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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (July 7, 2005)
Page 2 The INDEPENDENT, July 7, 2005 Declaration of Independence resounds loudly, to others, too The fourth of July barbecue was tasty, the parade was fun, the fireworks elicited oohs and aahs. Independence Day was enjoyed by most Americans, but how many spent any time reflecting on why or how it occurred, or what it means today? Here are some of the injustices perpetrated by King George III, as specified by the Continental Congress: “He has made judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices... “He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substances. “He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power. “He has combined with others to subject us to a juris diction foreign to (us)...giving assent to their Acts for... “Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: “Protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhab itants of these States: “Cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: “Depriving us in many cases of the benefits of Trial by Jury: “Transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences. “He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. “He is transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenar ies to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyran ny...unworthy [of] the Head of a civilized nation. These Injustices instilled anger, fear, rage, insur gency and rebellion among the citizens of the 13 colonies. They fought with tactics unknown to the British and German armies at that time-tactics that to day are called guerrilla warfare. And they won. Americans, of all the nations in this world, should not be surprised by the anger of the insurgents in Iraq. They feel, rightly or wrongly, that they are suffering the same injustices specified above. Americans, too, should look at the first three charges mentioned above because they, along with the weak ening of Trial by Jury, are dangerously close to what is happening today. Our freedoms were hard fought and hard won. We must not let them be diminished. By Dale Webb, member Nehalem Valley Chapter, Izaak Walton League It sounded like the trout season opener was very good this year, but again when isn’t it? I had one lo cal report 100 fish plus per rod on opening day on a local stream which he boated down. Where else can you go and have this kind of fishing, not a lot of places come to mind. The fish had good size again this year, some pushing 17 inches in length. While we are talking fishing, Dad and I made our annual trip to Oxbow Reservoir. The fishing was a little slower than in past years, probably due to the wet slow spring that we have had, yet we still managed to catch a lot of Catfish, and fewer Crappie and Bluegills. The weather was a mixed bag, but it never kept us from fishing and being cooler was better than the scorcher Hell’s Canyon can dish out. The local bighorn sheep paid a visit to our campground while we were there. The group of sheep was made up of all rams, some of which were impressive. I think Dad and I created some new fishermen while we were at Oxbow. My cousin, Dennis Weller, and family joined us for a few days and the boys had a ball. During the two days that the boys fished with us they boated close to 50 catfish! Fishing at Lake Vernonia has been good also this year, with a lot of trout being caught. I hear of late that ODF&W planted some more Steel head in the lake and that a couple of them have been caught. Well, the wait for controlled hunt tags is over and there are a lot of hanging heads again this year. No sheep, antelope or goat tags, darn!! Well, at least we got deer and elk tags. ODF&W is starting to make changes in seasons and pop ulation management objectives across the state. With the changes in population management ob jectives comes a reduction in antlerless harvests so that the herds can grow to the new set levels. While Saddle Mountain unit did not get a new population objective, it was revealed that the herd was below population objective. The district Biologist has thus reduced the Cow elk hunts substantially for this year and is proposing to eliminate most of them in 2006. I predicted this event. One, we have been harvesting too many Cow elk and secondly, the advent of the handi cap tags in which either sex can be harvested has added additional harvest which must be ac counted for. Many of you know my feelings about the handicap hunts and how I feel they are being abused, well fellows, that problem just cost the general public some Cow hunts. The proposal that I have seen is for the elimination of the Nicoali, Rock Creek, Nehalem #2 & #3 and Asto ria #1, #2, #3 in 2006. All other Cow hunts have severely reduced numbers. Don’t expect things to change back some day, because ODF&W does not seem to have the stomach to reverse the handicap hunter program. Let’s just Please see page 24
