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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 2018)
Page A-8 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, August 29, 2018 TALES ... Continued from A-7 *JCSO followed a fellow on a black motorcycle from the 2000 block of Rockydale Road until he crashed near Woods Creek Road at 2:53 p.m. Denny West, 29, was detained in JoCo Jail for felony elude, misdemeanor elude, and reckless driving. West was cited for speed, no insurance, and passing in a no- passing zone. His motorcycle was towed, and his firearm and several pounds of packaged marijuana were seized. Thursday, August 23 *A driver stated that his passenger tire blew out, causing his vehicle to crash into a power pole in the 1400 block of Rockydale Road at 7:03 a.m. Fortunately, there were no injuries. *A child was bitten by a brown and white pit-mix dog between 6 and 6:30 p.m. Aug. 22 in the 100 block of Old Stage Road. Friday, August 24 *Two transients were arguing about pulling a gun on someone, so a wise clerk locked the door of a business in the 300 block of S. Redwood Hwy. at 7:45 a.m. The older fellow had a tattoo on his face and wore a camo hoody sweatshirt and shorts. The other guy had almost-dreads and was dragging a green suitcase. *At 8:59 a.m. a bald guy covered in tattoos was trying to attack people who were walking by the 400 block of S. Redwood Hwy. The very thin, hyper dude was jumping around, rushing all over and possibly using meth. (Ya think?) Citizens say BLM decision ramps up fire risk! Annette McGee Rasch IVN Senior Contributing Writer The Bureau of Land Management recently rendered an official decision to log 461 acres in the controversial Clean Slate Project Area near Selma. Those who want to protest this decision must send hard copy letters before Aug. 31. (Address provided below.) “Time is running out for our last ancient ecosystems in this area,” said Mary Camp, president of the Deer Creek Association (DCA). “The BLM’s decision to move forward with Clean Slate will put our community at greater risk for wildfires. “These cool, moist, cathedral-like natural ecosystems protect us from not just from fire, but also floods, drought and other environmental extremes,” Camp said. “But now, by rejecting the community’s plea to preserve this area, the BLM’s plan will irrevocably convert these rare ecosystems into unsustainable highly flammable tinderbox tree plantations.” Countless citizens have come forward to defend this local forest for over 20 years. Now, DCA says it’s protesting Clean Slate’s Decision No. 1 is because it’s “based on faulty assumptions instead of credible science about historic fire regimes. Many of the timber units target large healthy fire resistant trees while leaving cutover areas that present a much higher fire hazard. These extreme harvest practices put adjoining land owners and the larger community at increased risk for high fire and smoke conditions.” “These old natural ecosystems once dominated local landscapes,” Camp said. “They’re islands that provide wildlife and fishery refuge, clean water and are essential to restore the severely degraded and fire prone surrounding lands, both public and private. Plus, these threatened lands provide an increasingly rare outdoor experience for residents and tourists alike.” According to agency documents, of the 461 acres selected for “treatment,” 314 acres are slated for “Harvest Land Base commercial and non-commercial treatments,” while 94 acres would receive “Outer and Middle Riparian Zone Thinning” and 53 acres of non-commercial treatments would occur within “Inner Riparian Zones.” “The BLM failed to analyze the community’s Natural Selection Alternative (NSA) that has a far superior fire plan,” DUGAS ... Continued from A-1 Saturday, August 25 *Enterprise Rent-A-Car was notified that one of their vehicles was found wrecked near Tartar Gulch at 11:48 a.m. The front end was fine, but the back was smashed in and the frame was bent. (Hope they collected a good security deposit.) Sunday, August 26 *A citizen was concerned about a young man who appeared to be under the influence and unable to care for himself. He was reclining in a chair at the side of a dark-colored van near Addison Lane and S. Old Stage Road at 12:56 p.m. When a deputy checked on him at 1:16 p.m., his buddy said that he was just sleeping, and that “the kid was suffering from lack of ambition.” Based on items strewn about, it appeared they were camping, so they were warned for violation of city of Cave Junction’s ordinance regarding camping within city limits. *At 1:28 p.m., transients at three more camps at the end of S. Old Stage Road were also advised to move along. *JCSO was trolling for transients under bridges in the 25300 block of Redwood Hwy. at 3:08 p.m. and near Holton Creek Road at 3:26 p.m. They were all gruffly warned for trespass. We need to get back to where the people and the youth of our Valley can take pride in where they’re coming from; take pride in saying ‘I’m from the Illinois Valley. I’m from Cave Junction.’ And I think if we can get everybody looking at our community through neutral glasses and seeing that it’s a pretty nice place if we put some work into it and we can start to take pride in our community, we’ll see that it will naturally clean itself up. What’s your stance on marijuana? I think it’s a roller coaster. It’s unfortunate it’s not a stable thing. I personally do not have a problem with the marijuana industry being in the Illinois Valley. I don’t object to that at all. I would like to see more of that money stay locally. I have a problem with the fact that the money leaves, and obviously I’m talking about the legal end of it, you know, we’re not getting nearly enough for what is going on. I feel that the marijuana industry is not what it once was - not what it was a year ago. I don’t know if it will ever get back there. I’m for anything that’s legal that will allow our community to survive. What are your feelings about the wildfires? They’re scary. I lived in Selma during the Biscuit Fire. My family was evacuated during the Biscuit Fire, so I was evacuated during the Biscuit Fire. I feel like selective logging is something that could definitely help going forward. I feel like more research needs to be done though. This is becoming the new norm. It seems like we are living in a smoke haze every summer and have been for the last few years. I think we need to be more proactive, and that’s one of the reasons I’m running for city council and that’s kind of - not kind of - it is my stance with everything across the board. We need to quit putting Band-Aids on wounds. We need to be more proactive said DCA Vice President Serena Barton. “The NSA has rapid first response to fires surrounding homes and communities, works on home ignition zones, and builds with fire resistant materials, rather than thinning in the backcountry that has been proven to be costly and ineffective.” “The NSA would protect homes by retaining areas possessing the greatest fire resiliency and provide local jobs by removing naturally selected timber and other products from the cutover lands,” Barton said. “Instead, the BLM continues to ignore and mislead the community about what they are doing, using the fear of fire to justify their timber sales.” Check out the BLM’s decision here: https://go.usa.gov/xnTwS. Learn more about the Clean Slate logging plan at thesiskiyoucrest.blogspot. com/. Enter “Clean Slate” into the search tool. To submit your official protest, clearly state which portion of the BLM’s decision you’re protesting and why you think it is in error. A signed hard copy must be received by BLM before 4 p.m. Aug. 31. Deliver to: Allen Bollschweiler, Grants Pass Interagency Office, 2164 NE Spalding Avenue, Grants Pass, Oregon, 97526. to prevent things from happening. Wildfires included. Transient issues included. Illegal drug use included. That is going to be the only way we are going to solve these issues long term. What would you do to expand economic development? We need to clean up the face of our community. There is nobody right now that wants to stop when they drive through the Illinois Valley. We are a major gateway between the rest of Southern Oregon and the coast, and people drive by and they can’t get through us quick enough. And it’s hurtful to say. I take pride in being from the Illinois Valley. I take pride from being an Illinois Valley graduate. I take pride in the fact that I’m raising three sons here, but we need to clean up our community and host more events. Until we can change the appearance of our town and give people more options, no one’s gonna stop and spend money here. Zackary (left), Jessie and Rayes Dugas R Fireflies ed G aRteR ARt’S Friday & Saturday Aug. 31 & Sept. 1 9 p.m. 7KH.HUE\ 7UDQVIHU6WDWLRQ LVRSHQWR KHOS\RX +RXUV0RQGD\V6DWXUGD\V 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. DPWRSP )RUPRUH LQIRUPDWLRQ SKRQH 0235
