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The INDEPENDENT, May 2, 2001
The
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:
5Q3-429-9410, e-mail: noni@vernonia.com
Opinion___________
Ballot measures are
not well thought-out
The idea of a small levy to maintain historical arti
facts in Columbia County is not distressing. What is
distressing is an approach so muddled that it’s impos
sible to tell how much the levy will be. If it is $750,000
in five years, that can only be viewed as exorbitant for
a county with a population of under 50,000 people. It’s
doubtful that a professional director, traveling exhibits
and expanded quarters in St. Helens are priorities for
most of this county’s residents.
If it is $150,000 in five years, it should say so in the
order and resolution adopted by the Board of Com
missioners. But that is not what it says.
The overt threat by members of the Historical Soci
ety to fold their tent and send this county’s artifacts to
the state organization is nothing more or less than co
ercion. If the BoC fails to see that, they aren’t looking.
The County’s second ballot measure asks voters to
approve an amendment to the natural resources (sur
face mining) depletion fee ordinance. The ordinance
imposes a 15 cent per ton fee on rock, gravel, dirt,
sand, dredge spoils, etc., that is dug up, taken out of,
or brought into the county if they are used to reclaim
other surface mines or in agricultural operations. If
amended, the fee would no longer apply to materials
used in reclamation and agricultural applications.
Stuck in the measure are a few other words that say
“minor housekeeping” amendments would also be.
adopted if voters approve it.
The reason for voting no on the five-year local op
tion levy for an historic fund is obvious.
The depletion fee changes aren’t so obvious, but
county voters should remember something from last
year, when the county had an ordinance amendment
on the ballot that would have increased the depletion
fee for road maintenance, by a few cents per ton.
Some members of the industry got together and sent
a last-minute mailer that made it sound like everyone
in the surface mining industry in Columbia County
would immediately be out of work. It would be nice to
say that it was just the usual political shenanigans, but
that wouldn’t be true.
The perpetrators were actually fined for violating
election law. The fine wasn’t large but there wouldn’t
have been any fine at all if the industry hadn’t so bla
tantly thumbed their collective nose at the voters.
If they hadn’t interfered with a legitimate ballot mea
sure, it would be easy to support this amendment as a
quid pro quo. However, if there is no more depletion
fee for roads, the existing depletion fee for reclamation
and agricultural applications should not be eliminated.
Moreover, those “minor housekeeping” amend
ments weren’t spelled out.
The historical fund measure stinks to high heaven.
The depletion fee amendment just doesn’t smell good.
Whatever your
point o f view may be,
Please Vote!
By Dale Webb, member,
Izaak Walton League, Nehalem Valley Chapter
It was nice to see all the people who came out
to help make Vernonia Shine on April 21. The
Izaak Walton League seized on the work that Bill
Sword and others did last year around the east
end of Lake Vernonia and made major headway
in developing a primitive campground. A trail
down to the grassy flat between Lake Vernonia
and the Nehalem River was completed and fu
ture camp sites were leveled. This project could
have never happened without the help of Holce
Logging and The Yard Doctor. Jerry Budge and
Donny Normand from Holce Logging donated
their time to run the Cat supplied by Holce Log
ging, to create the access trail and level the
camp sites. Allen Reinsch, the owner of The
Yard Doctor, donated his time and use of his
tractor to rock the access trail. We also must
thank SOLV for the grant with which we pur
chased the materials to build the trail. The City
of Vernonia donated the rock for the trail. Don
Tiffney, Dennis Nelson, Allen Boettcher, Don and
Michael Webb built the trail. Kathy Gillette of
Portland ventured out to our town to help out
and we put her to work on the camp sites. The
campground is not yet open, because a large
portion of it needed to be grass seeded. Hope
fully, within a month or so, we will be able to
open the campground.
Once again, I have been spending a lot of
time in my kayak in our local streams and have
noticed a few river hazards that trout fishermen
should be aware of when the season opens in
late May. The river has been running fairly low
and boating may be difficult above Vernonia if
we do not receive a fair amount of rain before
trout season. Trees have fallen across the Ne
halem below Sunnyside and will present a diffi
cult portage for anybody thinking of putting in
upstream of the Highway 47 bridge south of
town. Farther down the Nehalem, the same riv
er hazard that was there last year still exists just
upstream of the bridge before the Olympic Re
source Management office at Pittsburg. This
would be a bad place to get a boat sideways in
the current and against the tree that is blocking
the river. There is also a tree across the river,
just below Archie Dass’s house, that will inter
fere with those souls drifting from Pittsburg to
Big Eddy Park. Anybody thinking of drifting Rock
Creek from Flack Road down to town will have
to contend with a large log jam just behind the
old Ellson Cedar mill. A portage of this jam will
be difficult.
Trout fishing should be good this year and I
would be interested in receiving catch rates and
size of fish from local fishermen. Remember, the
fishing is CATCH AND RELEASE and no bait for
cutthroat trout. I don’t think I’ve been on a trip re
cently when I haven’t seen somebody fishing.
Remember, the season for cutthroat trout does
not open until May 26.
Hunters need to be aware of the May 15
deadline for applying for controlled big game
hunts. Don’t forget! Saddle Mountain hunters will
notice that the last weekend of the season has
been eliminated. You will have only four days to
hunt in the first season and seven in the second
season. This may cause a shift in the percent
age of hunters applying for second season tags
and some hunters may not get tags if they don’t
apply for this hunt as their first choice. Last year,
the tag numbers were cut to 1,500 for each sea
son, which has caused some displacement of
hunters.
The reason for these changes is the aware
ness by ODF&W that bull elk numbers are in de
cline. This is not only true, but has been predict
ed by many of us because of the excessive cow
harvests that continue each year. ODF&W does
not recognize the overall herd decline, just the
bull decline. It will be interesting to see if the
shortened season and reduced hunter numbers
will bring the bull numbers up. It is my opinion
that until the cow herd is allowed to rebuild, the
short term gains will be short lived and the de
cline will continue after a brief respite.
I am sure a lot of you in our area have seen
deer without all of their hair. I thought we were
going to get by this year, since the weather was
so dry and mild, but such is not the case. I have
observed numerous animals with the hair loss
syndrome. I have observed very few fawns from
last year surviving to become yearlings. One of
our chapter members observed a yearling buck
die on his property less than a month ago. The
animal simply bedded down and would not get
up. Within hours, it had died. This is a very seri
ous problem and is having a dramatic effect on
local deer populations. Despite this problem, I
have heard that ODF&W is going to pursue con
tinuing the antlerless deer hunt in the local area.
It will only be a matter of time until ODF&W will
run out of tricks and even the most creative spot
light surveys will not produce the results needed
to sustain this abhorrent harvest.
Izaak Walton League meetings are on the
third Thursday of each month, 7:00 p.m.
The public is welcome.
For meeting location, call (503) 429-7193.