|
Challenge cancer
This September I will join thousands of other cancer advocates in
Washington, D.C., for “Celebration on the Hill,” a groundbreaking
event of the American Cancer Society’s sister advocacy organization,
the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. Celebration on the
Hill will celebrate cancer survivorship and send a strong message to
elected officials that cancer must be made a national policy priority.
This year, an estimated 565,000 people will die from cancer
nationwide. Yet, Congress last year cut funding for cancer research at
the National Cancer Institute for the first time in more than a
decade, and this year Congressional leaders are threatening additional
cuts.
As one of 4,000 Ambassadors who will attend Celebration on the Hill, I
will be meeting with Congressman Greg Walden to urge him to
demonstrate a commitment to elevating cancer on the national policy
agenda. We will be encouraging lawmakers to sign the Congressional
Cancer Promise, which details specific legislative actions that are
required to put us back on track toward defeating this disease.
Last year, 92 U.S. Senators and 280 members of the House of
Representatives signed a letter to the president in support of the
national challenge goal of eliminating suffering and death due to
cancer by the year 2015. Lawmakers now must commit to making the
policy decisions necessary to reach that goal, including expanding
prevention and detection programs that increase survival rates,
boosting medical research funding and ensuring that all Americans have
access to all the latest tools for treating cancer.
I look forward to joining the thousands of cancer patients, survivors
and their families who will participate in Celebration on the Hill.
When I was diagnosed with cancer in 1995 I promised to do everything I
could to defeat this disease. This September, I will be asking
Congressman Walden to do the same.
Marilynn Shaw
Mosier
Not land grab
The Oregonian’s recent headline and following articles suggesting
that the proposed land trades on Mount Hood are a land grab
illustrates why people don’t get involved. The lands in Government
Camp have been part of the community plans and identified for
exchange for more than 30 years.
The real land grab that exists is that of the Forest Service in
the Government Camp area. The article described Government Camp as
a 360-acre community; in fact we are now 270 acres due to the last
exchange that reduced the village private land by 25 percent. The
Forest Service has acquired approximately 370 acres of private
lands in the Government Camp area since 1978 and returned just 40
adjacent acres to private ownership.
The two parcels that contain the 120 acres that are proposed for
exchange are some that the Forest Service identified in
conjunction with Clackamas County in the 1980s as parcels to
become private. As a community we have supported placing more
sensitive lands into public ownership — Summit Meadows (120 acres,
1978); Still Creek (160 acres, 1972 to 1993); Multorpor Fen (90
acres, 2000) — but it was with the promise of less sensitive lands
adjacent to Government Camp being able to be acquired and allow
the community to be developed as planned. Several other parcels
have been identified for future private ownership in the past 34
years of planning, including areas at the base of Multorpor, Ski
Bowl and Summit Ski areas.
The recent renewal of Government Camp has relied on plans that
began and have evolved since the codification of land use planning
in the 1960s.
I was surprised that it wasn’t disclosed that the Mr. Bay who
works for Mt. Hood Ski Bowl/Collins Lake, Kirk Hanna, has been
pursuing various land exchanges including the 120 acres involved
in the Meadows trade. I guess the worst of this is the focus on
whether some disgruntled Forest Service employees, competing
enterprises or politicians straddling the fence to gauge which
direction the wind is blowing will be allowed to use this as an
excuse to do nothing, or worse, another expensive and apparently
meaningless plan.
The news wasn’t about a land exchange; the news was that a
newspaper would allow itself to be used in a last-ditch effort to
smear the good name and intentions of honorable people and derail
a delicately balanced public effort. While the senators would like
to see more lands put into wilderness they haven’t done the leg
work or involved the public in their planning. The bill that
passed the House is a giant step forward; to focus on this
distraction only serves to provide an excuse to those who have
avoided doing anything.
Dave Butt
Government Camp
Fires can be helpful
The notion that forest fires are destructive and must be battled
has been replaced by deeper understanding of their ecological
role. The enormous Yellowstone fires several decades ago were
considered devastating. Government officials unable to contain the
blaze were excoriated before Congress and ultimately fired. Much
of Yellowstone was considered “lost.” Then a curious observation
emerged as the years passed. The fires actually yielded a
healthier, more vibrant forest.
The role of fire in the natural history of forest and range is
told repeatedly in geologic time. Certain seeds will only
germinate if first burned. Dead, dying, unhealthy and overgrown
areas are cleared, making way for new growth and a healthier
forest. It is ironic that, in a very real sense, the true
environmentalist welcomes the natural role of fire in these
habitats. Unless inhabited areas are threatened, it is best to let
nature takes its course rather than expending enormous sums on
futile efforts in inaccessible areas to contain natural and
positive environmental events.
Michael Patmas
West Linn
|
