Sequim Gazette Editorial and Letters to the Editor

Re: 'Aginners'



I was at the meeting Jim Casey (Gazette editor) wrote about. His analysis of those who spoke against DOE's (Washington State Department of Ecology) water plan implies we don't know and don't read anything before we come to these meetings. We just show up and are against everything.

If he had any idea as to how very long this attempt to regulate people by using water - if he had been here as long as we "aginners" have been - then perhaps he might have a clearer notion of what is really going on here.

For him to simply and smugly say that the "aginners" are ignorant and only show up at the last minute to protest this "needed regulation" is not only tortured reasoning but a total misunderstanding of what's really going on.

It is not my place here to attempt to enlighten him. It's too late for that. However, as an editor of a newspaper, he does a disservice to the reader to characterize those of us who oppose this intrusion into our lives as against this.

But he is right in one regard. We are against this water policy because we are for freedom. Government has one main duty according to Article 1 Section 1 of the Washington state Constitution and that is to "Protect and maintain individual rights." Government gets its power from "the consent of the governed."

We "aginners" will be at the next meeting and the next and the next. Long after he is gone on to some other paper, we will still be here, hoping to keep government "of the people" alive.

Bob Forde

Sequim



Re: 'Irrigation Festival 2009

Honorary Pioneer died Feb. 17'

I read the above-titled article headline online today, which drew tears, as it has only been two weeks since Mary Schott passed away. I was expecting to draw comfort by reading more about how she was excited by being named as an honorary pioneer or how she was already prepared for all of the pending social events or something uplifting your paper may have learned from her family subsequent to her death.

Instead, my tears were replaced by repulsion as I read the first sentence including her in some superstition of a so called "curse" associated with being affiliated with this honor.

What poor taste to perpetuate what "some people are calling it" instead of simply reporting one of the Sequim Pioneer Association Pioneers regretfully passed away prior to being able to fully enjoy all of the festivities leading to and culminating in the parade, an event she was so looking forward to participating in for the first time after more than 80 years of residency in Sequim.

My grandfather Lloyd Stipe was named in 1999 as a Pioneer and died approximately one month after the Irrigation Festival Parade. He was not treated with such disrespect by your paper and would have been appalled by the flavor of this article.

What a sheer lack of grace on your part.

In the letter she mailed me in November, she included an article that was published, not by your paper, about her years of work; she was so honored and so proud of her "legacy."

Thankfully, I saved all of my Gramma's letters over the years, and it will be those that I reflect on with pride and comfort and not this article you published.

Anastasia L. Stipe



Bee nice

The comments regarding our local agriculture, local economy and local sustainability are so wise and important. Thanks, Patty McManus, and Friends of the Fields. One thing that every person can do to assist with our local agricultural economy is to protect our local pollinators.

When it comes to yard maintenance and weed control, we can bee nice.

Consider stopping the use of chemical sprays in your yard. Learn about natural means of weed control and soil maintenance. If you must spray, save it for cool, cloudy days and late evening.

There are plenty of articles available about the theories regarding threats to honey bee populations. From the environmental impact of electromagnetic field radiation from wireless technology, genetically modified crops, to diseases and parasites, it is true that there are many unanswered questions and mysteries to solve. In the meantime, perhaps we can each consider our individual impact on bees, learn to see the beauty in the dandelions and bee nice.

Laura MacMurchie

Sequim



Wolves in the Olympics?

I agree with Mr. Beschta's (OSU) research of Olympic National Park degradation and the important role of wolves/predators. Aside from clear cutting, we need to recognize this degradation is due to predator/prey imbalances - too many grazers.

Yellowstone studies have proven this ("Decade of the Wolf," Smith). Over the years, deforestation in Scotland resulted from deep proliferation after wolf extermination ("The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion & Daring," Preston). Something needs to be done to help the Olympic forests regenerate, whether or not it's wolf reintroduction.

As a Pacific Northwest lover and taxpayer, I do support wolf reintroduction only if we make a commitment to its long-term success. The plan could include preventing conflicts when wolves travel outside park borders. Like humans, they travel for various reasons. This means using predator deterrents already in use in other state/countries (see below), livestock husbandry adjustment and heightened vigilance. Wolves are federally and state protected at present.

Regarding our superstitious fear of wolves: The only healthy wolf fatal attack of a human was in Canada a few years ago. The victim was known to have been interacting with the wolves earlier, possibly feeding them. Humans have more to fear from chained or tethered dogs. Between 2003-2008, approximately 245-250 children have been killed by chained dogs in the U.S. alone.

Keystone Conservation (www.keystoneconservation.org) and Living With Wildlife Foundation (www.lwwf.org) offer many resources, incentives, speakers and funding related to living near nonhuman predators. I'm sure there are others.

Some strategies for living near predators used presently and in the past:

• Guardian animals - used for centuries in Europe/Asia

• Livestock husbandry - timing and secure location for calving, for example

• Range riders - livestock "babysitting" by horseback (no livestock deaths in Madison Valley near Yellowstone)

• Electric fencing

• Fladry - line of flags. Canadian studies proved wolves are afraid to cross for about 60 days.

• Carcass removal

• Wolf scenting at the property periphery - used in Germany for decades.

Let's do something to return the beautiful Olympics to wholeness, whether it's wolf reintroduction or not.

Gillian Brightwater

Redmond



Trail volunteers lauded

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the Olympic Discovery Trail volunteers who spent considerable time and effort in 2008 to maintain 30 miles of the Olympic Discovery Trail. In addition, volunteers continued trail construction on the Adventure Route portion of the ODT west of Port Angeles. The hard work and dedication of these community members are truly priceless. As another hard-working and dedicated volunteer once said, "Never underestimate the value of the volunteer."

My appreciation goes out to the Thursday Trail Crew, all of the adopt-a-trail volunteers, the Peninsula Trails Coalition leadership and membership, Sequim Sunrise Rotary, Eagle Scout John Latson, Landmark Volunteers, Pacific Northwest Trail Associate SKY leadership and crew, and other volunteers who have occasionally dropped in to lend a hand. Approximately 150 volunteers contributed 8,400 hours in 2008. Thank you all so much for helping maintain our great community asset.

Lorrie Campbell

Volunteer Coordinator

Olympic Discovery Trail



Thumbs up for OMC,

Border Patrol

Hurrah! I see by the morning (March 5) news that Olympic Medical Center has voted down participating in I-1000, the "assisted suicide" act.

What concerns me is that a lot of the media, the Gazette included, prefer to dumb this down as "death with dignity." It heartened me to hear KING 5 TV use assisted suicide in their reporting, a much better description of it.

While I have pen in hand, let me comment on the misguided people who think it is their duty to gather by the roadside with signs degrading the acts of the Border Patrol, who are only doing their duty to protect us from terrorists and illegal aliens (immigrants). Count me as one supporting their continued activities.

Harvey Martin

Sequim





In-stream policies aren't proven

This is a condensed version of a letter submitted to the Department of Ecology regarding the proposed in-stream flow rules. I have read quite a bit regarding the watershed, in particular a presentation by Dave Nazy, hydrogeologist with DOE.

DOE assumes "perfect hydraulic continuity," meaning water drawn from any of the three aquifers immediately draws down the water table and influences the in-stream flow.

This assumption is contradicted by a slide showing the three aquifers, with contours showing times of Days, Years, Centuries and Millennia, with only the shallowest aquifer and close to the river having a time scale of days.

Another reference states, "The time lag (in months) for impact of withdrawals in terms of hydraulic conductivity is needed." Perfect hydraulic continuity simply has no scientific basis.

Irrigation is by far the largest water user but has been decreasing from 120 cubic feet per second (cfs) in 1979 down to about 55 cfs in 2000, due to piping of irrigation ditches, changes in crops to ones less dependent on irrigation and decrease of farmland.

Decreased aquifer recharge from irrigation is most likely responsible for observed decreases in the water table, but these observations, from wells all within the upper aquifer, cannot be used to claim that there is short-term hydraulic connection between the aquifers, which are separated by 100 to 200 feet.

There are approximately 2,500 wells in the area. The average residential water usage is 104 gallons per day averaged over the year (from DOE). With 2,500 wells, that translates to 260,000 gal/day, or 3.0 gal/sec for all 2,500 wells combined, or 0.40 cfs.

Compare this to the above irrigation numbers, which although they have dropped, are still over 100 times larger than the total well usage. For another numerical comparison, the 2,500 wells are spread out over an area of approximately 100 square miles or 64,000 acres, receiving approximately 17 inches of precipitation a year. Using only 12 inches of that, just to be conservative, the rainfall in the valley is 64,000 acre-feet. The 0.40 cfs for all 2,500 wells translates into 291 acre-feet of water per year. This is less than 0.5 percent of the precipitation.

It is premature to institute draconian policies, at considerable expense to those impacted, when it is not demonstrated that these policies will have any impact whatsoever on the in-stream flows during the critical period.

Philip Martin

Sequim



Many thanks,

but it's not over

Thank you all for your generous donations to help the dogs seized from the puppy mills in Skagit County. You were generous beyond belief. We collected over 800 pounds of food as well as beds, crates, x-pens, cleaning supplies and all kinds of other dog goodies.

We also collected over $300 in monetary donations. Your donations were delivered to the Humane Society of Skagit Valley, Northwest Organization for Animal Help (N.O.A.H.), Saving Pets One at a Time (S.P.O.T.), Old Dog Haven and the Everett Animal Shelter. It took two days to deliver everything.

Special thanks go to Country Care Vet for allowing the collection at their facility. The wonderful staff helped answer questions and collected donated items. Best Friend Nutrition donated more dog food than I thought I could get in my van. Petco generously set up a collection site and customers filled up two carts. LoBo Designs made wonderful signs. Thank you also to the Sequim businesses who allowed me to post flyers.

The need is ongoing and further donations can be made at each organization's Web site. Information about puppy mills is available through the Humane Society of the United States. Their Web site will tell you how you can help put puppy mill owners out of business.

It is good time to remember that the need is also ongoing at local shelters and rescue groups. They will welcome your donations. You can help pet owners in need by donating dog and cat food at your local food bank. While the circumstances aren't as dramatic those of the puppy mill dogs, volunteers wrestle every day with the necessities of caring for animals who have yet to find loving forever homes.

Thank you again for all your generosity.

Linda Stumbaugh

Carlsborg



Why one-sided coverage?



Saturday was a big day in Sequim for anyone who has been interested in local Border Patrol operations. A Seattle paper and at least one paper here on the Olympic Peninsula had reported that members of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and the group Stop the Checkpoints would hold separate rallies Saturday afternoon.

Internal, suspicionless Border Patrol checkpoints and roadblocks - as much as 100 miles from the border - are new here. Local Border Patrol operations bring questions on immigration, the war on drugs, homeland security, the war on terror and civil liberties - they also bring part of what is best in America - people who gather to speak out on issues they believe in.

I went straight to the the Sequim Gazette Web site on Sunday morning to get a report on the Border Patrol rallies. I saw a video and slide-show coverage featuring those who gathered in support of the U.S. Border Patrol. I saw no coverage whatsoever on Stop the Checkpoints - the group that was there to question and challenge Border Patrol checkpoints on the Olympic Peninsula.

What happened? Why was coverage on this event one-sided?

Alex Hepler

Port Hadlock



Happy Valley howls

While we have been up ladders pruning apple trees between

3-5 p.m. for two days now, Bigfoot has been singing from a nearby mountaintop south of us.

Actually it is a two-tone howl, but not like a dog, different. The local dogs bark back until tired of it all.

Nowadays, with double pane windows, people don't hear what all is going on outside.

This time of year, grass mowers are quiet and chain saws have been put away. It is quiet and peaceful in the valley.

Bigfoot has lots of mountainside wilderness to stomp through yet, though there are new structures being built up there every year.

As we just had a full moon and lots of quake activity on this ring of fire and now also extreme tides, high and lows.

Is all this howling warning us of problems to come? I'm

wondering. Watch your animals and pets. They know.

Richard Dobbs

Sequim