The Owyhee Canyonlands, tax reform, climate change, and fighting wildfires were just a few of the topics discussed at a town hall meeting hosted by Oregon Senator Ron Wyden Thursday, July 21, at the Harney County Courthouse.

Before taking questions and comments from audience members, Wyden presented Harney County Judge Steve Grasty with an American flag that had flown over the nation’s capitol and thanked him for his years of service in office.

The initial concern was that the Owyhee Canyonlands in Malheur County could be made a national monument by presidential declaration rather than by an act of Congress.

Wyden stated that he has introduced a piece of legislation that he called “in effect, an economic development bill for Malheur County.” Wyden added that the focus of the bill is “first and foremost, to preserve and protect the traditional way of life in this community.”

Wyden went on to say that the bill, S.3048, promotes efficient and innovative water storage systems, it establishes an Agricultural Center for Excellence, job training for veterans and young people to go into agriculture, offers additional help for rural fire fighters, and offers additional support for broadband and transportation infrastructure.

Wyden said that S.3048 is a “piece of legislation born out of what we heard  again, and again, and again in Harney County, in rural Oregon, and that was first and foremost, protect this way of life.”

Wyden was asked to touch on gun laws and how people are affected, both physically and emotionally, by recent shootings.

Wyden stated mass shootings are now taking place like “clockwork.” Then after a mass shooting, like clockwork, there is a vigil because people are traumatized, then like clockwork, nobody does anything.

“It’s kind of like people shrug their shoulders and say, ‘That’s the way it is.’ I don’t think that’s good enough,” Wyden said.

Wyden went on to say that he thinks there are a number of steps that can be taken that don’t run afoul of the Second Amendment.

He said if somebody has been convicted of domestic violence, they shouldn’t be able to buy a gun. Or if someone is on a terrorist list, they shouldn’t be able to buy a gun. He cautioned that there must be proper procedures, and also urged the closing of loopholes in background checks.

Wyden said he feels very strongly about lifting the ban at the federal level on doing research into gun violence as well.

Another audience member expressed concern about the president using the Antiquities Act to designate the Owyhee Canyonlands as a national monument, and the Equal Access to Justice Act being used as a revenue stream by environmentalists.

Wyden said he has communicated repeatedly to the administration that there is strong opposition in this part of the state to a monument. With respect to natural resources, Wyden stated it’s important to find solutions on the ground, not in Washington, D.C.

He said he has been looking at what is called the Kempthorne Amendment, named after the former Idaho senator and governor, Dirk Kempthorne.

Wyden said that the amendment basically says that once you have the federal natural resources laws, you go back to the community and say that the implementation of the laws is carried out by the rural area. And within that, there could be reforms to the Antiquities Act and the EAJA.

When asked what the country needs in way of tax reform, Wyden replied, “The tax code in America is a rotting economic carcass. It is infected with loopholes, the inversion virus, and all kinds of special interest rancid pork.”

He said that “we have a tax code that is really two tax codes.” He explained that everyone should pay the same tax rate, no matter where they are on the financial ladder.

Wyden also said that it is time to take away the $80 billion tax break that American companies get “for parking money overseas.”

Regarding global warming and climate change, Wyden stated there are two pieces to the issue. The first being, “Do you think there is a problem?” Wyden said he thinks there is a problem, stating he used the numbers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency.

The second part of the issue is coming up with practical approaches to deal with the problem. Solutions could include using biomass, geothermal sources, and wind for energy.

He noted that you can’t solve the problem on a local or state level, as it is really going to have to be dealt with on national and international levels.

Responding to a question about getting manufacturing jobs in the county, Wyden answered there are two main challenges: one is technological changes and the other is the tax law regarding doing business overseas.

He noted that because of technology, fewer people are needed to do the work than previously.

He said the focus should be on the agriculture, ranching, and farming activities, but that should also include international trade. He said put ranching/exports at the top of the list, and recreation/tourism should be second.

Wyden also spoke about rural wildfires, and said the current system of fighting fires is a “broken, dysfunctional mess.” He stated the heart of the problem is that fire prevention gets the short shrift.

“You don’t do the work going in there and cleaning out those over-stocked stands. So you get this huge build-up on the forest floor, and it gets hot, and it gets dry. And as everybody in Harney County knows, you can have a lightning strike. When you have a lightning strike, and it’s hot and dry, and you’ve got this huge fuel build-up on the forest floor, all of a sudden you’ve got an inferno on your hands.”

He said the agencies run out of money to fight the fire, so they borrow from the prevention fund to put the fire out, and the problem gets worse because they have raided prevention, which is what is needed most. Now, there is a large number of legislators, forestry groups, scientists, industry groups, and environmentalists saying the large infernos shouldn’t be fought using the prevention funds, but rather by using funds from a special account, like other disasters. Wyden added that more work needs to be done on salvage after fires too.

Wyden talked about the Veterans Choice program, saying it is much different than what it is supposed to be. Calling the concept a good one, Veterans Choice was to allow veterans to go to medical providers in the private sector if they live a far distance from veterans services.

“But the implementation has been just a heck of a mess,” Wyden said.

Wyden said there has been debate in the Senate about just throwing the whole plan in a trash can, but he supports the idea of fixing the program instead.

To the subject of allowing banks to accept monies from the sale of marijuana, Wyden said, “Oregonians have now voted to legalize [marijuana] for recreational purposes with a variety of rules and the like. And I have also felt that when Oregonians vote for something, it has to count for something.

“If you vote for something and it’s legal, are we going to have people kind of walking around town late at night with wheelbarrows full of cash and nowhere to put it? It just seems to be an odd idea, even by Washington, D.C. standards. So I have been a sponsor of legislation to allow you to take those funds from marijuana businesses and use them through traditional banking channels.

“I will tell you the votes are not there today in the U.S. Senate to move the bill, but I think as you see additional areas consider this, I think in all likelihood a fair number of them will vote for it, much for the same reasons Oregonians did, then I think it will pick up more momentum.”

Wyden was also invited to spend a few days in the community rather than just a couple hours in order to really get a chance to visit with local residents. Wyden accepted the invitation, but no dates were set.

In closing, Wyden stated he doesn’t have all the answers, but he strongly believes he is not a U.S. senator from the “state of Portland. I’m a United States senator representing every single nook and cranny in Oregon.

“We have seen a huge growth of the voices of the extreme. The voices of the right. The voices of the left. They get louder and louder, they get disproportionate amount of news coverage, that triggers the political support, that triggers people digging in, trying to have it their way, and you know, I can tell you for sure one thing — nobody’s going to have enough votes in the United States Senate on Jan. 20, 2017, to have it their way. We either work together or we don’t get anything done.”

Wyden finished by stating despite all the challenges we face, the freedoms and liberties we have are still the envy of the world.