Out of control
Dear Editor:
Horace Wetherall was the only forest ranger employed in the Yacolt Burn, the largest forest fire recorded in Washington state history (until the Carlton Complex Fire) in 1902. He had recently been reprimanded for employing a fire crew and was reluctant to be disciplined again so when he spotted the Yacolt Burn fire, he took no action to battle the blaze. Is there a similarity to the Carlton Complex Fire?
From 1900 to 1999, only two large fires occurred. Since 2000, in just 14 years, we have added eight large fires to the top 10 for a total of 1,183,712 acres burned in that time versus 448,920 acres burned in the previous century.
Ferry, Stevens, Chelan and Okanogan counties have approximately 75 percent of the state’s wildfires.
State and federal fire statistics are out of control. Is the intent of the national forest plan and the state’s fire plan to safely watch it burn? Eight large fires in 14 years — what will the fire records show by 2020?
Dave Schulz, Twisp
Connection with music
Dear Editor:
Thanks to you and Don Reddington for starting the conversation on Alzheimer’s (Jan. 7). Last fall I heard a fascinating program on music and Alzheimer’s (www.sciencefriday.com/segment/08/01/2014/tapping-into-musical-memory) and subsequently learned about www.musicandmemory.org, whose mission it is to reconnect Alzheimer’s (and other) patients in care facilities with the music they have stored in their memories.
It is amazing how some parts of the brain can work well and others not so well. It seems to me that some people here upgrade their electronics and may have older iPods around. Other people have good access to downloadable music and other people are Alzheimer’s patients who would benefit from access to personalized music. iPods can also be donated to musicandmemory.org.
Ardis Bynum, Winthrop
Doesn’t like the plan
Dear Editor:
I was surprised and frankly disappointed that someone didn’t jump all over the article in the Dec. 31 Methow Valley News in a letter to the editor concerning the “Forest Service travel plans” article. I held off because I am getting old and crabby; especially where the USFS is concerned.
There are several items to address in this “plan.” Help me out here, folks! I don’t ride SUVs. I don’t ride snowmobiles. I don’t hunt. I don’t pull a horse trailer and camp with my horses anymore.
I, however, still camp at many of my favorite hideaway spots with my small motor home, reminiscing about the good old days with a delightful homemade fire pit and some good whiskey. “Dispersed camping?” What the hell is this? How about we call it getting away from Forest Service personnel poking into our privacy?
By eliminating all of my favorite old roads that take me to my favorite private places, the Forest Service has total control of my whereabouts … ugh! Oh and yes, I love getting as close to the rivers and creeks as I possibly can. I’ll make my own “travel plan,” if you don’t mind. And yes, I still pee in the woods.
Paula Stokes, Twisp
Terminal patient
Dear Editor:
America is a terminal patient. She is in the fatal grasp of our elected leaders who apparently want America dead. These predatory tyrants, born of an alien hostile religion, hate and despise our Creator God, repudiate our founders and framers, trample our Constitution, pollute our youth, reject our laws, incite chaos and debauchery in our schools and social structures, shred our economy with unpayable debt and condemn us all to debtors prison forever. These are the plagues being inflicted upon us by these greedy and powerful enemies we so warmly embraced and freely elected.
Still within our dying reach today, we have an older, retired Christian surgeon and physician from America’s still viable years. Didn’t he alone face down America’s destroyer in his capital city to the shock of our compliant and subjugated media? This humble physician urges America that there is still hope from our great physician. He alone can salvage the wreckage of all our corrupt choices. But we must choose to reject these fatal icons of our self-will and grasp for our Creator’s hand, as Dr. Ben Carson still does each day.
Have you found that stronger hand as well? Do you trust Him? Or do you trust this leader’s self-will that is destroying your nation?
Only 19 percent of our military still trust this president. Is 19 percent enough to salvage all this wreckage?
Ward Hartzell, Twisp
Successful sale
Dear Editor:
The Methow Christmas tree project was very successful this year! Thanks to so many of you who purchased a tree for the holidays. A huge thank you goes out to John Doran and Keith Rowland for the many hours they spent in the parking lot. I loved the packer’s tent that John put up to keep warm! The first days were bitterly cold, and the treats we brought could hardly keep the chill out. Thanks to Keith Strickland, Jim Hammer, Hank Konrad and Larry Smith. Our community shines with the many ways you give back to the community. Blessings to all,
Kirsten Ostlie, Methow Valley Community Center, Twisp
