4 A
❘
SATURDAY EDITION
❘ JULY 30, 2016
RYAN CRONK , EDITOR
Siuslaw News
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
Opinion
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
Supporting local law enforcement
A
lmost daily it now seems
national events are throwing
law enforcement into turmoil
and fear from all angles. Our police
hear from citizens that are in fear of
law enforcement driven by incidents
they see happening in different parts of our country.
There have been many recent tragic events that
have sparked outrage on both sides of the fence and
it seems like the problem continues to escalate and
no part of our country seems to be immune to this
senseless violence.
I have recently had the privilege of hearing
the thoughts of Florence Police Chief Tom
Turner, who addressed the graduates of the
Oregon Department of Public Safety, Standards
and Training Basic Police Academy. His address
at this graduation ceremony introduced new
officers and deputies, including Florence’s
newest patrol officer, into a career that looks
more daunting than ever with recent tragic
events so prevalent in everyone’s mind.
In a recent memo Chief Turner sent to the
Florence Police Department staff, he stated:
“I am planning to explain in this address that
being in law enforcement is the work of a true
guardian, a person who defends or protects
GUEST VIEWPOINT
B Y J OE H ENRY
Florence Mayor
something which is often thank-
less and difficult. Not everyone
can do this work but for those
who can there is nothing that can
match the satisfaction of being
put in the position of guardian.
This opportunity may mean many things and
requires the maximum level of courage, integri-
ty, intellect and self-sacrifice, but you will be
the one that makes the difference, defending and
protecting, and that is what makes this career
the best.”
With those inspiring words, law enforcement
has always been inherently dangerous and is
often not recognized by the community as such.
Don’t we live in a fantastic place where, for the
most part, we don’t have to think about such
things? It is because law enforcement is doing
their job.
Chief Turner often expresses his belief that
Florence is truly one of the most supportive
communities of law enforcement
that he has ever had the pleasure to
be in. He has had phone calls, let-
ters, e-mails and personal contacts
from the community to let him
know how thankful they are for our
police force and how much they are
appreciated. He has worked in places
where this support is unheard of and
the value of law enforcement is dis-
mal at best.
One of the reasons that our com-
munity supports our law enforcement is because
of the incredible work that they are doing and
the way our Police Department personnel and
their families live their lives in our community
both on and off the job. I thank God every day
that I live in an area with community oriented
public safety agencies like the ones we have.
These are challenging times we are in and to get
through these times as a community we need to
remain strong and remember that all lives matter,
and that includes blue lives. We saw on national
news people lined up to hug police officers and that
is something that could surely be appreciated here
in our community. If not a hug, then take the
opportunity to just wave and say hi.
VIEW FROM UPRIVER
Four-fifths of not quite
half, full or empty
W ESLEY V OTH
For the Siuslaw News
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generally begin these columns by talking
about the noticeable aspects of our local natu-
ral world and things that impact the lives of
the people I see every day; this one is no excep-
tion. Every survey I have ever seen done of why
people choose to live here puts the beauty and
character of this natural world at the top of the list.
Yet much of what is natural is under threat
through converting forests to cropland, and using
practices such as clearcuts and aerial spraying of
herbicides. The propaganda campaign to try and
make these palatable to the public is being waged
with public funds.
Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI) was
created by our legislature and is funded by a dedi-
cated harvest tax on producers of forest products.
While tasked to be an objective source of informa-
tion, OFRI clearly tries to put the greenest of faces
on an industry with so much that is not. The fol-
lowing quote is from page one of their “Forest
Facts and Figures 2015-16,” available online and
as a 32-page pamphlet:
I
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
“Nearly half of Oregon is forestland.
About 80 percent of this forestland is clas-
sified as ‘timberland.’ Timberland is forest-
land that can productively grow commer-
cial-grade timber. It excludes forestland
with low growth and areas where logging is
restricted — such as wilderness areas and national
parks, referred to as ‘reserved’ areas.”
So, the industry begins by viewing the 80 per-
cent of Oregon forestland that is not national parks
or wilderness area as cropland. For us, this is most
of the land we see most of the time. Oregon’s
Forest Practice Act rules impact us more directly
than the vast majority of this state’s residents.
Despite the claims that these rules protect wildlife,
and protect water quality, fish habitat and human
health, it is my opinion and that of many people
who are the timber industry’s closest neighbors
that they do not. What they mostly ensure is that
logging as it is currently done is free from legal
impediment.
Take the wildlife protections. Tiny concessions
are made to hugely popular or well-known
species. No concessions are made for lesser
known or rarely seen creatures. One simple case in
point. Look at any recent clearcut. You will see
very large slash piles.
When an area is clearcut and torn asunder,
small creatures that aren’t killed outright that are
somewhat mobile — many kinds of salamander,
mice, chipmunks and the like — find some sem-
blance of shelter in those piles, sort of like refugee
camps. Come fall, these will be burned. The crea-
tures sheltering there — adapted for survival of
forest fires — do not survive the slash fires, which
burn very hot at ground level and deeply into the
soil. Clearcuts permanently rezone land from
being the homes of countless species to being
fields for Douglas-fir trees. The planting of those
trees does not remake a forest.
Yet, I recommend reading “Forest Facts and
Figures”; the statistics are useful and the informa-
tion revealing. I also recommend reading online
the excellent 1,000-word essay “The Myth of
Replanting: 5 Ways Oregon’s Laws Destroy
Forests,” by Jason Gonsales, a resident of our
watershed. And OregonForestVoices.org for the
videos and stories of people living next to aerial
spraying, mostly from here on the coast.
I agree with those calling for an end to clearcut-
ting as the way timber harvest is done, and an end
to aerial spraying of herbicides. I support making
forest practice laws that actually value and protect
the diverse community of plants and animals that
make up forests, protect soil and water, do no
harm to fish habitat, and that demonstrate care and
respect for the people who live, hunt, drive
through, fish and forage in or near forestland.
YESTERDAY’S NEWS
MOMENTS IN TIME
The History Channel
On Aug. 2, 1776, members of Congress sign
an enlarged copy of the Declaration of
Independence. Fifty-six delegates signed the doc-
ument, going by state from north to south, begin-
ning with New Hampshire and ending with
Georgia.
On Aug. 7, 1782, Gen. George Washington cre-
ates the “Badge for Military Merit,” a purple silk
decoration to be presented to soldiers for meritorious
action. In 1932, the U.S. War Department announced
the creation of the Purple Heart.
On Aug. 5, 1914, the world’s first electric
traffic signal is put into place in Cleveland. Four
pairs of red and green lights, each mounted on a
corner post, served as stop-go indicators.
On Aug. 6, 1928, renowned pop artist Andy
Warhol is born in Pittsburgh. He took literally the
advice of an art teacher who said he should paint
the things he liked. Warhol liked ordinary things,
such as canned soup and soft drinks, and so he
painted them.
On Aug. 4, 1944, the Nazi Gestapo captures 15-
year-old Jewish diarist Anne Frank and her family in
a sealed-off area of an Amsterdam warehouse. The
Franks had taken shelter there in 1942 out of fear of
deportation to a Nazi concentration camp and were
aided by Christian friends.
On Aug. 1, 1966, Charles Whitman goes on
a shooting spree at the University of Texas,
killing 14 people and wounding 31 from atop a
300-foot tower. He had told his doctor that he was
thinking about shooting people from the tower
with a rifle, but the doctor never followed up.
On Aug. 3, 1977, “The Spy Who Loved
Me,” starring Roger Moore as James Bond, is
released in theaters. The film features one of the
most memorable Bond cars ever — a sleek Lotus
Esprit that does double duty as a submarine.
(c) 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.
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LETTERS
Timber industry
In regard to Jon Tipple’s letter
(“Power Grab,” July 20): Clear cut-
ting the forest promotes wildlife,
while stands of old growth don’t
leave light for vegetation to grow.
The Forest Service left large
trees in a clear-cut area above Sea
Lion Caves, but then the wind blew
them over.
There are two ways to log: clear
cutting or thinning. Thinning is cut-
ting marked trees and leaving the rest
to grow. It lets the trees that are left to
grow bigger.
I believe the timber industry has
the right to do what they want as
long as they follow the rules of the
state law.
The county has the say where
spray can be used and what type.
Virgle Bechtold
Florence
A Trump presidency
Germany’s post-World War I
Weimar republic died because a
political elite who thought they could
contain the authoritarian mountebank
attacking the nation’s awakening cos-
mopolitan values and governing
institutions allowed it to die.
Some see uncomfortable parallels in
America today with a presidential can-
didate whose “Make America Great
Again” theme echoes the rhetoric of
Germany’s uncertain post-war times.
Mr. Trump’s careless disregard of truth
can be both indecent and incendiary.
(“There has been a call for a moment of
silence in honor of the murderer of five
policemen in Dallas.”)
Nevertheless, the venerable
Republican Party’s elite, running
scared, have allowed the party to
cravenly bow to this outsider’s
usurpation.
Most thinking conservatives see this
imposter for what he is and have
opposed his rise to power. However,
they treated the possibility of a Trump
presidency as unlikely and therefore
inconsequential, ignoring the near-cer-
tain consequences of the governing-by-
gut Mr. Trump promises.
Instead, they defaulted to a rooted
habit of Hillary hatred so ingrained
that even in the face of Mr. Trump’s
excesses, they resort to the inventory
of her alleged (and unproven) vil-
lainy accumulated over 20 years of
her public life as an existential threat
to our constitutional government.
To claim that an opposing politi-
cian is a threat to our country is noth-
ing new. But, Mr. Trump has shown
himself to be the existential threat: a
paranoid narcissist contemptuous of
both facts and basic norms of civility
— in a word, unstable.
Political commentator Adam
Gopnik points out that fascism, in
whatever national form it takes, glo-
rifies the nation, exaggerates its
humiliations, promises violence to its
enemies; admires power and the
powerful; is contemptuous of the rule
of law; uses repeated lies as a rhetor-
ical strategy; and promises to restore
better times to those who feel they
have been disempowered.
If you think a candidate so inclined
can’t take power here, witness the
virtual collapse of the party of
Lincoln and Reagan.
Hillary Clinton is an ordinary, imper-
fect politician. But, as much as you
might dislike her or disagree with her
policies, a Clinton presidency would
not be an existential threat to the digni-
ty of the office and the inclusiveness of
American democracy.
With his fact-free, insult-slinging,
fear-provoking, solipsistic style, the
same cannot be said for a Trump
presidency.
Arnold Buchman
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