Pag« 2
The INDEPENDENT, Jan. 12,1994
»INDEPENDENT
Serving the upper Nehalem River valley. Published
twice monthly on the second and fourth Wednesdays of
each month, by Public Opinion Laboratory Ltd., 1206
S ta te A ve nu e, V ernonia, OR 97064, as a fre e
new spaper. E d itors and P ublishers, D irk & Noni
Andersen, (503) 429-9410.
Beware the sound
bites of politicians
The silly season is just about upon us again. No,
not tax time, nothing so simple. Election time!
Some candidates, declared or otherwise, are trying
out sound bites to judge how their "extemporaneous"
comments will go over.
Most sound bites already in use are deliberately
used to muddy issues while damaging people's ability
to clarify the issues.
A case in point deals with "entitlement." The word
is pretty simple and means only a legal claim. In that
sense, Social Security payments are an entitlement
because workers live up to the requirements of a law
passed in the 1930s and pay into that fund. But
those who are twisting the meaning of Social Security
lump it in with farm subsidies, veterans benefits, wel
fare payments and Medicare. Then they make loud
noises about how the elderly are bankrupting the na
tion.
Actually, there would be a huge surplus in the So
cial Security trust fund if it wasn't continually being si
phoned off to hide the enormity of the deficit accumu
lated during the last 13 years. This isn't a partisan
complaint; both Republicans and Democrats are ac
tively involved in deficit spending.
For that matter, "deficit spending" is another sound
bite. It really means spending money you don't have,
buying everything on credit, then spending every
raise you get just to pay the interest on the debts. In
the case of the U.S. government, it also means steal
ing your kids' college money. But if it's dressed up in
a fancy label it doesn't sound so bad.
Some of the words used in the failed effort to keep
drugs out of the U.S. are also sound bites. How
about "interdiction"? It means prohibition, but it
sounds like a lot more. So when you hear a politician
talk about interdicting drugs, it only means to prohibit
them. It doesn't have anything to do with training
armies and police departments in South America. It
doesn’t have anything to do with the CIA importing a
ton of cocaine so they can catch buyers (Everyone in
volved in that operation should be prosecuted, but
they won't even be fired.).
Presently we're hearing something a bit more as
tounding than the usual sound bites. It deals with the
practice of barging Idaho salmon downriver in an at
tempt to save them from extinction. Sure, the Nation
al Marine Fisheries board is aware that 90 percent of
the salmon die in the process, but they still approve
the procedure as a way to "save" the salmon. If they
keep saying it over and over, a lot of people will be
lieve it, too.
Before the silly season is in full sway, it would be
wise to limber up your fingers. You're going to have
to spend a lot of time with a dictionary if you want to
know what they're realiv saying.
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By Dale Webb, member
Nehalem Valley Chapter, Izaak Walton League
Coho have returned to Bear Creek. For
tho se of you who don't know where Bear
Creek is, it is the creek that flows on the north
side of Anderson Park up through town and
crosses under Hwy. 47 at the blinking yellow
light by the Wilcox & Regel bulk plant. The
creek continues on through Miller's log pond
and out the draw into timber land.
Bear Creek is a prime example of the ob
stacles man has created for Coho salmon as
they try to return to their spawning grounds.
The stream has many culverts, some that
stretch for hundreds of feet. The remnants of
Miller's Pond must still be a major obstacle
due to the length and width of the clay chute
that is the spillway of the pond. Yet the Coho
persevere and complete their journey to the
very headwaters of this stream.
This year, nine Coho were observed in
Bear Creek, most of them about a mile above
town. Five of the fish were females so there is
a possibility that 10,000 fry could emerge from
the gravel this spring.
Some people might wonder why seeing
nine fish in Bear Creek is a big deal, but Coho
salmon are in such trouble up and down the
Pacific coast that they are under consideration
for a Threatened or Endangered listing under
the Endangered Species Act. These nine fish,
in a creek that was all but given up for dead,
are very encouraging. The exciting news is
that these fish are most likely hatchbox fish
that were raised by our local chapter and re
leased by school children in Bear Creek in
1991.
In talking to locals who have observed Bear
Creek for decades, it is interesting to note that
Coho were very num erous earlier on. Of
course Coho were num erous everywhere
back then. One statement by many observers
was that once the dam for Miller's Pond was
put in, fish runs began to diminish. The lower
stretch of Bear Creek is not compatible to
spawning due to lack of rock and the hostile
urban environment. Water flows in the sum
mer time are also a major influence in the sur
vival of juvenile fish.
The Bear Creek fish are also significant be
cause there were no fish seen in a two mile
survey of upper Crooked Creek, nine fish in a
Pebble Creek survey and ten fish in a 3.1 mile
a few tules
BAC K??/
surve y of K enusky C reek. A ll of th e se
streams have far fewer obstacles and much
better stream flows than Bear Creek.
Now that these fish have spawned, it does
n't mean that their troubles are over. The fry
will emerge from the gravel this spring and will
most likely travel down stream into deeper
holes, some of which will be in downtown Ver
nonia. The hazards in town will be from street
run-off pollution, herbicide and insecticide
sprays, thermal pollution and lack of habitat
such as adequate cover.
So what can we, as local citizens, do to
help these fish survive and come back in
1996, three times greater in numbers? The
best response is to remember that they are
there in the stream and take care not to spill
toxic materials into the stream; don't dump
your grass clippings in the creek and don't
clean out any woody debris that may have col
lected instream. This material is used as cov
er by the young salmon. Sections of stream
that are "beautified" by removing all the brush
and planting grass right up to the water, are a
sterile environment for the fish. I noticed that
below some of the culverts in town there are
deep pockets of water that will most certainly
contain young Coho this summer and next
winter since they will not smolt until the spring
of 1995. A Christmas tree or two anchored in
these holes would go a long way in providing
much-needed shelter for the fish, both this
summer and next winter.
It is also important that the fish passage for
both adults and juveniles not be impeded.
The fish that came in this year had excellent
water conditions to get by such obstacles, but
we don't have good conditions every year and
if the salmon runs can't reach good spawning
areas, the run declines. Juvenile fish also
have to be able to move up and down a
stream, this is most critical during the summer
heat as they try to find the coolest holes in the
stream.
If anyone is interested in providing habitat
for the local Bear Creek salmon and needs
some help, feel free to call me or any of my
fellow Ikes; we will be glad to help. I will also
be surveying the juvenile fish this year and will
be needing access to some of the deep holes
this summer so don't be surprised when a guy
with hip waders and a net shows up on your
door step and says he wants to catch some
salmon in your back yard.