The INDEPENDENT, September 2, 2010
Where to Find Them
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden
(Dem)
1220 SW 3rd Avenue, Suite 585
Portland OR 97232
Phone: 503-326-7525
223 Dirksen Senate Ofc. Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510-0001
Phone: 202-224-5244
E-Mail: http://wyden.senate.gov/
contact
Website: http://wyden.senate.
gov
U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley
(Dem.)
One World Trade Center
121 SW Salmon St., Suite 1250
Portland, OR 97204
Phone: 503-326-3386
107 Russell Senate Ofc. Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3753
E-Mail: http://merkley.senate.
gov/contact
WebSite: http://merkley.senate.
gov
U.S. Representative David Wu
(Dem) OR District 1
620 SW Main, Suite 606
Portland, OR 97205
Phone: 503-326-2901
2338 Rayburn House Ofc. Bldg.
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-0855
Website: http://house.gov/wu
Senator Betsy Johnson
(Dem) Senate District 16
PO Box R,
Scappoose, OR 97056
Phone: 503-543-4046
900 Court St. NE, S-314
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-986-1716
E-mail: sen.betsyjohnson@
state.or.us
Website: http//www.leg.state.or.
us/johnson
Representative Brad Witt
(Dem) House District. 31
21740 Lindberg Road,
Clatskanie, OR 97016
Phone: 503-728-4664
900 Court St. NE, H-373
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-986-1431
E-mail: rep.bradwitt@state.or.us
Website: http//www.leg.state.or.
us/witt
Representative Deborah
Boone
(Dem) House District 32
PO Box 926
Cannon Beach, OR 97110
Phone: 503-717-9182
900 Court St. NE, H-375
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-986-1432
E-mail: rep.deborahboone@
state.or.us
Website: http//www.leg.state.or.
us/boone
Page 3
Letters
Vernonia, a beautiful
gem of a small town
To the Editor:
Dear Vernonians: I had the
pleasure of touring your city in
early August as I was there
working on a project to help
Vernonia get grant money to
support the health center. I was
so impressed by the reception I
received, the support the health
center has from a wide variety
of people and the obvious love
they all share for their commu-
nity. You have a small and
beautiful gem of a town and I
was touched to be part of it for
a day. Thank you for your ef-
forts.
Heather Bonser-Bishop
Gold Beach
Help offered to avoid
mortgage foreclosure
To the Editor:
The US Department of Trea-
sury has approved plans sub-
mitted by Oregon Housing and
Community Services (OHCS)
for Oregon to receive $138 mil-
lion dollars in funds to assist
families hardest hit by unem-
ployment and the threat of fore-
closure on their homes. OHCS
will be implementing the pro-
gram by year end. It is impor-
tant for people in the counties
of Tillamook, Clatsop and Co-
lumbia not to wait to seek as-
sistance if you are struggling to
make your mortgage payments
or think you might be in this sit-
uation soon. The process in-
volved in foreclosure preven-
tion can be lengthy. Housing
and Urban Development (HUD)
has a website (www.hud.gov)
where you can locate a HUD
approved housing counseling
agency near you for assis-
tance. The services offered are
free of charge. Community Ac-
tion Team, Inc. is a HUD ap-
proved counseling agency
serving Tillamook, Clatsop and
Columbia Counties. We have
assisted approximately 200
households in the last 18
months with foreclosure pre-
vention. Community Action
Team plans to hold community
meetings once the final OHSI
plan is released by OHCS. But
please do not wait if you feel
you are in need of assistance –
we are here to help. 503-325-
9215, ext. 2303 or cindkp@
cat-team.org
Cindy Peake
Housing Center Manager
Community Action Team, Inc.
Promoting a healthy
life style is VPC goal
To the Editor:
Vernonia Night Out was a
huge success!! Representa-
tives from the Vernonia Rural
Fire Department, Cadet Pro-
gram, EMT, Vernonia Police,
and Vernonia Prevention Coali-
tion (VPC) were there to meet
and greet over 300 people at
Anderson Park. Showings like
these are invaluable to the
community to strengthen our
collaborative commitment in
providing quality service to the
citizens of Vernonia. And in
turn, getting the recognition
these partners deserve but
never ask for. Thank you to the
City of Vernonia, Lion’s Club,
Oregon Dairy Women, Kiwanis,
Sentry Market and all other vol-
unteers who made this annual
event happen.
This is just one of the many
opportunities that the VPC has
been a part of. The Coalition
has had a successful two years
of implementing programming
to heighten the awareness of
public safety and policy en-
forcement around the issue of
reducing access of ATODs (Al-
cohol, Tobacco and Other
Drugs) to youth. We can and
will continue for up to 10 years.
Each program completed thus
far has been approved by the
project directors of SAMSHA
Drug Free Communities Grant.
These programs are planned
almost a year in advance and
have to follow stringent guide-
lines in planning and imple-
mentation to ensure effective
outcomes.
The VPC’s mission is to de-
velop safe and healthy neigh-
borhoods through collaborative
planning, community action,
policy advocacy and enforce-
ment. No two coalitions are
alike nor are they expected to
Ike Says…
From page 2
the Western Oregon elk har-
vest and population is stable. In
the Saddle Mt. unit, elk hunters
took more bulls in ’09 than in
’08, contrary to the goals that
ODF&W had hoped for. Re-
member that rifle bull elk
hunters were reduced to try
and reduce total bull harvest in
the Saddle Mt. unit. In ‘08 rifle
hunters took 350 bulls between
the two seasons and in ‘09 rifle
hunters took 372 bulls. ‘08 rifle
hunter numbers were 2,419
versus 1,916 in ‘09; needless to
say the hunter success num-
bers for ‘09 were very good at a
19% average. Archers took
their second highest bull har-
vest with 142 bulls, versus 123
in ‘08. Archer numbers actual-
ly dropped from ‘08 to ‘09,
1,521 to 1,479 respectively. So
archers also increased their
success rate, which was 13%
for bull/cow combined.
Easter Oregon mule deer
had a harvest of 19,935 bucks
and 20,980 deer total in ’09. In
’08 the harvest was 19,476
buck and 20,457 deer total.
For perspective, the harvest in
1996 was 24,278 bucks and
29,581 deer total. So it appears
that the mule deer harvest and
population may be up 2% from
‘08, but since ‘96 the stats
show an 18% decrease in buck
harvest and 29% overall.
The picture for Eastern Ore-
gon elk is not so good. In ‘09
the harvest was 4,946 bulls and
7,293 elk total. In ‘08 the har-
vest was 5,121 bulls and 7,169
elk total. In 1996 the harvest
was 8,269 bulls and 17,870 elk
total. While the overall stats
show an increase in elk taken
in ’09 compared to ‘08, this is
mainly due to Cow harvest (a
300 animal increase), even
though bull harvest was off 3%.
In regards to 1996 harvest lev-
els we are now 40% down for
bulls and 59% down overall. I
would suggest that ODF&W get
off the cow hunts now; with the
increase in apex predators
(cougars and now wolves) we
have little need for these fe-
male hunts.
Everybody also needs to
know that the 1996 data that
was used for comparison pur-
poses does not reflect the his-
toric highs for any of these ar-
eas or hunts. 1996, though,
does represent the second har-
vest season after the ban on
using hounds for cougars.
Izaak Walton League,
Nehalem Valley Chapter
meets monthly on the 3rd
Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Call
503-429-7193 for location.
be. In fact, while the goals of
the grant are steadfast, our
community’s needs are ever
changing and things we do to
influence change will change.
Coalitions around the nation
are providing services in their
communities that are developed
specifically for their community.
Vernonia is no exception.
One of the most important
projects to date is to bring in-
creased awareness of the Ore-
gon State Tobacco Free
Schools Policy, and Vernonia
47J District’s policy for Public
Conduct on School Property.
These, and others, address the
need to provide safe and
healthy environments for our
children to learn and play in by
asking youth and adults not to
use ATODs on school campus,
therefore enforcing state law.
Another objective of the VPC is
to help reduce harm to the ma-
jority of the population by bring-
ing awareness to and encour-
age enforcement of current
public safety ordinances enact-
ed by City Council.
How do we effect positive
community
environmental
change? We lead by example.
The coalition is helping to en-
sure places for people to gath-
er that encourage positive be-
havior while mentoring our
youth in healthy lifestyle choic-
es. The majority of what a child
learns is NOT from what an
adult says, but what the child
SEEs the adult doing. Whether
it is having a good time without
abusing alcohol or drugs or
seeing an adult follow park
rules is teaching positive life
lessons.
Members of the VPC work
diligently to address the chang-
ing needs of the community.
We offer to help other entities
become stronger advocates for
each other. We offer support to
other agencies serving the citi-
zens of Vernonia. In the first
year alone, our volunteer
board, members and partners
See page 22
Policy on Letters
The INDEPENDENT will
not publish letters with per-
sonal attacks on private citi-
zens. Preference will be giv-
en to brief letters, 300 words
or less.
All letters must be signed
and include a verifiable ad-
dress or phone number.