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The INDEPENDENT, October 1, 2009
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
Mentor Noni Andersen
Printed on recycled paper with vegetable based dyes
Opinion
Who could use your help?
Who could use your help? If you have money to give,
that’s great. Vernonia Cares Food Bank comes to mind
right away. With money and jobs scarce right now,
more people are turning to the food bank for help to put
food on the table. Or, go to one of the fundraising
events set up to help raise money for the kidney trans-
plant needed by Vernonian Darrold Mushatt.
Many people do not have extra money to give nowa-
days, but there are still many ways to give. The Vernon-
ia Rural Fire Protection District is currently seeking vol-
unteers and you don’t even have to fight fires to help
(though you can; they can always use more firefight-
ers). The Vernonia Volunteer Ambulance Association,
the school district, the Senior Center, the food bank,
the Lions Club, the Boosters, the Vernonia Community
PTA, the American Legion Post, the Scouts (cub, girls,
boys, etc.), Prevention Coalition, Friends of the Library,
Hands on Art, Jamboree Committee, Pioneer Museum,
Vernonia Grange, Vernonia Pride, Columbia County
Women’s Resource Center and many other county
agencies or organizations, plus all the same and more
in Banks or whatever community you live or work in –
all these and more could use an extra hour of your time
(including any we inadvertently left out).
Help a child learn to read. Help an adult learn to
read. Mentor a teen and help them make positive
choices by being an example. Got a special talent?
Teach it to someone. Know an elderly person, a sick
person, someone recovering from surgery, someone
who’s depressed? Maybe they can use a meal, or help
around the house, or help shopping, or just need to get
out of the house for awhile, or need their dog walked.
Cards and flowers are great, but sometimes a phone
call or a visit is even better.
Time to be prepared is now
Now, as the weather starts turning cold and wet, is
the time to start thinking about winter weather pre-
paredness. Make sure you have a 72-hour emergency
kit or, at least, make sure you have extra water, food,
blankets, batteries for flashlights and radios, medica-
tions, candles or lanterns for power outages. Make
sure you and your family have a plan for where to meet
in case of high water or other emergencies. Don’t for-
get items your animals will need. Let’s hope this won’t
be needed, but…be ready, just in case.
CORRECTION: OURS appeared in place of ORS (Oregon Re-
vised Statutes) twice in the September 17 Opinion.
Ike Says…
By Dale Webb, member
Nehalem Valley Chapter, Izaak Walton League
Archery season just
ended and now rifle deer
season will open this
weekend in our local area.
Locally, I didn’t hear of a
lot of elk being taken dur-
ing the archery season,
but statewide the results
sounded above par with a
lot of bigger bulls being
taken.
I’ve heard that sportsmen have been seeing
some very nice bucks in our local area. We had
a pretty hard winter this year and I have as-
sumed this would have a negative effect, but
probably more so on young animals than the old-
er bucks. Last year the buck harvest in the Sad-
dle Mt. unit was up by a couple hundred over
previous years; it will be interesting to see if this
increase in harvest can be sustained or if it was
just a blip on the radar.
Last year’s archery elk harvest was up and ri-
fle harvest was down from previous years. It is
going to be a little less crowded during rifle elk
season this year, due to cutting 300 tags out of
each season. It will be interesting to see how
this affects harvest. I would guess a slight in-
crease in success rates and a slight reduction in
overall harvest.
Recently I took a ride-along with one of the
OSP troopers who is working under the Access
and Habitat grant program in the local area.
Funded by a surcharge on hunting licenses, this
program provides funding to hire retired troopers
just during the hunting seasons. This is an effi-
cient way of putting more troopers on the ground
when they are needed. On our trip around the
local countryside, I became more aware that
these officers duties include more than just
handing out tickets. We removed closure signs
and put up green dot stickers. The green dot
stickers are for the new Stimson travel manage-
ment areas, one in upper Rock Creek and the
other in the Camp Olson area. Actually, the trav-
el management areas will be similar to those in
years past, but instead of a closure sign on each
road that is closed, now there are green dots on
fiberglass posts on roads that are open. In gen-
eral, the main arterials are open and the side
spurs are closed. So if you travel into one of
these travel management areas be careful not to
drive down a road without a green dot marker at
the head of it. I was riding withTrooper Holbrook
and, while talking with him, it became apparent
that these retired state troopers have put in a lot
of effort to help keep and expand access for
sportsmen on private timberlands. Their hard
work paid off with more access for bow hunters
on Stimson lands this year. I believe it is in
everybody’s interest to have these liaisons be-
tween sportsmen and private landowners be-
cause they provide a middle ground from which
to build consensus on access issues.
One aspect that is harming sportsmen’s ac-
cess on private timberlands is the constant dis-
See Ike Says, page 3