A new blacklist

Okanogan County understandably approaches environmental issues from a different perspective than, say, people from Bellingham. That doesn’t explain the froth and vindictiveness that has arisen over the appointment of Omak conservationist Jay Kehne to the Fish and Wildlife Commission.

Kehne, a 44-year Eastern Washington resident, is employed by the once-hated environmental group Conservation Northwest. He supports the conservation of wolves as an endangered species. He might have voted in favor of the wolf preservation plan the Wildlife Commission approved unanimously before he was appointed. All that makes him anathema to a large share of the Okanogan population, and out of the mainstream. They are within their rights to oppose his appointment.

But, the Okanogan County Republicans demanding that County Commissioner Andy Lampe resign because he sent a letter recommending Kehne? That’s a form of intolerance more common in the 1950s. The Republicans demanded of Lampe an apology and a letter opposing Kehne, all because he once might have made a favorable mention of an appointment he has since opposed.

It looks to outsiders like a new blacklist. Are you now or have you ever sympathized with wolves or environmentalists? This overreaction and intolerance does Okanogan County’s cause little good.

The central issue ought not to be Kehne’s affiliations, but his character, and he is regarded by many as a capable, thoughtful and collaborative leader with a long history in Okanogan County.

This is the opinion of The Wenatchee World and its Editorial Board: Publisher Rufus Woods, Editor Cal FitzSimmons, and Editorial Page Editor Tracy Warner.