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The INDEPENDENT, January 6, 2005
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INDEPENDENT
IP
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
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W A A
The INDEPENDENT
looks at two decades
There are some little numbers on newspapers that
mean nothing to most people. They are usually under
the banner on page one, as in The INDEPENDENT. In
this case they now say Vol. 20, No. 1, shorthand that
means this is the first issue of the 20th year of publica
tion for The INDEPENDENT
A lot has happened in two decades. The work force
has changed. Vernonia now has more people who
work in the high tech industry than in the timber indus
try. Timber hasn’t lost its importance in our economy,
but mechanization (yes, high tech mechanization) sim
ply requires fewer people.
City government has had to become a lot more pro
fessional than it was 20 years ago and volunteers in
city government have become proficient in areas they
had never previously considered. Grants have helped
change the face of downtown, but it is the people who
have had the vision needed to, not just grab opportu
nity as it passes by, but actively seek it.
Outdoor recreation, always enjoyed by local resi
dents, now attracts visitors from other areas. We recall
the distress, the fear of change, when a few people
pushed hard to develop the Banks-Vernonia Linear
Trail. The idea of inviting strangers to play in our back
yard was genuinely disturbing to many area residents.
Now we are looking forward to extending the trail in the
other direction, to Scappoose!
In 1996, 60 percent of our homes were flooded -
and the doors of the other 40 percent were opened to
those who needed a place to live.
A lot has happened in nearly two decades, and there
are some very important people who have made it pos
sible to continue reporting on events in the Nehalem
valley — advertisers!
We are grateful for their support and urge our read
ers to tell them “thank you” for bringing news of births,
deaths, church services, police blotters, civic meet
ings, school activities, court reports, parades, traffic
problems, sports activities, organizations, entertain
ment, government, letters, community calendar and
everything else in this free community newspaper - for
the past 19 years.
By Dale Webb, member
Nehalem Valley Chapter, Izaak Walton League
In my last column I in
cluded a sportsmen’s quiz
that had some rather
pointed questions, un
knowingly, they were more
on target than I anticipat
ed. The questions hit so
close to home for some
members of our communi
ty that they have accused
me of being the one who turned them in for com
mitting big game offenses. Let me set the record
straight: It was not I but, if I had seen or had
first-hand knowledge of the offenses, it would
have been. I make no bones about where I stand
on sportsmanship in the field and nobody should
take it personally when they run afoul of me or
the other true sportspeople in the field. Get it
straight! It is we who have been offended.
It also seems that crime in our area is having
an impact on local sportspeople. I kayaked the
Nehalem River the other day and took out at the
Green Steel Bridge. I noticed that somebody has
stolen the small cable block hanging off the tele
phone post that Owen East put up years ago for
local fishermen to use when winching their drift
boats out of the river. Without the block it will
make retrieving boats more difficult. I will see
about trying to get it replaced.
Criminals struck again at the only shooting
range in our area. It seems somebody decided
that the spotting scope that was donated by
Leopold after the flood of 1996 destroyed our old
one, was too nice to pass up. If you see some
body with an ugly looking, gold spray-painted
Leopold 20X50 variable spotting scope, turn him
or her in! Now locals will have to do a little more
walking back and forth from the target to see
where they are hitting the target. It is interesting
that the scope stayed unlocked for all these
years. It was truly the honor system, but I guess
the honor has left some people in Vernonia. It is
amazing to me that someone would steal from
people that they know own guns, now that is real
smart!
I got flagged down the other day when I was
down at City Hall. It was Maggie Peyton and she
had to show me the Coho Salmon that were
swimming around in the pool at Betty Wall’s.
Bear Creek is still chugging along trying to pro
duce fish for the future.
I recently attended an Oregon Hunters Asso
ciation meeting with my friend Jim King. Jim had
invited me because the guest speaker was a
graduate student from Oregon State University
who had just completed a study to see if Hair
Loss Syndrome will pass to Mule deer. It was a
very interesting presentation, even though I had
already heard or read about some of it. The re
sults of the study show that Mule deer are sus
ceptible to HLS, although none of the Mule deer
in the study ended up showing the actual loss of
hair that is common in local deer. The reason is
thought to be the high protein diet that the deer
in the study were fed. Deer on a high protein diet
Please see page 20