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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 4, 1998)
M , Ml Q sum n. INDEPENDENT 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. Sports Editor, Caren McGaugh. Phone/Fax: (503) 429-9410. I fctÖAfT fcO 4A/YTHW6, rtker &•) ir i Ato/Je op ( V f 3 £ f A / TUtATeb t'M VtfT A FH A .T! I MISHT 4*/ OLYMPIC C oLb M £D 4U! • WHY is PYeAYoA/e A oways Elected city council no longer remains In November, 1996, Vernonia voters elected a mayor and three city councilors. There were already two elected councilors. Since then, job transfers and other considerations have created major changes. Don Amundson and Gayle Shriver are now the only elected councilors remaining on the five-member panel. Mayor Art Parrow, and councilors Julius Dalzell and Mario Leonetti were all appointed to fill vacancies. Now Amundson has resigned. The biggest potential problem with this situation is that there is now no one with sufficient time on the council to know what the background is for prior coun cil decisions— “institutional memory” is gone. Because of this, there is a tendency to re-create the wheel rather than modifying the design or tightening the nuts. It will be difficult, but the council really needs to make considerable effort to understand the history of the many projects underway now and in the near future. A great effort must also be made to seek out the very best people who can be found to fill the newest vacan cy. Sitting around and waiting for someone to apply may not bring out any candidates. Once there are potential appointees, it would be good to see the council return to the process previ ously used to select Dalzell and Parrow: Public inter views with prepared questions for each candidate. Don’t waste any more time on City Hall studies Are you interested in spending $820,000 to renovate an existing building for a city hall on a lot less than half the size of the current property...and then still have no space for the library and no parking? Didn’t think so. Nevertheless, that is what the new $4500 survey shows would be needed for the Joy Theatre. Perhaps you would prefer $634,000 to renovate a building just for the library and meeting rooms, again, there would be no parking. That is what the old bowi ng alley, now the Hanson building, would cost. These numbers come from Crow/Clay & Associates Inc., the firm hired by the city to determine whether any sxisting buildings may be better for municipal purpos- 9S than building new. They appear to have done their ob quite well. The problem here is that the study is a waste of time and money. Anyone who has been inside the Joy iheatre already knows that it would be extremely axpensive to convert, would be too small and would nave no parking. Anyone who had their eyes open in February, 1996, also knows it flooded and is, there fore, unsuitable for city offices. If you want to know more about the rest of the build- ngs studied, then plan on attending the “Town Hall on the Town Hall”, Feb. 17 at 7:00 p.m. in the Vernonia Fire Station meeting room. While there, it may be a good idea to urge the coun cil to adopt a more sensible approach toward fiscal esponsibility. t; f, P i C.I ua /6 • I'M on /A t < 6F A ll. o r TWlJ A n t wawt T * 6 o T » VlsHiYLAMb |T> *ZoT A&AlWST THe 1AWI J-j/WY He ké H og v Vo«* • it ’ s a O w e its ioaj T a c t ic s o ' j Ydu Wo^T 4 ca /0 w t h a t ' s S t£ You*. SHA00W> : ........................... ■■■.................................. By Dale Webb Izaak Walton League, Nehalem Valley Chapter Welcome to 1998—this may be a year of change for local sportsmen. The biggest poten tial change is in elk hunting. Many of you have heard about the proposed changes, but if you read about them in the Oregon Hunting & Fishing news you got some bum information. I talked with Pat Hoglund about his article in the December edition. He said that he was rushed for time and admitted that the article included some errors. He agreed to run a counterpoint article for the Izaak Walton League and North Coast Game Association in the coming months. Several changes are proposed for elk hunt ing. One option the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife commissioners will consider is changes in the Wilson, Scappoose, Trask, Willamette, Stott Mt., Alsea, Siuslaw, Melrose and Applegate units. This option would move the first five-day season to the third weekend of deer season and hunt any-bull. The second season would be spike-only on the second weekend in November. The season shift has been proposed for all other units; this is where our problem occurs. Most knowledgeable hunters realize that an October season would expose older bull elk that may still be in rut. This may be minimized by the fact that these bulls would be hunted for only five days. But, if the Saddle Mountain unit is forced into the same timing, our mature bulls will have fourteen days of hunting pressure— with some of it occurring during the rut—which could be detrimental to the older class of bulls. Some hunters may view this as an opportunity; it is not. If our older age bulls are depleted, or if the bull- to-cow ratio drops below 20/100, the 3-point rule will be in serious jeopardy. Another big drawback to this option is “who would hunt during the second season?” Probably very few people, which will lead to severe over-crowding during the first season in the any-bull areas. Another option is a spike-only format during both seasons, with the present timing. A con trolled draw would take place for an any-bull or either-sex hunt during the first season. I have stated my opinion of the spike-only rule previ ously and I haven’t changed my mind. In doing further research about spike-only hunting, I have discovered some disturbing facts. First, the whole idea of spike-only is based on the premise that the few spikes that escape harvest will sur vive and become mature bulls, that herd pro * y * », * - ■- « « > * » .»•-* • ' * 7 “ T v r , ' ».• ' EASTi ? "S' —i ductivity will increase and, thus, provide addi tional opportunity in the future. Let’s set the record straight: Even though I believe that ODF&W is probably right regarding herd productivity, there is no scientific proof to support the premise. If there is an increase in herd productivity, how much is it? Again, there is no documentation to prove that it will occur, let alone tell how much gain to expect. This is elk management by theory. New ideas do need to be explored, but not on a wholesale basis. The Powers unit in southern Oregon became a spike-only unit in 1994 and I thought it was going to be ODF&W’s test for spike-only in western Oregon. Very little has been said about this unit during spike-only discussions because there is very little data from the Powers unit to support the move toward spike-only. Last year’s bull-to-cow ratio was nine bulls per 100 cows. This is below the management objective for the unit and there are no data in regard to the bull age structure because no teeth have been col lected. This is poor science. Personally, my biggest objection to the spike- only rule is that it removes the opportunity for hunters to hunt branch-antlered bulls. For those of us who cut our teeth under the 3-point rule, this is intolerable. There would be a drawing for controlled bull permits under the spike-only rule, but do you know what the odds are? After researching current drawings in the Oregon units that have a spike-only rule, I have con cluded that your chance to harvest a branch- antlered bull is, on average, once in a lifetime. In some units it could take as long as 30 years to draw a controlled bull permit. ODF&W says the positive side of the spike-only option is that you get to hunt every year. This is where ODF&W staff and I strongly disagree. They feel that hunt ing any elk—spike, cow or calf—is equal to hunt ing a branch-antlered bull. Heck, before long we will all be told that hunting jack rabbits is the same as hunting branch-antlered bulls! ODF& W is not listening to the sportsmen of the state. During the west-side elk plan process, a survey of hunters from across western Oregon was conducted. Responses to the question about moving elk season into October were 47% unfavorable and 37% favorable; 16% of the respondents had no opinion. Then, while looking at the survey, I noticed a big discrepancy in the numbers. One question asking for hunters’ opin ions on minimum point regulation (3-point rule) showed 52% in favor and 42% opposed, ranking Please see page 15 , r » • 7’. >Z, — f : 5 -;’Y -» * zi -'v ? a »rw yy.- 1 I 1 > ! ■ FI id
