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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 2005)
Page 2 The INDEPENDENT, February 3, 2005__________ n. 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 This may surprise you Here is a quiz. 1. In 2000, 85,000 deaths in the U.S. were attributed to what? 2. In 1999, 31.1% of those who died from uninten tional non-traffic injuries had used this? 3. In 2003, 40% of the traffic deaths in Oregon were attributed to what? 4. 40% of people convicted of violent crimes and 25% of victims had been using what at the time of the event? 5. 7.5% of the adults in Columbia County abuse this? 6. In the U.S. there is one traffic death almost every 1/2 hour attributed to this? If you guessed an illegal drug, you are wrong. It’s a legal drug - alcohol. For those who have a drink only occasionally, alcohol is not a problem - for others, it is a problem. Heavy drinking is defined as drinking more than 2 drinks (1 for women) per day. Associated chronic health conditions include chronic liver disease and cir rhosis, gastrointestinal cancers, heart disease, stroke, pancreatitis, depression, and a variety of social or work problems. That’s in addition to the accidental deaths and injuries that occur. Could this be you? People who report three or more of the following symptoms during the past year are considered alcohol dependent (alcoholic); • Tolerance (needing more and more alcohol) • Withdrawal • Alcohol use for longer periods than intended • Considerable time spent obtaining or using alcohol, or recovering from its effects • Important social, work, or recreational activities giv en up because of use • Continued use of alcohol despite knowledge of problems caused by or aggravated by use. There is help for alcoholics. Many alcoholics live healthy, happy lives without drinking. Call Alcoholics Anonymous at 503-223-8569 or Columbia Community Mental Health at 503-429-1053 for information on how to stop drinking if you need to or just want to. Most alcoholics die drunk, needlessly. Drinking is not FUN or harmless when it gets to that point. Get help! * z By Dale Webb, member Nehalem Valley Chapter, Izaak Walton League Early in January, I at tended a conference at Oregon State University; the subject was the Rela tionship Between Forest ry, Deer and Elk in West ern Oregon. I was intense ly interested, since this conference would have the latest science and the ories about what is going on with the deer and elk here on the Westside of the state. After the presenter outlined our day, the first speaker, Bruce Coblentz from the OSU School of Wildlife Science, knocked my socks off! In not too subtle a manner, he asked the audience why we were here today? In answering, he pointed out the failure of the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife to instigate studies in the past to an swer questions which we are now facing, but in a crisis situation. He made my day when he stat ed that he had been rudely ignored in the past. That sure sounded familiar to me. Coblentz went on to talk about Hair Loss Syndrome (HLS), HLS and any connection to herbicides, Elk/Deer com petition, and the effect of herbicides on forage. There was no new information about HLS that I haven’t already covered in previous articles. Coblentz pretty much put aside the notion that herbicide spray is the cause of HLS. He said it appears that elk have been more successful than deer under current habitat changes, but that there is no good understanding why. The talk turned to herbicides in general, with the crowd anticipating bad news...which never came! Coblentz stated, in general, that herbicide spraying at the worst could only be slightly detri mental and could actually be good for wildlife as far as providing desirable forage. Since there were other speakers who were going to present recent data on herbicides and the effects on pre ferred forage Coblentz deferred. Next up was DeWaine Jackson from ODF&W, it was the usual presentation, with the noted ex ception showing that the Saddle Mountain unit elk population is below management objectives. He also presented information that fawn rates may have declined along with buck-to-doe ratios in parts of the Westside of the state. John Cook, from the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, presented interesting data about forage requirements for elk and also data about the forage in different habitat environ ments. He also showed data on body fat profiles in different elk populations, which illustrated the low body fat rates of Roosevelt elk on the West- side. This is nothing new, but the comparison with the Rocky Mountain elk is interesting. Data was also presented regarding pregnancy rates as compared with body fat rates. One of the most interesting aspects of Cook’s talk was the suggestion that summer and fall forage are just as vital, if not more so, than winter forage. This is new information which does make good sense. Please see page 20
