4 A
❘
WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ JUNE 22, 2016
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
RYAN CRONK , EDITOR
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
F LORENCE F LASHBACK
1890 ❙
T HE W EST
F LORENCE T IMES
T HE S IUSLAW O AR
T HE S IUSLAW N EWS
S IUSLAW N EWS
❙ 2016
DUNES DEDICATION DRAWS 600 PEOPLE
O RIGINALLY P UBLISHED J ULY 20, 1972
T HE S IUSLAW N EWS , V OL . 12, N O . 29
T
he Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area,
newest and most unique public area in the
United States, was dedicated on Saturday
with the keynote on conservation, planning and
wise utilization of resources.
Congressman John Dellenback, author of the
Dunes Bill, was in the forefront all day, from the
breakfast in Florence, attended by 122, to the ded-
ication ceremonies at the Eel Creek Campground
and the final luncheon hosted by Douglas County
and Reedsport in the afternoon.
Dellenback set the key for the day at the
Florence breakfast when he said that it was appro-
priate for the ceremonies to begin here, “because it
was here that it all started in 1966.”
“We have worked long and hard together to pre-
serve the magnificent Oregon Dunes for all
Americans,” he said. “Now it’s up to us to work
just as hard to make sure future development does-
n’t ruin the natural beauty of the 32,000-acre
national recreation area.”
Dunes legislation was first introduced in 1959,
but it was defeated.
“I came to Florence and came to appreciate and
depend on your support and advice,” Dellenback
said.
It took widespread support from local interests, the
state of Oregon and federal agencies such as the U.S.
Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to
establish the national recreation area.
Gov. Tom McCall said the dedication was a
“great day for all Americans, as well as all
Oregonians.”
The dedication ceremonies, in perfect weather
near the Umpqua Scenic Area at Eel Creek
Campgrounds 10 miles south of Reedsport, drew a
crowd of nearly 600, including a large delegation
from Florence.
Security was tight with mounted and foot patrols
in evidence, along with uniformed and plainclothes
police officers.
Speakers noted that the dunes are the finest
coastal dunes in the United States, that 13 dunes
bills were introduced in Congress since 1959 and
that funds would be authorized to enable work to
begin in earnest next year.
Among plans on the drawing board are added
facilities at Siltcoos and Tahkenitch Lakes, includ-
ing additional boat launching facilities, camp-
grounds and other installations.
A visitor’s information center will also be estab-
lished as soon as possible with exhibits, informa-
tion and explanatory programs to familiarize people
with the dunes.
Siuslaw National Forest Supervisor Spencer T.
Moore paid tribute to a number of Florence-area
residents who were influential in hammering out
the final bill. Included were Jack Parker, Wilbur
Ternyik, Howard Campbell, Dave Holman,
Howard Ragan, Judd Huntington and A.E. “Pony”
Ellingson of Mapleton.
“These 32,000 acres that now come under joint
federal, state, county, city and private protection
are a monument to the dedication of many to save
a few of our natural resources for all time,”
McCall said.
Dellenback said, “We didn’t nationalize the
Oregon dunes, we federalized them with true coop-
eration between all levels of government and pri-
vate citizens. A balanced, sound, long-range pro-
gram of development, conservation and utilization
of this magnificent area will be the springboard for
increased involvement of the U.S. Forest Service
in recreation development and management, not
only here but throughout the United States.”
LETTERS
The light of love
Touched by the reverence
Last week was a very difficult week for our
country as a whole and for those of us who are
members of the LGBTQ community. When
news unfolded about the tragic mass killing at
Pulse, a LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando, I was
shaken to my core.
I am so grateful for the ecumenical gathering
held on Thursday, June 16, and led by an inter-
faith group of leaders, including Georgia
DuBose, vicar, and Steve Avery, deacon, St.
Andrew’s Episcopal Church; Greg Wood, pas-
tor, Presbyterian Church of the Siuslaw; Lori
Blake, pastor, New Life Lutheran Church; Dale
Edwards, pastor, Crossroads Assembly of God;
Joanie Schmidt, chaplain, PeaceHealth Medical
Center; Susanne Mann-Heintz, Baha’is of
Florence; and Judy Schwartz, chaplain,
Ha’avurah of Florence.
Having a place to gather together, to mourn,
to share stories and to meditate and pray was the
start of a healing process for many.
In recent years, the changing climate of
acceptance and love, on the whole, in our coun-
try, enabled many of us who grew up being very
cautious, to be more open, to share our life sto-
ries, without fear or recrimination. That feeling
of safety and acceptance was shattered early
Sunday morning, June 12. It was shattered both
by the horrific actions of the gunman and by the
horrific responses of some religious and politi-
cal leaders, who used the tragedy as a way to
blame a lifestyle “choice.”
But Thursday evening, the light of love
washed over me as members of our Florence
community gathered. Coming together, moth-
ers, sons and daughters, friends, partners,
spouses, neighbors, let love wash away the hurt
and the fear.
Thank you to the leaders of the ecumenical
group who gave us the opportunity to mourn, to
meditate and to begin healing. Thank you to
members of the community who gathered
together to mourn, to pray, to embrace and to
remind each other that love conquers hate.
Becky Goehring
Florence
My heart has been so heavy as I think of the
victims of the Orlando shooting. The news has
been tragic. Over a hundred people shot at a
popular gay nightclub that was celebrating
“Latino night” — 49 of whom did not survive.
Two young men who planned to marry will
now be buried next to one another. A mother out
dancing with her son will never dance again.
Wounded victims so afraid to be “outed” that
they didn’t seek medical help. Families learning
of their child’s orientation for the first time
because they were among the dead.
And yet, among all the pain and ugliness, there
was goodness and hope. Friends and allies waited
in lines that stretched for blocks to donate blood.
Chik-fil-A, a fast food chain with an anti-gay rep-
utation, gave away free food at blood drive loca-
tions. Jet Blue Airlines offered free flights to fami-
ly members trying to get to Florida. On one of
those flights, every single passenger wrote a note
of encouragement to a grandmother on her way to
her grandson’s funeral.
Even here, people in Florence have responded
with kindness and support. An interfaith group
scheduled a vigil of remembrance at the Episcopal
church. Sixty to 80 people attended that vigil along
with clergy from New Life Lutheran, St. Andrew’s
Episcopal, the Presbyterian Church of the Siuslaw,
Cross Road Assembly of God, the Jewish commu-
nity and the hospital chaplain. I was so touched by
the reverence and outpouring of concern.
I pray that no one is ever again hurt or
killed simply because they are gay. And, I am
grateful for those in this community who join
me in that prayer.
Lucinda Hughes
Florence
False claim against Sanders
Regarding the June 4 letter “Bernie’s Claim
to Fame”: Stating (sarcastically) that Bernie
Sanders’ one claim to fame was his oversight of
a disastrous Veterans Affairs (VA) is false and
simplistic. VA trouble started long before
Sanders chaired the Senate Veterans Affairs
Committee (2013 to 2015). He didn’t cure all
VA ills but left it better off.
According to the VA and Military Medicine,
between 2007 and 2013 aging Vietnam vets and
horrifically wounded Iraq and Afghanistan vets
increased demands on VA services by 46 per-
cent. Sanders proposed $21 billion in funding,
but Congress voted it down. Then in 2014 the
VA scandal hit the news.
The New York Times reported that Sanders
initially believed stories of VA dysfunction to
be exaggerations by Republicans trying to pri-
vatize vet benefits. But the whistleblower in
Phoenix, Dr. Sam Foote, said that Sanders
“quickly realized the VA was lying, and he
turned right around and was all over them.”
With Sen. John McCain and the House VA
Committee Chair, Sanders negotiated $16 bil-
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR P OLICY
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Write to: Editor@TheSiuslawNews.com.
lion in funding, which earned him awards from
the American Legion and VFW. Congressional
Quarterly called it “one of the most significant
deals in years.”
The bill didn’t address self-dealing VA offi-
cials. Congress still grapples with systemic VA
corruption, which can’t fairly be laid on the
shoulders of any one man.
VA problems are part of a larger issue that
needs public discussion — the true costs of
long-term military combat operations. Sanders’
position: “If you think it is too expensive to take
care of veterans, don’t send them to war.”
Sanders’ claims to fame include: four-term
mayor of Burlington, Vt.; longest-serving
(eight-term) Independent U.S. Congressman,
and proving that a presidential candidate does-
n’t have to sell out to billionaires (or be one) to
fund a major campaign — through small contri-
butions from working people he has stood up
for over the past 40 years.
Rollin Olson
Florence
Evolution
In his 1985 novel, “Galápagos,” Kurt Vonnegut
creates a far distant future where the highest form
of life on earth is a cute little sea creature, resem-
bling a cross between a seal and a penguin.
This fiction is based on the idea that some-
where near the end of the 20th century the
human brain had evolved to be so large as to be
constantly getting us into serious trouble. At
this point, natural selection kicked in to favor
smaller, and thus safer, brains; a process that
resulted, over millions of years, in the future the
novel describes.
Could it be we are now seeing signs that Mr.
Vonnegut was indeed quite prescient? Did our
brains reach a point several years ago where
nature decided to start downsizing?
Is the potential nomination of Donald Trump
for President of the United States not clear evi-
dence that such a process is, in fact, at work?
Just wondering.
Jimmie Zinn
Florence
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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