Letters, letters, letters

The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer's name, address and phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday.

To the Editor:

An open letter to Oregonians...

Does your property butt up against public land? Do you and your neighbors access this land for recreation? Do you assume that this public land will always be there for you to enjoy? Boy, do you have another think coming!

Through a little known process your public land can be given away, traded, swapped or just plain taken without there ever being a public notice. Your elected officials, in the current case, Senator Ron Wyden, Representative Greg Walden and Senator Gordon Smith have only to agree that the land would be better off in someone else's hands... and the land will go private.

No public comment period, no signs on the property notifying you of a "land use change," just backroom political maneuvering in Washington, D.C.

South of the city of Sisters is a 690-acre parcel of US Forest Service lands that one man seeks to have as his own. By buying up some land near the Steens Wilderness area that some people would like to see added to the wilderness, he has put the government over a barrel to swap this land for the Forest Service land in question.

The Forest Service does not want to trade the land that they have been caring for since the Peterson Burn. Losing this piece of the forest will fragment the remaining forest, close the area to all recreation and make future fire safety and forest management very difficult.

The Forest Service's opinion doesn't count!

So, how do you stop or prevent this kind of sneaky land grab? You call, write, e-mail or personally visit your favorite elected official and tell them the Steens/Stroemple (Squaw Creek) land swap deal shouldn't be allowed to happen. At least one of these officials is up for re-election this year. This would be a good political debate point for anyone running for public office.

If you don't act on this now, your public recreational lands may be the next ones they squander.

Tom Boring

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To the Editor:

Thanks to Mayor Steve Wilson and members of the Sisters City Council for taking time away from their businesses and personal time to make the workshop tour of the proposed Squaw Creek land exchange south of Sisters last week.

I hope this was an eye-opening experience for them, seeing that both the political process being followed in the exchange and the merits of the exchange itself are highly questionable.

Thanks also to Jeff Sims of the Forest Service for being with us and coming prepared with information on a normal land exchange process, the history of these national forest lands and a summary of land management activities completed and planned for this area.

Jim Fisher

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To the Editor:

Can there be any rational reason why a public hearing with a full exposition of all the facts, public land policy and independent appraisals of the proposed Squaw Creek land exchange is not in the best interest of all those involved?

While the apparent disparity in value (both economical and recreational) between the Squaw Creek land enjoyed by Sisters residents and visitors and remote acreage in the Steens mountains appears clear, it is equally certain that there are important facts and public policy considerations that should be dealt with in a comprehensive, open discussion.

Letters to the editor and home fax submissions are no substitute for a public forum where both proponents and opponents have an equal opportunity to present their case.

Granted, such a public hearing may not be legally required, but the emotional impact of the loss of the Squaw Creek setting to the Sisters community as well as the precedent that this exchange would set, make a public hearing imperative.

Public land exchanges affect a community for generations. If we truly believe that we are especially blessed to live here, we can teach our children to avoid political cynicism by demanding a public hearing where the merits of trading public land for private interests can be fully explored.

John Hornbeck

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To the Editor:

It has been only five days since the abatement team removed the asbestos siding from the Burn-to-Learn site at 461 South Elm Street (see "Asbestos found after fire training exercise," The Nugget, May 29, page 1). The owner had been unable to clear the lot prior to its removal.

Frank Messina of the Department of Environmental Quality arrived promptly upon being called a day or two after the burn of May 6.

When the presence of asbestos was confirmed, a tarp was put over the material with a warning tape affixed to it and the material was removed after about three days, on May 28.

However, the fact remains that a dangerous area of debris including broken glass and sharp rusty metal, both fallen and standing, continues to pose a potential threat to any child who might venture to explore it.

Assistant Fire Chief Ken Enoch told me, in a telephone conversation, that a couple of Burn-to-Learn (exercises) a year would be enough. We have had one a month since the beginning of the year, four in Sisters and one in Crossroads.

Among items sometimes burned besides a bed, couch and carpeting at the site mentioned above, are counter tops and drapes. Tar paper produces carbon monoxide and black smoke. Diesel fuel is used to ignite fires which are then suppressed and lit again several times.

Quoting from the BPSST Structural Live-Fire Training Guidelines, "Be sure to tell the owner of the donated property that it can be deducted as a charitable donation."

From the same document, "Buildings are often offered to fire departments for 'training purposes' merely to save the owner the costs of demolition or to eliminate it from the tax rolls."

According to Frank Messina of DEQ the city of Bend no longer permits Learn to Burn activities in town. As opportunities become available they are shared by several cooperating fire districts.

Perhaps the Sisters Fire Department has done enough Burn-to-Learns for the year. Perhaps we should consider banning the practice in town as Bend has done.

Sincerely yours,

Anita Kirkaldy

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To the Editor:

This year my property taxes increased $600 and will stay increased for the length of the bond issue that just passed.

Now (School Superintendent Steve) Swisher wants to take more of my money. (See "Sisters schools face more cuts," The Nugget, May 29, page 1).

He objects to my income tax rebate going to me. He wants the money that the State over collected to go to him instead.

He wants to further increase his burden on my house by an additional $50 per year to "basically give some local control back, outside the basic school funding." I don't really understand how an additional $50 the first year is going to give me any more control.

The neat thing about this arrangement is that Swisher will get an automatic minimum increase every year of 3 percent since that's the minimum our taxes increase every year.

And that's not all! Swisher wants a sales tax to run his bloated bureaucracy.

How about I just give the Sisters school district my house for (school board member and Realtor Bill) Reed to sell, and all my income and have them return what they don't spend. Maybe that would be enough to keep the fatted hog suckled. Is there any amount of money that will be enough?

At some point maybe the voters will get a clue to the burden they're passing on to their siblings. I sure hope so!

Sincerely,

Thomas A. Lippert

Editor's note:

Mr. Lippert has never attended a school board meeting, nor has he participated in the school budget process.

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To the Editor:

I was reading the May 8 article about the Canyon Creek reconstruction and glanced at the picture accompanying the article.

I couldn't believe my eyes....a man on muleback leading a horse with two young children astride. My word people, where is your common sense?

Every horseperson knows the first rule of horsemanship: the only safe horse is either a statue or deceased.

In my 40 years of owning and loving horses, I would never think to get on one without a safety helmet. Just ask any emergency room tech about head injuries and deaths from riding without head protection.

I realize this is the "wild west" and its highly un-macho to ride with a helmet, but if you don't value your own brain at least don't subject your kids to the same stupidity.

Kids have an entire lifetime ahead of them and don't deserve to have it ruined in an instant by a freak accident when a simple, inexpensive device for protection is available.

Suzi Sheward

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To the Editor:

The Sisters' VFW Post #8138 and Sisters American Legion Post #86, would like to take this opportunity to thank the community for supporting the 10th Annual Veterans' Memorial Day Ceremony at Camp Polk Cemetery.

We would like to thank all those who helped put on the ceremony.

I also want to thank Kiwanis members that helped bearing the flag and the many other duties they performed. Thanks to the veterans for their participation.

Putting this all together made a very memorable service.

George J. Winterfeld

Sisters Veterans Group