>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

Many people worked hard to save our home and surroundings during the fire that ignited in our area. Our neighbors who worked in extreme heat to keep the fire from spreading before the fire trucks arrived are truly our heroes.

Our home was saved due to all of their efforts, but unfortunately, our neighbor lost a new barn with all their valuables and nearly lost their home.

The Oregon Department of Forestry, the U.S. Forest Service, the La Grande Rural Fire Department, the Elgin, Cove, Imbler and Union fire departments and the Union County Sheriff's Department all played important roles.

Mark Delint's crew helped with the cleanup as well as the members of our family who were there for moral

support.

Cricket Flat is a wonderful place to live with all of its beauty, but the neighbors here make it the most special place in the world.

Miles and Marilyn Thompson

Elgin

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During the course of this summer, I've read countless articles in your paper about our brave soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. You also had several stories covering the events surrounding Memorial Day and Independence Day. I'm grateful for your coverage on these issues because I believe our soldiers and veterans are true heroes.

I would like to remind people of an even more difficult subject: The plight facing these men and women who are homeless veterans in this nation.

Currently, more than 200,000 veterans are homeless and the number is growing each month. Ninety-thousand of these veterans have a terminal illness. Our government has not established a national hospice network to comfort these heroes during their darkest hours.

If more Americans know how big of a disaster this situation is, we might finally address this problem.

So please, the next time one of you reporters sees a homeless veteran on the sidewalk, ask them a few questions. I'm sure he would have plenty to say.

Raymond L. McVey, a veteran

Elgin

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In the Aug. 16 article, "Vector program lists spray times," Mardi Ford quotes the naled label: "the environmental hazards of naled include toxicity to fish, aquatic invertebrates and wildlife." You'd hope that would inspire investigative reporting, but that's left to readers.

In 1997, the Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association cited a study done in New York that reported that after 11 years of spraying naled, there was a 15-fold increase in encephalitis-carrying mosquitoes. There are some interesting theories as to why.

Naled kills by weakening digestive systems. One theory is that the digestive systems of mammals and birds are also being compromised, weakening their immune systems and making them more susceptible to encephalitis. The increased number of infected hosts would increase the likelihood of mosquitoes becoming infected.

Also the compromised stomach lining of infected survivor-mosquitoes allows the virus to pass from their digestive system into their circulatory and salivary systems. This condition allows the virus to be passed on by infected mosquitoes when they bite.

Another theory is that non-lethal doses of naled affect survivor-mosquitoes' genetic structures. Damaged DNA may produce successive generations of mosquitoes with weakened leaky digestive systems.

Thus, every time a plane or truck sprays naled, it may be increasing the incidence of encephalitis, fanning hysteria and resulting in further spraying. Corporate profits soar. Research is stifled. Corporate donations slow regulation. The cigarette industry is the poster child.

Actions that impact ecosystems are dangerous. Simplistic immediate effects do not address impacts over time. Just because naled won't kill your kids or pets by morning does not make it safe in the long run.

My references come from www.chem-tox.com.

Mary McCracken

La Grande

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"AIR ASSAULT'' was an appropriate front-page headline Aug. 14. Unfortunately the topic was misconstrued as an attack on mosquitoes rather than an attack by Vector Control and the Union County Commissioners on the community and environment of La Grande and Union County in the form of the toxic pesticide Trumpet EC.

"Toxic to humans and pets if inhaled," according to the label.

"Toxic to wildlife, fish, aquatic insects, lethal to bees." Gee, does that mean beneficial insects, such as the bees that pollinate our crops and are already endangered and "mysteriously" disappearing, according to scientific studies revealed in Audubon Magazine.

I have an organic garden and buy organic produce at the farmers market that will be contaminated.

The lush life in my garden, the glorious bumblebees, the hummingbirds drinking from my flowers, the beautiful chartreuse and black finches eating sunflower seeds from the giant sunflowers, the robins pulling worms from the earth, my cat rolling in the grass, fish in our rivers and naughty deer eating my roses are all at risk.

I cried for an hour when I read that article and once again witnessed people whitewashing their actions with tricky rhetoric and only showing the side of things they want people to see.

It makes me sick that this hasty, uninformed, fear-based decision was made and then released to the public at the last moment so that no proactive action by the community could be made. People that I contacted hadn't heard about it or had read the paper late Tuesday and were scrambling to leave town before they dumped the poison Thursday night to avoid the initial onslaught to their lungs.

I wonder if Grande Ronde Hospital will be as silent about the side effect cases received as they are when the field burning begins. But of course it's headlines when one human case of WNV is discovered in Union County.

Kayla Komito

La Grande

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This letter is in reference to Mr. Bertrand's letter printed in the Aug. 15 Observer discussing the proposed police levy in Union and his mention of our EMS.

As a member of Union's volunteer EMS team, I feel Mr. Bertrand is over-stepping his bounds using our volunteer service as a "heavy" to pass the proposed police levy. We don't appreciate him speaking for us when he states the ambulance department supports the levy.

Mr. Bertrand gave a scenario of a grandpa suffering from a heart attack and being unable to open the door for the ambulance crew, and that because we have no law enforcement, we would not be able to enter the residence to treat Grandpa. This is false. After confirming with local law enforcement on this matter, EMS has the right to make a forcible entry into a residence if there are extenuating circumstances, such as a grandpa having a heart attack. The only time this ambulance crew would not enter a residence without law enforcement would be for an attempted suicide or a domestic violence call. This is a rule the department has set forth for the safety of our crew, not because the law says we cannot.

Union Emergency Services would like the citizens of Union to know that we are going to be there for them in the time of need, with or without the passing of a police levy. We as a department support having law enforcement in some form, but we do have questions about this levy that still have not been answered.

Mr. Bertrand, before making statements, you should check your facts first. Please don't use our department or vulnerable citizens in your politics and debates.

Keith Montgomery

Union Emergency Services

Union

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Several family vacations have confirmed the pervasiveness of motorized recreation in our culture. From dune-buggies to ORVs on beaches, roads and trails, from powerboats and jet skis on inland lakes, to jet boats plying the waters of the Main, Lower Salmon and Snake Rivers. Campgrounds are packed with motor homes with their roaring generators and the necessary over-powered vehicles to tow them. Even the Frank Church Wilderness hosts constant air traffic. Expectations of quiet and solitude in our public lands are Pollyannaish.

Meanwhile, reasonable people recognize the existence of global warming, with the burning of fossil fuels a major contributor.

It is a puzzlement.

In 1967, dam builders were king and the fight was over who would build the High Mountain Sheep dam to flood Hells Canyon and quiet the last free-flowing stretch of the Snake River. A Supreme Count decision put forth the idea that perhaps no one should build a dam in Hells Canyon, but rather other attributes of the canyon should be valued. We have the wisdom of William O. Douglas and that Supreme Court to thank for the wild rapids and resulting National Recreation Area in Hells Canyon.

We, like the 1967 Supreme Court, must look beyond our own self-serving immediate gratification to the long-term health of this planet. And, so, with that consideration in mind, I would suggest we look not at how much motorized traffic should be allowed on the trails of our National Forest, but whether there should be motorized access into the areas at all.

Janet Cremin

La Grande

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The Hughes family proposes closing USFS roads "on behalf of the land and its inhabitants that depend on us to protect its natural world." I strongly disagree with their solution.

On Aug. 15, Paul Harvey, during his noon broadcast, reported that wildfires had burnt 1,000 square miles this year in Idaho. In Oregon, wildfires have burnt hundreds of square miles on Ochoco, Malheur and BLM lands.

Each square mile is 640 acres. Each acre is home to many little critters, birds, plants and trees. If we let this "land and its inhabitants" burn, it is not protecting them. The Hughes family advocates closing roads that allow firefighters to extinguish small fires before they become raging infernos. For every mile the BLM or USFS built, private investors built 1,000 miles. For every mile the Forest Service clears in the spring, the private citizen clears 100 miles.

The Hughes family also said "scientific research shows that excess roads cause problems to wildlife, fish and soil and contribute to the spread of aggressive weeds that are not native to the local area." These are concerns for all of us. These access roads give firefighters the ability to quickly get to small fires before they become intense wildfires.

The hill above the hospital is one example of what an intense wildfire can do. In the 1980s, that hill was forested and was abounding with life. Since that fire went through, it has lain bare and is just now starting to reforest.

This land does not belong to the USFS or the BLM. It belongs to Mr. and Mrs. Citizen, and we should be able to access these recreational areas as easily as towns and rural areas, and act responsibly when we are enjoying them.

John Petersen

La Grande

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With chagrin I read your news account of the recent Oregon Supreme Court ruling paving the way for more highway ads. How sad! Really, what happened to the Highway Beautification Act? The shattered legacy of Lady Bird Johnson!

Oregon has been a leader in holding the line on billboards, preserving our right to view beautiful roadside scenery. But have you noticed that hold is gradually slipping?

Note the dozen or so new billboards along

I-84 to Portland and especially the four new monstrous billboards near the off-ramps to the Wildhorse Resort in Pendleton that have sprouted in the last two years. It appears that somebody has quietly squeezed out some permit concessions for this lucrative business. What happened to my right to an unobstructed view of the "amber waves of Pendleton grain?"

Hopefully our Oregon Legislature can persist in keeping the lid on the expansion of billboards. The approval process appears to be somewhat arbitrary. Whoever thought Measure 37 would include billboard expansion!

Imagine a billboard in the future at Hilgard junction encouraging our visit to downtown Starkey. Or coming from Ladd Canyon, billboards distracting us from the breathtaking view of Mount Emily.

This assault on our right to view the landscape is akin to the assault on our La Grande right to sleep without the intrusion of train whistles! Don't we have an environmental group committed to the preservation of our right to view the scenery?

Doyle Slater

La Grande

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Our nation owes a lasting debt of gratitude to all those selfless and heroic members of our armed forces who risked their own freedom and safety to defend the lives and liberty of others.

Today, a new generation of American military service members defend our freedom and that of other countries. Whether you believe in war or not, we must remember in a special way, those Americans who remain missing and unaccounted for.

Within the VFW, the POW/MIA issue evokes strong emotions and anger at our politicians for being willing to abandon our brothers and sisters. It is a sad state of affairs when families and friends of loved ones must lead the battle in the search for our MIAs and POWs. All those loved ones still missing who went to war for me and for you deserve much more from our country than just the efforts of a few.

Never let us forget our comrades. Let us constantly ask and demand that our politicians bring home our POWs and MIAs from all wars past and present. Let's all fly our flags on Sept. 15 — National POW/MIA Day.

On that day, the Union VFW will hold a remembrance service at the memorial in Union Park on Main St. at 9 a.m. At 6 p.m., all veterans and their families are invited to a formal service and potluck dinner at the VFW Hall in Union.

Bob Levesque

POW/MIA chairperson

Union