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Wednesday, April 15, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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Support a paved path
By Wendie and Mike Vermillion
Guest Columnists
Letters to the Editor…
The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer’s name, address and phone
number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not neces-
sarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters
submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or
returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday.
To the Editor:
Just a few quick words about traffic in
Sisters: If you like sitting and waiting in sum-
mer gridlock, by all means install a few traf-
fic lights; it will get a lot worse. If you like
smooth-flowing traffic and no gridlock, you
might consider a traffic circle.
I have seen traffic circles function well all
over the world, large and small, even for the
big trucks, they just have to slow down a little,
and isn’t that a positive?
I know we all like what we know, but
sometimes if you try something new that is
proven to work, you might just be surprised.
Susanne Redfield
s
s
s
To the Editor:
Roundabouts work on smaller side streets
and routes such as the ones in Bend, but to put
one on a main highway is frankly rather nuts.
You don’t see roundabouts on Highway 97 in
Bend, and there’s a good reason for that.
I live in Sisters and hear trucks barrel too
fast through town late at night on a regular
basis. If a roundabout is installed I can guar-
antee some unaware trucker sooner or later is
going to plow straight through the middle of it
on some dark night and make a mess of things
along with his rig. Additionally, when the sea-
sonal summer traffic is in full swing it will not
be easy for trucks, RVs, and people pulling
trailers to navigate.
Despite the so-called mock-up experiment
at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds I don’t
know of any trucker or hauler who thinks this
is a good idea. I’m actually sort of incredulous
that the Oregon Department of Transportation
hasn’t nixed the idea a long time ago. When
the traffic light was temporarily installed
See Letters on page 19
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As Sisters residents, we
feel compelled to add our
voices to the proposed-trail
controversy, rather than
have others assume to speak
for us. It seems necessary to
remind folks of all that the
Forest Service has accom-
plished and will continue to
pursue in order to care for
the land, the trees and the
needs of the public. With the
help of countless volunteers
through the decades, the
Forest Service has planned,
carved out and maintained
hundreds of miles of trails
for all sorts of recreational
use and camping, for hikers,
bikers and equestrians.
These very features have
helped build a reliable eco-
nomic base for our region,
which is heavily depen-
dent on tourism, precisely
because of our wondrous
outdoor offerings. Because
we, like so many others,
have mingled muscle, sweat
and dirt with supervised
FS and STA crews, both
building and maintaining
trails, we can speak credibly
of the care, integrity and
extremely hard work that
Forest Service personnel
bring to every project.
Since the Forest Service
is mandated by the federal
government to not only pro-
tect our public lands, but
to make them accessible to
everyone in a manner that
preserves them for future
generations, great care is
taken to fulfill this obliga-
tion. Organizations like the
Sisters Trails Alliance have
sprung up all over America
to offer support for all such
endeavors the FS pursues.
People in such groups love
the land, the trees, and the
streams passionately enough
to give money and time, all
for the benefit of others,
many of whom can not or
choose not to volunteer.
A recent letter lamenting
the loss of trees in building
this trail invited people to
“take a walk with your chil-
dren in the woods” to make
a point. The author failed to
grasp that building a paved
trail is an attempt to discour-
age people from making
even more random trails by
striking out wherever they
wish! A paved trail would
allow that walking or riding
pleasure without doing even
more damage to our forests.
One complaint argued
that our taxes would
increase. Perhaps this per-
son is unaware that the fed-
eral government has already
allocated grant funds for
exactly this purpose, so
our local taxes would not
change unless we voted for
a bond proposal at some
point, which has not been
mentioned at all.
To imply that the Forest
Service and the Sisters
Trails Alliance are somehow
conspiring against any part
of our community seems
ludicrous, when everything
they have done to date has
been undertaken with the
goal of serving the greater
need in the least harmful
way. Perhaps some consid-
eration could be given the
width of the trail. Perhaps
some replanting of trees
could be part of the ultimate
plan. These are negotiable
factors, which the FS seems
very willing to consider.
As for individual fears
of a mass invasion of hik-
ers or bikers in Black Butte
Ranch, we would remind
folks that 16 miles is a
substantial ride for many,
except for avid riders, who
are usually riding for mile-
age, time and distance, and
would not be inclined to
browse around the living
areas any more than bik-
ers do currently. Families
would welcome a safe ride
or walk for a few miles,
as would electric wheel
chairs, from either end of
the trail. But people would
be in our beautiful woods,
off the dangerous highway,
not making random trails
just anywhere, and oh, the
animals? Anyone who has
hiked will note that the ani-
mals also love the path of
least resistance, and would
likely use that trail as well,
after hours!
We need to keep focused
on the big picture for today
and tomorrow, making sure
of our facts and offering
positive ideas. We have not
heard of any community,
so far, with regrets for add-
ing such a trail. We implore
folks to trust those who
have served us so well for
so long, our Forest Service,
which is comprised of
human beings doing their
best.
Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.