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The INDEPENDENT, October 16,1996
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Serving the upper Nehalem River valley. Published
twice monthly on the first and third Wednesdays of each
month, by Public Opinion Laboratory Ltd., 725 Bridge
Street, Vernonia, OR 97064, as a free newspaper.
Editors and Publishers, Dirk & Noni Andersen, (503)
429-9410.
Opinion
Mayor’s importance
often is overlooked
Two concerned citizens are seeking the mayor's
seat in Vernonia and, while their methods may be
somewhat different, they both care very much about
their home town.
Jim Jacobs has lived in Vernonia for seven years,
has served two years on the city council and 18
months on the planning commission. He is a con
tributing member of the Unmet Needs Committee and
the Hazard Mitigation Plan committee.
Jacobs is concerned about the city’s deteriorating
infrastructure, especially the water distribution system
and has made the water master plan a priority.
Outgoing Mayor Tony Hyde says that Jacobs has
demonstrated his leadership skills throughout Vernon
ia’s flood recovery and feels that Jacobs should move
from the city council to the mayor’s seat.
Jacobs is a field service engineer for Nikon Preci
sion, Inc. at Intel.
Wally Vaughn, a longtime Vernonia resident, also
has a good record of community service, as a former
mayor and city councilor from 1980 to 1989.
Vaughn, who was mayor when the present water
treatment plan opened, is also concerned about the
city’s infrastructure, especially the water distribution
system. He is also disturbed about the proliferation of
manufactured homes throughout town and wants to
find a way to curb some of the less desirable aspects
of manufactured homes.
He is semi-retired from the water treatment and
pump business which, he points out, give him more
time to pursue city business.
At this time, Jacobs has an edge over Vaughn for
the mayor’s seat. He is up to date on current problems
and procedures and has been involved in some of the
most important activities Vernonia has ever seen.
We recommend Jim Jacobs for Mayor of Vernonia,
but also want to see Vaughn stay involved. He, too,
has much to offer.
Amundson, Shriver good
picks for City Council
The three candidates for two Vernonia City Council
positions are all relative newcomers, and are all con
tributing citizens.
Don Amundson has served the city well since his
appointment to the council last year. He brings excel
lent skills to the budget process and has headed the
city facilities process, a job he wants to complete with
construction of a new city hall.
Gayle Shriver has become very active in seeking
answers to drainage problems. She also has been
physically active in clearing debris from ditches and
organizing others to help. She serves on the Hazard
Mitigation Plan committee, as well.
Anna Jeffers is still learning her way around city
government, but is an eager learner.
At this time, we recommend Amundson and Shriver
for City Council.
4
• X
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dear
THE
P«tSH>4^T,AL
- h
Ike Savs
B y Dale Webb, m em ber
Izaak Walton League, Nehalem Valley Chapter
Since my last article, I have had a memo
rable experience while working on a fish-relat
ed project for Oregon Department of Fish &
Wildlife (ODFW).
I had agreed to participate in a fish removal
project at Fishhawk Lake, near Birkenfeld, us
ing a technique that required the application
of Rotenone, a derivative of a South American
root which causes fish to suffocate. I had nev
er witnessed such a project and thought it
would be interesting. Oh, was I in for a sur
prise.
The date was already scheduled for an
electroshocking trip with the District S.T.E.P.
biologist, so I twisted his arm to change our
plans. We would help with the Rotenone pro
ject in the morning and go shock Battle Creek
later in the day.
After pulling my graveyard shift at work, I
arrived at Fishhawk Lake at 9:00 a.m. (I have
found that if I work outside, I can stay awake.)
There I met District Biologist Walt Weber and
his assistant, Joe Sheahan, S.T.E.P. biologist
John Casteel, and Kin Dailey, a warm water
biologist. The reason for treating Fishhawk
Lake was that som ebody had introduced
largemouth bass and bluegills to the lake. The
bass eat coho salmon fingerlings, and the
bluegills eat most of the food that the coho fin
gerlings need to survive. Because the Fish
hawk system has one of the last strong runs
of coho salm on, it is vital to keep it that
way...especially in light of the impending En
dangered Species Act listing.
A fter draining the lake, our task was to
spray the Rotenone solution onto the few're
maining ponds of water that were left. It was
drained several weeks in advance, in hopes
that the mud would set up hard enough so we
could walk on it. Walt designed some special
shoes to wear on the mud. If you can imagine
the footprint of Bigfoot, that is what Walt cut
out of plywood. He then attached straps to the
“shoe” so we could fasten them to our boots.
This looked like a great idea— until Walt’s mud
paddles sank beneath the muck of Fishhawk
Lake. The mud shoes became anchors and I
did my share of hee-hawing as Walt emerged
from the ooze with muddy hands.
The biologists had no evidence of a bass
and bluegill population in the lake, just the
word of the people who live there, so we de
cided to spray a likely pothole and see what
showed up. We found that we did better with
out the Weber mud paddles and proceeded to
spray several ponds. It took a while before we
started seeing any effect from the Rotenone,
but after twenty minutes, Walt was scooping
up plenty of bass from the firs t pond we
sprayed. That was bad news; now we knew
then we had to spray every pothole.
We started spraying the bigger ponds, us
ing a boat to fully cover it. The Rotenone solu
tion was put in rubber bladders with a pump
spray handle, like the kind used to fight fires.
Rotenone solutio n is ha rm le ss to o th e r
species and fish killed by it are said to be edi
ble. The solution does have a strong odor and
turns the water a milky white color.
We finished the bigger, easy waters and set
out to mop up the small ponds. This is where
it got interesting. Walt was determ ined to
spray every possible hiding spot of the warm
water fish, which the warm water biologist said
was vengence for having been turned down
for a warm weather species position.
The next thing we knew, there was half a
man sticking out of the mud flats about fifty
yards from shore. We all had a pretty good
laugh at Walt’s expense— until we realized
that we were going to have to get him out. I
managed to ginger-foot my way out to him
and, with a few pieces of scrap plywood, we
were able to extricate Walt, but not before
some of the locals had shown up to video
tape the man stuck in the mud.
Walt had not fully given up on his mud
shoes and he made a startling discovery, they
worked better on the hands than on the feet!
Walt walked on his hands and knees, using
the mud paddles, and was able to exterminate
the fish in that pond. I, too, found it much easi
er to navigate on my hands and knees, using
a wading staff for surface area for my hands.
We were told we looked like a couple of seals
waddling around in the muck.
After a lunch break we tackled the last few
puddles, on the far side of the lake. When we
got there I noticed a lot more of the smooth,
slick-looking mud that had proven so treacher
ous earlier. After spraying several ponds,
spending half of the time on our hands and
Please see page 16