Letters to the Editor 7/17/2024

Forest Service Shuttle Proposal

To the Editor:

Our Deschutes National Forest does some very good things, such as prescribed burning to clear out historically dangerous fuel loads, and the wrongly maligned Green Ridge forest management project, designed to preserve — not harm —the older growth forests. But two recent USFS proposals are a direct threat to those who enjoy hiking, horseback riding, and traditional natural activities in our taxpayer-funded forest.

The Forest Service proposes to introduce to numerous trails in the Sisters area two commercial shuttle services that want to make a profit shuttling large groups of mountain bikers to our forest trails. The shuttle proposal would permit commercial, for-profit businesses to inject large groups of mountain bikers into some of the most popular and already over-crowded trails in the Deschutes Forest.

The Forest Service has failed to provide the public with even the most basic information necessary to evaluate this proposal. (The USFS in another highly contentious proposal seeks to greenlight e-bike use on our forest trails).

The shuttle proposal contemplates sudden increases in bike traffic on 15 or more trails in the Deschutes National Forest. For example, under the shuttle proposal, even just one of the two companies could deliver 15 mountain bikers to the Three Creek Meadow Trailhead, in groups of 15, four times per day, each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, thereby injecting up to 180 mountain bikers per weekend at that trailhead alone.

A family planning to spend a quiet weekend camping and hiking at Three Creek Meadow or Suttle Lake would not expect — and should not expect — to have a commercial business suddenly deposit 60 mountain bikers each day during Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, in high density groups.

Moreover, Stagecoach Adventures, one of the two companies the USFS proposes to approve, does not appear to have a website, and is not a business licensed or registered to do business in Oregon, according to the Oregon Secretary of State's office. The Forest Service has refused to provide information about Stagecoach Adventures, and its owners and has refused to provide concrete information as to the money it plans to take in from the two companies vying for commercial access to our trailheads.

Moreover, the USFS does not plan to conduct any analysis concerning the shuttle proposal's potential or actual environmental impacts resulting from the repeated delivery of such large groups of mountain bikers on these trails including, among other things, impact on wildlife.

The stated deadline for public comments on the shuttle proposal was July 19. Comments may be submitted by email to comments-pacificnorthwest-deschutes-sisters@usda.gov. Put "Recreation Shuttle and Outfitter/Guide Services" in the subject line of your email.

Stephen Poss

Community Garden

To the Editor:

In response to Mary Edson’s objection of Cliff Clemens Park as the new site of the community garden:

Lawns are water hogs. Using the conservative recommendation of one inch of water per week, it would then take 217,000 gallons of water to irrigate the Cliff Clemens lawn May–September...

What does that water get us? Well, it gets us essentially nothing beyond the largely unnecessary recreational benefit of a small number of people. Lawns are symbols of a stale, bourgeois life. When I look at a lawn I want to die alone in a deep hole.

You may be saying, “but doesn’t food require irrigation too?” For the most part, yes. Especially annual vegetables. Yes they do. But, unlike a lawn, in exchange for that water you are receiving food, sustenance, nourishment. Can you eat lawn?

Soil is the basis of community. The world needs more fertile soil, more clean food, more people working beside their neighbors. Everyone in Sisters should have an opportunity to grow food. We deserve public opportunities for food sovereignty.

There are dozens of other places in town to walk your dog, to let your children play.

Mary’s claim that Cliff Clemens Park is “used by many of us on a regular basis” is complete donkey mud. No one uses that lawn. No one.

And for her to say that the previous SCG was “unkempt and unattractive,” and to call the garden a “dirt patch” is a whole other hunk of doo doo.

We should not live amongst lawns. We should live amongst gardens. They are full of life, of tiny habitats, and specks of wonder.

Please. Rip up that water-sucking lawn and let the people grow food in Cliff Clemens Park.

Bailey Diemer

To the Editor:

Apparently Mary Edson has not visited the Sisters Community Garden recently. She cites that the garden is unkempt and surrounded by a chain link fence; neither of which is true. Photos of the garden taken the day Ms. Edson’s letter was published in The Nugget can be seen on the garden’s website at SistersCommunityGarden.org. Viewers will note clean pathways, well-tended garden beds and nothing close to a chain link fence.

Ms. Edson, who apparently lives close to Cliff Clemens Park, feels it should be used for “our” children to play and to walk “our” dogs. But neighbors should note that all residents of the city of Sisters own and can use the park for a variety of appropriate purposes; no city park is reserved exclusively for neighbors.

Cliff Clemens Park is considered an under-used park by city leaders. A community garden would use a small portion (0.4) of the acreage on the park — certainly not a “large portion” of the treeless, parched lawn and not enough land to prevent “occasional events” from taking place. Additionally, once the Sisters Park and Recreation District redesigns the land at the former elementary school, another field for children and dogs and all residents of the city will be available, and close to Cliff Clemens Park at that.

The parking problem Ms. Edson notes seems to mainly be caused by neighbors parking and storing vehicles in the west and south lots. Several vehicles can be seen parked there every day. At the same time, the east lot is rarely used. A quick visual survey of the east lot at various times of day in the first weeks of July show it not being used at all in 10 out of 14 days. The community garden rarely has more than five vehicles in its present lot on a daily basis, and gardeners’ visits are brief, usually less than an hour.

A community garden is included in the 2023 Sisters Parks Master Plan. This type of garden offers space to people who don’t have enough room or a sunny place to garden on their own property. Community gardens offer all residents a plethora of benefits, including social interactions, improved food choices, an increase in use by pollinators, physical activity, and health benefits, among many others.

Adding a community garden to Cliff Clemens Park will help beautify the area and give neighbors another chance to interact. Yes, it will reduce, but not take away, open space for dog walking, children playing, football games, picnics, or birthday parties. It will not create an eyesore. Rather its vegetable plots, flowers, fruit trees, and berry patches could bring joy to many.

Karen Kane

Outdoor air conditioning

To the Editor:

Just a quick observation of our local retail and business community downtown: First, downtown Sisters is a wonderful place to stroll, shop, have a bite to eat, or hear some local music, and everyone should try and buy local whenever possible. Our business community has done a fantastic job creating a wonderful, inviting atmosphere downtown.

My one observation where we could do better is not pouring so much air conditioning onto the street. I find it unsettling that as the climate gets hotter, and we need to keep ourselves cooler, we are wasting energy just pouring cool air onto the sidewalks. I assume the retailers are trying to be inviting to those outside, but it seems a small price to pay just to shut the door and help the strain on the grid a bit.

I would love to see Sisters’ retailers leading the charge in changing this habit. We see it with retailers everywhere, but Sisters can do better!

Walter Major III

Response to “Misinformation”

To the Editor:

I felt I had to respond to the letter entitled “Misinformation” by George Paschalson (GP) because parts are so astoundingly inaccurate.

To begin with Paragraph 1, his statement, “President Trump does not lie” has been thoroughly disputed by multiple reputable sources. I would point out that he should be referred to as Former President Trump (FPT). From The Independent, a British Publication, FPT made more than 30,000 false or misleading statements during his four years as POTUS, which equates to roughly 21 false statements per day! He does not lie? Laughable!

Second, GP made the statement that “FPT kept us out of wars.” President Biden has not gotten us into any wars during his term. He did not get us into the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. We are not at war in either location. We are supplying arms and have no soldiers in either location. Were there 13 soldiers killed in a terror attack during the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan? Sadly, yes. Were there soldiers killed during FPT’s four years? He has claimed no. However, records show that at least 65 active duty troops died in hostile action during FPT’s presidency with his directives in Afghanistan and Iraq, and in Syria to fight ISIS.

Moving on to paragraph 2, the Biden record citations in which there are so many glaring inaccuracies. GP claims: “Inflation up 19.3 percent.” Wrong. In January 2021 inflation was 1.4 percent. It did rise and peaked in July 2022 at 9.1 percent and as of today it is 3.0 percent. Never up 19.3 percent.

“Green Energy – all energy up 35.6 percent.” Wrong. Here I assume the author is not talking about green energy but referring to the effect of green energy on conventional energy costs which are historically considered to be electricity, heating gas, and gasoline. From January 2021 to the present, electricity is up 28 percent, heating gas is up 22 percent, and gasoline is up 38.5 percent. I cannot find anywhere a general energy figure of 35.6 percent. Even if you averaged the three numbers I gave it is only a 29 percent increase.

“New Spending $7 trillion.” Wrong. I am not sure what “new spending” means but I think this must mean adding to the national debt. Under the Biden administration the national debt has increased by $6.17 trillion, NOT $7.0 trillion. As a comparison, under FPT’s four years the national debt increased by $8.18 trillion (a 40.43 percent increase).

“Federal Reserve Interest Rate 5.25 – 5.5 percent.” Agreed.

“Illegal Border Crossings 10 million-plus.” Agreed.

“China Surge in Espionage Activities.” Wrong. So far under the Biden watch, cases of Chinese espionage activities have decreased 38.5 percent. From 2017 – 2020 under FPT’s watch, cases of Chinese espionage activities increased 550 percent. Hardly a surge under President Biden.

Lastly, let’s talk about paragraph 3. Is the stock market “blooming” or booming? The author says “I don’t think so.” Are facts just irrelevant? In January 2021 the Dow was 30,996 and today it is 39,754, which is an increase of 28.26 percent. That may not be blooming but to me it is booming. I do think so! And how about that military? GP says it is “very weak right now” and that under FPT it was “strong.” I reviewed two recent 2024 studies revealing military strength rankings. In the first, that ranked the 24 most powerful militaries in the world, the United States was number 1, Russia was number 2, and China was number 3. In the second, that ranked the 30 most powerful militaries in the world, the United States was number 1 (again), but China was number 2 and Russia was number 3. It seems that when you consider relevant factors, the United States military in 2024 is considered the most powerful in the world and clearly nowhere near “weak.”

It is so frustrating to me to have people write pieces based mostly on opinion and not facts. It only serves to stir up negative emotions based unfortunately on unsubstantiated information. I spent 3 hours researching the above information and easily found factual, unbiased information. Anyone can do that instead of just writing basically an opinion piece.

And if anyone thinks I just made up the information above, references available upon request!!

Mark B. Parchman

Chaos

To The Editor:

As a Christian, I fully understand and believe that God can and will use either Biden or Trump, or whomever else is elected as President of the USA, to advance His kingdom’s purposes. As a conservative, both fiscally and socially, I am not going to sit out this current election simply because there are two less than perfect candidates, which was the purpose for my June 26 letter to the editor response of the Erik Dolson commentary. My vote will go to the candidate who best represents what I want from my government, regardless of their colorful personality. I also believe that we have a judicial and legislative branch of government, as well as the media, to ensure a proper checks and balances. Everything I wrote after that is factually true, despite Terry Weygandt’s (July 3rd) and now Brad Earl’s (July 10th) accusations, and one can simply hop on the internet to validate these points.

The beauty of being a conservative is that one must not look too hard to find a progressive take from the media, but if you are a progressive, you must do the work to validate claims so that you do not fall for false videos or statements that eventually turn out to not only be false but pure propaganda advanced by the media in the favor of one political party. E.g., “the fine people hoax.”

Case in point, Terry Weygandt claimed I wrote “Democrats and Progressives…are actively trying to destroy our country…” when what I stated was “the Democrat party and its large donors are paying for these protesters.” This is demonstrably true and I question whether Terry Weygandt even bothered to search the internet to ask the question how thousands of tents suddenly showed up on campuses across America, or how money keeps getting raised to bail out these violent protesters? Politico, hardly a conservative media source, on May 5, finally asked the question about this funding and found, “the donors include some of the biggest names in Democratic circles: Soros, Rockefeller and Pritzker, according to a Politico analysis.”

Regarding Miss Thunberg, again Terry Weygand tries to put words in my letter that I did not write. No one is criticizing Greta Thunberg because she falls somewhere on a spectrum, rather her supporters claim that anyone who criticizes her lack of expertise in the subject of climate change, or Gaza for that matter, is doing so because of her being on the spectrum. Does it not make people wonder why so many radical organizations like to place children in front of their platform so that they can later call you a “jerk” because you disagree with what they are advocating for?

Mr. Earl then wrote with quotation marks, attributing a direct quote to my first letter, “paying protestors and being responsible for all the ills of our country and the world.” But I did not write those words, so one cannot put quotation marks around something where it was not written previously. I did not throw any group or person under any bus, but merely wrote what I have already confirmed to be as fact. Just this week, in addition to the previously mentioned Politico reporting, the White House confirmed that the country of Iran is also funding the student protests. Such strange bedfellows. It is almost as if these entities want to see the United States destroyed.

Finally, I have seen many progressive writers claim that a vote for Trump “will be voting for chaos and violence and the end of democracy.” The chaos and violence are not coming from the Republican party or its policies, but from the non-stop protesters that have been funded from the groups previously mentioned. It is like someone stating, “don’t vote for the Republicans because there is going to be chaos and violence,” and then when asked where this violence will come from, they respond, “from us.”

Steve Woodside

Yes to pedal-assist

To the Editor:

I love to ride my bike; my non-throttled, pedal-assisted e-bike, that is. My old bike became too worrisome for me to ride after I had my second hip surgery. Riding up any hill, in particular, was difficult. Mostly, it just wasn’t fun anymore. But when my wife and son bought me an e-bike, it put the fun back into riding again. It reminded me of my childhood days when I spent as much time as possible riding my bike. I never did this because I thought I needed the exercise. It was just plain fun.

My brother-in-law loved to ride his bike as well. Cancer treatments weakened him so much, however, that making his usual bike rides became impossible until he got an e-bike. Other friends I know have purchased e-bikes because of heart and age-related issues. They just want to keep active, enjoying the great outdoors as long as they are able.

In a recent article in The Nugget Newspaper, the Forest Service is in the process of re-examining their policies in regards to allowing pedal-assisted e-bikes on certain trails. I’m all in favor of allowing for such e-bikes for several reasons. For one, they work much like a regular bike; you pedal to start, you stop pedaling, they slow down and stop. Unlike a motorcycle, they make no noise. Their tires come in a variety of sizes much like regular bikes. They can go fast, like a regular bike, but if you have any health concerns you don’t want to risk a fall so riding slower is the better option.

Mainly, it opens the accessibility to trails and the great outdoors to more people, especially older people with health concerns. It’s all about staying healthy and active for as long as you can…and having fun doing it!

Paul Bennett

Facts and lies

To the Editor:

Reference letter by George J. Paschalson where he said “everything Trump said in the debate with Biden was the truth.”

Check with Google and there are 12 different recognized news companies which show 30 lies told by Trump and why they are lies.

Next you state “Trump does not lie.” Check for lies told by Trump during his administration on Google. One will find 10 news publications who have checked Trump telling over 30,000 lies during his administration.

Last, the statement that you cite that the stock market is booming “I don’t think so” is another opinion which can be checked many places including Fox Business. Too many people will believe inaccurate sources when facts can be checked.

Bruce Graham