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The INDEPENDENT, October 7, 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
Many candidates and
important measures
on the Nov. 2 ballot
Because of the number of candidates combined with
some very important state measures and, for the
Banks area, local measures as well, The INDEPENDENT
is going to take a somewhat different approach to
explanations and endorsements.
Voters’ pamphlets have already been mailed so, if
you are so inclined, you can start familiarizing yourself
with the material. If you didn’t get a Voter’s Pamphlet
in the mail, they should be available at government
buildings such as the post office. Ballots will be mailed
to registered voters sometime between October 15
and October 19
In the October 21 issue of The INDEPENDENT, there
will be a special pull-out section with coverage of all
ballot measures and as many candidates as will fit. All
local candidates will be included.
Of particular importance will be candidates for two
Columbia County Commissioner positions, Banks and
Vernonia mayor and councilors, and the interesting
contest for the state representative from District 32.
So look for the October 21 issue and join us for
some election coverage. You may agree with our con-
clusions or you may think we’re all wet. Our primary
interest is in getting as many people as possible to
start thinking about, and participating in the future of
our government — federal, state, county, city and dis-
trict.
Remember, “…of the people, by the
people and for the people” doesn’t work
unless the people are involved.
The last day to register to vote
in the Nov. 2 General Election
is Tuesday, October 12, 2004.
Ike Says…
By Dale E. Webb, Member
Nehalem Valley Chapter, Izaak Walton League
Well, a new season will
have begun when you
read this article; yep hunt-
ing season is here.
Actually, it has been here
for some time, if you’re a
bow hunter. By the sounds
of it the bow hunters have
done fairly well this year.
Thanks to Longview Fibre
Company for opening most of the gates on their
lands. Shame on the rest of you timberland own-
ers, the truth is out. With the heavy rains in
September there was little just cause to keep
hunters gated off of the timberlands due to fire
danger. I will have more to say about this later in
the article.
While talking about hunting, I am pleased to
report that my friend, Jim King, took a nice ram
on his once-in-a-lifetime hunt for sheep. He took
his time and bagged a ram on the eighth day of
the trip. He will have a lifetime of memories from
his trip. Unfortunately he will also have memo-
ries of another hunter degrading the hunt. The
other hunter had a sizable gang of friends with
him and they took full advantage of their four-
wheelers and an ultralite aircraft, which they
used both before and during the hunt. While,
technically, laws may not have been broken or at
least not proven to be broken, ethical hunting
behavior was. It is sad to see this occur during a
once-in-a-lifetime hunt, but it only shows that
slobs are everywhere, even in premium hunts.
I finally got the statistics for last year’s hunting
season. Rifle buck hunters took 432 bucks in the
Saddle Mountain unit last year, which was a
slight increase over the year before. I thought it
might be lower due to the declining deer herd,
but let’s wait and see what this year brings be-
fore we start celebrating. Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife has again started keeping stats
on horn size, after quitting that practice years
ago. The break-down was 214 forked horns, 159
three-points and 59 four-points. Interestingly, the
ratio of forked horns compared to three-points
and above was practically the same. This is not
what I have been observing locally. My observa-
tions have been heavier toward bigger bucks,
with very few young bucks in the population.
Time will tell if the deer herd has hit a low plateau
and now will be able to sustain itself, or if this is
just a bump in the road to oblivion.
Elk hunters faired well last year in the Saddle
Mountain unit, at least during the second sea-
son. First season rifle hunters took 167 bull elk,
4 three-points, 75 four-points, 75 five- points and
13 six-points plus. Hunters had a very success-
ful second season with 270 bulls taken with a
break-down as follows: 32 three-points, 135
four-points, 103 five-points and nothing bigger
than a five-point being reported. Understand,
this information is from phone surveys and a
small sample of hunter reports is extrapolated to
fit the known number of tags sold. Total bull har-
vest fell short of my prediction of 500, made last
Please see page 3