Oregon Strategist

Reinventing the Oregon Dream

The Bureau of Land Mismanagement

February 8, 2014 by Tim Crawley

Sage GrouseDuring the 1870s, the federal government adopted policies encouraging the killing of the North American buffalo in order to deplete the food source of the Native Americans, a tactic used to expand the government’s authority across the West.
Today, in a continued effort to promote and secure its relevance, the federal government, in breach of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, has authorized the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife to spend $3.5 million massacring 3600 barred owls in Oregon under the auspices of spotted owl protection – an animal listed under the Endangered Species Act.
The news of this federal action and the government’s “above the law” response to control natural fluctuations does not come as a surprise to many of us Oregonians who everyday perform the balancing act of providing for our families, sustaining our businesses and ranches, and acting as stewards for sustainable future use of our land. Over the years and centuries, federal responses to local issues have resulted in wasteful spending, irresponsible action, and the decimation of people and animals alike. Yet a concentrated majority in this state has decided that Washington D.C. is best suited to handling our business, ranching and local environmental affairs.
Oregon’s counties and communities face a new federal intervention: an effort to protect the sage grouse. An environmental impact statement is currently being pushed through federal court to determine whether the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) should cordon off hundreds of thousands of acres of land usually reserved for ranching activities.
There is clear consensus among the experts and the BLM that sage grouse numbers are not a problem in Oregon. The disappearance of the bird has predominantly occurred in Idaho and Utah. Many ranchers in Oregon are aware of the bird’s habitat and steer their herds clear of areas where their dwelling is probable.
Yet the federal government has advertised that it is the most effective source for balancing interests – that somehow the sage grouse’s viability must be protected at the federal level from cattle-ranching activities (which actually have a positive impact on sage grouse habitat as well through soil regeneration that aids habitat growth, much like the buffalo herds’ contribution to the fertility of the Great Plains).
Eastern Oregon, prior to the pioneers, was a large swathe of grassland. With the covered wagons clung the sage seeds that spread their roots across the land. Our ever-changing ecosystem has seen the rise and fall of species across the span of earth’s history. Yet our government is attempting to play God and legislate control over a single element to an incomprehensible equation – a futile and wasteful task that does more harm than good, as we saw from the carcasses of buffalo, and see from the slaughter of an owl.

Filed Under: Agriculture, Economy, Environment, National Tagged With: Baker County, Barred Owl, Bend, BLM, Buffalo, Bureau, Bureau of Land Management, Burns, deficit, Deschutes, Eastern Oregon, Endangered Species, Environmental Affairs, ESA, Federal, Grouse, Habitat, Idaho, Lake County, Lakeridge, Land, Local, Management, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, North America, Oregon, Oregonians, Owls, Pioneers, Ranching, Sage, Sage Grouse, Soil, Species, Spending, Spotted Owl, State, Union, Union County, Utah, Vale, Washington D.C.

Old Growth, New Voice

May 3, 2013 by Oregon Strategist

Why do we pay the highest taxes to a government that is furthest away from our homes and communities yet our local governments are struggling to keep our neighborhood pools afloat, our parks enriched, and our kids learning? Is it possible to temper our lust for creating institutions based primarily on a growth model akin to a pyramid scheme?

Both Republicans and Democrats cannot deny their involvement in making servants, if not slaves, out of the future generations of our country either because of nearly bankrupt social programs or because of international ventures gone awry. The parties have succumbed to the pressures inherent in gaining popular favor and retention of power. Representatives and senators are compelled by each imminent election to bring home as much pork as they can carve out from the carcass of our appropriations bills, in essence, stabilizing their influence and legitimizing their role to the voters back home.

Private enterprise, in an economy of scale, can operate in a parallel fashion. Companies such as Monsanto lobby Washington to secure last minute riders in Congressional bills that serve to make lawful their pillage of the average American while barricading their fiefdoms. Wall Street banks have largely been able to navigate around the financial regulations following the 2008 crash and have grown to such girth as to make any indictments of their executives too risky for the economy to endure. We even have seen our educational institutions focused on gaining as much market share as possible rather than perfecting the market share they own.

Grow. Grow. Grow. When the size of an institution begins to compromise the accountability they owe to those closest to home, that is when it is time to stop growing and time to start fine-tuning. Nike, Incorporated has provided tremendous services to Oregon. However, the capacity the company wields in forcing emergency sessions by the executive and legislative branches certainly conjures criticism on subversion of the democracy we are trying to achieve for our state. Accountability builds trust and is at the heart of any community. Crony capitalism and the desire to grow at all costs undermine the integrity of the bonds between us citizens.

When we buy from the behemoths, we are buying an empty homogenate. Changing the way we think about success in our institutions and ourselves is at the heart of reform. Buying local at every opportunity and making personal, individualized investments in the small businesses and non-profits of our state create a unique and vibrant community with healthy competition.

We, as voters and conscientious citizens, must reward politicians who act as conduits of power: not bankers of power. They must be rewarded for coordinating with community leaders in the locale. They must focus on perfecting the basics of government rather than seeking new program upon new program for their list of accomplishments. Local governments have an opportunity to take the reigns and lead their communities towards shaping their desired futures by holding the People’s voice upon the highest of pedestals.

Filed Under: Portland Tagged With: Capitalism, Crony Capitalism, Democrats, Economy, Local, Monsanto, Nike, Oregon Local Politics, Republicans, Wall Street

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