4
letters to the editor/community bulletin board
october19
2017
Readers Lend Their Voices...
To the Editor,
Recently the Oregon Parks and
Rec Department have been looking at
whether or not to designate part of the
Nehalem River into their Scenic Wa-
terway program. I fully support desig-
nating the Nehalem River as part of the
Scenic Waterway Designation. I live on
Rock Creek in Vernonia, a tributary to
the Nehalem. It is a beautiful watershed
that host many types of wildlife includ-
ing salmon.
I am currently getting my post
baccalaureate in environmental stud-
ies at the University of Oregon and am
a former intern of the Upper Nehalem
Watershed Council. In my time working
for the watershed council and over the
course of my studies I cannot tell you
enough how worried I am by how the
waterways of Oregon are treated. Com-
pared to other states Oregon has very
week buffer protections when it comes
to logging within the area. Two years
ago a liquified natural gas (LNG) pipe-
line was proposed to be drilled through
Rock Creek and countless other water-
sheds to ship fracked gas from Canada
to Asia. Yet there was nothing our wa-
tershed council could to do to stop a
corporation from damaging the water-
shed we work to protect. Vernonia even
passed an ordinance by the city council
opposing this LNG project. Yet it was
only symbolic as corporations have the
power and local communities of people
do not.
I am mentioning all of this be-
cause it is my belief this designation of
scenic waterway does not go far enough
to protect not only the Nehalem River
Vernonia Weather
September 2017
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HIGH
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LOW
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PRECIP
0
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.12
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1.02
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Ave/Tot
75.3
45.9
2.43
Weather data is collected at the
U.S. Weather station at the
Vernonia Water Plant
but all of Oregon’s beautiful yet threat-
ened waterways. I hope to see more riv-
ers being given this designation and to
take a stand for the rivers so many Or-
egonians care about.
Michael Calhoun
Vernonia
To the Editor,
Hello, I am Lucius Hammock. I
have heard about the discussion on so-
cial media about the smoking in certain
areas of our parks proposal. I have a few
points I’d like to say too.
My first is that I hate the smell
of tobacco smoke. In fact, all of my
friends agree with that too. My second
reason is that the smoke will get into
the other people’s lungs and will cause
asthma attacks and migraine headaches.
I think we all agree we don’t want those.
My third reason ties in with the second
one. If you are going to smoke and cause
harm to yourself, don’t give that harm to
others. Sharing is not always caring.
It makes me angry that kids were
not asked their opinions on it. Since we
use the playground the most, our ideas
should be listened to too. I really hope
that there will be smoking areas.
Lucius Hammock
Age 10, Vernonia
To the Editor,
The recent article, “Presenta-
tion Challenges Corporate Forestry
Practices” in the October 5, 2017 issue
of the Voice was somewhat inaccurate
when describing the forestry tax imple-
mentation in the state of Oregon. For
example, Willer states that since 1993
the state redefined the Harvest Tax so
that 80% is paid at the time of har-
vest. Wrong. All producers pay 100%
of the Harvest Tax at the time of harvest
subject to an annual 25k bf exemption.
In the same paragraph he states
that the “land only” tax was enacted
by HB 3575 in 1998. This is the Or-
egon Forestland Tax and is a little dif-
ferent for the east side harvests. One
needs to understand that the timber in-
dustry wanted a relatively simple, pre-
dictable, and uniform tax not subject
to market conditions. The raw value
of the land and its productivity or site
class becomes the basis for the annual
property tax assessment. This value is
set by the ODR and is subject to the an-
nual tax limitation. I am a little dubious
that this tax plan creates a loss for the
state since the Revenue Department is
very cautious before giving the nod to
any tax plan that is not revenue neutral.
Small woodland owners were
left with no deferral system which
was previously named the “Privilege
Tax”- imagine that! The first attempt
by a committee to draft a new plan was
similar to the old privilege tax but put
the balance owed (80%) into an indi-
vidual account on which compound
interest would accrue over the age of a
rotation. That may be where Willer got
the 80% number, regardless, today we
pay 20% at harvest time which is cal-
culated to pay our fair share when all
the trees are finally sold. I suggested
small woodland owners would pay more
in interest than the principle over the ro-
tational period of 40 years or more with
this proposed plan. With help from Or-
egon Small Woodlands Association, we
got the proposed legislation dropped.
A new committee was formed,
and yours truly, was tapped to serve.
The current deferred plan is the Small
Upcoming
Events
“Just a Number: Aging and Inter-
generational Friendships - Thurs-
day, October 19, 6:30-8:00 pm at
the Vernonia Library. An Oregon
Humanities Conversation Project
program, with faciltators Simeon
Dreyfuss and Jenny Sasser.
Graveyard Dash - Saturday, Oc-
tober 28, 10:00 am, start line at
Vernonia Memorial Cemetary,
2080 Bridge St. 3K and 6K Run
and Walk. Prizes for best cos-
tumes.
Halloween Sidewalk Parade -
Tuesday, October 31, 4:30 pm
starting at City Hall.
Grace Family Fellowship’s Annu-
al Hot Dog Feed - Tuesday, Oc-
tober 31, 5:00-7:00 pm, 957 State
Avenue.
Mist-Birkenfeld Helping Circle
Fall Festival - Saturday, Novem-
ber 4 at the Mist School Gym at
6:00 pm.
The Spirit of Christmas in Ver-
nonia - Saturday, December 9,
all day. Ugly Sweater Run, story-
times, chili cook-off, gingerbread
house and cookie contests, light-
ed parade, and more.
TOPS Group (Take Off Pounds
Sensibly) meet Fridays at the
Mist-Birkenfeld Fire Dept. 8:30
am weigh in, 9:00 am meeting.
Men and women invited to join.
(503) 429-7505
continued on page 14
HOW TO SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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mail to: Letters, PO Box 55, Vernonia, OR 97064.
Columbia Humane Society
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Web: www.columbiahumane.org
Phone: 503-397-4353
2084 Oregon Street
Email: animalwelfare@columbiahumane.org
St. Helens, OR 97051
Commission Adopts
Updated Cougar
Management Plan
The Fish and Wildlife Commis-
sion adopted an updated Cougar Man-
agement Plan today when it met in Prin-
eville, Ore.
The Plan was last revised in
2006. The updated Plan incorporates
new scientific literature and Oregon-
specific research about cougars, includ-
ing a genetics and habitat analysis, but
there are no major management changes.
The Plan continues to stress coexistence
with Oregon’s more than 6,400 cougars.
Fourteen people testified, some for and
continued on page 17
AA Meetings
Open Meetings
Mondays & Thursdays
6:30-7:30 pm
Vernonia Christian Church
410 North Street
Women’s Meeting
Tuesdays 6:30-7:30 pm
Grace Family Fellowship
Youth Center
957 State Avenue