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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Letters to the Editor
Illinois Valley News welcomes Let-
ters to the Editor.
Please e-mail them to
dan@illinois-valley-news.com
POLICY ON LETTERS:
‘Illinois Valley News’ encourages letters
to the editor provided they are legible
and not libelous or scurrilous. All letters
must be signed, including name, address
and telephone number. The latter need
not be published, but will be used to
verify authenticity. The “News” reserves
the right to edit letters. Letters are used
at the discretion of the publisher.
***
(Editor’s Note: Views and commen-
tary, including statements made as
fact are strictly those of the letter
writers.)
Reader says Hogwash
The Oregon Farm Bureau presi-
dent’s blurb on Measure 17-58 sounds
so familiar: “Costly…scary…gov-
ernment inspectors”. Though issues
change, it’s the same language we’ve
heard for decades, taken straight from
the scripts of political spin masters
who have researched exactly what
words trigger our fears.
It’s also hogwash.
For background, no one be-
comes president of the OFB who isn’t
pro-biotech. Monsanto pours money
into their PAC-- from direct dona-
tions to the annual golf tournament
they co-sponsor. Bushue’s claim
that there are “No seats at the table
for…corporations” doesn’t say who
bought the table.
The 14 OFB PAC voter pam-
phlet arguments at $400 a pop are a
drop in the bucket for corporations
bent on gaining total control of agri-
culture. Expect all the disinformation
that money can buy.
The citizens who drafted 17-
58 put in safeguards to prevent any
costs. A one-year transition period
insures that only those who deliber-
ately flaunt the law a year after it goes
into effect would bear any financial
responsibility. And, there is no man-
date in the measure for the county to
fund.
But even these safeguards are
unnecessary. The real life experi-
ence of five counties in California
and Washington with similar ordi-
nances, going back as far as 2004, is
they cost anywhere from negligible
to NOTHING. Corporations do not
contract with farmers to break laws,
as that would be unprofitable. No ex-
tra county staffing, no storm trooper
inspectors.
Pay attention to what’s happen-
ing in the real world, not corporate-
sponsored warnings from Scarey-
land.
Jack Dwyer
Selma
Reader Shares
This originally ran in the Thursday,
March 27, 2014, edition of Sustain-
able Business Oregon,
Rough and Ready: Oregon
logging mill revives 67 jobs,
controversy
By Sean Stevens, Oregon Wild
It was with mixed emotions that
I learned earlier this month that the
Rough and Ready logging mill in Jo-
sephine County was reopening after
a nearly year-long closure (“With 67
jobs in tow, Cave Junction sawmill
reopens”).
On the one hand, it is generally
good news for salmon, clean water,
and wildlife when an old-growth log-
ging mill retools to focus on process-
ing the small logs that come from res-
toration-based forestry. It is this sort
of sustainable approach that Oregon
Wild, other conservation groups, and
progressive timber mills have been
supporting over the past two de-
cades.
It doesn’t hurt that 67 people are
getting their jobs back in the process.
However, Rough and Ready
isn’t a “run of the mill” logging mill.
The mill is owned by the Phil-
lippi/Krauss family whose members
have consistently been some of the
most extreme voices in Oregon when
it comes to logging old-growth and
opposing the concept of sustainable,
restoration-based thinning in less
sensitive areas. For decades, their
business model required logging big
old trees from public forest lands.
When it was announced that the
mill was closing last year, owner Jen-
nifer Phillippi told the Grants Pass
Daily Courier, “…we can’t justify the
cost with an inadequate, unpredict-
able log supply supporting only one
shift. It’s like sitting in a grocery store
not being able to eat while the pro-
duce rots around you.”
The grocery store Phillippi
references is America’s system of
federal public lands – lands that be-
long to all of us. Unfortunately, the
old-growth clearcutting epidemic
that ravaged Pacific Northwest for-
ests in the 1970s and 1980s left the
American people’s “grocery store”
in shambles. Some 90 percent of our
old growth was logged and processed
by mills like Rough and Ready, caus-
ing the store owners (the American
closed and one half of the jobs have
gone as well. However, the remaining
mills can produce 25 percent more
lumber volume than was possible in
1995.
Adding to the problem is the
boom in raw log exports from private
lands. In each of the last three years
more private land logs have been
shipped to Asia than have been cut
down on federal lands. The Oregon
Department of Forestry reports that
for every million board feet of logs
shipped overseas we gain one port job
but lose out on three milling jobs.
It is also important to note the
history of employment in Josephine
County – and other rural counties that
we associate with the timber industry
– before, during, and after reductions
in federal lands logging that came
with the Northwest Forest Plan. In
1982, the northern spotted owl was
not yet on the Endangered Species
list and logging still remained the top
priority for federal forest managers.
In Douglas County and Lane County,
the two largest recipients of federal
timber dollars in Oregon, unemploy-
ment was at 17.3 percent and 12.5
percent respectively (the state didn’t
keep numbers for Josephine County
until 1990).
In 1994, the year the North-
west Forest Plan was adopted and
four years after Judge Dwyer ruled
that the timber sale program in the
Northwest was violating federal law,
Douglas and Lane Counties stood at
7.8 percent and 5.0 percent respec-
tively. Josephine County stood at 8.0
percent. Throughout the late 1990s
and 2000s, Josephine County un-
employment never went above 9.5
percent and went as low as 6.2 per-
cent. When the Great Recession hit,
unemployment across the state shot
up, reaching a high of 14.8 percent
in Josephine County. Today, Doug-
las County sits at 10.0 percent, Lane
County at 6.9 percent, and Josephine
at 9.7 percent.
Hard data like this should drive
Oregon’s economic and environmen-
tal decisions, not the kind of eco-
nomic nostalgia underlying West Vir-
gina’s obsession with coal or North
Carolina’s with tobacco. The reality
is that Oregon’s quality of life – and
the old growth forests, rivers, and
protected wilderness areas that help
define it – is the engine that brings
new people, investment, and jobs to
our state. Let’s hope that the retooling
of the Rough and Ready mill, and the
taxpayer financing that made it pos-
sible, makes it easier for Oregon to
protect our public forest lands.
people) to demand that clean water,
recreation, salmon and wildlife get
equal priority with logging.
When President Clinton enacted
the Northwest Forest Plan in 1994, the
social license for logging old forests
was permanently lost. Even as doz-
ens of mills across the state shifted
their business model to the new real-
ity, Rough and Ready refused. Rather
than retool, they spent more than a
decade demanding a return to logging
the big old trees, until economic real-
ity caught up with them.
So, how is it that Rough and
Ready can reopen? What changed in
one year?
Perhaps more interesting is what
didn’t change – namely, the science-
based federal forest policy of the last
twenty years, with the restrictions on
logging older trees that Rough and
Ready found so intolerable. While
other profitable logging mills across
Oregon retooled their equipment to
handle small-diameter logs on their
own dime since 1994, it took $5 mil-
lion in state and federal backed loans
for Rough and Ready to make the
switch.
So, while I am happy Rough
and Ready has joined us in the 21st
century, and 67 Oregonians got their
jobs back, it is frustrating that it took
so long, and so much taxpayer fund-
ing, to make it happen.
The political reaction to Rough
and Ready reopening is also frustrat-
ing, because it demonstrates how
little some politicians understand the
structural changes that have occurred
in Oregon’s economy over the last 20
years.
Recent reports show Oregon
ranking third in the nation in job
growth last year, thanks to a thriving
high tech industry, and to our tour-
ism and outdoor recreation economy.
Oregon’s quality of life – our forests,
rivers, and mountains – are a big part
of that success, bringing new people
and new investment to our state.
In response to the Rough and
Ready mill reopening, Sen. Ron
Wyden said, “…it is always good
news when jobs are restored in eco-
nomically hard-hit areas of the state,
but it is especially good news when
those jobs are in the timber industry.”
In light of the dominant economic
trends in Oregon that show growth in
many sectors but certainly not in log-
ging, this statement is perplexing.
In fact, for every tree cut down
today we see far fewer associated log-
ging and milling jobs than we did a
generation ago. Since 1995, one half
of Oregon’s large logging mills have
Barbar Ullian
Grants Pass
Just another campaign
promise
Recent letters to the IV News
regarding the 5 year Levy to fund
the County Jail and the Juvenile Jus-
tice Center on the May 2014 primary
ballot have been informative but
failed to include that, if passed, the
$1.19 per $1,000 of assessed prop-
erty value will initially go into the
General Fund. That is a huge, red
flag for me and that’s why I will be
voting NO on that levy. The GF is
entirely under the control of county
commissioners. Have we not seen
untold thousands of dollars miracu-
lously appear for their particular al-
location? $350,000 spent to pay off
the fairgrounds debt? $25,000 to the
public libraries? Large, out-of-court
settlements to avoid suits against law
enforcement? Commissioner Simon
Hare said recently $2 million from a
carry-over fund will be “freed up”,
if the levy passes, to help fund the
D.A. and Sheriff’s patrols. Really?
How do we know the commissioners
will really do that? To me, it’s just a
campaign promise. The “safety” levy
should be re-written as a unique line
item on property tax bills. The levy
passed in 2012 to benefit the Illinois
Valley Fire District’s need to replace
antiquated breathing apparatus and
purchase
government-mandated,
high tech radios is a perfect example
because it created a specific line item
on tax bills that guaranteed to prop-
erty owners that every penny would
go directly to the department/district
intended. Last year our commission-
ers did not reduce, but eliminated
a $500,000, historical line on the
Sheriff’s budget for deputies and/or
patrols. Congressman Wally Hicks
said recently that if they had left that
line item on the budget and checked
with Salem, that money could have
been doubled at the state level with
matching funds! There’s no space to
say more about this, but it happened
and the safety of every single resident
under the Sheriff’s jurisdiction has
been critically affected by their deci-
sion. I don’t think the commission-
ers truly care about our safety based
on their spending choices, cutting the
Sheriff’s budget so specifically, and
using $2 million dollars of our taxes
as a political tool is downright despi-
cable.
Marilyn Arnold
O’Brien
I llInoIs V alley F uneral D Irectors
www.since1928Hull.com
541-592-4110
Save The Date
April 12
Rough & Ready Wildflower Hike on Sat-
urday, April 12, 2014 at 10 a.m. Meet at the
parking area at Rough & Ready Botanical Way-
side south of Cave Junction on Hwy 199 at Mile
Marker 34. The walk through the Rough and
Ready Wayside is geared for plant enthusiasts
and novices alike. This is a great opportunity
for folks to come out and enjoy the spring wild-
flowers no matter what your skill level on plant
identification might be. It will be a short hike
on rocky, but relatively level ground with lots
of beautiful wildflowers to see, many of them
are rare or of limited range. A portion of the
hike will be along a wheel-chair accessible path
so folks of limited mobility can come out and
enjoy the wildflowers too. Be prepared: bring
water, dress in layers and wear comfortable
shoes. For more information call Suzanne at
541-291-8860. Sponsored by Cultural & Eco-
logical Enhancement Network (CEEN) and the
Native Plant Society.
April 12
FREE Eye Clinic Saturday, April 5th
from 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. (9:00 a.m.-Noon by
appointment, Noon - 3:00 p.m. walk-ins wel-
Illinois
Valley
News
Published weekly by
W.H. Alltheway, LLC
Daniel J. Mancuso, Publisher
come). At the Illinois Valley High School Gym.
Free eye exam & pair of glasses (if needed). To
schedule an appointment call 541-787-0860.
Please leave a message. This clinic is brought to
you by Amigo Vision, Josephine County Foun-
dation & IVHS Leadership Class.
April 12
Open House on April 12, 2014 to invite
Bud Winter’s friends and relatives to spend the
day to help celebrate his 100th birthday. Steak,
chicken, barbecue, plus sides will be served
from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. followed by birthday cake
& ice cream. 5138 Holland Loop Dr., Cave
Junction, 541-592-2743.
April 15
The Illinois Valley Chamber of Com-
merce and The Illinois Valley News will present
a Public Forum. The purpose of this forum is to
introduce all the candidates for the office of Jo-
sephine County Commissioner, County Legal
Council and Sheriff.
This event will be held at the County
Building, 102 S. Redwood Hwy in Cave Junc-
tion on Tuesday, April 15, 2014 from 5:30 to
9:30 p.m.
POSTMASTER: Please send
address changes to P.O. Box 1370,
Cave Junction OR 97523
Illinois Valley News is published at
221 S. Redwood Hwy.,
Cave Junction, OR 97523
Telephone (541) 592-2541
FAX (541) 592-4330
Since 1937 periodicals postage
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P.O. Box 1370 USPS 258-820
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
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One year in Jackson and
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One year in all other
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Illinois Valley News does not refund subscriptions.
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charity of your choice.
April 16
2014 OSU Master Food Preserver Course
Orientation - April 16, 2014 Classes start April
24 through May 29, 2014 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Cost-$150. Applications available in January.
2014 Instructors: Certified Master Food Pre-
servers from Jackson and Josephine Counties
and Jeanne Brandt (statewide coordinator).
We invite you to an eight class learning
adventure in the food preservation arts. Along
the way student trainees learn how to prepare
garden produce for preserving, the ins and outs
of food preservation equipment, how to water-
bath and pressure can safely and efficiently, as
well as a host of other skills! Classes are held
at the Josephine County Extension Auditorium
and start April 24 with 6 consecutive Thursdays
and two Saturday Labs (May 3 and 17) ending
on May 29th. Tuition is $120 + $30 for the man-
ual and 48 volunteer educational service hours.
If you have any questions contact Jeanne
Evers via email: jeanne.evers@oregonstate.edu
April 18
The Cave Junction Farmers Market opens
Friday, April 18th 2014, at the Junction of Red-
wood and Caves Highways in Downtown Cave
Junction, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., every Friday through
October 31, 2014.
April 18
Saturday, April 19, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. A
rummage sale to benefit he Dome School Rang-
ers after school program at the JoCo building in
CJ. Donations may be brought on Friday from
1 to 6 p.m. Call 541-592-3911 with questions.
April 26
Tea Lunch & Silent Auction benefiting the
Pregnancy Center of the Illinois Valley, 11 a.m.
Location: Bridgeview Church Auditorium 5181
Holland Loop, Cave Junction. Tickets are $10
per person.
FREE Zumba Classes at Healthy U Tues-
days and Thursdays, March 4th-April 10th,
4:00-5:00 p.m. with Lydia Roberts. “Ditch the
workout, join the party!”
Healthy U is located at 535 E. River St.,
Cave Junction (in the very back of the Fam-
ily Resource Building). For details visit www.
healthyucenter.org or call 541-592-4888.
News - Dan Mancuso
dan@illinois-valley-news.com
Circulation - Kimberly Potter
office@illinois-valley-news.com
Advertising / Composition
Dan Mancuso
dan@illinois-valley-news.com
Mailroom - Millie Watkins
Office Manager-Laura Mancuso
office@illinois-valley-news.com
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vided they are legible and not
libelous or scurrilous. All let-
ters must be signed, including
name, address and telephone
number. The latter need not be
published, but will be used to
verify authenticity. The ‘News’
reserves the right to edit letters.
Letters are used at the discre-
tion of the publisher.