Letters to the Editor Sept. 3, 2010

Fear of death shows how little anti-hunting establishment knows

In response to Al Kay’s letter on Aug. 28 (“If you want to shoot animals at Tolowa Dunes, use a camera”) I laughed out loud when he wrote, “I heard the sound of gunshots and wondered if I would be hit by a bullet.”

Once again the anti-hunting establishment demonstrates its lack of knowledge as it pertains to waterfowl hunting. 

First off, we are required by federal law to shoot non-toxic or steel shot, several small BBs, about the size of a BB that goes in a kid’s BB gun. Second, the range is a maximum of about 60 yards for a kill shot on a duck, less for a goose, and yes, I said kill shot. 

Give me a break. Our country, our right, our survival at times, is based on hunting. Nature has a lot to offer, you’re right about that, and I will continue to teach my children the proper way to kill, and prepare for the table, the waterfowl taken from the Tolowa dunes.

Rick Barry

Crescent City

Every year waterfowl return to the dunes regardless of hunting

A response to Al Kay’s letter of Aug. 28 (“If you want to shoot animals at Tolowa Dunes, use a camera”).

He is new to the area and has no idea that all the wonderful waterfowl and wildlife he saw on his hike on the River Trail will not be disturbed. He was not hiking in the area being considered for designation of a state recreational area.

My family has been horseback riding and hunting in this area for the last 30-plus years. Only the last two years has hunting not been allowed. Each year the waterfowl return and we are able to enjoy their presence. This will not change with the resumption of hunting.

As for protecting God’s creatures, read Genesis 1:26 and it tells us that God put all creatures on the earth and gave man domain over them. Genesis 9:2-4 tells us that we are to use them for food.

I am for the designation of the suggested area of the Tolowa Dunes State Park to a state recreational area.

Eileen Mitchell

Crescent City

Pit bull was under control until it was bitten by poodle

This is in response to the Heather Bonser-Bishop letter to the editor on Aug. 26 (“Don’t bring pit bulls to crowded beaches and don’t breed them”) regarding the allegedly vicious pit bull attacking a poodle on South Beach.

I had the pit bull under control. The guy walking the poodle let the poodle sniff noses with the pit bull, the poodle then bit the pit bull and the attack began.

Enid Williamson

Fort Dick

Only city residents paid for water co.; only they should vote on it

In the late 1950s the city approached the county with a plan to buy the private water company serving the general Crescent City area.  The water was of poor quality and limited supply.  The county declined participation. 

The city residents voted to sell bonds, indebting the city residents and only the city residents, in order to buy the water company and embark on an improvement plan. The city then constructed the water collection and delivery system to bring high quality Smith River water to the community.  This was completed in the early 1960s.

Over the years the city has repeatedly improved the water system, with its own money, to meet the growing needs of the community (city and county).  The most recent was the second water line from the Smith River (completed in 2001).  This latest project required the city to borrow $9 million. Only the city is obligated to pay this loan.

This water system has provided high quality water at one of the lowest rates in the Northwest.  This water system has also contributed, along with the volunteer Fire Department, with the lowest fire insurance rates in Del Norte County.

All this has been done by the city without the help of the county.  All the county has provided has been complaints and an attempt to take the water system from the city (the infamous “water wars” of the early 1990s).  Now the county thinks it should have a “right” to vote on the fluoridation issue?  Maybe it should tell the city how to operate the city water system.  I think not! 

The county correctly claims that about two-thirds of the users reside outside the city, therefore, they have this “right.” This is analogous to telling the power company, the telephone company or the cable company that the county should vote on their operations.  The county doesn’t own the water system.  The city does.  The city should make its own decisions on its water system, whether by the voters or the City Council.

I think the city, and only the city, should make the decision on fluoridation or any other matter concerning its water system.  This is another attempt by the county to try to tell the city how to run the water system, a water system in which the county long ago chose to not participate.

Michael Young

Crescent City

Thanks to whoever returned purse without robbing it

I would like to thank the wonderful person who returned my purse to Shop Smart when I left it in my cart and drove away.

I was shocked to find all my belongings and cash still there. With deepest thanks.

Louise Hall

Crescent City

Adopted children denied info about their biological families

Being a genealogy buff, I was drawn into watching the television show “Who Do You Think You Are?” episode about Emmitt Smith’s ancestry. What disturbed me the most was when it was pointed out to Emmitt that purebred horses in the United States can be tracked back all the way to the 1600s in England; but, Smith’s family cannot be tracked back that far because the records stopped at the slavery point about 200 years ago.

It was discussed how slaves were treated as property and were “bred.” It was disgusting to hear about this barbaric time in our country’s history. However, it infuriates me that even with the horrific slavery in his ancestry, Mr. Smith (with the help of genealogists) was able to trace back his family for 200 years! He even traveled to Africa and visited the area his family’s African DNA was believed to have originated from.

Why does that make me angry? Because I can’t even go back in my family history to find my biological father. Why? Simply because I was adopted. The only record of me on Ancestry.com is a one-line entry on the California Birth Index. It then appears that I cease to exist. My birth name belongs to a ghost now. My descendants will not be able to trace back our family tree past me. It stops with me. My branch was severed from the family tree.

Sealed/amended birth certificates are modern-day sales receipts for adoptive parents that assure them that our (adoptees) family histories, nationalities and cultures are irrelevant. We are legally transformed into living “blank canvasses or slates” during the adoption process and then have new identities painted onto us. We are issued fake (amended) birth certificates with new names and new parents listed on them. It is 2010. I want the truthful documentation of my birth unsealed now.

The horses that recently raced at the Humboldt County Fair have pedigrees, but the adopted people in this county, state, country do not. This injustice and blatant discrimination against fellow human beings continues in the “land of the free” because the non-adopted majority has refused to take a stand against it.

Mara Rigge

Trinidad