INDEPENDENT
Published on the first and third Thursdays of each month by
The Independent, LLC, 725 Bridge St., Vernonia, OR 97064.
Phone/Fax: 503-429-9410. Publisher Clark McGaugh,
clark@the-independent.net • Managing Editor Rebecca
McGaugh, rebecca@the-independent.net • Editor Noni
Andersen, noni@the-independent.net
Opportunities to educate
are too often overlooked
Last Friday at Vernonia High School, emergency
responders and high school students presented a sim
ulated drunk driving crash that resulted in one death
and serious injuries. They did an excellent job, bring
ing observers to tears even though they knew it was a
simulation. (The INDEPENDENT lacks space in this issue for full cov
erage of the presentation; it will be in the June 16 issue.)
Those involved in the presentation were trying to
educate young people about the damage caused by
drunk driving. But the primary target audience wasn’t
there.
The simulation was presented on Senior Skip Day.
One school administrator claimed they had no way to
know when senior skip day would occur; nearly every
one else knew well in advance.
This is one example of the district’s failure to take
advantage of educational opportunities.
Another missed opportunity occurred last year,
when a student journalist’s complaint about adminis
trative style resulted in the article being censored. It
should have been used as an examination of what free
speech entails.
Some of the missed opportunities have been the
result of misplaced priorities. Replacing an experi
enced music teacher with a rookie whose salary was
lower also caused students to lose out on valuable
educational experiences such as Music in May and the
Lower Columbia College Honor Band. Yes, activities
such as these cost money, but so do extracurricular
sports, and the current board seems to feel that more
coaches are needed.
Sports are fun and sometimes help kids stay in
school, but there are other, educational ways to
engage curious young minds. Why is there no chess
club in the elementary school? Why aren’t Vernonia
students intrigued by extracurricular activities that
involve geography, science, drama or, heaven forbid,
the Constitution?
Educating children is difficult, but it becomes almost
impossible when schools find it inconvenient.
"The object of education is to prepare the young to
educate themselves throughout their lives."
— Robert M. Hutchins
President^ University of Chicago
Ike Says. . .
By Dale Webb, member
Nehalem Valley Chapter, Izaak Walton League
The big wait! That is
what hunters are doing
right now, waiting to see
what tags they have
drawn. This year is shap
ing up to be a good one for
hunters. The winter was
mild and the unusual
weather has actually been
very beneficial for wildlife.
Eastern Oregon has received a lot of rain and
forage is growing well.
With all the rain, the rivers in our area have
stayed fairly high and should have produced a
good trout opener. Remember, cutthroat fishing
is catch and release only, flies or lures, no bait. I
had a good talk with a fisheries biologist a while
back and we talked about the local cutthroat sit
uation. When the catch and release regulation
first went into effect, it was believed by some of
us that the cutthroat in our local streams would
get bigger in size. Some of us even wondered if
we would some day have a trophy fishery for
giant cutthroats. Well, as most of you who fish
the river know, that has not happened.
Why? According to the biologist, it is all about
habitat. Fish will grow only as big as the habitat
will allow. So if the habitat was carrying all the
fish it could when the catch and release regula
tions went into effect, the fish would not get big
ger or more numerous. That seems to be what
has happened. So the big question now is, what
benefit is this catch and release regulation?
While the regulation was put into effect to protect
sea run cutthroat trout, one would have to won
der if it is really doing the job. Recent research
suggests that there is very little genetic differ
ence between cutthroats that reside in local
streams during their lives versus those that go to
the ocean. In fact more genetic diversity was
found in cutthroats between river basins. With
genetics playing such a small role, one would
have to wonder if sea run cutthroat trout popula
tions are more influenced by environmental con
ditions, especially the ocean.
Unfortunately, while we wait to unravel the
sea run mystery, a very good consumptive fish
ery for native cutthroat trout languishes. There
are options available to allow a consumptive
fishery for native cutthroat trout while protecting
sea run cutthroat trout. By using a length slot
limit (12 inches and up) during the spring fishery,
most sea run trout would be protected. The fall
fishery for trout needs to be suspended when the
sea runs come into the lower river. Currently
these fish are targeted by fishermen, but we
need to ask ourselves if this is wise, if the goal is
to provide protection for the run. Catch and
release does create mortalities.
Dad and I took a trip over East a few weeks
back, the goal was to see some desert and to
find a few Jack rabbits. Well, we accomplished
both goals. We spent most of our time in the
Warner basin, just north of Plush. There are
good numbers of Jack rabbits and they are wide-
Please see page 3