Illinois Valley News Vol. 72 No. 49 Dated: February 17, 2010

Letters to the Editor

From our weekly issue dated February 17, 2010

(Editor“s Note: Views and commentary, including statements made as fact, are strictly those of the letter-writers.)

Typed, double-spaced letters are considered for publication. Hand-written letters that are double-spaced and legible also can be considered. “Thank you” submissions are not accepted as letters.

Bird books
From Ellyn Coley
Cave Junction

I would like to add to Harry“s Best Bird Books list, as listed in his “Backyard Bird Watching“ that runs every other week in Illinois Valley News.

I feel that the best book for people new to bird-watching is The Golden Guide to Field Identification Birds of North America.

I have dozens of bird books, but the Golden one is still my favorite for clarity, color, and ease of use.

As for magazines, I have variously subscribed to all those Harry mentions. But the only one I get now is Birds and Blooms. It is almost completely written by readers.

Instead of an article on a trip to faraway to observe the rare blue-legged beholdit, it will have stories, with photos, of wrens and bluebirds in your neighbor“s backyard.

Creation an act of love
From Waves Forest
Cave Junction

A majority of citizens in our county believe in a Supreme Being, Creator, Great Spirit, God or whatever one prefers to call it. The difficulties in cooperation and even civility might be resolved by clarifying our relationship with our Creator. (No offense to the many whose conceptual framework does not require stipulating a Creator.)

For the sake of argument, let“s call it God and say that it created everything, including us, from scratch. So God could only have had itself available as raw material with which to create. So even to this day, it must all still be God, no matter who or what it looks or acts like. So be nice to it.

This is a fundamentally different meaning of the word “Creator“ than the way we normally use it.

When we create something, it“s a distinct object or composition, not part of us. But we have never been separated from God, except perhaps in our minds. The realization of our underlying unity with all of Creation is at the core of the great awakening that is now occurring. This unity applies even to those parts of Creation we might disagree with. All human problems come from behaviors that originate with the belief that we are separate identities, cut off from whatever created us.

Close observation of Nature reveals that its most basic aspects are cooperation, abundance and generosity. Actions originating from self-importance are comparatively transient. Creation is an act of love, not of fear or anger.

If contemplation of one“s concept of the Creator brings fear or anger or a sense of unworthiness, instead of love, awe and serenity, it“s time to trade up.

“Green“ science faulty
Dr. Bob Zybach, PhD.
Cottage Grove

This is in regards to the recent article on woody biomass (“Benefits, drawbacks to woody biomass use up for debate,“ Illinois Valley News, Feb. 10, 2010).

My PhD is in the study of Indian burning patterns and catastrophic wildfires, with my academic research having taken place in western Oregon. I have been involved in the study of woody biomass for more than 30 years, and was first publicly involved in this issue in 1981.

Orville Camp has it 100 percent wrong. When he says people have become disconnected from the land he is correct — but it is people like him that are disconnected. Gathering dead wood around himself and his property because it is “ecostry“ is both risky and silly. That stuff is highly flammable and the amounts of dead wood we are now accumulating in the environment has been unprecedented for thousands of years.

Indians gathered firewood systematically across the landscape wherever it was available, and set broadcast fires along the ground that covered tens of thousands of acres annually, further reducing dead wood loads. Those are documented facts.

Orville's “science“ is dangerous and wasteful cherry-picked theory that is increasingly shown to be in error.

My question is: why does everyone keep bypassing biomass as a method of producing local energy, reducing the international imbalance of trade, conserving fossil fuels, creating rural employment, and reducing wildfire risk“ The technology is already there. Why aren't we using it“ The “green“ movement is showing its hypocrisy by not leading the charge in using biomass to create local jobs and energy. Their arguments for not doing so seem to reveal the true anti-resource management agenda they actually represent. Oregon“s forests are covered with tens of millions of tons of dead wood that could be harvested and turned into energy before it rots or burns in the next wildfire.

Same with Idaho, California, and Texas. Much of this CO2-producing wasteland is on untaxed federal lands. Our government says it wants rural jobs, reduced wildfire costs, and to conserve fossil fuels. What is the problem“ (I know it“s a rhetorical question, but maybe the political climate is getting better toward dealing with common sense issues these days.)

Firewood, steam heat, and electrical production can all be achieved quickly, easily, and cheaply. Where is the government leadership on this issue“ Or do other economic or technical problems exist that I am not accounting for“ The “ecological“ argument is both weak and faulty and needs to be disregarded before further damage is done to our environment and our economy.

Redistribution the answer
From William A. Garrison
Cave Junction

There has been a lot of rhetoric from Republican politicians across the country. What frustrates me is that they are saying that the president“s agenda is not working, the health-care reform has not included Republican ideas, and the stimulus plan is a waste of money.

After saying the stimulus is a waste of money, they then take credit for stimulus money coming to their district and praising it in their own state, holding big checks. So many of these same Republicans, who bad-mouth the program, voted against it and are taking credit for the benefits received in their districts.

I only hope that the people in Republican districts punish them for their hypocritical, two-faced, and obstructionist posturing by voting them out of office in November.

Surely, the economic problems are affecting Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and Libertarians alike. So they are stopping, purposefully, any efforts to help Americans in a very bad situation. It cannot be disputed that the president has made every effort to provide an environment for a bi-partisan process for developing legislation to achieve the goals of his agenda.

Instead of cooperating with the president, the Republicans have jammed up every effort of this administration. Who does that hurt most“ Us.

During the last meeting between the president and the Republican leadership, he voiced optimism for a bi-partisan effort. What did the Republican leadership say: “Why should we participate in a discussion about a bill that should be scrapped and start from scratch.“

That does not sound like Republicans are willing to discuss options or solutions. About a third of the Health Care Bill contains Republican concepts, and there is no longer a public option. What more do they want“ The answer is clear; they simply want the president to fail in every effort to help the American people. They would like to start from scratch so that they can spend the next year bad-mouthing the administration for not passing the Health Care Bill.

The bottom line is that we can“t trust the government to help us out of this problem. With that being said, I have a plan for us to help ourselves.

If we implement my “Supplemental Economic Recovery Plan“ we, the people, can generate more than $130 billion every year beginning the first year of implementation; 58 percent of this funding would go directly to 130,000 different taxpayers nationwide each year.

And 40 percent would go directly to mainstream and inner-city schools equally, police and fire departments, and 2 percent to charities.

We are already generating these funds as I am writing this. However, we are not using these funds effectively. Through my plan we would simply redistribute the funds in a way that benefits more people, more schools, more community service agencies, and more charities.

It is opposite of the trickle-down economics theory; let“s call it trickle-up economics. We would infuse ourselves with much-needed personal funding over a broad base which would stimulate the national economy from the bottom up.

I believe the trickle-up economic model would help us, the people, more than the trickle-down model. The more money we have, the more we spend, invest, and revitalize our communities. That will save and create more jobs directly based on real cash being circulated through the economy, not based on borrowed money from the government by increasing the deficit.

I am issuing an invitation to President Obama. We will only need the government to implement the program, but we will generate the funding for the program itself.

“Our airport“
From Ed Russell
Cave Junction

One gets to “Our Airport“ by taking Redwood Hwy. (state Hwy. 199), from Grants Pass and I-5 in S.W. Oregon, out of the mountains and southwest toward the Pacific Coast at Crescent City or Brookings.

Look to the right just after Rough & Ready Lumber Co., a few miles past Cave Junction, where the highway widens, and, at the large and beautiful, hand-carved wooden sign, at the painting of the sleek red-and-white, twin-engine airplane, that“s where you“ll find the airport.

A rustic curving entry drive that bends back around itself, among the pines and firs, will take you there.

You“ll go past two hangars, over a little creek and past the green-lawned picnic and camping grounds, the horseshoes and volleyball areas to the cozy “airport caf�.“ It“s on the right, nestled in the trees, with its large picture window facing you and looking west, over the tremendous panorama encompassing the air strip and mountains, and farther, into the spectacular coastal skyscapes and sunsets, just a few miles away.

Stretch your legs; look at the kiosk; get your bearings.

The Sky. The “Why“ of “Why we“re here“: To fly and eat, and relax, and enjoy life at “Our Airport.“

We“re asking people to come Monday, Feb. 22 at 5:30 p.m. to the airport caf�, and the Advisory Board“s public meeting to share and create a vision for our airport.