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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 2004)
Page 2 The INDEPENDENT, August 5, 2004 The INDEPENDENT Serving the upper Nehalem River valley. Published on the first and third Thursdays of each month, by Public Opinion Laboratory Ltd., 725 Bridge St., Vernonia, OR 97064, as a free newspaper. Publishers, Dirk & Noni Andersen. Editor, Noni Andersen. Phone/Fax: 503-429-9410, email: noni@ the-independent.net Display Advertising, Clark McGaugh, email: clark@the-independent.net Classified Advertising, Rebecca McGaugh, email: rebecca@the-independent.net Opinion Use a little common sense, enjoy the 48th Jamboree Jamboree is always fun, but it can easily be ruined when folks forget that the purpose is to enjoy the events and the other people. Jamboree was started as a mechanism to bring people together after circum- stances closed Oregon-American Mill and economic necessity had forced many people to leave Vernonia. Jamboree was meant to be a big get-together, just a happy event with some good-natured competition, a parade and lots of laughter. Times have changed sufficiently so that a lot of peo- ple now “get together” via the phone or e-mail, which is great with family and friends, but it really changes the dynamics of group interaction. Sometimes, it seems, we forget how to act with consideration for strangers, not because they’re bad, but because we haven’t met them. Of course, that is why we call them strangers. So relax, be considerate, even to people you don’t know, and above all, smile. If you aren’t involved, but would like to be, call the numbers at the bottom of this column – Mark Hall or Garrett Abney – they will almost certainly find a way for you to be part of Jamboree. If you prefer being a spectator, it will take the whole weekend just to get around to the various events – fishing derby, fireworks, softball, parade, horse gam- ing, black powder encampment, antique and col- lectible show, music, dancing, eating, the car cruise-in on Saturday followed by a Bike Rally on Sunday and, of course, the logging show. Even if you think logging shows are passe, you will enjoy the good-natured competition – they try hard to win, but cheer each other on to do their best. So relax, talk to that stranger next to you, smile at that teenager – we all needed time to grow up – and some of us will never make it. Enjoy Jamboree, please don’t drink and drive because there are no Jamboree events going on in the county jail. Have fun and remember, smile! --------------------------------- For more information about helping with Jamboree, call Mark Hall at 503-429-8382 or Garrett Abney at 503-429-0517. Ike Says… By Dale E. Webb, Member Nehalem Valley Chapter, Izaak Walton League Well, did you melt? The recent heat wave was a scorcher! If you were like me, you spent a lot of time in the local rivers. Unfortunately for the fish in these streams, the warm temperature proba- bly was lethal. I took my kayak down to Rock Creek on the 103-degree day and the water was like bath water. What I noted missing were the small fish that would usually be pecking at the surface of the water. Earlier this year I noted an enormous number of fingerlings in local streams, mostly Chinook, which hopefully migrated far enough downstream to the deeper, cooler water or, better yet, the estuary. I also noted a fair amount of Coho fingerlings, which probably took the brunt of the recent heat wave, since they have to stay in local streams until the spring of next year. While we are talking about fish, I had an inter- esting problem regarding fishing regulations. Most the time, fishing regulations are fairly clear- cut, but there are times they are nothing short of confusing. Salmon fishing now falls into the lat- ter category. In an effort to micro-manage the Salmon runs and still provide optimal fishing opportunity, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has created a very confusing maze of rules. The ocean has separate rules; the Columbia River is divided into different sections; there are the tributaries to the Columbia River, plus sites called select fishing areas. The select areas are off channel bays or sloughs where salmon were net pen raised for the commercial fisheries so they do not impact the protected salmon in the Columbia River. It was recognized by ODF&W that the sport fishery in these areas should be liberal since these fish are basically produced to be caught. The standard regulation for these select areas is that they are open year-around though, in real- ity, there are fish present only during certain times of the year. This year, an exception was made to year-around fishing in the select fishery areas, when the Spring Chinook season was shut off early because the run size was not going to be as big as had been forecast and the allowed impact on wild fish had been exceeded. In a knee jerk reaction, ODF&W closed the lower Columbia River and also the select fisheries. Now, my problem came when my Dad and I started fishing in one of the select areas. We both pored over the regulation book; I looked on the ODF&W web site (www.dfw.state.or.us.) and called the information phone number (503-947- 6001). There were no clear-cut answers to the question, is it open? I could see on the Internet where the select areas were closed, but I could not see where they were reopened. The regula- tion for the lower Columbia River was that it was closed until August 1st, but that all other Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations were in effect. We Please see page 20