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The INDEPENDENT, October 7,1998
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». INDEPENDENT
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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. Edi
tors and Publishers, Dirk & Noni Andersen. Sports Edi
tor, Caren McGaugh. Phone/Fax: (503) 429-9410.
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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
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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