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❘
SATURDAY EDITION
❘ JANUARY 23, 2016
Siuslaw News
RYAN CRONK , EDITOR
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
Opinion
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
LETTERS
YESTERDAY’S NEWS
Thank you Florence and surrounding com-
munities for your support and belief in our
mission.
Tom Grove President/CEO/Director
Friends of Florence
Remembering Shiloh
I was saddened to hear Shiloh Sundstrom
was involved in an unfortunate accident that
took his young life.
I had the pleasure and honor to know him as
a student when I was appointed as superin-
tendent of schools in Mapleton. After 31 years
of teaching and working with students of all
ages, Shiloh has always stood out in my mind
as a very special person of strong character.
Early in my tenure I fondly remember
Shiloh and I walking down one of those hal-
lowed Mapleton High School hallways, just
two strangers meeting and talking between
classes. Since I was new to the district and this
was our first conversation, he introduced him-
self and welcomed me to Mapleton.
Impressed and then in response, I thanked him
and asked about his hopes, dreams and goals. I
don’t remember the specifics other than I was
very impressed with this very articulate, confi-
dent, positive, but unassuming young man. I
then asked him if he was going out for any sports
this year and he smiled at me and said that
absolutely he was going out for sports to support
his friends and classmates.
“You see Mr. Wright,” he stated, “I am not
very good at sports, but if I did not go out we
would not have enough players for a team.
This is a small school Mr. Wright and we sup-
port each other.”
It has been said that it is intellect that makes
a person great. I believe it is character.
Gerald Duane “Boomer” Wright
Retired Superintendent, Mapleton School District
Florence
Friends of Florence
It is hard to believe that the Friends of
Florence has been providing free transporta-
tion Monday through Friday to and from
Eugene/Springfield for people suffering from
Name change again?
some form of cancer for over 30 years. The
service was started in 1985 and formally
incorporated on March 25, 1986, as a 501c3
charitable organization.
The late P.T. Smith was the idea man who
started the operation. It is through his vision
and legacy that the Friends of Florence was
started. Since then, hundreds of volunteers
have contributed to its success.
Another group of volunteers, the Van Fans,
have worked tirelessly to help insure the suc-
cess of the project, and through their efforts a
large amount of money has been raised.
The Friends of Florence is funded entirely
through donations. All drivers are volunteers
and have driven over 1-1/4 million miles since
the organization was started. All officers and
administration are also volunteers.
At this time I am pleased to announce the
election of two new board members to the
Friends of Florence, Jon Thompson and Dave
Forsberg. We welcome these two long-time
community leaders into the Friends of
Florence family.
Jon is co-owner of KCST Radio and Dave
is a retired Lutheran Minister and currently
works at Coldwell Banker.
These two join the present board members,
Tom Grove, Dan Clements, Rick Yecny and
Kerstin Johnsen. Please join us in welcoming
these two individuals to our organization.
Is the Florence City Council again consid-
ering a motion to change “Columbus Day,” a
federal holiday, to ”Indigenous Peoples Day”?
We hope not. There must be a better way to
celebrate the history and contributions of
indigenous cultures. We are not overlooking
the contributions of cultures that should be
remembered or may have in its history
endured discrimination or lack of recognition.
But is this really necessary?
Our governments must practice due dili-
gence when considering such a significant
change. In this particular case, would we then
be saying to our Italian American population
that they do not matter? Where will all this
end? It would be impossible to establish a hol-
iday or day of recognition for each worthy or
perceived worthy culture.
We are not implying anything against our
American Indian population or other heritage
in any way. What we are saying is that it is
time to stop obliterating our history. Like it or
not, right or wrong, it is our history and should
remain in place for current and future genera-
tions to know their history and to hopefully
learn from the mistakes and the accuracies.
We have not read whether or not our City
Council has had any conversation with mem-
bers or council of The Confederated Tribes of
the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians
of Oregon to obtain their opinion on this sug-
gested change. And, we cannot help but notice
how easily it would be to confuse “indige-
nous” with “indigent.”
Jack Branson and Patricia Miller
Florence
VIEW FROM UPRIVER
Highest use of public lands
W ESLEY V OTH
For the Siuslaw News
––––––––––––
J
anuary, the immediate past and present
of it at least, is nearly as wet as
December was. Outside my office win-
dow I watch a Steller’s jay work its beak
along the edge of a concrete block like sharp-
ening a knife on a whetstone, the river run-
ning high and the color of tea flecked with
cream behind it. A varied thrush camouflaged
in orange and black flips the leaves of big-
leafed maple, searching beneath for insect
larvae. Come summer this bird will be feed-
ing crane flies to its fledglings on the arctic
tundra.
Around the other side of the house in the
ditch by the road, marsh candle, aka skunk
cabbage, are unfurling their saffron flames,
and newt and salamander thrash passionately
in the marshy waters among that bright
throng. The basics of this could have been
observed this same time of year by humans
living in this place many thousands of years
ago, and this thought strengthens the kinship
I feel with them all. May we do nothing to
rob those who will come in another thousand
years from observing this same scene.
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
The debate concerning the best use
of public land, especially federally
owned land in the west, has a few cur-
rent hotspots, one in Malheur —
ostensibly about grazing cattle — and
the other in our own watershed in the
Indian Creek basin. Such debates are
healthy, not the stand-offs but the dis-
cussion, as long as in the end this leads to
better understanding and conservation of
what is at stake.
Malheur Bird Refuge was set aside more
than a century ago to protect birds against
plume hunters, one of the countless short
term exploitations that can drive entire
species to extinction. Preservation of this
land now protects hundreds of species of
birds, many of which are migratory and
depend on such habitat as they pass north and
south, some beyond our national borders, and
affect insect life and seed dispersal and soil
fertility and the health of other species over
vast areas. My father was among a number of
biologists connected to Northwest colleges
and universities who set up a field station
there in 1971, and brought classes of students
and conducted research in that incredible
place.
Thousands of people come each year to
watch and study birds and that unique place
at no small economic benefit to the area; mil-
lions who can’t visit enjoy the videos and
photography, and we all benefit from this part
of the web of life remaining viable. All this
while some cattle grazing continues, and is
managed cooperatively with input from all
stakeholders.
The way timber was unsustainably harvest-
ed on public lands in our area until environ-
mentalist claims in the courts put a halt to it,
was rapidly converting our forests to tree
farms. This forest “genocide” — killing hun-
dreds of species and chemically suppressing
the ones that tried to continue to live in favor
of one tree species thought to have the most
commercial value, Douglas-fir — was killing
the goose that laid the golden egg. We don’t
even know enough to understand the nature
of the golden eggs that are lost in obliterating
forests, but they include water quality and the
health of salmon.
Using money retained from the sale of
thinned timber in some of these tree farms to
make them somewhat more forest-like, and
restore fish habitat within and downstream
from them, is not a waste of those funds.
Public lands are a public treasury, and in
the west help protect clean air, water and
habitat that benefits all of us. If any practice
ultimately diminishes that treasury, it is loot-
ing, and at least irresponsible if not criminal.
Framing the debate as choosing say, “owls
over people,” is like saying it is irrelevant to
humans if the canary in the coal mine dies.
It does not matter to me who your god is,
you do not honor that god if you do not care
for the earth. It does not matter to me what
your political party or beliefs are, but you do
not honor this country if you do not protect
and guard this sacred treasury.
MOMENTS IN TIME
The History Channel
On Jan. 26, 1500, Spanish explorer
Vicente Yanez Pinzon, who had commanded
the Nina during Christopher Columbus’ first
expedition to the New World, sights the coast
of Brazil during a voyage under his command,
the first European explorer to do so.
On Jan. 25, 1759, Scottish poet Robert
Burns is born. The day is still celebrated by
Burns fans with high-spirited “Robert Burns
Night” feasts, featuring haggis and other
Scottish delicacies, as well as enthusiastic
drinking, toasting and speechmaking.
On Jan. 29, 1936, in Cooperstown, New
York, the Baseball Hall of Fame elects its first
members: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner,
Christy Matthewson and Walter Johnson.
Today it has elected 278 individuals, including
225 players, 17 managers, eight umpires and 28
executives and pioneers.
On Jan. 30, 1948, Mohandas Gandhi, the
world’s chief advocate of non-violence, is
assassinated in New Delhi, India. Assassin
Nathuram Godse was hanged in 1949 against
the wishes of Gandhi’s sons, who argued that
the execution stood against everything Gandhi
believed in.
On Jan. 31, 1950, President Harry Truman
publicly announces his decision to support
development of the hydrogen bomb. The dis-
covery of a Soviet spy in the U.S. nuclear pro-
gram forced Truman to approve massive fund-
ing to build the world’s first “superbomb.”
On Jan. 27, 1965, the Shelby Mustang GT
350 is launched. The Shelby, a Mustang modi-
fied for racing, featured a 306 horsepower V-8
engine and today is a valuable collector car.
On Jan. 28, 1973, a cease-fire goes into
effect in Saigon, Vietnam, but military opera-
tions quickly resumed after each side claimed
the other had violated the truce. What resulted
was an almost endless chain of retaliations,
averaging 2,980 combat incidents per month.
(c) 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.
L ETTERS TO THE
E DITOR P OLICY
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Libelous and anonymous letters as well
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Siuslaw News and will not be returned.
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Pres. Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments: 202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line 503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email:
Sen.ArnieRoblan@state.or.us
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753/FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email:
rep.caddymckeown@state.or.us
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416/ 800-944-9603
541-269-2609/ 541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan (Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
West Lane County Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email:
Jay.Bozievich@co.lane.or.us