Editor’s Note
In Support of Levees and Levies
This month I talked to a lot of people about rivers and levees and vegetation and salmon and sediment and committees and all kinds of stuff. I understand much better than I did before how important flood protection and wildlife protection both are around here – just by themselves. And when they come into conflict, it's even more important.
I hope you’ll find our feature story this month–about the many issues affecting the Touchet River–interesting as well as informational. It’s pretty long, so try to stick it out. It covers a lot of ground, and I’m sure there’ll be much more to report on this subject in the near future.
A few years back I lived near the Touchet River dike path in Dayton and I’m sure I’ve been up and down its length hundreds of times, running, walking and biking. It’s a great hidden treasure in Dayton.
In all that time I paid little attention to its real purpose, which is keeping the river away from hundreds of homes behind it when the floods hit. That makes it even more of a treasure for Dayton. And let’s hope it will keep playing its multiple roles of recreation spot, fish habitat and high water control for many years to come.
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I have no doubt that all of our readers are very romantic, but they seem to prefer to do their wooing in private. Last month we introduced our very public Valentine’s message board, inviting readers to place a notice in the Blue Mountain News, trumpeting their love for the world to hear. We had almost no takers. So if you came here looking for the message board, that’s why you won’t find it.
I certainly understand not wanting to advertise it to the world, but don’t forget to wish your loved one happy Valentine’s Day in private. Or better yet, get ‘em some flowers or candy or something. And remember, Valentine’s Day is on Sunday this year, so don’t wait ‘til the last minute.
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All of the schools in our area are running maintenance and operations levies this month. The Hospital District is running a levy too. We told you about all of these last month, but ballots have been mailed now, so I just want to give you one more reminder to vote. And I hope you’ll support them all.
Ken Graham