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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 2001)
Page 2 The INDEPENDENT, February 7, 2001 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. Edi tors and Publishers, Dirk & Noni Andersen. Phone/Fax: 503-429-9410, e-mail: noni@vernonia.com Opinion_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ School staff to put on candidates night Vernonia School District certified and classified staff are providing the community with a great opportunity to meet the nine candidates who are seeking spots on the school board in the March election. All Vernonia school board candidates have been in vited: Schann Nelson, Rick Hobart, Leslie O’Leary, Randall Hansen, Cari Levenseller, Perter Brock, T /to 'T Woob could Wécp James Krahn, Jeff Blum and Thomas Jones. The format will allow a brief presentation by each candidate, including personal information, why they want to be on the school board, what they feel is the number one issue facing the school district now, and more. There will also be a question and answer period. Five of these people will be involved in the direction By Dale Webb, member, Vernonia’s schools will be taking during the next two to Izaak Walton League, Nehalem Valley Chapter four years. Take the time to meet them February 12 in There has been a major development in up the Washington Grade School gym from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. per management at Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Jim Greer, the current director, has resigned under pressure from the state legisla ture. Mr. Greer was a long term ODF&W em ployee and his future there was undetermined at the time of this writing. His resignation evidently stemmed from the displeasure of legislators with When the flood waters receded in 1996, the extent ODF&W’s performance surrounding the Oregon of the clean-up required was stupendous. Household Salmon Plan. It is also believed that a generally goods, carpets, appliances, building materials, all de anti-ODF&W attitude from legislators who felt the agency was responsible for some of the cur stroyed by the flood, piled up in a 300 foot-long, by 50 rent land use restrictions, was a factor in the foot-wide mountain of soggy debris — twice. A log pressure upon Greer. loader was needed to keep the trash under control. It While many of you may think I would be turn took weeks simply to gather up the worst of it. Yet our ing cartwheels of joy over this development, clearest memories are of the people who helped dur think again. While I agree that ODF&W needs to be restructured, I am not particularly at ease ing those weeks and weeks. with how this is occurring. The change should be Families were displaced, their lives disrupted, some coming from the commissioners, not the legisla times for months. Yet our clearest memories are of the ture. Many legislators want to keep ODF&W people who opened their homes to friends, neighbors weak in the regulatory arena, an area which, in my opinion, should be strengthened. and, yes, even to people they didnt know well.. Governor Kitzhaber is also supporting this Two of the schools were badly flooded, the kitchen change in leadership and the move by the leg equipment was destroyed, books were soaked, the islature to give the power of appointment of the wood shop was a disaster area. Three feet of water in ODF&W director to the Governor’s office, in the high school forced it to be closed for weeks. Yet, stead of ODF&W commissioners, as it is now. we remember how students from other schools put on This is a little strange, as the Governor appoints the commissioners, and they should do his bid drives to replace books and supplies, all the students ding. This brings up the point that many hunters from area high schools who got down and dirty muck and fishermen have found to be true in the past. ing out the mud, the citizens from all walks of life who Since the commissioners are so closely involved showed up at the school to help in any and every way. with upper management at ODF&W, it is hard for Vernonia Cares took a double whammy; most of its the general public and the Governor to persuade them to make the changes necessary to ad food and supplies were destroyed and there were dress the needs of the organization’s con more people who desperately needed emergency stituents. food. Yet, we remember the motorcycle club from Port The Governor’s office is especially dis land that arrived with truckloads of food plus cash do pleased with ODF&W for their handling of the Oregon Salmon Plan and their business-as-usu- nations to purchase whatever else was needed. al approach. Although this criticism is fair in So many homes were unlivable, yet we remember some regards, it also must be recognized that the many church groups who spent months and ODF&W was treated like an orphan child of the months rebuilding homes for those who couldn’t do it Oregon Salmon Plan. A new agency, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, was created to themselves. With all that, the memories we cherish most, five administer the plan. This seemed to me to be a duplication of power and expense. years later, are of the local people who helped each The problem with this development is the di other, who supported each other emotionally and lution of the status of Oregon sportsmen in an sometimes physically, who laughed and cried with agency that is 92 percent funded, directly or in each other, who were there when an ear or a shoulder directly, with their money. ODF&W is, and should remain, an agency whose primary pur was needed. They are wonderful. pose relates to the well-being of fish and wildlife Bad memories of 1996 are gone, the good remain PeoPue waaaa < in the state of Oregon, to the benefit of the con stituents who foot the bill. In most cases, all Ore gonians benefit from this type of management, since it means healthy populations of the man aged species. The dilemma with this approach arises when the constituents, such as fisher men, have been weaned on a flawed process, like fish hatcheries. While there have been great successes with hatcheries, they have been put in place as a substitute for the natural process es that occur in a stream. This does not work in the long term, and is not cost effective. Prob lems have been created by trying to harvest hatchery fish while protecting endangered species. In most cases, this has led to a harvest of the protected species and, thus, has been a threat to their well-being. It must also be recognized that ODF&W will suffer immeasurably as hatchery production is diminished and the fish available for harvest are reduced. Sportsmen are not willing to pay for a non-consumptive fishery. While this may sound unsportsmanlike, think of it as buying a car that goes only 35 miles-per-hour, or playing golf with out any holes. Many sportsmen feel that the need to bring home the bacon (fish) is a genetic trait that will not go away as fast as the decline of the fish preyed upon. This is just a fact of life. On the wildlife side of this coin, great pres sure is being brought to allow expanded com mercialization of our wildlife, in the form of landowner tags and commercial elk ranches. This is where I do not trust legislators to deal with our natural resources. Our human race has developed upon resource extraction and deple tion, usually at the expense of the species being utilized. The political climate in our legislature is still dominated by this sort of thinking, because that is where the money is. I see, in the near fu ture, a tremendous clash, as the people who pay the bills at ODF&W meet head on with the polit ical interests of state legislators, with ODF&W caught in the middle. Sportsmen must demand the respect and attention that their role as bill payers deserves. We must also demand that Oregon’s wildlife remain a public, and only a public, entity. We must refuse to emulate Texas, where public wildlife is privately owned. Oregon sportsmen will have to wait and see what direction ODF&W will take. Let your legis lator know that, as the bill payers of ODF&W, we will demand that our concerns be addressed be fore those of special interests or opportunists. Otherwise, ODF&W may have to fund itself. Hopefully, we will finally be able to get the ac countability and respect that sportsmen rightful ly deserve from ODF&W.
