NOVEMBER 25, 2016, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A13
Losing our public lands? Never happen in Oregon?
Some areas are patrolled. Get
out of your vehicle, and step
off the road, you will/can be
cited for trespassing. Criminal
trespass is a serious charge.
Never happen in Oregon?
Look at the northeastern cor-
ner of the state. Mark Hem-
street, owner of Shilo Inns,
purchased thousands of acres
of prime deer and elk habitat,
he met with the local com-
munity and assured them they
would not lose access to these
properties. Shortly thereafter,
they were posted, fenced and
patrolled. (By the way, they are
now facing foreclosure.)
Nature Conservancy also
purchased a huge parcel of
prime elk and deer habitats.
Same promise of hunting
rights. It has basically become
an elk refuge while angry
hunters drive past and dream
of a trophy. It’s all posted, and
they sell a few tags. Their staff
tells tag holders which animal
to shoot.
Some will say this is crying
wolf. But, what if China de-
cides they want, 100,000 acres
of headwaters of one of our
pristine rivers, in lieu of a ma-
jor debt we owe them?
A resources strapped coun-
try, like Saudi Arabia, with lots
of cash, decides they want to
buy huge parcels of a state’s
public land, for their royalty to
hunt? Ted Turner, the Mormon
Church, and others have done
so.
Let’s take a look at what has
already happened in states:
Our Elliot State Forest was
originally granted 3.4 million
acres. The state has sold 92,000
acres. Precedents of states sell-
ing off lands that have been
granted to them by the federal
government have been set.
Nevada-has sold off 3,000.
Utah-sold off over 50 per-
cent.
Idaho-sold 41 percent
Wisconsin-sold 10,000.
Colorado-only 20 percent
of state lands are open to the
public for hunting and fi shing.
Herring says, “There is in-
deed a carefully crafted move-
ment under way to rob Ameri-
cans of their public lands.”
One of the key leaders of the
movement is Utah State Rep-
resentative Ken Ivory, head of
the American Lands Council.
He said, “Transferring federal
public land to the states would
be like getting our hands on
the Louisiana Purchase.”
Herring urges every person
who loves and uses our public
lands to let their congressper-
son know they will oppose any
more loss of those lands.
I need to add; on the Valsetz
trip, when we did fi nd roads
we could access, it was sick-
ening to see the garbage left.
Mostly by shooters.
Piles of spent shotgun shells,
riddled targets, and beverage
containers. Pigs. We have a lot
of pigs that make it diffi cult
for others to enjoy our natu-
ral resources. See this and you
can understand the reason for
gates.
The recent take over of the
Wildlife Refuge near Burns
has captured the attention
of the nation. But, creditable
conservationist say groups like
the Bundys, called Sagebrush
Rebels, are not the threat to
our public lands.
Award winning writer, and
conservationist, Hall Herring
has said, “The recent move-
ment to do away with the con-
cept of federal lands has noth-
ing to do with freedom. It’s
just the opposite, and would
change hunting and fi shing as
we know it.”
Here is the scenario: the
federal government owns mil-
lions of acres of public land,
ranging from arid sagebrush, to
pristine mountains and head-
waters of spectacular streams.
These vast areas have been
treasures to anglers, hunters
and recreationists for decades.
The head waters of most of
our major streams are on pub-
lic lands.
Managing these lands cost
money; fi re control, road man-
agement, grazing fees and con-
trol, and others.
So, now comes the push
to transfer the lands to the
states. Hall adds, “This comes
from slick-minded politicians,
dreaming of riches and trans-
forming our country that will
bring us into line with the rest
of the world where only the
elite and the very lucky have
access to wildlife, open spaces,
rivers and lakes, and the kind
of freedom we have for so long
taken for granted.”
“Never happen” you say.
Let’s take a glimpse. My wife
and I recently took a drive
in the old Valsetz area. I have
heard many stories over the
years about the Black Rock
Country, and its great deer
hunting. In fact, years ago I did
a magazine article on a state
record buck that was shot in
that unit.
We spent most of the day
exploring the beautiful area. At
least 90 percent of it is gated
off by Weyerhaeuser Lumber.
The Siletz River Canyon
is one of the most pristine
summer steelhead rivers in
the state. Hardy anglers have
climbed the steep walls to en-
joy solitude and great fi shing
experiences. I learned recently
that it will soon be gated off by
Weyerhaeuser.
Large corporations will
continue to buy up lands and
close them to the public. A
few have initiated “pay for
play” programs. Sound like
Europe? Lands in the Cascades
have been open to the public
for years, but are now closed.
TITLE,
continued from Page 12
are really good. She doesn’t
have those bad habits so she’s
picked it up really quick. She’s
going to get minutes and defi -
nitely play at the varsity level.”
Handley said Hawley, who
he compares to Doutt, and
Lao, the fastest kids he’s ever
coached, will both be key to
McNary’s aggressive defense.
“We’re going to try to be
more aggressive, more full
court stuff,” Handley said. “We
were a good defensive team
last year. This year we should
be better. We have nine girls
who are all incredibly athletic
and quick, all love to play de-
fense. We have the potential to
be one of the best defensive
teams in the state.”
Handley also expects the
GVC to be deeper this sea-
son with South Salem and
West Salem being the toughest
competition. He suspects For-
est Grove will surprise teams as
well.
“It’s a different look,” he
said. “It used to be where there
were a couple of games you
just kind of assumed you’d get
some wins. It’s not going to be
the case this year. I think every
game is going to be a battle.
Everybody is a lot better than
they have been in years past.”
McNary opens the season
on Thursday, Dec. 1 at home
against Barlow. The Lady Celts
fi rst league game is Friday, Dec.
16 against Sprague. They play
at South Salem on Tuesday, Jan.
17 and then host the Lady Sax-
ons on Tuesday, Feb. 14.
gram. My club team that I
played for was always really
competitive and successful
and then I went to coach at
Crook County so fi nishing on
top, that was always the goal.
If you’re not reaching for the
top, then what are you really
reaching for?”
Having coached three girls
from Culver on a club team,
Viggiano sort of knew what
she was getting into.
In 2010, her fi rst season,
the Lady Bulldogs jumped to
third in its league and made
the state tournament. Culver
then fi nished fourth in the
state in 2011.
“We had really strong fresh-
men come in, who defi nitely
helped bring a new level of
volleyball to our program and
just building with the other
strong players that we already
had the year before,” Viggiano
said.
“I had two girls from those
fi rst two years who are cur-
rently playing college volley-
ball. Seeing those girls develop
and pursue volleyball outside
of high school is defi nitely
something great for the cul-
ture of your program.”
Culver has a Wall of Cham-
pions in its gym with gi-
ant pictures of past wrestling
teams and the 2007 state
champion football team but
there weren’t any girls.
Viggiano put an end to that
as the volleyball program won
the state title in 2012.
“To win it with those girls
was just something very spe-
cial because they had never
won a state title in any sport,”
Viggiano said. “I swear our en-
tire town was there watching
it and that made it extra spe-
cial as well and for me to help
facilitate a group of females
going up on that wall, they’re
the only group up there, that
was really special for me. In a
wall of boys, there’s a group
of volleyball players, which is
awesome.”
Culver had back-to-back
third place fi nishes in 2013
and 2014 and were state run-
ner-up in 2015.
The Lady Bulldogs went
into the 2016 state tourna-
ment as the No. 1 seed but
fi nished fi fth.
Along with all the winning,
Viggiano has also created a
family atmosphere at Culver,
where she also serves as the
school’s counselor, and not
just because her husband is an
assistant coach and her mom
has coached the junior varsity.
“They are our kids and
we want them to feel that
sense of belonging and that
sense of love and acceptance
throughout the year, not just
during our season, so creating
that sense of family had been
a huge motivator for us and
also something that our girls
love,” Viggiano said. “They
talk about that all the time
and can’t imagine not having
these experiences as part of
their high school career and
that makes me feel good be-
cause that’s the environment
we wanted to create.”
by G.I. Wilson
“She’s a phenomenal ath-
lete,” Handley said of Ewert.
“For us it’s trying to get her
caught up as far as basketball
skills go. Her natural instincts
CULVER,
continued from Page 12
“I think they liked my an-
swer,” Viggiano said. “I came
from a competitive program.
When I was at McNary the
goal was always to win and I
grew up watching that pro-
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