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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 1998)
Page 2 The INDEPENDENT, October 7,1998 $15; 000,000 ». INDEPENDENT vi & lp 'Twe I A V ^A LE 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. Edi tors and Publishers, Dirk & Noni Andersen. Sports Edi tor, Caren McGaugh. Phone/Fax: (503) 429-9410. srcNT MAKAH5 0 .3 Endorsements continued From page 1 miliar with county budgeting because they have done it. Yarbor is completing his first term as commissioner (He was defeated by DeShazer in the primary election.) and Sykes has ten years of ex perience as a commissioner. During Yarbor’s tenure on the board, the gap between the county’s income and expenditures widened considerably. This is n’t Yarbor’s fault, but as the only current commissioner who has been there for a full term (four years), he should have been more attentive. Yarbor also named the county in legal action a number of years ago. Sykes, who has said he made a mistake when he resigned two years ago in the middle of his third term, is the only candidate who has both the experience and the foresight that is needed at this time. He knows county government, he has extensive experience in budgeting and economic development—he was instrumental in getting USG to locate in Columbia County—and he doesn’t be lieve in using legal action as a threat. An investigation triggered by an ethics complaint that was filed against Sykes a few years ago by the sister of a former (disgruntled) county employee, found no illegal or unethical behavior. Mike Sykes is ethical, practical and intelligent. We recommend that voters write in Mike Sykes for county commissioner. Oregon House District 2 This contest, to replace Rep. Tim Josi as our representative in Salem, pits a perennial candidate, Republican Scott Bushnell, against a newcomer in politics, Democrat Elaine Hopson. Since Bushnell has run for office several times, it is disturbing that he is under investigation for providing false information for the voters’ pamphlet. On August 25 Bushnell signed a statement saying his occupation was as Group Life Coordinator for the Ore gon Youth Authority. According to OYA records, he was a tempo rary employee who had not worked for them since April 8. Hopson, superintendent of Tillamook School District 9, has been involved in many activities to promote the development of youth as responsible citizens and reduce juvenile crime. She is also experienced as the owner/operator of two small businesses in small, rural towns. Josi has endorsed Hopson as his replacement; we agree. Elaine Hopson is the best choice for House District 2. Local voters showed how to do it Although 57-percent of the voters approved a Columbia Coun ty ballot measure last month as an operating levy for the 9-1-1 dispatching district, it didn’t pass because fewer than 50-percent of the registered voters bothered to vote. In all five Vernonia precincts and the S. Mist precinct, however, more than 50-percent of the voters cast ballots. Nehalem Valley voters are showing how to do it right. We have room for improve ment, of course, but it would be great if the rest of the county’s cit izens decided to vote, too. This phantom isn’t grand opera Vernonia telephone customers are getting phantom phone calls, calls they answer only to find that there is no one on the line. These aren't deliberate nuisance calls, they are the result of equipment malfunctions. GTE is aware of the problem but won’t fix it because Vernon ia telephone customers haven’t complained enough, according to an employee who will remain anonymous in order to keep his/her job. Well folks, there’s a simple solution to that: Every time you get one of these phantom calls, COMPLAIN! Last day to register for the Nov. 3 General Election is October 13,1998 I TO cAoVe K 6 IK 0 1 _ A w aÿ ) / £ t 1*1^86 THE H ttfie s Couub R ave B ecm -S a ^. o oj a By Dale Webb, member Izaak Walton League, Nehalem Valley Chapter Fall is here at last and the big game hunting seasons have begun. This year should be a good one for local deer hunters. I have had nu merous reports from bow hunters that they have never seen as many deer as this year. Longview Fibre’s tree farm manager, Tom Budge, concurs, and also said that he has seen some really nice bucks this year. I have noticed a large increase in deer/vehicle accidents from Vernonia to West- port on my way to work. I have documented 11 dead deer along the road in the last 40 days. Last year, deer hunters harvested over 1100 bucks from Saddle Mountain Unit ac-cording to preliminary data from ODF & W. Deer hunters should concentrate their efforts on clearcuts older than three years. Making dri ves with a party can be productive in steep draws in which hunters can shoot across the canyon at deer that flee out in front of hunters on their side of the canyon. Also, sitting down and glassing an opposing hillside can be productive. It’s amazing how deer can just materialize in front of you after you have been sitting in one spot for fifteen minutes. If the weather turns damp, which as I write this is the forecast for opening weekend, the deer will be moving around more, and throughout the day. Bow hunters had a tough season this year due to fire danger and closed gates. There were some exceptional bull elk taken this year, though. I have heard of several that exceeded 300 points and one bull that was an 11 x 13. An interesting controversy developed down at the Jewell Wildlife Meadows this year. The refuge staff had implemented a policy this year stating that if a hunter shot an animal off the refuge and it consequently died on the refuge, the hunter would not be allowed to take the ani mal. Well, as luck would have it, the fourth largest bull on the refuge was arrowed, suppos edly off the refuge, and then escaped and died approximately a half mile inside the refuge. ODF & W staff had been patrolling the perimeter and informed the involved hunters of the policy change prior to this occurrence. The hunter was denied the animal; he then contacted enough in fluential people to have the policy overturned. Legally, the hunter may have been right, eth ically he most likely is wrong. As one of the refuge staff said, “he never once asked what was going to happen to the meat.” This hunter was only interested in the rack of horns, which should score around 300. Refuge staff said that perimeter hunters are starting to become a prob lem and the policy change was a way to dis courage people from hunting right on the perimeter. Hunters are building pit blinds on the refuge border and at times are calling to animals on the refuge, trying to lure them out. This can be disruptive to the animals on the refuge. The fact is that the refuge is creating an un natural abundance of elk that are a lot tamer than their cousins a mile or two away. How much satisfaction can a hunter have in killing one of these bulls, that just happens to walk across the line? The organizations that keep official records of trophy bulls should discourage this behavior by imposing a minimum distance from a refuge for a trophy bull to be listed. Elk season for rifle hunters this year should be good. There will be more hunters in the woods in the Saddle Mountain Unit’s first sea son. After the first drawing only a few hundred tags remained in the first season. Second sea son hunters will remain about the same as in the past. Last year rifle bull harvest was up by about 100 bulls, so either we had more bulls to shoot or there will be slightly fewer for this year. I hope that all hunters will take a second and review their actions. We, as sports people, need to present an ethical attitude and actions to our fellow citizens. The results of unethical behavior, like last year’s shoot-outs that occurred on both ends of Vernonia, will only prompt a ballot mea sure to curtail hunting. Neither a buck deer nor a bull elk is worth the risk of killing someone with a stray bullet fired among houses and traffic— not in anyone’s imagination! Furthermore, our actions as sportsmen will determine our own destiny for hunting opportunity. If we continue to party hunt and fill other people’s tags, we will be reduced to hunting only spike elk, antlerless elk, antlerless deer, and not every year. The summer Chinook salmon are in our local streams now. A good viewing place is behind the water plant in Vernonia. Please remember not to disturb these salmon. We are currently doing surveys on this year’s run and I will give an up date on how it compares to the past. Vernonia owes a large thank you to Jim Mor rison for getting the Bear Creek restoration pro ject done. I have been told that Jim supervised the project for no monetary compensation. The project cost was significantly reduced be cause of Jim’s efforts. I worked with Jim in plac ing some large woody structures in the creek and I can tell you firsthand that Jim is a very ac complished backhoe operator. The creek project Please see page 13
