The independent., October 02, 2003, Page 2, Image 2

Page 2
The INDEPENDENT, October 2, 2003
The
INDEPENDENT
Serving the upper Nehalem River valley. Published twice
monthly, on the first and third Thursdays of each month, by
Public Opinion Laboratory Ltd., 725 Bridge Street, Vernonia,
OR 97064, as a free newspaper. Publishers, Dirk & Noni An­
dersen. Editor, Noni Andersen. Phone/Fax: 503-429-9410,
e-mail: noni@vernonia.com Display Advertising, Clark Mc-
Gaugh, 503-429-9410, e-mail: clark@vernonia.com
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Citizens are trying,
Council has the ball
The recent Town Hall meeting on law enforcement
was instructive, if you were interested in learning.
Among the available lessons were:
- It’s a waste of time to go to a meeting if you don’t
intend to contribute.
- If the only time you will contribute is when you write
the rules, you should take your ball and go home.
- Not everyone who complains about the police de­
partment is a drunk; some of them don’t drink at all.
- It is sensible to be sober when attending a meeting
on the subject of law enforcement, especially if you
want to complain.
- When the police department is trying to present an
image of sweet reason, an officer shouldn’t offer to “go
outside and discuss” a disagreement with an individ­
ual.
- The mayor and council members should remem­
ber that they represent all of the citizens, not just the
ones who agree with them...and they definitely should
not voice the personal opinion, in public, that those
who disagree are just “whiners and complainers.”
- The police department should remember that they
work for the citizens, and it’s always a good idea to be
courteous to your boss.
There are other lessons available for learning, too:
- If you want to replace the mayor or any of the
council members, you had better be willing to volunteer
20 to 40 hours per month on such exciting incidentals
as water curtailment, planning ordinances, major finan­
cial considerations and other tremendously exciting
minutiae.
- If you want to replace the mayor or any of the
council members, be willing to attend a minimum of
three meetings per month, and as much additional time
as is necessary to takecare of the public’s business.
- If you are not willing to spend three hours at one
meeting, or 20 hours on a Smart Growth Development
Ordinance, you shouldn’t be a city councilor.
Give them a break, folks, they are unpaid volunteers
who spend huge amounts of time trying to help you
have the kind of community you want.
You should replace them only if you can do a better
job.
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By Dale Webb, Member
Nehalem Valley Chapter, Izaak Walton League
The morning was dawn­
ing bright: it was going to
be another hot day, but
you don’t care because, off
in the distance, a bull elk is
bugling.
Gradually you
work your way into the
herd and softly cow talk to
cover your movement.
Soon you hear the herd
bull circling off to your right, flanking a satellite
bull that was trying to capture some of his cows.
The timing is perfect and you let loose with a bu­
gle, not a big bull, but not a spike either. The
herd bull stops in his tracks, then charges
straight for you, limbs and brush shredding as
the big bull tears at everything in his path.
You can feel the weakness in your knees and
the hair standing up on your neck. The bull
keeps coming, then senses that something isn’t
quite right. It is too late. An arrow slices through
the air and the bull lunges into the brush trying to
escape the jab in the ribs. The bull doesn’t go far
and soon you are standing over his body, his
very big body. This is the biggest bull that you
have ever taken and you are shaking with ex­
citement.
Now you have a monumental task ahead of
you and think maybe your buddies can help out.
After gutting the bull you get to a phone and
make a few calls. Soon, your friends arrive and,
with the help of a 4-wheeler, the bull is dragged
out of the woods and hoisted into the back of a
pickup.
A very happy day in the life of a bow hunter?
No, this story ends unhappily.
The land where he was hunting was closed
due to fire danger, it was also closed to motor­
ized travel, and trees were damaged dragging
the bull out of the woods. Because a concerned
citizen was diligent, this hunter, and many more
like him, ended up without his bull, but with sev­
eral expensive tickets for his misdeeds. This
may sound like an incident that happened local­
ly, but it is not based on that case. There were
several big game cases made by police this year
in the local area. Many hunters are violating tim­
ber companies rules regarding public entry.
While I don’t totally agree with how and when fire
closures are used, they must be adhered to if all
sportsmen are to have an equal chance at the
animals for which they have tags.
A friend of mine, who is a bow hunter, had a
very frustrating season this year due to fire clo­
sures and the inability to get timely information of
when timber companies’ lands were open. Hear­
ing about other hunters sneaking animals out of
his hunting area only compounded his aggrava­
tion. The only consolation for my friend will be if
the fines are hefty, otherwise he may also be
tempted sometime in the future.
Did you see it? Right there on the front of “Bill
Monroe’s Hunting 2003” in The Oregonian: De­
clining blacktail numbers at issue!
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
is finally starting to face the fact that the Blacktail
deer herd is declining, in some cases abruptly.
There is talk of shortening the rifle season, short­
ening the bow season, eliminating the late bow
season (Saddle Mountain unit just had the first
season last year), and reducing or banning Doe
Please see page 21