Population Growth and Land Use Laws

Steve is a Baker County Democrat, he asked me to put this up.

It’s hard to miss the latest round in Oregon’s land use wars. The Governor, Thousand Friends of Oregon and, The Portland Oregonian, are pushing hard to repeal measure 37. If we don’t, they contend Oregon will lose open space, wildlife habitat, farm land and quality of life. It’s almost laughable. Our land use wars and environmental problems in general are a direct result of too many people fostered by an immigration policy that should have been altered years ago. You’ve heard it from me before so how about hearing it from one of the icons of the American environmental movement, Edward Abbey, the inspiration for Earth First and other groups. In a letter to the Industrial Worker Oct 1st 1988 he had this to say. “…..As I have said and written many times, in many places, I am opposed to all further mass immigration, legal or illegal, from any source, and my reasons for this position are quite conventional. Like all Earth Firsters, almost all environmentalist, most union members and (according to polls) the majority of blacks and Hispanics, I think we should seal our borders for the following good, clear and obvious reasons:1. The USA is overcrowded already.2. A large influx of cheap labor- docile, uneducated and desperate foreigners- will put bona fide native-born (or naturalized) American working people at further disadvantage in their struggle with big business and big government;3 A growing population means greater pressure on all resources, including clean air, clean water, clean soil, open space, schools, medical facilities, wildlife, wilderness and our public lands in general;4. A growing population leads inevitably to more government laws, regulations, police, centralized control, authoritarian policies and a generalized stifling of personal freedom for all but the very rich. Yours fraternally, Edward Abbey, Oracle Arizona. In a nutshell there is the basis of Oregon’s land use wars. We had 210 million people when we passed Senate Bill 100, the law that created our draconian land use laws. We have 300 million now and are growing rapidly because of immigration. Others warned us too. In Sept. 1974, a year after Senate Bill 100 passed in Oregon Garrett Hardin, a prominent ecologist wrote, Life Boat Ethics: the case against Helping the poor. Garrett Hardin’s writings can be found on the internet. We were warned decades ago what the effects of unrestricted immigration would be. We are now at a crossroads. Congress will soon debate an immigration bill. Its time to get real. No longer can we spout a cliché like “we are a nations of immigrants” and think that says anything. That’s history. We have to look at the future now.

Steve Culley Baker City Or