‘Wings on the River’
Thank you for Flora Martin Gibson’s article “How to hate a house sparrow” (Columbia Gorge News, July 9). It was lovely and fun to read, and I very much appreciate their tolerant attitude. I fight long battles against invasive weeds on my property, but I can’t help noticing that pollinators often enjoy those flowers just as much as the flowers of native plants. As Gibson observes about the house sparrow, the “damage they cause isn’t their fault, and they can’t fix it.”
We are proposing to kill hundreds of thousands of barred owls in an attempt to protect spotted owls, and hundreds of birds and pinnipeds to protect salmon. I understand the urgency to protect and restore salmon. Still, these are individual beings that we are killing, including the plants I am pulling. I don’t want to live in a field full of thistles, for sure, and I want salmon in our rivers where they belong, but I do admire the persistence and strength of species, like coyotes, who find ways to thrive no matter what humans throw at them.
Gibson invites us to plant natives and encourage wild nature. They also remind us that species we disdain or condemn as unwanted immigrants may have something to offer. Somehow this resonates with me in the current political climate. Somos inmigrantes, no?
Patricia Arnold
Trout Lake
FEMA helps
The “Coward and Thief” has set out to destroy FEMA.
FEMA is a creation of the Carter Administration in 1979. FEMA is a support agency which coordinates emergency response through all levels of government, local, state, Native American, federal, and international. Since its start, Congress has authorized matching grants to state and local governments to build robust disaster prevention, response, and recovery. Conservative states, such as Texas and North Carolina, have chosen no or minimal participation as a matter of political philosophy.
The National Incident Management System (NIMS) is the protocol to bring the nation’s assets to quickly resolve catastrophes. An incident commander is a person from any level of government with the ability, skill, and breadth to coordinate an effective response. They draw on assets from the full spectrum of government and the private sector.
Oregon has chosen a robust participation. Examples are Seaside, which has moved its school buildings above the tsunami flood zone. The Oregon Special Structures Code requires essential building such hospitals and fire stations to have elevated earthquake resistance. Wasco County has an emergency management director, emergency 911centers, reverse 911 notifications, and has built effective infrastructure, and zoning regulations such as the Mill Creek drainage.
On June 14, 1903, a flash flood devastated Heppner, drowning 247. Morrow County emergency management center uses National Weather Service forecast, and real-time rainfall and stream flow data collected from many reporting stations in the Willow Creek drainage. The Corps of Engineers operates and maintains that system continuously. When a flash flood is building, the emergency management center alerts the population through all available means. I have personally managed that system for several decades. I am confident it would prevent a Texas size catastrophe. The Morrow County system also has preparations for a sarin gas leak from the Umatilla storage depot.
Thoughtful pre-analysis, building sufficient emergency systems, and practicing event response are ounces of prevention which are more effective than tons of cure. It is too late when 130 are dead and scores are still missing.
The Coward and Thief wants to spread his mayhem and misery across the whole country.
Terry Armentrout
The Dalles
Hatcheries failing
The Columbia River Gorge is home to some of the most iconic rivers in the world — and to a dense network of hatcheries, from Bonneville to Spring Creek. These facilities were built with good intentions: to replace lost wild salmon runs after dams went up, habitats were destroyed, and water was diverted. But decades later, we need to face reality. Hatcheries are not saving salmon. They are part of the problem.
Hatchery fish compete with wild salmon for limited food and spawning grounds. They spread disease. And they weaken the genetic traits that wild fish need to survive warming waters, shifting currents, and climate stress (“Hatcheries: good intentions, bad outcomes,” Raincoast Conservation Foundation, April 22, 2024). All while taxpayer dollars keep flowing into concrete tanks, fish food, and facilities in disrepair.
In the Columbia River Gorge, this matters deeply. Salmon support not just ecosystems, but local jobs, recreation, tribal culture, and the identity of the Gorge itself. If we care about this place, we have to do more than release fish and hope for the best.
It’s time to stop pretending hatcheries are the solution. Instead, let’s fund real restoration — healthy rivers, cold tributaries, barrier removal, and protection for what wild salmon remain. We can’t afford to lose them.
We’re living in a time when hard truths matter. This is one of them.
Hattie Fletcher
Hood River
Support libraries
Libraries are places where children fall in love with books, teens find a safe space to study and explore ideas, and adults of all ages access resources. Klickitat and Skamania county libraries and bookmobiles are part of the Fort Vancouver Regional Library (FVRL) system. Being a part of this larger system gives Washington Gorge residents the ability to access books, technical resources, and programs for all ages that would otherwise be difficult to replicate and afford in our rural communities. Ninety-six percent of FVRL funding comes from a property tax levy that was last reset in 2010. Since that time, costs have increased 4-5% annually and our communities have grown meaning library visits have increased. FVRL Reserve funds have been used to keep up with costs and demand but projections show the reserve will be depleted in the coming year. Proposition 1, on the Aug. 5 Primary Ballot in Klickitat, Skamania and Clark counties, proposes a reset of the 2010 levy rate so that vital library services can continue.
For the average property owner, the additional monthly cost of a YES vote on Proposition 1 is equivalent to the price of a coffee drink. For this monthly cost, your YES vote can help ensure that our libraries are open, fully staffed, able to provide a variety of programming for community members of all ages, and can provide and maintain the reading material and technical resources needed by residents in our rural communities. Books remain at the heart of our libraries, but what surrounds them is equally powerful — staff who guide and encourage, spaces that welcome everyone, and programs that expand minds. Please join me in voting YES on Proposition 1.
Karen Stafford
Lyle
Connect with FID
If you’ve been concerned about big irrigation bill increases in recent years, this is the perfect time to connect with Farmers Irrigation District (FID) to become part of the process (“Farmers Irrigation District explains rate increases,” Columbia Gorge News, Feb. 25). Attend FID Board meetings: Third Wednesday of each month at noon at the FID office on Country Club Road; read board meeting agendas and minutes at fidhr.org/index.php/en/about-us/fid-board. Ask to serve on the Budget Committee. Consider running for a Board position.
You can attend the board meetings remotely. A Zoom meeting link is provided in the meeting agenda. You can also ask FID for the expanded “board meeting packet” before each board meeting.
If you’re considering running for a board position, be aware that irrigation district elections are held separately from the familiar county level elections, under separate rules, governed by ORS 545.037, 545.041, and 545.043. More details at oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors545.html.
Tina Dye
Hood River
Billboard in TD
What!? Did I just see that? I was driving Westbound on I-84 through The Dalles, just past the city center exit (mile marker 85), and noticed it: A big bright yellow — on the left side of the freeway — “We are Immigrants / Somos Inmigrantes” billboard! I did a double take. A billboard? I must turn my car around and find it again to get a picture. It was easy to navigate through this quaint little town, and I took a selfie and posted it on social media and added #WeareImmigantsGorge. If you’re driving to or past The Dalles, I encourage you to find this billboard and do the same to show your support and solidarity.
This campaign warms my heart because it is welcoming and inclusive. I appreciate immigrants — they are the backbone of America, hardworking, leaders, artists, educators, culture makers, and an essential part of a thriving community. With the exception of Native Americans or those who came to this country as slaves, we are all immigrants — we all immigrated to America from someplace else.
Also, I recently learned the White Salmon and Hood River City Councils have passed proclamations with inclusive language in support of immigrants. Thank you, city councils, and thank you to the businesses and residents of the Gorge communities who are displaying Somos signs in their businesses to show their support. I found out that if you would like to learn about or show your support for this campaign, you can contact the Riverside Community Church in Hood River at office@riversideucc.com for information, and/or a window or yard sign.
Darren Tillson
Vancouver, Washington
Hey, cyclists
Not all of you, just the ones with a throttle feature on your e-bike that takes you faster than 20-28 mph. To those of you who pass on the right, wear dark clothing on a rainy night, or in dim light, or into the sun, or on rain-shined pavement. To the adult that lets her 12-year-old ride an e-bike like any 112-year-old: in and out of traffic, too fast and too reckless for a motorist to be aware and compensate. To you who rides on the sidewalk. To you, non-helmeted woman/man with helmeted kids in the back/front of your bike as you cruise faster than traffic on the street or in a parking lot.
Yeah, I know Oregon law states you can use a stop sign/light as a “yield,” but that doesn’t give you the right to bolt out from the cross-street corner when I am approaching in a car. Thing is, when you do that, you make it too easy for the average motorist to distrust and dislike all of us other cyclists.
So please, wear a helmet and reflective clothing. Be obnoxiously visible. Ride less than or equal to the speed limit for cars and e-bikes, respect traffic, stay off the sidewalks, advise your kids to slow down and please wear a helmet as well. Your child, or you, may not like it and that’s unfortunate. But perhaps not as much as when you find yourself in the ER with a head injury that was preventable by helmet use and safer riding habits. So please, be a good (read better) example or the rest of us who enjoy two wheeled travels.
Thanks, and shiny side up!
Mike Pendleton
Underwood
Commented