Letters to the Editor
From our weekly issue dated December 26, 2007
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Holiday consolation
From Lynn Boucher-Johnson
Cave Junction
I hope that the following view of Heaven will bring some comfort to those who have lost loved ones this year.
I see the countless Christmas trees around the world below with tiny lights, like Heaven’s stars, reflecting on the snow. The sight is so spectacular, please wipe away that tear, for I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.
I hear the many Christmas songs that people hold so dear, but that music can’t compare to the Christmas Choir up here. I have no words to tell you the joy their voices bring, for it is beyond description to hear the angels sing.
I know how much you miss me; I see the pain inside your heart. But I am not so far away; we really aren’t apart. So be happy for me dear ones: You know I hold you dear and glad that I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.
I send you each a special gift from my heavenly home above. I send you each a memory of my undying love. After all, “Love” is the gift more precious than gold. It was always most important in the stories that Jesus told.
Please love each other, as our Father said to do, for I can’t count the blessings or love He has for you. So have a Merry Christmas and wipe away that tear. Remember, I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.
747s on Main Street?
From Ed Russell
Cave Junction
I am a 35-year resident of rural Oregon and an eight-year resident of Illinois Valley. I have been a pilot for nearly 39 years.
I have a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical operations, and worked in “product development” for the last 10 years of my working career.
I served nearly five years on the county’s Illinois Valley Airport Advisory Board. I am opposed to the “huge jet” classification for historic smokejumper base. It is a pristine jewel of all the airports in the world. It is a rare, beautiful and valuable place that we own.
I know that the first time a 747 cargo-liner flies right down Cave Junction’s main street and echoes its mighty roar half-way to Grants Pass, all the people who wanted this to happen will be among the first to complain.
It will be too late.
Property values? Quality of life? It’s our choice. Oops, it’s not: It’s “the commissioners” choice.
‘A real community’
From Jill Talise
Kerby
The letters to the editor are often the first items I read in the paper. I am amazed at how many thoughtful and knowledgeable people have come forward to address the
important issues in our community.
I know that it takes courage to speak up. I appreciate all who have made contributions to Illinois Valley News. It’s nice to read sensible and informative articles that raise my awareness on events in this community. More of us are showing up for public meetings, and I sense that there is a change in the air.
I am glad to see the show of support for our schools, the swim center, the library, the airport, law enforcement, and the concern for our public lands that we live next to (BLM and the forest service). Also, the Barlow Rock issue, the Cave Junction City Council, the land development issues, the “Welcome” signs and more. I empathize with D. Wallis and her letter to the editor, “Gravel and Welcome Signs” in the Dec. 19 issue.
I believe it is important that we meet as community members and decide on what we want for the future of our community. I’m all in favor of a community forum. If we support each other we can make it happen.
Rappin’ on Raffenburg
From Robert H. Ziller
O’Brien
Am I the only one who is sick and tired of hearing Josephine County Commissioner Jim Raffenberg’s whining and ranting about what he refers to as the environmental “industry”?
Only a true fool would not be concerned about a safe living environment for himself and his family. Only a bigger fool can steadfastly ignore the fact that we can no longer continue to abuse the planet at an ever-increasing rate without finally having to endure the consequences on life as we know it during the coming decades.
Raffenberg’s unwavering support of BLM’s Western Oregon Plan Revision, the shady, ill-conceived under-the-table rush to “expand” Illinois Valley Airport, and various other questionable endeavors, clearly demonstrates his allegiance to the special interests, along with total contempt and disregard for the best interests and well being of his constituents.
Unless he quickly moderates his behavior in a progressive (as in progress) manner, he will surely join other “regressives” such as Australia’s Prime Minister John Howard and President George W. Bush in the ranks of the unemployed (or soon to be).
Not to worry, all three should be able to find full time gainful employment as lobbyists for developers or the Extraction Industry, instead of just dabbling with it as a part-time endeavor. I’m confident that history will reflect poorly on all of them.
Wolves and meteors
From Jim Lombardo
O’Brien
I have been handling wolves for 45 years, first as a wild animal dealer in Los Angeles. During the 33 years I’ve been in Oregon, two gray wolves have lived with me for the past 10 years.
The American name is Gray Wolf. They have nicknames. The timber wolf is from the northern U.S. to mid-Alaska. Farther north is the tundra wolf. Even farther north is the Arctic wolf, but all are called the gray wolf, or canis lupus.
Wolves have been given a bad rep since Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs. For the record: Not one wolf has ever bitten a person.
A June Audubon article says that poodles are more dangerous than wolves because thousands of poodles have bitten people, and wolves haven’t. It adds that people afraid of wolves should find a concrete bunker to hide from meteors.
Do wolves mate for life? They are the same as people: opportunists. They stay with the same mate until something better comes along. Blitzer, my timber wolf mate who’s named after a TV newscaster, got mated to twins. He helped them deliver, and they did well together. I have never heard of a male dog helping deliver.
Most animals represented as “wolves” are Huskies with a little wolf in their background. Wolves never have their tails up over their backs. Huskies do. I have never seen a wolf with white eyes; all have amber eyes.
One Cave Junction man often brings his kids to play with our wolves.
Four states have tried to reintroduce wolves. The Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition and the Idaho Values Alliance say that tourists stay away because they think that “wuffs will take down your kids.” But a study by University of Montana reveals what wolf-watching in the Yellowstone area provides the area with $70 million annually.
More people will come to see wolves than stay away because of them.
On three occasions my male wolf has been attacked by my German Shepherds. He grabbed one by the throat, put him to the ground, then gurgled, “Stay out of my face,” and let the dog up. No, I don’t think that wolves could be introduced to Southwestern Oregon because we have too many little pigs without brick houses.
USDA advised me to call them hybrids. I will do that.
I just read an article by Jeff Barnard of The Associated Press that said wolves are finding their way into northeastern Oregon from Idaho. I wish them the best of luck.
‘WOPR hides outrage’
From Dorothea Hover-Kramer
Cave Junction
Despite the holiday mood that I would like to keep, I cannot help but speak out about the outrageous plan hidden within the Western Oregon Plan Revisions (WOPR) to turn much of Applegate Valley and the major Deer Creek watersheds up through Kerby into new “Off Highway Vehicle Emphasis Areas.”
Off Highway Vehicles (OHV) are also known as ATVs and ORVs,, and they make a lot of noise, cause significant soil erosion, and ruin quiet forest trails. It is evident that much of the recent flooding in Washington state was due to poor logging practices and OHV overuse.
Within the WOPR proposals are plans to turn over half of the 2.6 million acres public land that BLM purportedly manages into “timber management areas” that would be clear-cut every 80 years. Notably, much of the areas to be cut are in our county because this is where the remaining old-growth trees that yield the most money still stand.
Additionally, the plan is to build 1,000 miles of new logging roads during the next decade and thus open more than 100,000 miles of forest roads to “OHV Emphasis Areas.” These areas would be nationally advertised to bring enthusiasts for these destructive sports into our county.
The effects on quality of our lives, our property values, and opportunities for continuing economic development of Illinois Valley have not been considered. It is disappointing that at a time when public consensus for old-growth protection and thinning of existing tree plantations has never been stronger, BLM is proposing to clear-cut forests older than our nation and turn complex ecosystems into tree plantations that are highly susceptible to wildfire.
But even more devastating is the idea of OHVs, ATVs, and ORVs in or near everyone’s backyards in this valley. This brings the WOPR right into our faces. The public comment period on WOPR is in effect until Jan. 11.
She wants signs done
From Linda Corey-Woodward
Cave Junction
After talking to local merchant organizations, I have come to the conclusion that nothing will be done about the “Welcome” sign near Hay’s Hill on Redwood Hwy. (see Letters to the Editor, Dec. 5 and 12), unless the community comes together and fixes the problem.
Illinois Valley Chamber of Commerce, owner of the sign, says that it has not collected on the insurance claim for the truck that hit the sign almost two years ago and caused a corner of it to burn. There are conflicting stories about whether or not money has actually been raised for the sign. The result is a stalemate and many annoyed citizens of our fair valley.
If residents, merchants, bankers, developers and other interested parties join forces and devote money and volunteers to get the work done in March 2008, the sign can be rejuvenated and our pride restored.
I think that the chamber of commerce, I.V. Merchants Association, the banks, Larry Osborn, real estate agents, and other stake-holders in our community should move forward now. A special bank account should be opened for donations for the sign materials; and either hire professionals to repair and paint the sign or get volunteers to meet on certain days in March and do it.
The chamber may own the actual billboard, but the sign represents our entire valley, and we all have a certain kind of “ownership” of it. If enough people care about our community, we can make it happen. Those interested can contact the chamber and IVMA, and have a planning meeting. Enough jawing, just “Get ‘er done.”
Murder scene photo
From Terry Cain
Selma
I appreciate the letter by Mary Guerra and Arianna Guerra in the Dec. 19 issue about the Dec. 12 murder scene photo.
Yes, the news must be reported, but Tom Green should be honored with dignity, not insensitivity.
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