Letters and Comments for May 2, 2009

Wolves won’t stop killing

To the Editor:

The wolves in Keating Valley have come down out of the wild or were planted and started killing livestock. They will not stop now that they know how easy this new prey is.

They killed 29 lambs, one calf and injured several ewes because of their love of killing — period ... excuse me, they ate one lamb and part of one other.

Wolves kill by hamstringing the animal and start eating the rear quarters while the animal is still alive, sometimes never killing the animal, leaving it there to gasp out its life after eating their fill. I assure you, it is not a pretty sight.

We have thousands of wolves in the U.S.; the species is not endangered.

With the tough economy that we are all facing, ranchers need every lamb and calf that they raise to just make it to the next year.

Use some common sense and take care of this problem before you spend hundreds of thousands, or more likely, millions of dollars and come to the same conclusion. Just ask our neighbors in Idaho.

Please do not reinvent the wheel here in Oregon. Sooner or later this will affect the taxpayers and consumers through higher prices on many products. Wolves that kill livestock will not stop. They just expand their range looking for more of this easy prey, maybe a pet horse or dog.

I implore you to stand up on your hind legs and do the right thing.

Greg Fischer

Elgin

Cares about all students

To the Editor:

While I attended La Grande High School, I had numerous teachers who made a lasting effect on my life. One such person was John Sprenger, and I am honored to endorse him for the La Grande School Board position.

We all know that in a given class at the high school level, there are people from nearly all “cliques” that exist at a high school. John made a point, which seemed to be his mission, to get to know each and every student who came to his class. It did not make any difference which people they hung out with in school. In John’s class, we were all equals: students. He cared about each of us.

John always had an open invitation for any of us to call or talk with him if we ever had any problems or concerns. This meant both school and life, and I for one took him up on his invitation on numerous occasions.

I am sure that the same level of caring about students still exists, or John would not be running for the school board. Please join me in voting for John Sprenger for La Grande School Board Position 4, Zone 3.

Dave Comfort

La Grande