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The INDEPENDENT, December 2, 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
Not all donations are
used as advertised
Now is the time to give generously to charities, but
which ones? Some charities spend far more on admin-
istration and fund-raising than they do for their stated
purpose.
Fortunately, there are resources with information
that can help. The fifth annual report on nonprofits from
the Oregon attorney general's office has information
on some charities that are outstanding and others that
spend far too much on fund-raising.
For instance, Portland-based Mercy Corps spends
only 2.8 cents of every dollar it receives on fund-rais-
ing, and the American Red Cross Oregon Trail Chap-
ter, spends just 3.7 cents.
Unfortunately, the Oregon Volunteer Firefighters As-
sociation uses 82.6 cents of every dollar it receives for
telemarketing and fund-raising, leaving only 17.4 cents
for services and programs. Special Olympics Oregon
is better, but not good, with about half of each dollar
used for programs.
It would be wrong to use problem charities as an ex-
cuse to stop giving. While the idea of giving until it
hurts is foolish, it makes sense to give where you know
your gift can help.
When we donate to the Senior Center, Vernonia
Cares or other local organizations, we know that those
funds are well-used.
Information on charities that conduct nationwide so-
licitations is available on line from the following:
National Charities Information Bureau, <www.give.org>
American Inst. of Philanthropy, <www.charitywatch.org>
For information about a specific charity in Oregon,
call the Charitable Activities Section of the Oregon De-
partment of Justice at 503-229-5725.
Great attitude, great team
Congratulations are due the Vernonia High School
football team, but not just for their winning percentage.
This team – players and volunteer coaches – set a
high standard for work ethic and responsibility. They
can look back at this season and honestly say, “We did
our best.”
Ike Says…
By Dale E. Webb, Member
Nehalem Valley Chapter, Izaak Walton League
Well it has been a busy
last month! Many of you
may have heard about the
cougar attack in the River-
side Drive trailer park. My
house is almost in sight of
the area that the attack
occurred. Jim Walters,
from the Vernonia Police
Department, informed me
of the episode and I decided to investigate fur-
ther. My father owns the land next to the trailer
park and it was the obvious avenue to the attack
area. Dad had done some recent logging and
the ground was muddy…ideal conditions for
tracking. Sure enough, there were cat tracks on
one of his skid roads. While I am no expert in cat
tracks, I do know that cats retract their claws
while walking. These tracks were definitely cat.
The tracks were also round in appearance, but
were not real large. I have seen cougar tracks in
Eastern Oregon and they were a lot larger than
the tracks in the mud. My guess is that the tracks
were made by a very big bobcat or a young
cougar.
Mysteriously a few days after the cougar inci-
dent, a coyote started hanging around local
houses. The coyote was so brazen that I caught
it bedding down on my front lawn three times
one evening. The coyote had a bad hind leg and
looked in poor shape. After about a week of
hanging around the local area, the coyote finally
disappeared, probably for good.
Bull elk season is over for this year. It was
hard to get a real feel for overall success, but it
appears that both seasons were a little slow, al-
though some nice bulls were taken. I spent a lot
of time scouting and hunting elk this year. Luck
was not with me, as I never saw a branch bull
during the season. Most years while scouting, I
see tracks but not the animals; this year was the
reverse. In three days of scouting I saw 65 elk
and two branch antlered bulls. I bedded down a
herd the night before the season but I wasn’t
sure the bull was with them because I was more
than 3/4 of a mile away.
I started the elk season early in order to walk
into the clear cut the elk were last seen in. As
daylight broke I was there, carefully slipping up
the logging road that bisected the clear cut. After
about an hour of looking around, I discovered
the elk had been in a small timber patch right
next to the road I had walked in on. The elk
heard me and waited for me to pass, then they
busted across my backtracks. Ironically, they
passed within sight of where I had parked my
pickup. I chased the herd around the rest of the
day, but the weather was not cooperating so it
was next to impossible to get close.
The weather this year was not good for hunt-
ing elk. While opening weekend was cold, which
produced a lot of fog, the rest of the season was
warm. Elk tend to not feed as actively when the
temperature is warm, so most of the herds that I
encountered were bedded. Bedded elk are real-
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