To the editor:

With Malheur Lumber Company going back to work this week, Grant County has lost its newest unemployment record. About 10 years ago, a little research revealed that out of 3,109 counties in the contiguous 48 states, Grant County ranked No. 20 in high unemployment.

A call to the Oregon Employment Department factored in those either directly or indirectly unemployed by the mill closure and the new ranking was No. 7. Whether it’s the briefly held “lucky” number seven or that we soldier on as No. 20, a seemingly solid position we hold, our high unemployment is a tragedy and a shame.

Can one imagine what the figures would be if all the working-class citizens that have lost jobs would have stayed here instead of moving away to ensure their survival? The county’s population is down nearly 25 percent from nearly the same number of years ago.

The beginning of the high unemployment and an exodus parallel the beginning of the so-called “environmental” movement.

Question: Is our county better off with schools seeing fewer students to educate while struggling financially to stay open? Graduates having about zero chance of a family wage job making Grant County a promise of opportunity?

Our land: Is it better now that having been “protected” means either burned or in jeopardy of being so?

Simply put: No stewardship, no jobs. No stewardship, eventual devastation. Grant County cannot survive as we have known it.

Dave Traylor

John Day