach out to Oregon’s senators and let them know.
Matt McElligott is the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association president-elect
and public lands council committee chair.
OFF THE BEATEN PATH
The wonder of train whistles
Y
our grandpa was a railroad
man,” my mother said.
Grandpa wore a pocket
watch, walked from his home into
town to work for the Southern Pacifi c
Railroad in Ogden, a train hub, and
was never late for work. Mother
wore a dainty Bulova wristwatch,
and being the daughter of a railroad
man, was never late for anything ever
in her life. The trains hauled sheep
and sugar beets.
When our father drove out on
dusty country roads in our Kelly
green, two-door 1953 Plymouth and
spotted a train coming, he’d speed
up to keep pace with the locomotive.
With his hair tousled from the open
windows, he’d wave to the conduc-
tor. In the back seat, my two younger
brothers and I crowded at the win-
dows to wave and shout. When the
conductor spotted us, he blew his
whistle.
If we were stopped at a railroad
crossing for an oncoming train, we’d
climb out and stand next to our car.
Waving turned to windmilling with
our arms and we jumped up and
down as the engine approached.
Mom watched from the car. “You
kids stay back now.”
The conductor usually rewarded
us with several blasts from the train
whistle. A powerful skill for a child
to have — the ability to wave and
shout and the shriek of a train whistle
answers back.
As the engine lumbered past, we
watched for the “empty” boxcar, the
door partly ajar.
Inside,
stooped-shoul-
dered men with
drawn faces stood
in the doorway. We
cheered and waved.
We made eye
Jean Ann
contact. We see
Moultrie
you! You matter! A
few waved back.
It seemed to me that in those brief
moments, the men stood little taller.
Later, I learned trains hauled
more than harvested crops and crit-
ters. Our family, moving to another
state, rode the train. Leaving cousins,
aunts, uncles, and a gray-haired, bald-
ing grandpa behind left no reason for
cheering.
Through the next few years, the
train engineers seemed less inclined
to blow the whistle except at cross-
ings or designated areas. No passen-
gers in boxcars — only in passen-
ger cars.
Occasionally I’d hear the whis-
tle from trains that had left Eastern
Oregon, now chugging to the Port-
land/Vancouver area, a hub where
travelers could then head north or
south. Trains hauled lumber, grain,
new vehicles. When I’d hear a train
whistle in the distance, I’d think of
prosperity.
By my early teens, I paid little
attention to the train whistles, espe-
cially at night, like background noises
that in time go unnoticed.
Levi, a friend and date for the
school dance, arranged for us to dou-
ble-date with his friend, Sam, who
would drive. That wasn’t unusual for
kids to get rides, or have parents drop
off kids at an activity. Most classmates
didn’t have cars and belonged to one-
car families.
After the dance, Sam and his date
wanted to cruise around town. Levi
and I wanted to be home by curfew.
Sam dropped us off at Levi’s home.
My date’s dad seemed more tired than
peeved. He grabbed his car keys as
Levi and I climbed into the backseat
of their car.
Silence while we drove towards
my home.
Out of the darkness, a train whis-
tle sounded.
“A nighttime train whistle sounds
sad and lonely,” said the father.
Levi’s father had no more said
those words than I recalled a com-
ment a classmate once made at school.
“That tattoo on Levi’s dad … from a
World War II concentration camp.”
I recalled what had been my big-
gest concern the morning of the dance
— what dress to wear.
A smack-in-the-head thought
came: I live a shallow life. My latest
train whistle experience — boarding
a steam engine at McEwen Depot
and taking the Sumpter Valley Rail-
road to Sumpter. A simulated train
robbery — cheers, shouts, laughter,
lots of train whistle blasts. A happy
ending, and no one died.
Jean Ann Moultrie misses the
times as a kid when she and her
brothers pushed back furniture, laid
out train tracks, and sent toy electric
trains zooming around the tracks.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Local log buyers in John Day
Green’s resignation is going, we will be bucked off . A
little patience and trust in the knowl- and Burns should be required to
a loss for John Day edge that our administrators, in this purchase at least 25 percent of
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:
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.
• U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D — 313 Hart
Senate Offi ce Building, Washington D.C.
20510. Phone: 202-224-3753. Email: senator@
merkley.senate.gov. Fax: 202-228-3997.
Oregon offi ces include One World Trade
Center, 121 S.W. Salmon St., Suite 1250,
Portland, OR 97204; and 310 S.E. Second St.,
Suite 105, Pendleton, OR 97801. Phone: 503-
326-3386; 541-278-1129. Fax: 503-326-2990.
• U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, R — (Second District)
1239 Longworth Building, Washington D.C.
20515. Phone: 202-225-6730. No direct email
because of spam. Website: walden.house.
gov Fax: 202-225-5774. Ontario offi ce: 2430
SW Fourth Ave., Suite 2, Ontario, OR 97914.
Phone: 541-709-2040. Medford offi ce: 14 N.
Central Ave., Suite 112, Medford, OR 97501.
Phone: 541-776-4646. Fax: 541-779-0204.
• Pending Bills: For information on bills in
Congress. Phone: 202-225-1772.
To the Editor:
Nick Green resigns: Why?
First of all, he is highly trained in
everything needed to revive a slowly
dying town like John Day. A mas-
ter’s degree in public administration
with focus on rural economic devel-
opment and local government.
Where are we going to fi nd
another soul even close to such
experience and education and per-
sonal commitment to John Day’s
well-being?
And why is he the one that was
being attacked?
He only came up with the infor-
mation and possibilities and propos-
als. It is up to the mayor and coun-
cil to OK them, which they did on
many and not on some. Many of
which have been on the agenda for
40 years and more, which he fi gured
out how to fi nally get done.
At the bimonthly meetings, it was
the 1% of deniers the council and
Mr. Green had to contend with on
most every issue.
Where is the other 99% that agree
with very much, if not all, of what
has been proposed? The 99% that
see and know that most everything
fi nished, begun or in the pipeline
will most very likely be a good thing
for the city and county? (Fact! What
is good for John Day will be good
for the county as a whole.)
Not everything can be exactly
what you, the individual, may want.
Those few other items you are not
crazy about may be just the ticket for
most everyone else or at least the big
picture in the long run.
This is not 1960. It is 2022 and
times have changed, and if we do
not ride the horse in the direction it
very good town, really are doing
their best for all of us is overdue and
much needed.
Thank you, Nick Green and Ron
Lundbom and the John Day City
Council.
Jim Bay
John Day
Stewardship may
harm private timber
To the Editor:
Looks like some more fire and
destruction could be on the hori-
zon for private forestland manag-
ers in Grant County.
As the current stewardship
contract on the Malheur National
Forest, proven to improve con-
ditions on public forest lands,
expires in 2023, there are a few
things I would suggest negoti-
ators and policy writers should
consider.
The value of private forest-
land has been adversely impacted
by these large contracts. A steady
supply of commercial pine from
lands that have professional for-
esters, planners and ecologists
(paid with public money) outper-
forms what private forest manag-
ers can do.
I agree that Forest Service
lands need a lot more fuels reduc-
tion and commercial thinning to
maximize values. Benefits for
humans and improved resiliency of
natural systems is good for all.
Here are a couple of actions that
I think might make another long-
term stewardship project more pal-
atable for taxpayers and citizens in
the region.
Blue Mountain
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
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their logs from private lands. This
may encourage private timber
owners in the region to continue
to manage their timber for sustain-
able, long-term production.
I do want to acknowledge that
the U.S. Department of Agricul-
ture’s Natural Resource Conser-
vation Service provides signifi -
cant forest management cost-share
opportunities to private landown-
ers ... if the land qualifi es and own-
ers can show federally approved
uses (agricultural use).
Current forest stand improve-
ment programs administered by
NRCS only support removing juni-
pers and thinning of pine smaller
than 10 inches. Does the current
stewardship contract on public
lands include thinning trees larger
than 10 inches? Seems the govern-
ment-subsidized thinning of larger
non-merchantable trees on public
lands puts private forestland man-
agers at an unfair disadvantage.
If public planners can’t fi gure out
how to support private timber har-
vest in an equitable way, the For-
est Service should focus all public
lands fuels reduction, pre-commer-
cial and commercial harvests imme-
diately adjacent to private timber-
lands. This will provide improved
wildfi re protection from overstocked
public lands.
Smart long-term and balanced
management of the natural resources
of the region will ensure the long-
term viability of communities in the
region.
Jeff rey Kee
Portland
Editor’s note: Kee owns forest
land in Crook, Wheeler and Grant
counties.
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