Don’t lower speed limits
Dear Editor:
The petition submitted to the county to lower the speed limit on certain county roads should be denied. Approval may benefit the petitioner, the North Central ATV Club, and ATV riders from outside the area. But this change will not enhance road usage of local residents, businesses, organizations, or other entities which use and/or patrol these roads. Have the commissioners heard from any other organizations or government agencies that have expressed a real need for lower speed limits?
Eileen Owen, Winthrop
We can do better
Dear Editor:
For as long as I remember, when Methow Valley residents are fed up with Okanogan County decisions that offhandedly dismiss their concerns, a predictable pattern emerges: Letters of discontent are written and lawsuits filed. We grumble of being the cash cow for a county government that overtly ignores our requests. We whisper once again about seceding from Okanogan County. Time passes, the status quo resumes, and the cycle repeats itself.
I think we can do better. An excellent opportunity to break the cycle now exists. Two commissioner positions, a majority of the board, will open in 2016.
While our commissioners may be congenial and liked by their friends, the current board is known for statements such as these: “But the public doesn’t want what we want” (Commissioner Kennedy, during a May 4, 2015 commissioners’ meeting); “We’ll let the courts decide” (Commissioner Campbell, following public testimony on opening county roads to ATVs); “The voters made a mistake,” (Commissioner DeTro, in voting against the approved tax increase for public transit). And, “It would make us liars” (Commissioners DeTro and Campbell, in refusing to sign a resolution necessary for a grant until the words “climate change” were removed).
In times of unpredictable change and great challenge, we need leaders who listen, consider science, weigh resource decisions carefully and courageously, and are influenced by facts and public opinion rather than by a predetermined political ideology.
Did you know that voters in the Methow Valley, Pateros, Brewster, and part of Okanogan are jointly responsible for selecting two candidates from our district to run in the general election? And that your vote as a Methow Valley resident counts equally with each voter county-wide in the general election – for all three commissioner positions?
Educate yourself about candidates that emerge for Ms. Kennedy’s and Mr. Campbell’s positions, register to vote locally if you are a part-time resident, and communicate county-wide with others who seek change.
Although it’s a demanding job, the $59,640-$64,800 salary is not bad for our area.
Surely there are qualified individuals who honor transparent government and might consider this crucial responsibility for four years.
Isabelle Spohn, Twisp
Water the wildlife
Dear Editor:
It has come to my attention that after the removal of 60 miles or more of open irrigation ditches that were replaced with closed pipelines, we have removed 60 miles or more of access to drinking water for all wildlife from deer to birds, bears, reptiles, bugs, you name it, and that we the people responsible for that elimination should take steps to alleviate the problematic effects of such a significant change to habitat. Wildlife will have to adjust or die. They are suffering as they learn to adjust. Generations of habits must be altered or broken, to find food as well as water, as the chain of life, the food chain, is morphing to accommodate the fire and the drought, both current and future. It is everybody’s valley, it is everybody’s responsibility. So water the deer, water the bugs and the birds, hell, water a bear.
I am not joking about putting water out for wildlife. Please do it and watch who comes to drink. Deer are coming to drink from pet bowls and sprinklers, a phenomenon I have not seen before. I watched a doe drink from a spin-type sprinkler like it was a drinking fountain for at least 15 or 20 minutes. Every time she let it go it would spin around and hit her in the body. I see deer exhausted and panting, looking for shade and water. Panic.
The ditch behind us has been piped for good reason. But the effects should be addressed. Maybe the Department of Fish and Wildlife could have troughs available for those who witness a need in a particular area. The deer and other wildlife are a truly valuable asset. Fire and necessity of the pipeline should be, could be, balanced out with a program to deal with the adverse effects. Shade for all animals and pets, especially farm animals, is also a serious something to think about. Being trapped in the hot sun with no relief is extreme for almost anyone or anything. Think shade! Look around, be aware. In the case of watering the wildlife, we can all do our part.
Michael Rothgeb, Twisp
