Letters To The Editor

Environment needs our protection

Thanks to Rich Landers for his excellent column Jan. 18, “Congress poses a serious threat to wildlife areas.”

While the attention of the American public has been focused on the balanced-budget battle raging on Capitol Hill, politicians - including our own Congressman Nethercutt - have quietly attached numerous amendments to bills that strip protection for our public lands, natural resources and wildlife.

Nethercutt has voted for nearly every proposal in Congress to weaken environmental protection, including a bill that suspended all environmental laws protecting our forests from illegal logging.

As Landers points out, the forests in our region are being logged without regard to laws protecting wildlife, fisheries or clean water supplies. Landslides caused by overlogging and foolish roadbuilding destroy fish runs, wash out highways and cost taxpayers a ton of money.

While Nethercutt talks about the need for a balanced budget, he’s invited the timber industry to a feeding frenzy on our public lands that we - and our children - will pay for later.

Not only is this fiscally irresponsible, it is unethical. If you want your children and grandchildren to see a wild salmon leap upriver, experience pristine wilderness or be able to take a clean drink of water from the tap, work now to protect our wild areas and environmental laws. Samantha Mace Spokane

Republicans attack wildlife areas

Rich Landers’ informative piece Jan. 18 exposes the essence of the Republican majority’s environmental agenda-quid pro quo.

The Republicans attach riders to otherwise sound bills to increase their chances of pleasing their campaign contributors; however, it also increases the chances of destruction of our vital wildlife areas.

If these riders pass, we’ll see oil drilling on the coastal plain of the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, “salvage” logging of 7,000 acres of undamaged healthy trees in the Colville National Forest and greatly weakened protection of wildlife habitat in all national forests.

The conservative Republicans in Congress are playing “let’s make a deal” with our national forests. They are annihilating our environment in the name of big business. If things keep going the way they are, we will have to ask permission from big business to walk the forests that are rightfully ours - if there are any left to walk. Scott Lacefield Cheney

A vote for Norman Chad

In the Jan. 18 Letters, a fellow wrote disparagingly about Norman Chad’s sports articles.

Maybe we should ask him to subscribe to some magazine like Sports Illustrated and leave our Chad alone. Until I found his articles, I found mostly all sports stuff really boring because they have so many statistics, you forget who the article is about before you can finish. Chad 10, Other Guy 0. Larrie Waterman Colville

Attacks on UI not appreciated

I am responding to the Jan. 14 editorial by John Blanchette. John, you don’t need any help in thinking about something stupid to say about anything.

For you, that comes naturally: just open your big mouth. Your continual harassment of the University of Idaho athletic program is contemptible. L.C. Labine Moscow, Idaho

Incident upsets Colville folks, too

I was alarmed to read the accounts in The Spokesman-Review (Jan. 20) dealing with the Colville wrestler who head-butted a referee. If I were from anywhere but Colville, I would have wondered what kind of people live in that small rural community. That is what I’m planning on telling you.

The Colville citizens are not proud of what happened in the West Valley-Colville wrestling match. In fact, many of us are outraged and embarrassed by the incident. As for me, I think it is a learning point for the whole AA league. I am just sorry it had to happen in Colville.

Now, I would like to mention I am a Colville High School student. The Colville school system takes as much pride in its school and community than the average school - if not more. I am not going to be so immature as to blame this on West Valley or anyone else, but I think it takes a little hostility from both sides to cause a problem as big as this one. My regrets to the referee who got caught in the middle. Lisa Chesebro Colville