OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
A4
Wednesday, November 30, 2022
OUR VIEW
Home repair loans
could be a boon
for Grant County
I
n last week’s edition, we carried a story about a federally
funded program that off ers zero-interest loans to low-income
homeowners across four counties in Northeast Oregon, in-
cluding ours. The program operates on a revolving fund, which
has just been recharged with a $400,000 grant obtained by Grant
County (the participating counties take turns applying for the
funds, which are available to any qualifying resident in the pro-
gram’s coverage area).
These loans sound like a pretty good deal. You can borrow
up to $24,999 to fi x up your place with plumbing or electrical
work, a new roof, structural repairs, heating system upgrades,
paint, siding, or new doors, windows or fl ooring, among other
things. And here’s the best part: There’s no interest, and the loan
doesn’t have to be paid back until the owner moves out, sells the
home or dies.
To qualify, you need to own a home valued at $250,000 or
less, have an annual income no greater than $40,250 for an indi-
vidual or $57,450 for a family of four, and meet a few other
requirements.
At fi rst blush, this program seems like a terrifi c fi t for Grant
County, especially older residents with limited fi nances and
older homes in need of repair. According to the latest census
data, 75% of our housing units are owner-occupied, the median
value of those homes is $153,900, nearly one-third of the pop-
ulation is 65 or older (think retirees on fi xed incomes), the
median household income is $48,202 a year and 13.9% of the
population lives below the poverty line.
So it came as a shock to learn that Grant County has by far
the lowest participation rate in the program with only 11 active
loans, just over half as many as Wallowa County, which has the
second-lowest participation rate with 21 loans. (Baker County
has 28 and Union has 77.)
What gives? A stubborn kind of pride may be part of the
answer.
According to Kale Elmer, who manages the program for
Community Connection of Northeast Oregon, some of the
Grant County seniors he’s talked to are reluctant to take out one
of these home repair loans because they don’t want to leave it
behind for their children to pay off after they die. That concern
is commendable, to be sure. But as Elmer points out, making
repairs now will increase the home’s value (not to mention mak-
ing it more comfortable to live in), enabling the borrower’s heirs
to recapture the cost of the loan when they sell or refi nance the
property.
Obviously, we don’t know the details of anyone’s personal
fi nancial situation, and it’s not our place to tell anyone whether
or not they should take out a loan. If you’re nervous, ask a
trusted friend or family member (or better yet, a trusted fi nancial
adviser) to go over the paperwork carefully with you before you
sign on the dotted line. But don’t let pride keep you from taking
advantage of a program that could help you live a better life.
To fi nd out more about the Community Connection’s Housing
Rehabilitation Loan Program, visit https://ccno.org/housing-re-
habilitation-loan-program/ online or call Elmer at 541-963-3186.
FARMER’S FATE
Thoughts on footprints and ripples
S
omething about watching ocean
waves makes one refl ect on life
— and the choices which have
led you to the current moment. Big or
little, momentous or inconsequential,
every day is full of them, and we don’t
always realize how far-reaching their
consequences can be.
Sitting on four-wheelers watching
the sun melt into liquid gold pouring
onto the ocean waves, my husband
and I watched our kids ride around on
the beach and we reminisced about
the choices that brought us here.
Twenty-odd years ago, friends of
my parents were taking a vacation to
the coast. They did the usual tourist
things: played at the beach, browsed
the shops and rode horses in the sand.
Towards the end of their trip, they saw
a sign for ATV rentals and, on a whim,
stopped to ride on the dunes for a few
hours — and loved it. A stone was
thrown into the water.
The next year, they invited my
parents to go along. We went, tak-
ing our utility four-wheelers to ride.
We pitched tents beside their motor
home — not that we stayed in camp
much. We spent nearly every wak-
ing hour riding the dunes. It was some
of the most fun we’d had on a fam-
ily trip. The next year, a few more
people were invited, and some of the
four-wheelers were upgraded. The
stone was sending out ripples.
My husband and I got married,
and now two sides of grandparents
began coming. The four-wheelers got
sportier. Winches and four-wheel-
drive were replaced by light bars and
sand paddles. Tents were traded in for
toy-haulers. More of us got married.
Now there were spouses, and soon
kids coming along.
Youth four-wheel-
ers and side-by-
sides were added to
the mix. The ripples
were spreading.
I look forward
to this trip all sum-
Brianna
mer, and this year
Walker
didn’t disappoint. It
fell a little earlier in the year, which
had us hustling to get hay up and mel-
ons to market before we could leave.
Most of the group had been there for
three days before we pulled out of the
driveway at 10 p.m. for the 9-hour
drive. We spent most of my birthday
driving and setting up camp. But the
next morning, two friends made cof-
fee with whipped cream and sprinkles
and lit a candle in coff ee cake to cele-
brate. It was a great day. The sun was
shining, the weather was amazing,
and the rides were just like I remem-
bered from last year — maybe better.
My youngest was able to do the trails
this year, which made our rides quite
enjoyable. We rode and ate. Rode and
slept. And rode some more. The camp
was fi lled with toy-haulers, campers,
all manner of motorized “toys” and
riders in various forms of the afore-
mentioned stages: eating, sleeping or
gearing up to ride.
Riding out on the beach one after-
noon, we came upon a dead whale. It
didn’t smell great, but that didn’t deter
us from wandering around the mas-
sive creature. It appeared to only be
the back half: exposed, massive ribs
with what looked to be a seal inside
and a huge, lifeless tail fl ipper. We got
back on our four-wheelers and rode a
little ways upwind. But I kept looking
back at the whale. What kinds of sto-
ries could he have told? What sights
had he seen? Where had his life jour-
ney taken him? As we watched the
tide roll in, the water washed over and
around the whale. Quickly, our foot-
prints were erased without a trace.
In fi ve minutes, no one would have
known we had been there. Soon, I’m
sure, the tide will erase all trace of the
whale himself as he washes back into
the sea.
Every day we make choices. Not
just good or bad choices, but choices
on things that don’t seem to matter
— but perhaps they will in ways we
can’t imagine. Twenty-odd years ago,
a seemingly inconsequential choice
of renting ATVs has resulted in an
annual trip that has us wearing match-
ing shirts and using up many vacation
days — creating memories we will
treasure for a lifetime.
So what makes some decisions
like footprints in the sand — momen-
tary outcomes that quickly fade and
are lost forever into the sand of life
— while other choices are like stones
thrown in a lake, rippling out for
generations? I watch the waves for
answers. All I see is a group of seals
pop up in the surf, barking and splash-
ing. The kids point and laugh as we
watch those four seals slap the water
and bob up and down. I don’t know
what makes the diff erence, but as you
travel life’s game of choices with me,
may all your bad decisions be like
footprints in a rising tide — and may
all your good choices ripple like a
rock tossed into a still lake.
Brianna Walker writes occasion-
ally about the Farmer’s Fate for the
Blue Mountain Eagle.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Attacking volunteers “1905 Use Book” describe how
lic in Eastern Oregon has stated their
desired condition for access is an open
national forests were supposed to be
impacts community managed. It is clear that the forest
forest. They have stated this since the
To the Editor:
We sit on councils, boards and
committees because we care about our
communities and want them to thrive.
We volunteer, commit ourselves, and
do so in good faith.
Then an individual(s) attacks our
character, our integrity, and attempts to
ruin our lives.
What happens to one or more of us
happens to each of us.
Sandy Murray
Prairie City
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
USPS 226-340
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Email: www.MyEagleNews.com
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John Day, Oregon
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Prescribed fi re is bad
forest management
To the Editor:
Limiting the use of forest resources
has been a major factor in the destruc-
tion of millions of acres of our for-
ests. The irony is that so many of the
harmful practices being done today
are in the name of helping preserve the
forests. The use of “prescribed fi re”
as a means to manage the forests is
clearly a failure in many ways. I have
coughed and sneezed my way through
countless years of smoke as the FS
set smoldering fi res in wet brush and
grass. Then I have witnessed several
hundred thousands of acres of forest
completely burn up from catastrophic
fi res in the same areas that the FS had
spent years ruining the air with their
“prescriptions.” The historic produc-
tive uses of our forests, such as fi re-
wood gathering, logging, thinning
and grazing, were considerably more
eff ective at removing and utilizing the
dead and dying vegetation.
The 1897 Organic Act and the
resources were set aside to be used by
the people! “The timber, water, pas-
ture, mineral, and other resources of
the forest reserves are for the use of
the people; They may be obtained
under reasonable conditions, without
delay; Legitimate improvements and
business enterprises will be encour-
aged. Forest reserves are open to all
persons for all lawful purposes.”
On another note, a paragraph that
is of particular interest in relation to
the recent arrest of a FS employee
by the sheriff : “The jurisdiction, both
civil and criminal, over persons within
such reservations shall not be aff ected
or changed by reason of the existence
of such reservations, except so far as
the punishment of off enses against the
United States therein is concerned;
the intent and meaning of this provi-
sion being that the State wherein any
such reservation is situated shall not,
by reason of the establishment thereof,
lose its jurisdiction, nor the inhabi-
tants thereof their rights and privileges
as citizens, or be absolved from their
duties as citizens of the State.”
Ken Alexander
Unity
BIC doesn’t speak
for Eastern Oregon
To the Editor:
From Oct. 25 through Nov. 9, the
Forest Service’s Blues Intergovern-
mental Council (BIC) held a series
of meetings to unveil their “desired
conditions” for the upcoming forest
plan revision talks. The BIC’s desired
condition for access is incorrectly
stated and must be revised. The pub-
beginning of travel management in
2007, and through the withdrawal of
the forest plan revision in 2018.
The BIC states that “The public
has a desire to be well informed on
forest access, therefore a current and
comprehensive inventory of all forest
roads and trails that is displayed on an
easily read map which clearly lists sta-
tus is essential. Any proposed changes
to the status of the road system would
be evaluated and analyzed at the proj-
ect level through the NEPA process in
coordination with the local and tribal
governments and with comprehen-
sive public notice and involvement.
Where applicable, road and trail sys-
tems available for public use should be
maintained according with their des-
ignated purpose. Any use restrictions
previously reviewed and approved
through the NEPA process are clearly
and eff ectively posted for the public
and refl ected on updated maps.”
This statement is in support
of travel management, closure of
cross-country travel and closure of
motorized access to roughly 95%
of the national forest in Northeast-
ern Oregon. The statement must be
changed to “The BIC has a desire
to be well informed…” as the BIC
developed these desired conditions
outside public participation and with-
out consideration of past public com-
ments or objections fi led.
The BIC’s documents should
refl ect it speaking for itself, and not
representing itself as a voice of the
residents of Eastern Oregon, as it is
not a representative body of Eastern
Oregon.
John George
Bates