Letters To The Editor
Landers comes to senses
I’m astonished to find myself agreeing with Rich Landers. In his July 24 column, he opposed closing a public boat ramp on Liberty Lake, and vigorously defended the public’s right of access to public property. That’s a transformation almost as amazing as Saul’s on the road to Damascus.
Heretofore, Landers has been in favor of excluding all but a favored few from public property. He has argued for closing the roads used by hunters, fishermen, berry pickers, wood gatherers and sightseers as access to our public forests, not to mention firefighters and others upon whom the health of the forests depend. He has argued for more wilderness, which is already twice the size of Washington state and used almost exclusively by a comparative handful of affluent, young, white males. He has opposed the public’s access to public land for mining, grazing or logging; even salvage logging, which is badly needed to reduce the danger of catastrophic wildfire, the greatest threat to wildlife habitat and fisheries on public land, as well as to billions of board feet of the public’s timber.
Whether by divine intervention or from the wisdom that sometimes comes with increasing maturity, his support of the general public instead of the special interests he usually champions is a welcome change. Edwin G. Davis Spokane
Walleye limits supported
Reference Mr. Dean White’s letter (July 20, 1997) concerning walleye limits. White says even ‘lowly’ spiney-ray fishermen deserve a decent fishery, and now that Sprague Lake has become such, Fenton Roskelley wants to cut out his fun (by reducing the limit on walleyes).
Mr. White, how is reducing the daily limit of walleyes going to cut out your fun? Or are you a ‘meat fisherman;’ one who keeps every fish they can legally keep? If so, I understand your reluctance to embrace a reduced limit. Some of us fish solely for the fun of it, releasing all of what we catch. The daily limit, however small, doesn’t affect our fun, since the fun is in hooking, fighting and releasing fish, not in killing them.
It seems likely, based on the large number of walleyes pulled from Sprague Lake this summer, the fishery Mr. White and I cherish (in spite of our diverse motives for fishing) won’t last long. The Walleye fishing in Sprague Lake is as good as it is not because we have all suddenly found the key to catching them, but because the population of walleyes is so high. Cut the population down significantly and the fishing will become so difficult for all but the most-experienced fishermen. Even Mr. White should agree being allowed to take home fewer walleyes per day would be preferable to not being able, due to a depleted population, to catch or keep any.
I’m not against those who want to take home fish for the money they paid for their licenses and tags, but they should realize limits are set not to take away their fun, but to help provide good fishing over the long haul. William C. Stickler Spokane
Drivers must be careful
Re: Letter to the editor; ‘Keep bikes off highways’ from Mr. H. Severtson, Coeur d’Alene.
Yes, Mr. Severtson, driving & riding are privileges not rights, and they must be earned by obeying the law. In the city of Spokane we have a safety ordinance against riding bicycles on the sidewalk, (I do not know about Coeur d’Alene). In a lot of the Spokane Valley there are no sidewalks and the same is probably true about parts of Coeur D’ Alene. I would not urge people to break the law by riding on the sidewalk, it is dangerous.
A couple of years ago there was a lady pedestrian on the sidewalk in Spokane who was hit by a cyclist and put into a coma. There was also a man on a bicycle in the Spokane Valley who was hit and killed by an automobile. The driver of that auto lost his privilege to drive. If you want to drive a car in Washington, you have to earn the privilege and obey all the laws, even the ones that allow bicycles on the roadway with some of the same rights as autos. Bill Joy Spokane
xxxx S-R sports staff Sports editor: Jeff Jordan Assistant sports editor: Joe Palmquist Outdoors editor: Rich Landers Columnist: John Blanchette Reporters: Steve Bergum, Chris Derrick, Hilary Kraus, Greg Lee, Jim Meehan, Mike Sando, Dave Trimmer, Mike Vlahovich, Dan Weaver Copy desk: Gil Hulse, David Oriard, Geoff Pinnock, Rick House Stats desk: Kory Boatman, Brandon Loucks Contributors: Paul Delaney, Jim Price, Fenton Roskelley, Chuck Stewart