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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (June 14, 2017)
Wednesday, June 14, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Tales from a Sisters Naturalist by Jim Anderson Oregon legislative busy work In 1927, when L.L. Patterson was our governor, the western meadowlark [Sturnella neglecta] was chosen as the state bird by Oregon’s school children in a poll sponsored by the Oregon Audubon Society. It’s a familiar songbird of open country across the western two-thirds of the North American continent, and it lives in Oregon on both the dry and wet sides of the Cascades, all the way south to California, east to Idaho and north to Washington state. And yes, it’s also the State Bird of Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota. But so what — that shows other Westerners also know a sweet song when they hear it. Governor Patterson, following President Coolidge’s inspiration gov- erning the state in a finan- cially conservative manner, he streamlined agencies and vetoed legislation which would threaten balancing the state’s finances. By 1920, our state bal- anced its budget for the first time in its history! Patterson’s administration notably continued improv- ing state roads and highways, established the state’s system of higher education and still balanced the budget. He was a popular and well-respected figure by rivals and support- ers alike, but he died in office of pneumonia December 21, 1929. It’s really too bad our cur- rent legislators can’t follow Governor Patterson’s lead and quit wasting time unnec- essarily changing our state bird, and get to funding out- door education instead. The politicians who decided to take on the time- and money- wasting chore of changing our state bird are a perfect examples of those people who can’t see the trees for the forest. Here we are without enough money in the bud- get to cover education for the young people of our state and we have a bunch of legislators that think changing the state bird is of vital importance. Like we need the osprey — a water bird — instead. The western meadowlark was picked as our state bird because it’s found every- where in the state; osprey are not. There is nothing more beautiful to suddenly come bursting into one’s ears at the crack-of-dawn then the song of the western mead- owlark, whether you’re on the Oregon Coast or wak- ing up in the wild country of Oregon’s outback. The osprey is a water bird, the meadowlark is not, there- fore you have to be near a body of water large enough to support fish to find osprey, the meadowlark’s habitat is all the fence-post country of our magnificent state. There is nothing musical about the call of the osprey, unless you’re tone-deaf. The meadowlark sings its melo- dious song to tell us it’s a beautiful day (especially if it’s raining), while the osprey is usually complaining about something when it lets out it’s whistling screech. Come on, legislators, get back on track, get to work solving our financial prob- lems and forget about the Year-round For spay or neuter assistance contact Kiki, 541-549-9941 FURRY FRIEND S 501 ( c )( 3 ) FOUNDATION Furry Friends Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization FurryFriendsFoundation.org Crest the Cascades Bike Ride — Bjarne j Holme Memorial Bike Ride — Sat., June 17 $40 registration fee This ride offers some of the most spectacular scenery in Central Oregon! For more information go to CrestTheCascades.com. Youth Summer Camps Registration Open for Ages 5-10 Weekly, June 19 - August 11 • 7 a.m. - 6 p.m. At SPRD • $165 full-week/Drop-in $45 See Si S SistersRecreation.com t R ti or call ll f for d details t il 1750 W. W Mckinney ki Butte Rd. Rd d | 541-549 541-549-2091 49 9 -2091 SNO CAP MINI STORAGE Sisters Industrial Park 157 Sisters Park Dr. • 541-549-3575 www.SistersStorage.com • State-of-the-art Security Technology • Sizes from 5x5 to 12x40 • Individual Gate Codes • Long-term Discounts • On-site Manager PHOTO BY JIM ANDERSON Oregon State zird: Wedtern Meadowlark. Pleade leave it that way! sudden “busy work” neces- sity of changing our state bird. If you really want to get immersed in the nature of Oregon, find a way to fund the outdoor school pro- grams most everyone voted so positively for. Give our Prevent Heal • Feel Better Come in for our massage and chiropractic combo, feel good, and get moving again. — Kindling — SistersForestProducts.com • Get the Summer Back in Your Step! — — 541-410-4509 young people the oppor- tunity to spend a week at outdoor school, and I’ll bet they’ll hear, recognize, and see a lot more meadowlarks than osprey — and the folks in Salem will be doing some- thing more positive. Sarah Conroy, Chiropractor FIREWOOD SALES SISTERS FOREST PRODUCTS 19 Est. 2002 st Si ers Owned Call 541-588-2213 392 E. Main Ave. | www.sisterschiropractor.com Shena Fields LMT#7439 | Harmony Tracy LMT# 21211
