A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 6, 2022
OUR VIEW
Oregon Trail
becoming a
two-way street
T
he political leadership in the West needs to take note of
the growing number of farm families that are picking up
stakes and moving east.
In the 1840s, white settlers from east of the Mississippi River
started making the arduous journey west, pushing up the Oregon
Trail to the Pacifi c Northwest.
Others followed the trail to Fort Hall in present-day Idaho,
then turned southwest on the California Trail to reach the gold
fi elds of the Sierra Nevada and the farmland of the Central
Valley.
Land was cheap and opportunity was within relatively easy
grasp. The West off ered fewer restrictions than were in place in
the established Eastern communities.
Many longtime farm and ranch families proudly point to their
pioneer heritage.
But over the last decade or so, there’s been a small but grow-
ing number of farm families picking up stakes and moving east
of the coastal states to escape tough business climates.
It’s a reverse Oregon Trail of sorts, with modern day emi-
grants moving to Idaho, Montana, the Plains and the Midwest.
While it hardly can be described as a mass exodus, people
are noticing an uptick in the number of farm operations moving
east.
“People have talked about moving for years and years, but
now people are actually doing it,” said Ryan Jacobsen, manager
of the Fresno County Farm Bureau in California. “Statistically,
it’s still probably a blip on the radar. But it’s crazy that it’s actu-
ally happening.”
Farmers cite several reasons for moving: seeking less
crowded places; political concerns; COVID-19 protocols; estate
taxes, regulations and associated costs; opportunities for expan-
sion; “climate migrants” fl eeing drought; and farmers seeking
more secure water supplies.
The common thread is that farmers and ranchers are moving
to places where they believe their businesses, and families, can
better thrive.
The tax and regulatory climate on the West Coast has made it
increasingly diffi cult for family farming operations.
Carbon policies have made fuel more expensive. COVID-19
regulations have reduced the availability of labor, and thus have
reduced yield while increasing costs.
State legislatures have grown openly hostile to agriculture,
proposing gross receipt tax schemes that would turn the already
precarious economics of farming on its head.
They have adopted alternative energy policies that encour-
age converting farmland into wind and solar energy facili-
ties. They’ve proposed increasing riparian buff ers. They have
restricted common pesticides, herbicides and fumigants.
Most farmers can’t pick up and leave. But they can sell out to
bigger operations.
Through increased regulation and legislation, state govern-
ments will hasten the consolidation of the industry, and the ruin
of the rural communities that depend on a viable population to
thrive.
OFF THE BEATEN PATH
The hierarchy of houseplants
F
rom a hard fall frost that
turns the vegetable garden
lifeless and mushy until it’s
time to plant peas and early pota-
toes in spring, my primary put-
tering with plants centers on
houseplants.
As a child, I rated my mother as
a queen of houseplants. She nur-
tured pots of greenery growing in
containers on a corner of our oak
kitchen table. Most starts came
from friends — African violets
with their fuzzy leaves, ivies, dief-
fenbachia, snake plant with mot-
tled leaves, Christmas cactus and
ferns. Initially, the plant collection
remained manageable.
In time, the folks bought
a home and the plant collec-
tion grew. A tropical Norfolk
Island pine tree that started out
as a 3-inch sprout grew so tall it
reached from the living room fl oor
to the ceiling — and fi nally was
donated to a library with an open-
beamed ceiling. Mom’s plants
at home lined window sills and
thrived on doily-topped end tables
We visited homes where plant
devotees grew vining, large-leafed
specimens that wrapped around
kitchen windows and cupboards.
The macrame craze hit, which
expanded the hanging plant collec-
tions to the point where carnivo-
rous plants hanging down towards
the kitchen table seemed a threat
to one’s steak dinner.
Fortunately, our family was
spared the extremes. Dad pur-
chased a sec-
ondhand green-
house and installed
it in the back
yard. Inside the
12-by-12-foot
structure, Dad
Jean Ann
added benches.
Moultrie
Initially, Mom
moved in over-
grown houseplants and laid out
fl ats of potting soil to start fl ower
and vegetable seeds.
The next era of plants —
orchids. With these, Dad added
grow lights and a misting sys-
tem. Mom enjoyed the experience
of growing the plants — she pur-
chased orchid seedlings fresh from
test tubes from orchid growers and
babied them along for a few years
before they bloomed.
Along with spring pansies and
primroses, grocery stores and plant
nurseries started to carry pha-
laenopsis orchids, known as “but-
terfl y” orchids — one of the easier
orchids to grow at home.
In time, Mom’s greenhouse
bulged with orchid blooms:
paphiopedilums, also called lady’s
slipper orchid; dendrobiums with
bright yellow-and-red blooms; and
the fl amboyant velvety blooms of
cattleyas. The greenhouse orchids
gave off a soft fragrance of vanilla
and old-fashioned roses.
Years later, the task of repotting
and caring for the plants became
a challenge for my parents. They
donated the orchid collection to a
community college greenhouse.
While visiting the folks one
week, I spotted Mom as she
spooned out a seed from an
orange, planted the seed in a small
pot, watered it, and placed it on a
window sill.
“When I was young,” Mom
said, “and couldn’t aff ord plants,
I’d take any seed I’d fi nd in the
food, like orange or apple, and
watch them grow.” She wasn’t
aiming for fruit — just the joy of
nurturing some greenery.
While cleaning at home one day,
I discovered a turnip in the vege-
table crisper which had started to
sprout. Inspired by Mom’s story, I
cut the top third off the turnip and
stuck it in water in a shallow dish.
The turnip leafed out and sent up
two tall fl ower stalks. Blossoms the
size of pinheads opened to a dis-
play of pollen grains. It seemed
the heroic turnip tried to keep her
ancestral line going.
I took a wisp of a cotton ball to
try to pollinate the plant. If another
turnip’s pollen was needed, I was
out of luck. I scraped off the turnip
fl esh that turned dark and changed
the water frequently. No seeds
formed. In time, my favorite tur-
nip died.
Is it still too early to get outside
and plant peas and potatoes?
Jean Ann Moultrie is a Grant
County writer. She enjoys shar-
ing garden seeds with kids and has
helped install raised garden beds
for seniors in care settings.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Anti-Dem letter
distorts polling info
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.
To the Editor:
A recent letter to the editor used
a Quinnipiac University polling
question to villainize Democrats
in a mean-spirited, ugly attack.
They’re free to express their feel-
ings. However, they need to be
held accountable for propagating
a pathetic lie created by political
extremists.
The exact polling question
(No. 8) asked: “If you were in the
same position as Ukrainians are
now, do you think that you would
stay and fi ght or leave the coun-
try?” Nowhere in that question did
the poll ask about America; rather,
it was specifi cally about Ukraine.
Context matters!
It’s true — 52% of polled Dem-
ocrats said they would opt to leave
the country (understood to be
Ukraine), where conditions are hor-
rifi c for civilians; defenseless peo-
ple are being annihilated by a world
military power — killing preg-
nant women, children, and old peo-
ple unable to crawl from under the
rubble of their homes. How in the
world can politically toxic peo-
ple twist that question to mean that
Democrats would not stand and
fi ght someone like Putin on Amer-
ican soil?
In fact, another question
within that poll makes Demo-
crats appear more supportive of
military defenses than Republi-
cans and Independents. Question
No. 12 asked: “As you may know,
the United States is a member of
NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization. Its collective defense
treaty states that an attack on one
NATO country is an attack on all
NATO countries. If Russian Pres-
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.
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Mountain Eagle, 195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845; or fax to 541-575-1244.
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MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
ident Vladimir Putin goes beyond
Ukraine and attacks a NATO coun-
try, would you support or oppose a
military response from the United
States?”
Well, surprise, surprise. Dem-
ocrats (88%) said they would sup-
port a military response, while only
82% of Republicans and 77% of
Independents declared their sup-
port for a United States military
response to defeat Putin.
The humane values of Demo-
crats (as evident in their response
to question No. 8) only enhance
their strong military support to
defend against dictators. Expect no
less from Democrats within our own
borders. As Americans, we aren’t
defenseless — unless, of course,
some of you with hostile feelings
are incapable of standing together in
troubled times.
Kay Scheurer Steele
Ritter
Phone: 541-575-0710
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