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The INDEPENDENT, Dec. 20,1995
-INDEPENDENT
Serving the upper Nehalem River valley. Published
twice monthly on the second and fourth Wednesdays of
each month, by Public Opinion Laboratory Ltd., 725
B rid g e S tre e t, V ernonia, OR 97064, as a free
new spaper. E ditors and P ublishers, Dirk & Noni
Andersen, (503) 429-9410.
Ten years has gone
by much too rapidly
This month, The INDEPENDENT has completed
ten years in business and, though we’d rather see
what the future holds, this may be a good time to take
a brief glance backward.
It has been about nine years since the front page
was dominated by pictures of four of the worst look
ing buildings in town. Accompanying the photos was
a question: “Does Vernonia have to look like this?”
The stimulus for that tactic was a city government
that didn’t care enough about the town (or the people)
to even want it cleaned up.
It took some time, but now Vernonia has a city gov
ernment that functions properly—most of the time
(but who’s perfect?). The city’s economic base is still
inadequate, but it’s in far better shape than it was ten
years ago.
The INDEPENDENT has chronicled the building of
the water filtration plant and suffered along with the
rest of the town during the sewer system rehabilita
tion.
When the community replaced the high school sta
dium lights — poles and all — at a cost to the school
district of only $3,000, it was a real pleasure to report
people’s efforts.
We fought along with other citizens to keep Metro
from siting a dump at Bacona. Then worked with oth
ers to bring the linear park to Vernonia. It isn’t all
paved, yet, and the extension of the trail across Rock
Creek to Vernonia Lake isn’t done, but it will be ac
complished.
This has been a great vantage point to see how the
Fire District has developed into a professional opera
tion. It’s been equally good to see how both Vernonia
and Mist fire districts have benefited from gas field
royalties with both equipment and buildings.
It was great fun to be part of the action when Ver
nonia hosted Cycle Oregon. It was also profitable for
the community.
The long, difficult and sometimes disheartening ef
forts to bring natural gas to Vernonia finally bore fruit.
This was another true community effort.
The next sentence may seem silly, but here it is: It’s
a pleasure to go to the cemetery. The beautification
efforts and excellent caretaking have created a truly
beautiful area.
Now, after several years of trying to make it hap
pen, The INDEPENDENT will be on hand to report on
the highway realignment south of town. With luck,
that job will be done by next fall and we can stop tak
ing pictures of accidents at the bridge.
Watching Vernonia Pride has been wonderful. This
is more of a movement than an organization, and it
works! If there was ever any doubt, take a look at the
outstanding Christmas decorations this year.
A last thought. The city started toward professional
ism when it decided to hire an administrator. Mike
McAlvage was a good choice because his ideas and
enthusiasm are contagious. He’s leaving now, but we
can honestly say “Thanks, Mike, for combining gov
ernment and enthusiasm.”
Who knows what the next ten years will hold?
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By Dale Webb, member
Izaak Walton League, Nehalem Valley Chapter
Well, another elk season is past. Another
bull is in the freezer and another lesson was
learned. This year’s elk season was kind of
slow, locally, in the first season; the second
season started out slowly but seemed to pick
up steam after the first four days. I didn’t see
the display of horns in downtown Vernonia (in
front of the taverns) that I used to see, but
maybe the elk hunters are a kinder and more
sensitive bunch of guys these days. I saw only
one bull in the back of a pickup this year, while
driving through town. This is a far cry from
what could be seen a few years back.
It will be interesting to see the harvest re
port from this year’s season. I bet it will be
around 400 bulls for the Saddle Mountain
Unit, which is about half what it should be. Of
course the three cow elk I saw laying on the
ground on the first day of the cow season,
while driving home from work, wouldn’t have
anything to do with it. Would it?
I finally managed to chase down a bull this
year - after running all the fat off of him. It
sure is frustrating to hear horns crashing
through the brush, yet not be able to see even
a hair. I think my partners and I ran this one
herd around so much that they finally had to
stop and eat or starve to death. I caught up to
my elk on the Tuesday of the second season,
just as the rains were starting to hit our area.
The elk were feeding in a salal patch just
over the hump of a hogback ridge. I stood
there listening for a good ten minutes, trying to
figure out which way the elk, less than fifty
ya rd s away, w ere heading. Every tim e I
thought they were going to the right I would
hear one moving to the left; when I moved left
they seemed to be moving to the right. All this
time I couldn’t see a single elk through a
dense cover of jack firs and tall salal bushes.
Finally, noticing a little hump that would offer a
slightly better vantage point, I moved to my
left. After a painfully slow sneak to the hump, I
was about 20 yards from an elk that was hid
den in a cove of tall salal. I could hear it, but
couldn't see it. This, to me, is what elk hunting
is all about. The pull of the trigger just brings a
successful hunt to a close, though not always.
This is where the lesson was learned. For a
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guy who can recite from memory where his
bullet will hit from a dead-on hold out to 500
yards, it’s amazing that I forgot where it would
hit at 20 yards! After reaching the elevated
vantage point, I finally saw an elk and, Io and
behold, the first thing I saw was horns. Of
course I didn’t see enough of the horns to just
pull up and shoot. This elk was about 45 yards
away, yet I could hear that other elk just in
front of me at 20 yards (boy, the adrenaline
was pumping now!). Finally the bull moved
forward and all I could see was a five-point
rack with nothing to shoot at (things were real
ly getting exciting). The bull finally moved a lit
tle forward and offered me a shot at the top of
the neck and shoulder.
I couldn’t stand it any longer (I just knew
the animal in front of me was going to pick me
up on radar.). Standing in a cleaner strip of
timber with my left leg against a rotten log, I
was afraid to move too much or the elk would
see me. I had a problem with a second-growth
tree about 20 yards in front of me that restrict
ed my shooting lane (along with all the other
sticks and limbs). Well, I thought, if I just lean
hard to my left and turn my gun on its side, I’ll
get past that tree. So I pulled down on the
bull’s neck and squeezed old Betsy off. The
bull seemed to disappear behind the tree, as
the rifle recoiled and obscured my vision. I
took two big steps into the clear while cham
bering another round and, all of a sudden, a
bull elk jumped right out in front of me at about
20 yards.
I could see the whites of his over-sized
eyes as he froze in his tra c k s . My mind
whirled as I tried to figure out what had hap
pened. Was this the same bull I had just shot
at? It was possible he ran toward me. I hadn’t
seen an elk on the ground as I got in the clear
and he should have been down from a clean
neck shot. Was he wounded and standing in
front of me? My mind finally said it doesn’t get
any better than this; put this bull down and,
with a shot to the neck, the bull was dead.
After making sure the bull was down for the
count, I started wondering if I had shot two
bulls. I started tracing hoof prints and, sure
enough, I shot a different bull than I had shot
at first. I killed the animal that was 20 yards in
front of me hidden in tall salal. I started track-
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