The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

Craig Eisenbeis' article last week about local avalanche conditions was timely in this season of heavy snowfall. I would like to supplement his work by pointing to some excellent resources for winter backcountry travelers.

The Central Oregon Avalanche Association (COAA) is a nonprofit, community-based organization dedicated to avalanche education in the area. COAA provides a weekly snowpack summary and daily observation reports prepared by local guides and avalanche professionals who volunteer their time to improve backcountry safety. These reports are supplemented by hourly observations from several weather stations located between Hogg Rock and Odell Lake. You can find these reports and observations at http://www.coavalanche.org.

COAA also provides free Know Before You Go seminars to give backcountry users a basic understanding of avalanche safety. Their course schedule can be found on their website.

If you are going out to play in the winter backcountry, make sure to use these free resources. Your loved ones will thank you.

Bob Hoffman

s s s

To the Editor,

Congratulations to all those folks who have been successful in obtaining the roundabout in Sisters.

I have traveled and lived in areas with roundabouts. So, roundabouts have never been a problem for me. However, this one is bad news and will make shopping, banking, doctor visits etc. longer to reach if you live north of Highway 20.

Traffic lights were installed and were wonderful, but they were removed. Now, I hope this roundabout is not a disaster like "back-in parking." Everyone objected, but the city did it anyway and enforced it. We, the people, paid for it and then paid to remove it in order to return to the usual way of parking.

I am glad of my move from Camp Polk Rd. to a condo on the south side of Cascade Avenue.

Mickey Duehren

s s s

To the Editor:

I am supporting Senate Bill 6 for humane trapping of wildlife in Oregon.

As a veterinarian, Oregon must advance the humane and effective improved animal capturing techniques.

Over 37 states now use these humane traps with daily checking.

Oregon must follow as well.

The use of sharp-toothed traps results in severe and painful injures that are barbaric.

I support the American Veterinary Medical Association policy of banning conventional inhumane traps.

Legitimate science and management practices that necessitate the capture of wildlife must employ the most humane traps and techniques.

These humane traps and techniques reduce injury and stress as well as minimizing pain and suffering to wildlife.

Moreover, these humane traps prevent capture of non-target animals such as pet dogs and pet cats.

David K. Johnson, DVM, DACLAM

s s s

To the Editor:

I sent the following email to my Congressional Representative Greg Walden. I urge other constituents that he represents to speak out too.

Trump's executive order banning citizens from seven predominately Muslim countries would have allowed all of the hijackers of 9/11 to enter the U.S.A.

All of the hijackers came from countries the president has business interests in.

This is clearly a conflict of interest worthy of impeachment.

If you do not have the integrity to speak out on this, you are part of the problem, and this is the problem:

National Plagiarism

Hitler: Blame it on the Jews.

Trump: Blame it on the Muslims.

We have seen this play before. It doesn't end well.

You took an oath to defend the Constitution, not to defend a narcissistic megalomaniac.

Dean Billing