>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

The Oregon State Police have traveled a rocky road over the last 25 years. In the early 1980s, voters approved a ballot measure that removed the gas tax as a dedicated, stable funding source for OSP. Since then, they've had to compete for "general fund" dollars with other essential needs like public education and human services. During that time the number of state troopers on our roads has declined by roughly 50 percent — from a high of 665 to today's level of 330.

This past legislative session, the general fund was flush with cash that allowed lawmakers to approve 100 new troopers. There should have been more. After some 36 weeks of training, some of these new recruits will begin active duty in March 2008.

Sadly, the deployment plan that OSP Superintendent Tim McClain has recommended — with the governor's approval — sends the new troopers to the I-5 corridor. Portland, Salem and Eugene/Springfield will benefit. Smaller OSP outposts like Arlington, Hermiston, John Day, Burns and Lakeview were originally slated to receive troopers. They won't get any.

We appreciate the need for troopers in high-density traffic areas. Clearly, resources are needed there. But those communities also have sizeable city police forces and sheriff's departments that are well-staffed, well-equipped and well-funded to handle public safety needs and emergencies. It is rural Oregon that struggles with law enforcement funding and staffing at all levels. And it is rural Oregon that faces the on-going meth epidemic with limited state and federal support.

To his great credit, Gov. Kulongoski fought the pharmaceutical industry and won the battle for prescription-only status for medications containing the key ingredients to manufacture meth. But we remind the governor that more than 35 percent of all meth lab seizures in Oregon have been in the rural areas of Eastern and Southern Oregon. And even as the "home-cooked" meth labs decline, drug trafficking of meth manufactured in Mexico — as well as other illegal drugs — continues in vehicles on Highway 395 and I-84. Remember that Umatilla County — home to our friends in Pendleton and Hermiston — has been labeled by the feds as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). We need additional state troopers in Eastern Oregon to help combat this ongoing crime wave.

The OSP's Fish and Wildlife division has troopers enforcing wildlife regulatory laws and handling a variety of tasks. They are thinly spread throughout Eastern Oregon. More are needed. Last we checked, Portland's OSP contingent wasn't actively engaged with cougar predation, wolf sightings or illegal hunting in the "Pearl District" or the "Rose Quarter."

State Sen. David Nelson, Rep. Greg Smith and other rural legislators need to meet as a delegation with the governor. They can make a compelling case for a reasonable share of these new state troopers to work in rural Oregon. And if some horse-trading is necessary, we've got our share of those majestic animals as well.