Yetter challenges Bentz for Congress – Medford News, Weather, Sports, Breaking

Democrat Joe Yetter, left, and Republican Cliff Bentz are running for U.S. Congress in the 2nd Congressional District.

U.S. Representative Cliff Bentz, a Republican, is facing challenger Joe Yetter, a Democrat, in a contest over who will represent the sprawling 2nd Congressional District that includes Jackson and Josephine counties, plus Central and Eastern Oregon.

They offered differing views and some overlapping ideas on issues that include wildfire and smoke, inflation, housing and homelessness, health care, abortion and Social Security.

Forests, smoke and fire

Bentz, a lawyer and farmer, said there needs to be more thinning of overstocked forests that have too many trees per acre.

“When it comes to the most important issues to Southern Oregonians, fire and smoke have to be really, really close to the top,” he said. “That’s why I’ve spent so much time meeting with different folks and trying to figure out how to get back in the woods to reduce the amount of fuel stacking up there.”

Bentz said the Oregon Department of Forestry fights wildfires more aggressively than the U.S. Forest Service and should be given more power to fight fires on Forest Service land.

ODF protects private land, including private timberland, plus U.S. Bureau of Land Management land.

Yetter, a doctor and farmer, said tiny smoke particles go from the lungs into the blood vessels, and then to the heart, brain and other organs.

Yetter said he wants to see more cooperation among federal, state and local agencies that fight fires, plus thinning and controlled burns to reduce fuel loads.

“There needs to be more cutting out of fuels and salable lumber where it makes sense. It needs to be local and science-based,” Yetter said.

Bentz said thinning trees improves the health of forests and can also lead to more runoff of water, which is needed for irrigation and cities.

Water

Bentz said he would like to see more storage of water in reservoirs, the recharging of underground aquifers, treatment and reuse of sewage water and enforcement against illegal marijuana grows that use stolen water.

Bentz said he doesn’t advocate letting streams and rivers run dry, but he wants a more balanced allocation of water between people and fish.

Bentz said he supports federal funding for piping irrigation canals to reduce seepage and evaporation, but he said he voted against a massive federal infrastructure bill that included piping funding because it was loaded with overspending.

Yetter said he supports piping, conservation, efficient irrigation methods, like drip irrigation, and more planting of crops that use less water.

“We’re in a historic drought that will only get worse. We have to manage our resources better,” he said.

Homelessness

Yetter said Oregon is facing a crisis of homelessness, a housing shortage and a lack of homes people can afford….