Illinois Valley News

Illinois Valley News welcomes Letters to the Editor. Please e-mail them to dan@illinois-valley-news.com.

POLICY ON LETTERS: ‘Illinois Valley News’ encourages letters to the editor provided they are legible and not libelous or scurrilous. All letters must be signed, including name, address and telephone number. The latter need not be published, but will be used to verify authenticity. The “News’ reserves the right to edit letters. Letters are used at the discretion of the publisher.

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

Be the solution
Terri Hill
Cave Juction, OR

In response to the editorial printed Friday, Oct. 22, 2010. I find it concerning that the KS Wild Org. is so quick to share all their cliché terms, (refer to the article in the Daily Courier Friday, Oct. 22) meaningful protections, Biological diversity, Ecohealth, private inholdings, are just a few.

We, in Southern Oregon can go to their website and see for ourselves, the lock down of our public and private land is at risk. There are a few points that we should be aware of.

A. If this monument designation is signed into effect, the heads of our government and those they see fit, will decide what is best for us here on the home front. It isn“t always done the way the organizations perceive it to be. Check around our country, Montana, California, the Appalachians, places where the monument status or preserves are. See for yourself what the people that live in the areas are giving up and the regulations that they are under.

B. If you go to the website you will find maps that describe and detail things like decommissioning roads in our now public lands. These roads go to people“s homes, are forest service roads, back ways out of our valleys, and escape routes for safe ways out of our valley.

C. Removing small diameter trees; when you continue to remove the smaller trees and leave the huge older trees, you“re eventually will have no more good trees for harvesting correctly, (they have to get bigger to be profitable lumber). As we all know there are many older trees that are diseased and bug infested because of the new way of protecting the forest.

D. If this monument designation is installed there is to be a hiking trail created. But some of the things that are left out are; you will be walking in quite a ways before the trails begin.

The groups are touting the return of Grizzly bears, Grey wolves, and what else, which means when the cute little ecotourist is walking in the middle of nowhere they may suddenly have an encounter with the bigger predators. Soon to be someone“s lunch. Remember that the places our proposal is being advertised are in the urban areas, like San Francisco, San Diego, the East Coast, places that can only dream of experiencing the beautiful area. But the same group should also remember, that the ecotourist type do not help the destination area in economical ways. Or at least very little.

E. We need to use our brains and realize that it is time to stand up and ask why. Why“ What aren“t we being told“ What gives these organizations the right to choose for us the future of this area“ Start asking questions. Do some research. The monies that are given in the grants to finance these efforts are coming from somewhere; be it the government, the big powerful companies with tax-exempt status, somewhere. But we are the ones that are ultimately paying the price to have the lockups occur.

F. The Illinois Valley has the wilderness of the Kalmiopsis. The amount of preparation that goes into taking a hike, riding your horses, exploring, etc. is crazy. You have to prepare your animals weeks before to keep the nonnative things about, you need to be prepared to remove your own bodily waste. And much more. If you were to get lost or hurt, there are no roads to help with the rescue. You will be packed out. Fun huh. Let“s remember who we are and be proud to be part of the solution, not the problem.

Pet a cougar“
Ken LeGaux
Selma, OR

Well today I“m very, very happy because the mountain lion is dead and my young 13- year-old deer hunter is alive. Because his father taught him some really great hunting skills like tracking deer and to watch out for things like bear and mountain lions that are also looking for food to eat. One day while hunting for deer, not lions, he noticed this lion crouched down looking at him and with obvious intentions, took the shot.

Three shots by the way is what it took to stop the lion. Thanks to good training from his father, the kid is alive, not the other way around. The lion has been seen around the houses in the neighborhood regularly and has killed two sheep. Those two sheep, by the way, were close to the house of the boy“s parents. Now as you should imagine, sheep can run a lot faster than the kid, and if that kid didn“t protect himself “about 30+ feet away“ he would be like those sheep.

Now then, I“m not against the lion but we live here too. And we reserve the right to be protected too. I have a large piece of property in Selma too, and I“ve seen lions here over the years and they“re not that close to the house. But if they get too close I“ll take necessary measures too. I have a large family, especially grandchildren, and I“d dump the lion first before he takes my grandkids like he did the sheep.

Well, I“ve already heard the words “poor lion“, but I“m really glad I didn“t hear “poor kid“! If I would have heard “poor kid“ I wouldn“t wait one minute before tracking the lion, and I would kill it! Because we can“t hunt with dogs anymore though, other animals that are a danger have become over-populated and need to be dealt with before something goes bad. It“s dumb to wait until it“s too late and someone gets killed. If you“re ever faced bear or lion in the bush, you know what I mean.

I“m not saying I don“t eat chicken, duck, turkey, beef, etc., but I like venison. Besides, it“s a lot cleaner meat without the chemicals. I“ve heard the stories about hunters chasing “Bambi,“ which is a Disney character, out into the roads, just to be hit by a car/truck. But the biggest majority of road kills happen before and after hunting season. And they are running from predators, like lions, coyotes, etc., not hunters.

So if you“re against defending yourself, go out and find a bear, lion, fox, etc. and pet one. Especially if it may be near your house after your livestock or your kid. Good luck with that. Good shot li“l Eric Miller, Uncle Ken“s with you all the way.

P.S. Nice photo, I.V. News, you“re a credit to Valley. Welcome home.

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