Jamie McLeod Skinner for CD-5
I have known Jamie McLeod Skinner since 2020 when I was the full-time (volunteer) Bend office manager for her Congressional District 2 campaign. That was a great vantage point for seeing how she interacted with staff and other volunteers, chatting with her, and learning about her experience and values.
I observed great rapport with staff and volunteers — always ready to listen, respectful, open to ideas and suggestions and prompt in making decisions and responding to queries. I see her bringing these interpersonal skills and values to the current campaign for CD 5.
Jamie is also the only candidate from Central Oregon, a real plus given that all our state-level officials are from the western side of the Cascades. With her close understanding of water, wildfire and tribal issues unique to Central Oregon, Jamie would give us a voice in Congress that has been sadly lacking. And of course, a voice that is not beholden to PAC money.
Jamie's international experience brings a unique strength. She lived in Africa while in grade school and worked as an engineer and environmental analyst in wartime Kosovo and Bosnia in 1997-98. I was working in Kosovo in 2017-18 and met a senior local official who still fondly remembered her. With all the international and refugee challenges facing the U.S. today, Jamie would hit the ground running in Congress.
Jamie's personal integrity and her experience with international affairs, as well as her understanding of Central Oregon, make her the perfect candidate for CD 5. Check out jamiefororegon.com.
— Inge Fryklund, JD, PhD
Guest Opinion: Inaccurate Reporting Inflames Wolf Concerns
The public deserves accurate media reporting as a gold standard. A step further would be to present all sides of an issue. Wolf Welcome Committee first wants to point out the many inaccuracies of KTVZ news reporter, Matthew Draxton's, coverage of Cliff Bentz's "Listening Session," "Wolves in Oregon," held in Prineville on February 23. Secondly, we take issue with Rep. Bentz' radicalized position on wolves.
Mr. Draxton falsely claimed that, according to the 2022 Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Wolf Annual Report, 51 wolves were removed due to livestock conflicts and 458 livestock were killed by wolves in 2022. Page seven of the 2022 Wolf Annual Report clearly states that there were 20 wolf mortalities that year, not 51!
Of that 20, only seven were killed legally by government agents for livestock depredations. Page nine of the 2022 Wolf Report continues to state that, of the 121 investigations of dead or injured livestock, only 76 were confirmed by government agents from wolf depredation with five "probable." This is a far cry from Draxton's news report of 458 killed!
Draxton also stated that each wolf eats 20 pounds of meat but he left out the following important facts. A wolf can gorge on 20 pounds of a carcass at once or on several feedings within the same day. However, wolves typically do not eat every day, and often are known to go days and even as long as two weeks without food. It is feast or famine for them and elk are their primary prey. ODFW's current elk inventory reports a stable population.
Bentz's declaration that Oregon wolves have a "hugely negative impact" on ranchers is grossly inaccurate. What he fails to acknowledge, is that Oregon has 1,250,000 cattle. Using the official figures of 81 (76 confirmed + 5 probable) total livestock killed by wolves, there were only 4 adult cows and 44 calves killed in 2022, with the remainder a mix of small livestock. The percentage of cattle killed by wolves in 2022 equals a cattle mortality rate of only 0.004%. To compare, using USDA's statistics, the majority of cattle deaths are due to many other issues including digestive (8.3%), respiratory (10.6%), metabolic (13.9%), and calving (10.2%). The focus for increasing the bottom line for ranchers should be improving animal husbandry, together with removing vulnerable or sick cattle from wolf habitat.
Wolves are currently a hot-point issue only made worse by inaccurate reporting, further inflaming the discussions. Bentz totally failed to mention, in his anti-wolf session, anything about the variety of successful non-lethal deterrent tools available to ranchers for wolf management, such as carcass removal, fladry, fencing, livestock guardian dogs and range riders. Currently 73% of funding available through state general funds and grants is being used for non-lethal prevention. For the biennium of 2023-25, there is $1.2 million available to livestock producers for depredation compensation and prevention. Finally, Bentz loses his case for lethal wolf management when USDA figures show that 97.6 % of cattle deaths come from non-predators.
— Wolf Welcome Committee: Donna Harris D.V.M. , Wendy Von Kalinowski, Jennie Sharp, Susan Prince
Women's Issue
Many thanks for "The Women's Issue" and specifically, your feature article, "And...We're Back Here. Why?" For me, your mention of the pink pussy hats we donned in 2017 brought back memories of women energized to fight to preserve women's rights/issues. Your article challenged me to look for my pink hat; I searched and, YEA, found it buried in my winter clothes box! I tried it on and it fit perfectly, certainly an omen that I might need to wear it again? Could we get our Pink Hatters together for another peaceful protest? Definitely worth a try!
— Joan Goodwin
Letter of the Week:
Joan: Love it! Not only is it a kick for us every time we know someone's out there reading and reacting to our work, but hey, in this case, it's for democracy's sake! Come on by for your gift card to Palate. If I'm not around, maybe you'll let another member of our staff take a photo of you in your hat.
—Nicole Vulcan
