Dufur, population 607, is a small hamlet south of The Dalles. I found those antelope skulls in a shop window, years in a row, I might add. Photographed them on my way South to Harney County, paradise for bird lovers and hell for inhabitants visited upon by marauding militias. The attached article is a political piece on the threat to our public lands – I felt it was instructive, saddening and infuriating in equal measure. Be warned, it’s also quite long.

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176141/tomgram%3A_william_debuys%2C_no_more_wide_open_spaces/#more

I wonder if it was a coincidence that the occupation of the Malheur Refuge Field Station happened in a county that had made enormous progress in forging alliances and compromises between players at various ends of the spectrum, from conservationist to land owners to state administrators. But the very fact that a shared attempt towards problem solving was in the works gives me hope – so let’s focus on that.

Regardless which way you travel through Oregon, you find vistas of irreplaceable beauty in those various open spaces, from the aspen groves on Mt. Hood, to the canyons of Eastern OR to the beaver creeks of Harney County. And here I’m with Woodie Guthrie:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxiMrvDbq3s – it’s our land.