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The INDEPENDENT, May 10,1995
^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 venue, V ernonia, OR 97064, as a free
new spaper. E ditors and P ublishers, Dirk & Noni
Andersen, (503) 429-9410.
TO 4 1 Z fSTOATS
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Spring S pirit Day
brings out the best
Vernonia Pride’s second annual Spring Spirit Day
brought out more than 75 volunteers who swept,
washed, weeded, pruned trees, planted, grubbed out
blackberry vines, picked up trash and did a beautiful
job of sprucing up Vernonia.
Bridge Street and other main streets were cleaned
and cleared of litter. Overgrown vegetation was
cleared from Ora Bolmeier Park and Vernonia Lake.
A scrap metal drive resulted in cleaning out yards
and garages all over town and senior citizens pre
pared hot dog lunches for the workers.
Even after the clean up effort ended, there was
more work. Volunteers donated food and pies for the
chili feed that evening; volunteers cooked and served
the dinner, and volunteers cleaned up after dinner.
Fund raising was equally successful, with the din
ner, auctions and raffles raising more than $3,500 for
Vernonia Pride projects.
Many big “Thank You’s" are in order, to those vol
unteers mentioned above; to Bob Prohaska of Ne
halem Valley Sanitary Service and Ron Dodge of All
Star Tree Service for removing the trash and debris at
no cost; to the Vernonia School District for providing
the cafeteria and gymnasium for the evening activi
ties.
And, especially, to Vernonia Pride founders, enthu
siasts and workers—Genny Fisher, Shirlee Daughtry
and Enid Parrow. Even before the dust is settled from
Spring Spirit Day, these volunteers are busy, both
with existing plans and the development of new activ
ities and projects for the betterment of the community.
Already flying downtown are colorful banners; the
city library has received new paint, carpeting and win
dow coverings; downtown beautification will continue
and signs are planned for both entrances to Vernonia.
Future plans include fireworks for July 4th; adopt-a-
block and adopt-a-highway clean-up programs. Two
potential projects are plaques for historically signifi
cant buildings and a float for the Friendship Jam
boree parade.
Vernonia Pride isn’t just an organization, Fisher
makes clear, it is a condition, a quality that all mem
bers of the community can and should share. Partici
pants believe, and act on the belief, that people of all
ages, working together, can make a better, safer,
more inviting community for everyone.
Vernonia Pride is definitely not an exclusive organi
zation; it welcomes people and ideas and invites ev
eryone to attend planning and project sessions. Any
interested person can be involved in planning or in
working only on specific projects. The important thing
is to become involved.
Your ideas are wanted, Fisher emphasizes, and
your input is needed; join in the fun and develop your
own Vernonia Pride.
Vernonia Pride meets on the 4th
Thursday of each month in the
Vernonia High School library,
7:00 p.m. Join the fun!
IDE'S
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By Rep. TimJosi
Oregon Representative, District 2
One of Oregon's attractions has been its
abundant wildlife. As our state’s population in
creases, however, we are finding it more diffi
cult for man and the rest of the animal king
dom to live in peaceful co-existence, as often
times we now compete against each other for
the same food, water, and territory. As the hu
man population grows, it usually has meant a
decrease in wildlife species populations, some
to the point of extinction.
Legislation has been introduced this ses
sion that may prove to negatively impact many
animal and plant species, including the rewrit
ing of O regon’s Endangered Species Act.
Since I sit on the House Natural Resource
Committee, I have found myself hearing many
of these bills. By and large I have voted
against them because I believe most are very
short sighted in nature. Many of you have con
tacted my office to express concern over these
bills, too.
One bill receiving a great deal of attention
now is SB 707. It would allow the Fish and
Wildlife Commission to issue a limited number
of permits a year to individuals to receive com
pensation for scaring off cormorants from Ore
gon coastal river systems between Cape Fal
con and Cascade Head. This would occur
when the birds congregate to trap and feed on
juvenile salmonids as the smolts migrate out
to sea. The Commission would have $50,000
for the next biennium to disperse to permit
holders.
I will not be supporting this bill in its present
form because I do not believe that there is
long term benefit from such practices, indeed,
they may have unintended detrimental effects
By David Michael Jones, member
Isaak Walton League, Nehalem Valley Chapter
Nehalem Valley chapter of the Izaak Walton
League has taken on another project that will
help improve the fishery now and in the future.
Maps have been purchased and an inventory
has begun on culverts in the upper Nehalem
River system, with a plan to target culverts
that block fish passage and work with the par
ties responsible and Fish and Game to allevi
ate the problem.
r
we cannot be aware of until they happen.
Fish-eating birds have adapted to fill a biologi
cal niche. This predator-prey relationship has
existed for millions of years without destruction
of either species and is subject to a multitude
of feedback mechanisms that regulate the
populations. Attempting to deter these rela
tionships without fully understanding the impli
cations is ecologically dangerous. Unfortu
nately, to gain such an understanding would
require a study that even with today’s technol
ogy is almost impossible
But we do know some things: first of all, it is
hard to say what proportion of the sm olts
would not have died of other causes, anyway.
Predators normally take the weakest, sickest,
or genetically inferior prey, thereby helping the
survivability of the species on which they are
preying. Another factor is the birds; they must
eat, and if they are scared off from one area
they will simply move to another. Even if an
other source of food is chosen over salmon by
the cormorants that would not necessarily af
fect the mortality levels or be of long-term ben
efit to the salmon. Another consideration is the
effect on other species. How would the nesting
pair of bald eagles on Tillamook Bay be affect
ed by hazing efforts against the cormorants?
Would they find it difficult to raise their young
with such activities occuring around them? I
believe our best approach is to pursue water
shed health plans and improve riparian zones
to provide fish with natural protection from
their predators.
Salem, OR 97310
« W » (503) 980-1402
FAX: (803) 986-1575
Two fishes in particular use small streams
that are impacted most by culverts that can or
do block passage of fish. Those fishes are the
coho or silver salmon and the cutthroat trout. I
was amazed in my younger days by the small
s ize o f s tre a m s in w hich one cou ld find
spawning coho salmon. These little “step
across" streams like Bear Creek in Vernonia
and Ivy Creek, just below my house on Rock
Creek, are typical of the small streams the
coho use fo r spawning. They enter these
Please see page 16