Letters To The Editor

ENVIRONMENT

Concern over bark-beetle project

The Colville and Idaho Panhandle Forest Service has released a project proposal to log 12,500 acres of bark beetle-infested areas of the Pend Oreille and Priest lakes, rivers and streams.

Careful identification and selective removal of infested trees is routinely deemed too costly by the logging operations contracted by the Forest Service, which find greater profit practicing clear-cuts and controlled burns.

A history of over 100 years of logging and mining has left our aquifer polluted. Clear-cuts and logging roads create the conditions for a faster runoff of waste material into our aquifer’s stream beds, lakes and rivers. Increase in sediment and gravel deposits reduce the water systems’ natural capacity to handle eventual flooding - increasing the already high socio-economic costs of environmental maintenance and cleanup.

A pro-active proposal is for the Forest Service to seek assistance from concerned volunteers to go in and identify infested trees and debris. Costs and abusive logging practices would be kept down through assisted selective timber removal while ensuring long-term economic benefits and ecosystem restoration of the land and waters for our and future generations to enjoy, hunt, log and fish. Nature, our “first love,” has been here long before us. Now is the time to protect our and nature’s future.

If you have concerns regarding the bark beetle project proposal, contract the Forest Service at (208) 263-5111 or the Land Council, (509) 838-4912. The Coeur d’Alene Ranger District has a similar beetle project. Silvia F. Stein Spokane

Desire great for wild, scenic Reach

According to the Tri-City Herald’s New Year’s Day issue, protection of the Hanford Reach was once again one of the top 10 mid-Columbia Basin news stories for the year. That’s no surprise, when considering public support for a wild and scenic Reach has remained steady at well over two out of three mid-Columbians.

This is best documented by what people commit to public record. For example, in each of the past five years, letters to the editor in the Tri-City Herald exceeded two out of three mid-Columbians for a wild and scenic Reach. From 1995 through 1998, the Tri-City Herald has published 271 letters to the editor on the Hanford Reach; 205 of them in support of federal wild and scenic protection for the Reach.

Polls (including Benton County’s) taken in 1995 and 1996 substantiate the support rate seen in the letters to the editor. Mix this with support for a wild and scenic Reach from the governors of Washington, Oregon and Alaska, the BPA and the majority of Washington state’s congressional delegation, and voila! Everyone wants a wild and scenic Hanford Reach. Write to your congressman and tell him to save the Reach as wild and scenic in 1999. Bob Wilson Richland

BUSINESS AND LABOR

Striking workers valuable asset

Now that Christmas is over, I would like to extend my thanks to Kaiser Aluminum, which as you all know is on strike. During their strike, many of the striking employees were hired by the U.S. Postal Service to help out during the holiday mailing season.

As I worked with these employees every day, I can tell you that they contributed largely to the success of the Postal Service during these high-volume days. I found them dedicated, reliable, enthusiastic and hard working. They came to us as a mature work force, used to putting in long hours and willing to do what it takes to accomplish any task assigned to them by their supervisors.

If they are an example of the employees of Kaiser, and I’m sure they are, Kaiser should be proud to have them as employees. They are a valuable asset to the work force and would be near impossible to replace. It is not easy to find the quality of employee that these individuals represent. Clifton G. Rost Deer Park

Understand strike before criticizing

I am writing this letter specifically to people in the Spokane area who seem completely oblivious to what the Kaiser strike is all about.

First of all, the primary reason for the strike is not money. The reason we chose to strike was because of job cuts; 900 jobs in the Spokane area is a vast majority of our work force as a community.

I have read letters to the editor stating Kaiser workers are “whiny” because they can’t go on their dream vacation. Everyone has dreams and goals. Who are you to criticize?

I’ve also read letters stating Kaiser workers are greedy because they are asking for a pay increase (which, if granted, will be the first in 20 years). Anyone with initiative would like a higher-paying job, whether you are making $5 per hour or $25 per hour. You would not continue to work for the same wage over a 20-year period. Criticizing people for wanting to improve their lives or the community is a very self-centered attitude and accomplishes nothing.

I will say time and again that Spokane is a wonderful community. For the people who like to criticize - get a clue. For the rest of the community, thank you for your support. Gary J. Keating Spokane

IN THE PUBLIC EYE

Polls remarkably reliable

Michael Kimmelman is convinced that the polls - since they don’t tell him what he prefers to believe - must be inaccurate. But before coming to that conclusion, he might first open an introductory text on statistics. Persons unfamiliar with statistical method often think that small samples cannot possibly reflect broad public opinion with any degree of accuracy, but they are very wrong. Indeed, random sample polling is known to be remarkably reliable - not because I say so, but because mathematicians have discovered some peculiarities of numbers that conclusively demonstrate how polls work.

The many surveys reflecting President Clinton’s soaring popularity and the growing backlash against the Republican Party merely articulate what the public has been saying for so long, and which Congress has refused to hear: that we are sick and tired of the arrogance and hypocrisy of narrow-minded politicians who have allowed their moral courage to be abducted by religious snake oil salesmen.

No one can say for sure how the current impeachment proceedings will ultimately play out, but one thing is certain: it is a very big mistake to ignore the will of the American people. It is time for the Republican Party to quit sermonizing the public. It’s time to shut up and listen for a change.

An ostrich that sticks its head ever further into the sand only continues to soil itself, and discover an increasing darkness. Terry Knight Spokane

Decision upholds morality of nation

I’m a Democrat and I support what the House of Representatives has done. This will make our country stronger in many ways. Our God, for one, will know we are trying to live up to “In God We Trust.” We do need to take his commandments seriously if we want to stay strong.

Our service men and women had to leave their jobs due to less sins than what our president has done. If it’s not permitted with our service people, there should not be any favoritism toward the president of the United States, who is supposed to be the highest example for our youth to follow. I have fasted and prayed for what the House did and all I can say is thanks for making the United States of America a moral nation again. Joan Mathes Spirit Lake

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Wishing for a free-thinking Congress

It is almost a maddening thought to wonder what would the outcome be if all of a sudden our people in and out of Congress became honest free thinkers - changing from mental-polarized party line mindsets to their own convictions. Would they all believe that same thing or rather a smattering of ayes and nays be equal on both sides? Could it be that their judgment has become party polarized because some unseen Pied Piper captivated their mind?

On a more limited instance, members of a rioting mob were arrested and questioned as to why they had been involved. Not a man knew why and had never heard of mob madness. There seems to be some similarities to party line mental polarization and that behavior. Robert R. Root Spirit Lake