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The INDEPENDENT, June 21, 2007
The
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
Editor Rebecca McGaugh, rebecca@the-independent.net
Assoc. Editor Noni Andersen, noni@the-independent.net
Opinion
Here come the graduates
This issue our thoughts turn toward those graduat-
ing from high schools this month. Vernonia had 60
graduates, Banks had 93. 153 new citizens going out
into the world to make their way and their mark. Some
of them plan to go straight to work, some to trade
schools, community colleges or colleges. Vernonia
grads plan to attend trade school (4), community col-
leges (18), colleges (15), work (7), go on missions (2),
join the Marines (1), join the Air Force (1), return home
to Germany (2), or are undecided or list miscellaneous
(10). One student is going to school in Sydney, Aus-
tralia, and one is just coming home from a year in Ger-
many. The valedictorians from Banks (3) each plan to
go to college; one for international affairs, one for vir-
tual technology and design (this one makes us feel old
since we have no real idea what it means), and one for
a nursing degree. Many of them will become tomor-
row’s entrepreneurs and run small businesses.
Some will go forth, become successful in their cho-
sen or found fields, and stay wherever they landed.
Some will go forth, etc., and return to their small village
and go about their business. Some will fail at their first
attempts and, eventually, find the place they were
meant to be. Some, unfortunately, will become in-
volved in drugs or crime and will be lost to their fami-
lies and friends. We hope the ‘lost ones’ will be ‘found,’
– as long as there is life, there is hope. And, here’s to
the hope that all the grads will stay safe while they pur-
sue their dreams. Don’t drink and drive, and don’t get
in the car with any driver who has been drinking or do-
ing drugs.
Thinking about hope – we hope some of these
young people, wherever they land, will become volun-
teers in their communities. They can help children
learn to read, help feed the hungry, help organize com-
munity events, or even help run city, county or state
government. There is no better way to gain apprecia-
tion for and understanding of the internal workings of
the community. They don’t run themselves, it takes
many, many volunteer hours to make a happy, healthy,
successful community.
Thank you to all the people who volunteer in the
community and make a sincere effort to ‘do the right
thing’ and help others. May your ranks swell mightily.
Out of My Mind
by Noni Andersen
Monday, while talking with reporters, U.S.
Senator Ron Wyden told us that reauthorization
of county payments remains at the top of his leg-
islative priorities. “I will stay with it until it is
done,” he emphasized.
On Tuesday, he and other senators continued
that effort by gaining approval for a measure that
would extend funding for the Secure Rural
Schools and Community Self Determination Act
through 2011. The amendment, co-sponsored by
Wyden and six other senators, was included in
the Energy Advancement and Investment Act of
2007. The Finance Committee is expected to
pass the Energy Tax legislation.
Last month, Congress approved a one-year
emergency extension of county payments fund-
ing in order to head off a budget crisis that was
forcing lay-offs and shutting down county servic-
es in rural communities. The new proposal would
extend the program for four additional years,
providing a predictable stream of funding which
would gradually decrease by ten percent per
year through 2011. Additionally, transition pay-
ments would provide time for counties to adjust
to a new nationwide funding formula. The new
formula is based on both the current formula and
the current acreage of U.S. Forest Service
(USFS) and eligible Bureau of Land Manage-
ment (BLM) lands. It includes a mechanism to
focus support on the communities in the greatest
economic need, allowing development of alter-
native economies such as forest thinning pro-
grams and utilization of rural areas’ natural bio-
mass.
The plan also includes five years of full fund-
ing for Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT), which
compensates for the loss of tax revenue from
federal lands. Full funding of PILT would help
counties that lose tax revenues due to the pres-
ence of Federal lands. In Oregon, for instance,
counties receive no property tax from federal
lands.
This year, Wyden anticipates a better chance
to gain approval for the multi-year program be-
cause two key western senators – Max Baucus
(D-MT), chairman of the Senate Finance Com-
mittee, and Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), chairman of
the Energy Subcommittee of the Finance Com-
mittee – are co-sponsors of the measure and will
be seated at the conference table when the Sen-
ate and their counterparts in the House of Rep-
resentatives work out differences in legislation.
While this is a good approach to a major prob-
lem for many rural counties, local governments
will have to use the remaining time productively
to structure new approaches to old policies.
In Columbia County, the county payments
program contributes about 25 percent of discre-
tionary funds, those that may be used for multi-
ple purposes. Typically, discretionary funds are
used for day-to-day administrative costs such as
salaries, computer system improvements, em-
ployee training, etc.
They are also a significant source of funds for
law enforcement, a huge problem in this county,
which is already underserved. It is time to put on
those thinking caps and develop solutions.