Environmental impacts felt in local election results

There are many nonprofit groups, locally and statewide, that act in a nonpartisan way to solve problems we face as a community. My interest is in matters involving natural resources and in particular our native fisheries.

Perhaps you understand how the trends in climate change can negatively affect the sustainability of fish populations. Too much water, too little water, warmer water, fires that destroy stream-side vegetation and result in erosion come to mind.

Fly Fishers International released a policy statement on climate change, approved in July of 2023, that is well-researched and sounds the alarm that dramatic, harmful effects on our fisheries are going to increase over time if public policies and private economies don’t change course.

For natural resources, nonprofits rely on paid staff, volunteers and donations such as land or water rights to carry out their missions. In some cases, parties violate local and state laws and corrective action occurs in the court system. That’s because there are laws passed and rules adopted to protect fisheries from harmful practices.

The two major parties will put forth candidates in the upcoming primary, but if you are one of the 54,121 non-affiliated voters in the county, you will not have a voice in the selection process. You can change that, however.

Please consider becoming part of the primary process starting in May. Look over each party for its track record on the environment and vote.

Especially if you are younger, your future is at stake in the long run

Stephen C. Haskell / Ashland

Support measures to change Board of Commissioners

As a former reporter and editor who covered the Jackson County commissioners for a number of years, I’ve seen good ones and bad ones come and go.

You can agree or disagree with their decisions, but everyone understands it’s important to have the best people in those offices.

The current three-person, partisan, over-worked and over-paid commission does not work for the people of Jackson County. That’s why I support the current drive to overhaul the commission.

Commissioners should be nonpartisan. There should be five, to spread the workload. Also, the commissioners are the highest-paid commissioners in Oregon and most of the nation; they even make about $45,000 more than Oregon’s governor.

Please sign the petitions currently circulating to restructure the commission. They may be signed in person, or online. More information at: jacksoncountyforall.org.

John Enders / Talent

A reminder for our readers

The focus of the Rogue Valley Times is on local, state and regional news and opinion. While we recognize — particularly in this presidential election year — that issues of national politics and international conflicts certainly matter to our readership, they are outside the stated parameters of our coverage.

Therefore, letters focused on such topics cannot be considered for publication.

See tinyurl.com/3vt4chw9 for our statement from this past July committing ourselves to the same local focus on the Opinion page that we hold for our news pages.

As always, we thank you for your interest in the Rogue Valley Times.

— Editorial Board