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The INDEPENDENT, April 19, 2000
The
INDEPENDENT
J
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. Phone/Fax:
(503) 429-9410.
A r t f^r.Su/^
Opinion
allot measures in the
upcoming May primary
Measure 77 (Constitutional Amendment) is a correc
tive action for a legislative error made in 1977 while
drafting Measure 50. Instead of reducing property tax
es, the error increased them in Linn and Deschutes
Counties and the City of Sweet Home. No other areas
are affected by the measure.
Vote YES on Measure 77.
Measure 78 (Constitutional Amendment) would
lengthen the number of days allowed to verify signa
tures on initiative and referendum petitions. The pre
sent 15 day period would be doubled to 30 days. The
extra time is reasonable, particularly with the increase
in initiative measures.
Vote YES on Measure 78.
Measure 79 (Constitutional Amendment) would in
crease the number of signatures required to place an
initiative on the ballot, if it would amend the constitu
tion. The only people who would be served by this
measure are those who can afford to pay others to
gather signatures. It would put the initiative procedure
under greater control of those with deep pockets.
Vote NO on Measure 79.
Measure 80 (Constitutional Amendment) would au
thorize the use of fuel taxes to increase law enforce
ment on highways, rest areas, etc. Currently, fuel tax
es may not be used for policing. While more police
presence may be desirable, it’s not a good way to use
funds needed for road construction, maintenance, etc.
Vote NO on Measure 80.
Measure 81 (Constitutional Amendment) would allow
the legislature to limit damages in civil actions. This
measure would allow elected officials to decide in ad
vance what damages you would be allowed in any civ
il suit you brought to court. For example: If, at the age
of 40, you develop a cancerous right kidney and your
doctor accidentally removed your left kidney, it’s very
possible that the legislature could have put a cap on
malpractice damages and your young family would be
left without recourse. An extreme example? Yes. An
extreme measure? Yes.
Some people in volunteer positions such as city
councils, fire boards and school boards, have been
scared by the threat of uncontrolled liability suits. This
fear is unfounded because it is Federal law that pro
tects such volunteers; state law isn’t needed. Do you
really want the legislature deciding your suit for breach
of contract? or any other law suit?
Vote NO on Measure 81
Measure 82 would repeal the truck weight-mile tax
and increase fuel taxes. This measure has little
chance of passing because too many people really
don’t think the trucking industry would be supporting it
unless it decreased their costs. Nevertheless, the rea
son local governments support the measure is obvi
ous: They really need road funds and this would in
crease the amount going to cities and counties. All as
pects of this measure are important.
No recommendation on Measure 82.
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By Dale E. Webb, m ember
Izaak Walton League, Nehalem
Valley Chapter
Kayaking continues to be a
major joy in my life and I have
hit the river as often as I can
find a kayaking partner. Troy
Horton of Fishhawk Lake has
been a steady partner and we
have explored the Nehalem
River from river mile 100 (just
below Clear Creek) down to
Birkenfeld (river mile 65). Our
longest trip has been 11 miles,
and we both could feel the fa
tigue in our muscles at the end
of the four-hour trip.
The upper stretch of water is
a bit more technical than from
the junction of Rock Creek
down. There are many tight
comers that try to throw you
into the bank or debris piles. I
found my fourteen-foot sea
kayak just a bit too long. Water
height can also be a concern in
this section, and I would advise
that the water should at least
be on the gauge at the swim
ming pool on Rock Creek...any
lower and you will be in the
rocks in many locations.
We found a major log jam at
the top end of the old Weed
place (river mile 97), and any
body planning a drift boat trip in
this section might want to seri
ously reconsider since portage
of a drift boat will be extremely
difficult. There was one more
blockage below the Weed
place, but above Vernonia Golf
Course, created by a large
cedar tree that has fallen com
pletely across the river, with
just its limbs straining through
the water. Luckily, the water
was not fast in this section, and
we found a slot that our kayaks
could fit through. Again, a drift
boat could not get through this
location.
We found several areas with
good standing waves and had
a lot of fun surfing on them. The
best spot is at Sunnyside, just
at the bottom of the huge cut
bank, visible from the highway.
It was amazing to see how the
water could suck you through
the large standing wave and
plant your bow on the soap
stone shelf that is causing this
large wave. Using our paddles
as rudders, we could zoom
back and forth on the wave,
and if you got your bow too far
around, the wave would shoot
you up and over the wave,
which is about two feet tall. I
can only imagine what riding a
six foot wave would be like.
Someday!
The section of the Nehalem
from Anderson Park to Big
Eddy Park starts out with a fun
play spot after a short paddle
upstream to limber up your
muscles. At the green steel
bridge there is another play
spot with a good standing
wave. Both Troy and I felt the
power of the river when we al
lowed our kayaks to get parallel
with the trough in the wave
caused by the concrete cap
over a pipeline in the river bed.
We stayed dry but we had ele
vated adrenaline levels. The
rest of the paddle is a cruise
through flat water punctuated
with small rapids. Caution is
needed in a tight spot in the riv
er just upstream of the bridge
on Highway 47 before the old
Crown Zellerbach office. There
are several large pieces of
woody debris that mandate
some quick maneuvering. The
water level was low at the Rock
Creek gauge and, though we
were able to squeeze through,
there is easy portage at this
place. This trip covered nine
miles and took us over three
hours with a lot of playing.
The trip from Big Eddy to
Mist is about eight-and-a half
miles and also take around
three hours with time to play.
The Nehalem gets steadily big
ger as you move downstream
and tributaries enhance the
flow. There was some action
above Natal and just above
Mist, but we had a harder time
finding good standing waves in
this section.
The Mist to Birkenfeld sec
tion start off with a bang. We
encountered the biggest rapids
on the upper Nehalem, so far,
just downstream from Vivian’s
bridge (Longview Fibre Main
line). We could tell something
was coming because we could
hear the water before we could
see it. The water was fairly tur
bulent for this novice, but we
thoroughly enjoyed playing in
the rapids. I am still amazed at
how easy it is to paddle up
through a rapid like this; there
always seems to be a dead
zone tht you can shoot through.
The river becomes deeper
and slower here, with fewer
rapids than on the upper sec
tions. There is an interesting
spot, though, at a rapids up
stream from the bridge before
the road that goes to Olympic
Forest Products mill. The river
is divided by an island and
forms a deep pool at the head
of the preferred route, the right
hand channel. There is a lot of
large woody debris in the river
here and it requires some ma
neuvering, but nothing that
would impede passage of a
drift boat. One area of concern
is at slides that have dumped
large wood in the stream up
stream from Birkenfeld. We en
countered no problems with
our kayaks, but we saw sub
merged wood that could be a
problem at lower flows. This
was another three hour trip with
time to stop and play.
I haven’t taken any more
swims in the river, but I can’t
say that for Lake Vernonia. I
was down playing around the
other day, practicing leaning on
my side while sculling with my
paddle, when I felt myself start
ing to roll over. I tried to pop
Please see page 3