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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 27, 2016)
4 A ❘ SATURDAY EDITION ❘ AUGUST 27, 2016 Siuslaw News RYAN CRONK , EDITOR ❘ 541-902-3520 ❘ Opinion P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 VIEW FROM UPRIVER YESTERDAY’S NEWS Cooperative efforts W ESLEY V OTH For the Siuslaw News –––––––––––– O n the lower river, people are beginning to look for salmon. By “look for” I mean seriously fishing for them. That several species of these iconic fish still come up our beloved Siuslaw is no accident. It is expected that this year will be good for the return of Chinook, not so good for Coho, but no one really knows until they’ve come. Although there will be no wild Coho season in the Siuslaw River itself this year, there will be in Siltcoos and Tahkenitch Lakes, considered part of the Siuslaw watershed and under the restoration efforts of the Siuslaw Watershed Council (SWC). Therefore this is one of the few places south of Alaska where it is legal and possible to catch and eat wild salmon. Siuslaw Watershed is a large area extending from headwaters in Lorane, Badger Pass beyond Walton on Highway 126, LoPass above Triangle Lake on Highway 36, Cape Mountain on Highway 101 North and Siltcoos Lake and inlet on Highway 101 South. It includes the near ocean waters as well. Although watershed councils were made pos- sible by the Oregon Legislature 20 years ago to provide a structure for bal- anced and local input into natural resource management and aquatic restoration, many people are unclear about what these councils do and don’t do. I have heard SWC referred to as a club; it is not. It is also not regulatory; it does not enforce rules. But it has had a sig- nificant impact on protecting and improving local salmon habitat in its 20-year existence, and a role in monitoring water quality. SWC has its offices in Mapleton. Originally this was because the Forest Service district offices were here. When the latter moved their offices completely out of this area, SWC stayed in Mapleton where it rents office and meeting space from Mapleton Schools, with whom it has a close working relationship. SWC has a board of directors of nine, drawn from a leadership body of some 35 stakeholder groups, including the Confederated Tribes, the Forest Service and BLM, Lane County, City of Florence, Port of Siuslaw, Soil and Water Conservation District, Industrial Timber, com- mercial fishermen, sports fishermen, small woodlot owners and landowner representatives from many basin areas such as North Fork, Indian Creek, Lake Creek and Wildcat. In a miracle of cooperation in these con- tentious times, SWC makes its decisions by con- sensus. It works to resolve issues outside the courts, fosters varying partnerships across many entities to develop and carry out large and small scale projects, and secures funding from many sources that brings between half and a million dollars a year to the economic vitality of this community. It also carries out educational and other programs frequently pictured and described in the pages of this newspaper. SWC raises a small amount of seed money locally each year, mostly through a fundraiser called Celebrate Siuslaw Salmon, this year at Florence Events Center on Sept. 18. This money funds the grant writing that in turn brings in the funds for its programs. It is a way that anyone can help contribute to keeping the programs and cooperative work of the council going. The best description I have ever read of the Siuslaw region, its scope and history, is avail- able on SWC’s webpage, the last link on the list on the left titled “Watershed Assessment.” I especially appreciate its concluding state- ment, “Lastly, no one (to our knowledge) has ever restored a 500,000-acre river basin to health. For the past 130 years, we, our parents, and grandparents have altered the habitat of the Siuslaw to a point where the aquatic sys- tem is in trouble. This was not done deliber- ately, but rather out of ignorance of how the system works. We are still fairly ignorant. Thus we must view all of our efforts with humility, need to methodically build in experi- mentation, and be willing to abandon efforts that are not working in favor of those that have a better chance. This is known as ‘adaptive’ management. It requires a commitment to con- tinued monitoring and learning.” LETTERS Ice cream social The Friends of Florence would like to thank the community for their continued support of the Van Fans ice cream social, which takes place every year in July. BJ’s ice cream donated the ice cream as they have graciously done for several years. Their generosity has been one of the reasons the Friends of Florence bus continues to thrive. The social is the Van Fans major fundraiser each year, and without the support of many door prize donors, pie bakers, bake sale donors, SHS cheerleaders and other participants, the success of this endeavor would greatly diminish. The Friends of Florence is again looking to purchase a new bus and hope to be taking posses- sion of one sometime in 2017. All the volunteers, including the Van Fans, the drivers and the Friends of Florence board, want the public to know that we appre- ciate you all. Tom Grove Friends of Florence Board Chair Comparing healthcare I attended the PeaceHealth infor- mation session on Aug. 18 and, along with many others, submitted a question to the panel. It was never read or answered even though Mayor Henry claimed that all those submitted had been addressed. The question was: “How does the total compensation package for physicians, physicians assistants and nurse practitioners in Florence compare with those offered in other, similar healthcare markets?” I asked it because many in the EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM community believe that the short- age of medical professionals here is, at least in part, a function of non- competitive compensation. I know that at least one of the physicians who left recently did so, again at least in part, because the retirement benefit was inadequate. Granted that there is a nation- wide shortage of healthcare profes- sionals resulting in stiff competition for their services and that Florence, as a rural area, is disadvantaged in that environment. It is exactly for that reason that total compensation looms large in recruiting and retain- ing qualified individuals here. There is little the local facility or PeaceHealth can do about the labor supply and nothing at all about the location, but compensa- tion is an aspect that could miti- gate other factors. I don’t know why my question was not answered at the meeting. I hope it was simply an oversight. I and others, however, would still like an answer. Perhaps PeaceHealth will put together and publish a compari- son of compensation packages at a number of comparable facili- ties. It would shed some light on the local predicament and might put to rest the suspicion that a contributing cause is excessive parsimony — or not. Dennis W. Dickinson Florence Editor’s Note: In the front-page article, “PeaceHealth Working to Recruit More Doctors,” Aug. 3, hospital officials said salary has not been an issue for the recent depar- tures, though comparisons to simi- lar healthcare markets’ compensa- tion packages were not given. The facts are out there Jim Selby, in claiming that Hillary Clinton wants to raise taxes on the middle class, suggests that, on the contrary, “A reduction in taxes will bring untold wealth to the treasury … The facts are out there … all you have to do is research” (“Clinton Doesn’t ‘Have Our Backs,’” Aug. 24). Actually, research reveals that Clinton calls for a tax cut for low- and middle-income families. Her proposed $1.1 trillion in tax increas- es — a 4 percent surcharge on all income over $5 million; requiring people earning more than $1 million annually to pay at least a 30 percent tax rate; tightening loopholes used by the wealthy; and reducing the estate tax threshold from $5.5 mil- lion to $3.5 million — are hardly aimed at the middle class. Mr. Selby says that simply low- ering taxes will bring “untold wealth to the treasury.” It’s the argument that taxes are such a bur- den on the economy that lowering them allows the revenue from the larger economy to offset the rev- enue lost from the lower tax rates. If only it were that simple. A bit of research indicates that econo- mists see tax rates as just one piece of a complex policy puzzle. Standing alone, Mr. Selby’s asser- tion is deceivingly misleading. If Mr. Selby is looking for increased tax revenues, they can be found by increasing tax rates, reducing tax breaks, improving enforcement and levying new taxes. But, the effects are short- lived. It is policies that increase economic activity and long-term economic growth that “will bring untold wealth to the treasury,” not the Trump tax proposal to signif- icantly reduce marginal tax rates and increase standard deduction amounts with the largest benefits going to highest income house- holds. That, according to the Tax Policy Center, would reduce fed- eral revenues $9.5 trillion over its first decade. The ultimate goal of any eco- nomic policy is not to maximize government revenue, it’s to maxi- mize long-term economic growth. The facts are out there … all you have to do is research. Arnold Buchman Florence MOMENTS IN TIME The History Channel On Sept. 4, 476 A.D., Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed by Odoacer, a German barbarian, who proclaims himself king of Italy. Although Roman rule continued in the East, it marked the end of the original Roman Empire. On Aug. 29, 1533, Atahuallpa, the 13th and last emperor of the Incas, dies by strangu- lation at the hands of Francisco Pizarro’s Spanish conquistadors. The execution of the last free reigning emperor ended 300 years of Inca civilization. On Aug. 31, 1897, Thomas Edison receives a patent for his movie camera, the Kinetograph, which used celluloid film. In 1898, Edison sued Biograph Pictures, claiming patent infringement. However, in 1902, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that Edison only owned rights to the sprocket system that moved perforated film through the camera. On Sept. 2, 1959, Henry Ford II introduces his company’s newest car, the Falcon. The compact car was an overnight success. In just one day, dealers had snapped up every one of the 97,000 cars in the first production run. On Aug. 30, 1967, Thurgood Marshall becomes the first black American to be con- firmed as a Supreme Court justice. He would serve for 24 years before retiring for health rea- sons, leaving a legacy of upholding the rights of the individual. On Sept. 3, 1982, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak’s U.S. Festival opens in San Bernardino, California. Entertainment included The Police, The Kinks and Fleetwood Mac, along with games for the Atari Video Computer System. The Apple Macintosh was still 18 months away. On Sept. 1, 1998, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 finally goes into effect. The law required that all cars and light trucks sold in the U.S. have air bags on both sides of the front seat. (c) 2016 King Features Synd., Inc. L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR P OLICY The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor concerning issues affecting the Florence area and Lane County. Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or typed letters must be signed. All letters should be limited to about 300 words and must include the writer’s full name, address and phone number for verification. Letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Libelous and anonymous letters as well as poetry will not be published. All submissions become the property of Siuslaw News and will not be returned. Write to: Editor@TheSiuslawNews.com USPS# 497-660 Copyright 2016 © Siuslaw News John Bartlett Jenna Bartlett Ryan Cronk Susan Gutierrez Cathy Dietz Ron Annis Jeremy Gentry Publisher, ext. 327 General Manager, ext. 318 Editor, ext. 313 Advertising Director, ext. 326 Office Supervisor, ext. 312 Production Supervisor Press Manager DEADLINES: Wednesday Issue—General news, Monday noon; Budgets, four days prior to publication; Regular classified ads, Monday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Monday noon; Boxed and display classified ads, Friday 5 p.m. Saturday Issue—General news, Thursday noon; Budgets, two days prior to publication; Regular classified ads, Thursday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Thursday noon; Boxed and display classified ads, Wednesday 5 p.m. Soundings, Tuesday 5 p.m. NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In Lane County — 1-year subscription, $71; 10-weeks subscription, $18; Out of Lane County — 1-year subscription, $94; 10-weeks subscription, $24; Out of State — 1-year subscription, $120; Out of United States — 1-year subscription, $200; E-Edition Online Only (Anywhere) — 1-year subscription, $65. Mail subscription includes E-Edition. Website and E-Edition: www.TheSiuslawNews.com WHERE TO WRITE Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon. A member of the National Newspaper Association and Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. Periodicals postage paid at Florence, Ore. Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone 541-997-3441; fax 541-997-7979. All press releases may be sent to PressReleases@TheSiuslawNews.com. Pres. Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, D.C. 20500 Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 FAX: 202-456-2461 TTY/TDD Comments: 202-456-6213 www.whitehouse.gov Gov. Kate Brown 160 State Capitol 900 Court St. Salem, OR 97301-4047 Governor’s Citizens’ Rep. Message Line 503-378-4582 www.oregon.gov/gov U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden 221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg Washington, DC 20510 202-224-5244 541-431-0229 www.wyden.senate.gov FAX: 503-986-1080 Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@state.or.us U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley 313 Hart Senate Office Bldg Washington, DC 20510 202-224-3753/FAX: 202-228-3997 541-465-6750 State Rep. Caddy McKeown (Dist. 9) 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1409 Email: rep.caddymckeown@state.or.us U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (4th Dist.) 2134 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515 202-225-6416/ 800-944-9603 541-269-2609/ 541-465-6732 www.defazio.house.gov State Sen. Arnie Roblan (Dist. 5) 900 Court St. NE - S-417 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1705 West Lane County Commissioner Jay Bozievich 125 E. Eighth St. Eugene, OR 97401 541-682-4203 FAX: 541-682-4616 Email: Jay.Bozievich@co.lane.or.us