Letters to the Editor
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Preferred alternative problems perceived
Now that the public has had a chance to see the fancy displays and meet with BLM personnel Sept. 6 in Cave Junction -- all at taxpayer expense, of course -- we need to sort out what the proposed WOPR (Western Oregon Plan Revision) really means.
Here are some facts from what I learned:
*Passage of the WOPR by Congress will triple the logging levels in Western Oregon.
*All three alternatives proposed by BLM will mean significant extraction of old-growth trees
*The 2.6 million acres under BLM jurisdiction will gradually be converted to tree farms as part of “timber rotation.”
*The restrictions of the Northwest Forest Plan that Oregonians cherish will be removed.
*Protections for wildlife and habitats will be removed.
*Watersheds will be seriously compromised.
*Off -highway vehicles will receive “emphasis areas” in our forests.
*Undergrowth from clear-cutting and tree plantations will increase fire danger.
*We are going backwards to the timber wars of the past rather than forward to sustainable forest management.
*BLM misrepresents the O&C Act to mean ongoing “tree harvest” -- they forget the word “sustainable” and other provisions of the act for supporting local economies, building recreation areas, enhancing watersheds, ensuring quality of life.
The best news, from what I can gather, is that none of the WOPR is necessary. Indeed, it is more than likely to increase warming of our area, increase fire danger, degrade the environment, and impoverish especially Illinois Valley.
The reason our area is especially vulnerable is that we have the predominant number of “unharvested areas,” and many of us live next to BLM land. More than 80 percent of our forested areas in I.V. are under federal jurisdiction. The resultant degradation of our surroundings will deter people who wish to move here and could increase the tax base. After all, who would want to live next to destroyed forests?
For information about the realities of WOPR the public can attend a meeting Oct. 2 at the county building in Cave Junction at 7 p.m. Lesley Adams, outreach coordinator from K S Wild will speak, and answer questions and concerns.
She finds WOPR hard to swallow
Jim Raffenburg, chairman of the Josephine County Board of Commissioners, stated that the WOPR scientifically proves that significant harvests can be accomplished while still honoring the environment.
He says that the preferred alternative would provide 3,500 jobs and $108 million in annual revenues to Oregon counties.
The jobs they tout as an outcome of the plan are timber-felling jobs, not currently employing more than a few Josephine County residents. Will the jobs for laborers to do the restoration materialize? Will their fuels reduction efforts include using a slashbuster and burning piles with plastic?
Will they use herbicides and threaten water supplies? Will any of the logs stay here in our mills and building supply stores? I ask who will benefit from WOPR besides corporations, and how will they benefit?
Remember that the WOPR is on the lands that checkerboard around the low-elevation private lands of the county; therefore the plan will affect people far more than what happens on U.S. Forest Service land. The loss of protections for old-growth trees, riparian
areas, rare wildflowers, and all wildlife are the most serious changes that may anger the neighbors who see the results of this plan.
The funds for county services such as the library and the sheriff’s office should not depend on the logging of our remaining native forests since this will not solve the problem of long-term funding for our future.
We should achieve those goals through
diversification and shifting agencies efforts to fuels reduction and ecological
restoration.
The real solution for Josephine County is to legislatively protect its vast Kalmiopsis Wilderness and surrounding wild lands. Creating this entity would create many types of economic opportunities; jobs for young people and another treasure for recreation and
tourism.
We need to end public controversy, protect Oregon's resources and beauty, and build consensus on how to best keep our forests healthy for future generations.
Resident asks, ‘Where’s the truth to WOPR?’
BLM is at it again with its latest web (WOPR) in which it is attempting to ensnare the public. The agency is hosting numerous open houses at which it has pounds of chopped-up trees (a.k.a. paper) available with misleading print.
As this administration so often likes to do, it is again using scare tactics to try and entice us into believing that what it wants to do is what’s best for us and our forests.
All of BLM’s preferred alternatives will actually increase fire danger, damage and/or destroy habitat, increase noxious weeds, adversely affect global warming and alas, cut down many of our precious few remaining old-growth trees. Its only alternative of any value is the No Action alternative.
It has carefully constructed many puzzle pieces to this issue that all together spell big trouble for us and our local forests. The so-called stewardship programs, biomassing our forests, the WOPR -- all of these are interconnected, but most people have not had opportunity to see the big picture yet. The truth is, it’s not a pretty picture.
Those who want further information, and something more resembling the truth, will have opportunity at the county building in Cave Junction on Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. Oregon Heritage Forests campaign will host “An Evening on BLM’s ‘Whopper’.”
About homosexuals; ‘let God do His business’
One day last week, right in front of the Cave Junction Post Office a couple of women were having a “One Man One Woman” petition signed.
Hey, haven’t we already voted on this real nonissue? Don’t these good women of Cave Junction have something better to do with their time? Oh, they had a few signatures, but again, we already voted on this.
So many people consider themselves “Good Christians.” “Not perfect,
just forgiven.” How smug can you get?
In the grand scheme of things, how do homosexuals or any alternative life styles really affect us? Let’s see, as I remember, “Judge not lest thee be judged” is a good saying that applies to this situation.
It’s hardly a tragedy who marries whom: a 50 percent divorce rate is a tragedy. The illegitimate birth rate is a tragedy. Gay marriage pales in comparison.
Just let God do His business. He probably sees many of us unable to run our own lives, much less anyone else’s.
Believe me, nothing bad will happen should we just be able to love and
marry whom we want. How does it benefit anyone when two people cannot marry
and just live a good life?
Hey, just read “Police Blotter” in this very newspaper; seems as though the
heteros have the corner market on crazy.
I end this letter with, “God is Love.”
Criticism leveled toward deputy’s,sheriff’s actions
Illinois Valley is a great community. Oh, we have some problems, but it still is a beautiful, friendly area.
Our principle problem has been a lack of law enforcement. Then along comes Gil Gilbertson promising real action toward the issue. He promised increased action against the illegal and dangerous meth dealers and manufacturers.
He said during a fund-raiser at Bridgeview Vineyards Winery in November that the mechanics already were in place with the state government to use National Guard troops to assist in the raiding of these enterprises.
He promised increased attention to seizure policies that would allow the county to confiscate property, money, etc. used in illegal operations. All wonderful promises.
So what do we get for our support? On the night of Thursday, Sept. 13, right in Cave Junction, we had county deputies staking out closed businesses at 5 p.m., issuing citations to people, who for instance, pulled into an empty bank parking lot to use an ATM. They were parked in “No Parking” zones.
We had deputies issuing citations to people who were unloading essentials for businesses because they were parked too close to a handicapped spot. These were deserted parking lots that served closed businesses.
The officer’s name is Charles MacNeil, who maybe could be helpful in Iraq. He could be there issuing citations for littering in Baghdad.
I, for, one, am certainly considering recall for the incompetence and lack of professional demeanor displayed by our sheriff.
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