Letters
March 3, 2010

Great coverage of wrestling

Just a note of thanks to Hood River News and in particular sports writer Ben McCarty.

His wall-to-wall wrestling blog (www.hoodrivernews.com) was great to follow; we appreciated all the commentary, photos and videos very much. Thank you all for your hard work and dedication in promoting local athletics.

Steve and Sherri Eddy
Hood River

Goose stories

Having reviewed Cliff Mansfield’s letter of Feb. 24, I must conclude that he knows little about hunters, hunting and the “purpose” of geese.

Let me qualify: I grew up in a hunting family, surrounded by people who hunted and learned how to use guns of many types. But I don’t own a gun now and don’t hunt. This is my choice. (The explanation for that is another issue.)

Mr. Mansfield is wrong to state American hunters hunt for food. A few do, particularly in remote areas where hunting puts additional protein on the table. Most hunters hunt because they derive pleasure and satisfaction from it. That is why they call themselves “sportsmen” and that is why what they shoot is called “game” or “game animals.”

It is probably accepted by most adult hunters that when a game animal is killed, it should be eaten — either by them, their family or by someone to whom they give the meat.

Probably, most adult hunters are responsible about what they kill and how they kill it. Often their children are educated to be equally responsible.

But I grew up in a world where boys were given a BB gun as soon as they could carry it, a .22 rifle a few years later, and were allowed to shoot any thing that wiggled, crept, crawled, ran or flew. They did not know anything about the Lacey Act (originally enacted in 1900 and revised in 1981), the International Migratory Bird Treaty Act or the state game laws. Nor did their parents.

Most sportsmen have some knowledge about the animals they shoot. Some are very knowledgeable. Some belong to organizations such as Ducks Unlimited that are seriously concerned about protecting and preserving game animal habitat.

Yet many hunters I have met would not know a greater scaup from a lesser scaup, let alone a Steller’s jay from a scrub jay.

Why do hunters in America hunt? Because most aspects of hunting are enjoyable. They like being out-of- doors in the woods, fields and mountains in all kinds of weather. They enjoy the companionship of other hunters when camping, eating, drinking and telling tall tales.

Many are fascinated by guns, enjoying their handling, management, and active use during the hunt. Some, of course, truly enjoy killing animals.

But finally, Mr. Mansfield, do you seriously believe wild geese were put on earth for people to shoot and eat? How totally absurd!

Carroll Davis
Hood River

Leos collect recyclables

Last year, just in Hood River County, can and bottle deposits worth $33,750 were recycled without being collected. In addition, cans and bottles worth $96,250 were simply thrown away. That totals to $130,000 of deposit money that was kept by distributors instead of being returned to our community.

The Leos’ goal is to recycle our county’s bottles and cans, and then use the money we collect to help local charities. We accomplish this by having our volunteers collect bottles and cans at the Lions’ paper trailer in the Rosauers parking lot on the first Saturday of every month from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

All proceeds from the recycling on Saturday, March 6, will be used to help the Hood River Big Brothers Big Sisters program recruit and train mentors for our community’s kids.

Please help us by donating your cans and bottles. Thank you.

Jihelah Greenwald, HRV Leos
Hood River

Library tax too much

I am not against libraries. They are a wonderful source for education and entertainment.

We have grown accustomed to enjoying them as a free source for books, magazines, videos, computer access and much more. The funding for our libraries has come from the county budget, which is appropriate as they are Hood River County libraries. The county government has chosen not to fund the libraries as a result of budget constraints.

Now we are being asked to approve a library taxing district to pay for the county libraries. At the proposed tax rate of 70 cents per $1,000 of assessed value my share of the library tax will be $177.48 per year.

The share of my taxes currently going to county government is $357.99. It appears that the cost of operating the libraries is equal to half the cost of operating the entire county. I find that hard to believe. In addition I am paying over $1,700 to operate CGCC and county schools, over $500 to other taxing districts, and over $700 for voter-approved bonds.

Where or when will it end? When I go skiing I pay for a Sno-Park permit to cover the cost of plowing the parking lot.

When I go for a hike I pay for a Trail-park permit to help maintain the trails I am using.

Maybe it is time for a user fee for library patrons. The era of free public libraries may need to come to a close. Nothing we use is truly free. Someone has to pay the bill. Maybe the users should.

P.S. My apologies to my friend Mike Schend.

John F. Brennan
Hood River