TO THE EDITOR
incontrovertible proof of administration
involvement. And I agree with Mr. Corn:
It’s implausible that the Bushites organized
the attack; they simply don’t have the
resources, nor could they keep that secret
for long. What is plausible is that they let it
happen. That would involve very few players.
Why is it worth addressing? Because
proof would be the surest and quickest way to
bring down this dangerous administration;
but also, and even more important, because
the evidence, if reported, helps emphasize
their untrustworthiness. At best, they have the
choice between gross negligence and malice.
That is what the American voters need to
hear.
So, please do your homework and write
another article, on the facts of the issue.
Check out the websites on the “Deception
Dollar.” Ask Robinowitz to defend his posi-
tion. I wager he can practically write the arti-
cle for you, granted that you should address
the evidence critically. That’s what we need;
we’re counting on you. Do you expect The
Register-Guard to do it?
Charles Newlin
Corvallis
GOING, GOING …
Since Europeans arrived here a few hun-
dred years ago, 97 percent of native and old
growth forests have been destroyed. The ma-
jority of the remaining 3 percent (or so), is on
public land, mostly national forests, and yet
this is still being aggressively logged.
If you care about what’s happening in our
backyard and around the state, visit the web-
site www. cascadiasummer.com and click on
Smokey the Bear. Or call the forest service
employees responsible for “auctioning off”
our forests: Rick Scott, Middle Fork Ranger
District (782-2283 or 782-5320), Monty
Wilson, Blue River (McKenzie) Ranger
District (822-7203).
Let them know how you feel about log-
ging the remaining old growth and native
forests; tell them there is plenty to be har-
vested from the second growth “tree farms.”
Kim Garrison
Eugene
BOZIEVICH’S STAND
LCC board member Jay Bozievich was on
the local news from the steps of the State
Capitol recently advocating for the anti-in-
come tax surcharge initiative put forth by
Kevin Mannix and the Republican Party.
This is at a time when the college is facing a
projected $6.2 million deficit for the
2003/2004 academic year. If the bipartisan
measure is repealed, the impact of fewer class
offerings and substantially higher tuition will
be devastating for students wishing to com-
plete their educational goals.
I assume board members should have the
well-being of the college as their primary ob-
jective. Certainly, reliable funding is a prior-
ity. I believe Mr. Bozievich’s position is in-
compatible with the LCC educational mis-
sion and his obligation as a board member to
secure the funding necessary to ensure a vi-
able future for the college. Public funding for
education made it possible for Mr. Bozievich
to obtain a college degree and we ought to
provide the same opportunity for future gen-
erations of Oregonians.
Pat Reilly
Eugene
LIEBERMAN AS HAWK
After reading the accounts of the first
Democratic presidential debate, I was ap-
palled to see a Democrat taking a position to
the right of President Bush on military (and,
really, by extension, economic) policy. To
make sure that I understood Sen.
Lieberman’s views, I checked the facts on his
website. Sadly, the reports were accurate: he
does, in fact, speak of sending additional
troops to Iraq.
FIELD OF STUMPS
I read with interest James Johnston’s (8/28) article “Fire Season.” I appreciate EW tak-
ing on an issue that is both national in scope and local in impact. Johnston’s article ably at-
tempts to take on, in a limited space, a problem about which I suspect he could have writ-
ten volumes.
I wonder, had his byline not been followed by a note indicating that Johnston is an “en-
vironmental activist,” if letters such as that of Cynthia Orlando’s in last week’s EW would
have been as virulent in tone and personal in attack. I didn’t think that Johnston “demo-
nized” the Forest Service, although there was a strong, and quite valid, indictment of a mis-
guided, counterproductive and fiscally irresponsible fire management policy.
I take strong exception to Orlando’s claim that lawsuits and court cases have tied the
Forest Service’s hands and prevented them from forest management practices that reduce
fuel buildup and the risk of catastrophic fire. I dare her to name one fuel reduction project
on the Willamette National Forest that’s been held up by litigation. There are few, if any,
genuine fuel reduction projects being done on the Willamette. The management of this for-
est is focused on the old-growth clearcutting business, and old-growth clearcutting is what
has (thankfully) been held up by lawsuits. Clearcutting stands of nearly 7-foot diameter
old-growth Douglas fir, as happened in the recent Berry Patch timber sale, is a far cry from
thinning brush and small trees. Ironically, it is these larger trees that are fire-resistant.
The most inaccurate part of Orlando’s critique was the bold claim that the USFS
clearcut only 80 acres of forest in 2002. Drive up FS Road 1817 (about five miles from the
Clark Fire) to the Berry Patch timber sale and you’ll see what forest “management” on the
Willamette looks like: a field of stumps that used to be a 500-year-old forest. This sale
clearcut 50 acres of old growth in 2002. Or check out the Rhody timber sale east of Lowell
(40 acres of old-growth clearcuts in 2002). These two examples in the Middle Fork Ranger
District alone are 90 acres of clearcut and do not even begin to reflect the total number of
acres that were clearcut in Oregon in 2002. All told, there are more than 500 acres of old-
growth clearcuts planned on the Willamette National Forest within 20 miles of the Clark
fire. Twenty acres of old growth on the Straw Devil timber sale were clearcut just a month
ago. And this is just one ranger district of 155 national forests.
Camilla Mortensen
Eugene
OCTOBER 2, 2003 5