Letters This Week

Thanks, Rob

I was really pleased to read your comments of 11-25-01. Assuming that my plans work out and my health holds up (I'm a recent serious Cancer survivor), my wife and I plan to move out to Pinedale from PA in 2004. We have already purchased a parcel of land in the Airport Subdivision - but that's another story - what with the potential of the expansion of the airport runway.

But more about our reasons to relocate there. We located Pinedale Online about three years ago some time after visiting the western end of Wyoming in 1994. At that time we had casually decided that we would like to retire somewhere out there. Months of watching Pinedale Online and other web sites from around the western end of the state convinced us to seriously consider your home to see if we would like to make it ours. I've got to tell you that some of what attracted me was the "speak your mind" attitude of your paper and the folks who live out there.

Our reasons for coming were many, but mostly influenced by the climate, the clean air, the scenery and my family history. My mother's uncle, Ray Weigley left a small town in PA in 1908 to move to Cody at the age of 14 and become a cowboy. He lived his life on the range and returned to his hometown in PA in 1964 to "retire" at the age of 70. He regaled us with tales of the old west and I had the great privilege of being able to read some of the weekly letters he wrote to his mother from the range beginning in 1908 until she died in 1945. My father's brother Clarence Moore went out to Cheyenne and built a small ranch in the late 40's and then became an official in WY government until his death in the late 60's.

But what really appeals to me about Pinedale and Sublette County is the folks who live there. People who are direct descendants of hardy pioneers who settled the Wyoming Territory as homesteaders. Stayed there through lots of adversity and have made it a wonderful but simple place to live. People who have always made us feel welcome when we visit. Although I am part of the "problem" (folks from elsewhere moving into an unspoiled place), I am in favor of controlling expansion and plot homes that have overrun the Jackson area all the way out to Teton Pass.

Anyway, our goal will be to come out there and be productive, active and participating citizens in a new town that we hope to adopt as our home and which we hope will adopt us as new residents. Your comments/opinion column along those lines were most welcome.

Charlie & Lynne Moore
Media, PA

Misuse of Funds?

Your recent article concerning the PEMS purchase of a generator ignored several important considerations.

Who authorized anyone in the Pinedale EMS to negotiate a trade with a patron of the RHCB for money that was owed to the County?

The board was collectively unaware of this "deal" and certainly did not take any official action as a public entity to approve it.

In addition, the money that was supposed to be forthcoming from the PEMS was not received until 9 months later.

Only after the individual involved thought that he was being billed erroneously did one or more members of the Board become aware of this "deal."

It was after this that Mr. Wilson submitted a personal check to the individual, not the Board, for payment of the generator.

If in fact the Pinedale EMS has finally received their "non profit" status then Mr. Mullett's deal of $1,340.00 for a $3,000.00 generator might be considered as a tax write-off for a contribution to a "non profit" entity.

If the $340.00 outstanding balance was paid to the Board for "services rendered" it would not have been tax deductible.

Can you now gain a sense of impropriety concerning the misuse of public funds? Probably not.

You seem more concerned with imparting your opinion than the facts.

Your opinion seems to be that an individual's trip sheet, and therefore personal patient records, were copied and distributed to members of the public.

The only records that were copied or released were the "Bill for Services" and the payment for those services.

You were offered the same information that I was. Yet you refused to accept it. Perhaps you should reconsider your "I'll decide; then I'll report" philosophy used in your journalistic techniques.

Robin Miley
Big Piney

Editor's Response: The story in last week's paper which has Mr. Miley so upset was an interview concerning the generator purchase with Pinedale EMS Supervisor Kris Hunt. Ms. Hunt called me and said she was concerned about the damage the EMS was taking because of the DCI investigation and wanted to get her side of the story out.

Mr. Miley is right, I was offered a copy of the information he presented to the Health Care Board at last month's meeting in Marbleton. At that meeting, I asked each of the Board members if they had any concern with the issue, and to a man, they said they didn't, so I didn't get a copy.

However, after the DCI investigation was announced, I officially asked the Board for a copy of the information. I have yet to receive it.

I also gave Mr. Miley a call to get his side of the story. I gave him the same opportunity that I gave Ms. Hunt. He declined to talk to me.

Finally, after reading Mr. Miley's letter and now somewhat understanding his concern, I can't see where there has been a misuse of government funds, as he alleges.

In the end, the EMS purchased a needed generator for half price and the Health Care Board got its money for the ambulance ride.

- Rob Shaul

Who's Afraid?

I understand there is a big bad wolf in our neighborhood. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) arranged for him to be here. They introduced his parents to our backyard and fed the pup when his father died. Now they have issued a warrant for his arrest. Not a dead or alive warrant, for if he bites a sheep or eats a stillborn calf, do not shoot him or you will suffer severe penalty.

Apparently this beast is known to associate with dogs, livestock, elk and likes people. Should he attempt to feed on our children, USFWS would become very uncomfortable, as they assured us years ago that the big bad wolf did not really eat Little Red Riding Hood or grandma. But if he does, neither you nor I should shoot him. Only the mighty hunter ordained by USFWS is allowed to take action.

I don't think Mr. Wolf knew he was at bat when he struck out in the Upper Green. I doubt he's aware of the consequences of all this huffing and puffing, or the powerhouse he's blowing at. We do. Roping and constraining him is unacceptable.

If you see this renegade, don't take any pictures or call your friends. They say it only makes him more dangerous. I guess we need more brick houses.

Bob McCarty
Boulder

Paper or Plastic?

We all want to do what's good for the environment - so what's the best choice in the checkout line?

One type of bag isn't necessarily better than the other. Paper uses up trees, reducing forest bio-diversity, and produces pollutants during the manufacturing process. Plastic consumes petroleum, which is a limited resource, and may increase the risk of oil spills.

It's what you do with the bag that may matter most. Simply using it twice (taking it back to the store for your next batch of groceries or lining a garbage container with it, for example), reduces its impact on the environment by half. If you do not reuse the bag (whether it be paper or plastic) it should be recycled.

At the recycling center we accept both paper and #2 plastic bags. The #2 plastic bags should be clean and dry. Since the #2 plastic bags are light, we ask that you tie 5 or 6 bags together with another #2 plastic bag to get as much air out as possible. Getting as much air out as possible allows us to put more bags in a smaller space.

Having said that, the absolute best 'green thing' you can do is try to take canvas or other durable, reusable bags with you when you go shopping.

The recycling center is funded with county and private donations, and the money we earn from selling the recyclable commodities. If you are interested in volunteering at the recycling center or would like to get more involved with recycling please call 367-4444.

Susan Kramer
Pinedale

Refugee Correction

Rein in just a second- I gotta clear something up. Maybe I confused the issue when I said I should identify with recent arrivals, and gave you the impression I had felt unwelcome here. I apologize for that- I never said I felt unwelcome here, in fact, Judy and I have never felt anything but acceptance and friendly warmth from this community- county wide. Our Church community is wonderful, our kids are doing great in the school system, and we're meeting a lot of really good people- some of them relatives I haven't known for most of my life because I was up in Jackson and not here. A hundred or so years gives different branches of family time to move around a little. Since the time Charles Allen (my grandcestor) was homesteading in Jackson, several have moved out to California- probably during the dustbowl when everybody else did. The Granola State- land of fruits, nuts and flakes- the people who brought you Richard Nixon, Bonzo, and Haight-Ashbury. Don't Californicate Wyoming (it was Colorado 25 years ago). You're right- it's a bad word, but with 20 million people out there, we probably all have a friend or relation that's "from California".

Maybe it's because of Judy's work in health care or my ancestry in western Wyoming- the reason, if you recall, you wouldn't have me write a "newcomer's column" and rightfully so- but I don't feel uncomfortable here. In fact after over a decade of medical and graduate school in Arizona and Michigan I can't tell you how nice it is to be back home. I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to pick it up back here in the mountains of western Wyoming- there is absolutely nothing on earth like the high country, and it isn't something you can easily communicate. We had a kid living with us for a while from Michigan- where you're lucky to see stars at all- I'd show her this stuff and all she'd do is complain about the cold and the deafening silence. It's never actually quiet in Ann Arbor, and many have forgotten how to just listen to the quiet.

So, again, sorry if I was confusing in last week's column. I empathize with people who feel held out, but certainly haven't felt that here for either my family or myself. Thanks for running this to clear that up.

Russell Nelson
Daniel

Take the Country Back

A confusing development came out of the Sublette County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting last Thursday. The Commission decided to endorse private contracts between private parties, just like they do in Jackson. According to the Sublette County Journal, the Planning and Zoning Commission approved a request by the Jackson Hole Land Trust to amend the Sublette County planning and zoning regulations to allow a landowner to deed his acreage to a land trust. The confusion with the proposed regulation change is that according to testimony at the hearing, between 6000 and 8000 acres of Sublette County is aready in conservation easements owned by land trusts.

The question is if some of Sublette County's land is already controlled by land trusts, why do the County Commissioners need to change the planning and zoning statues to allow Sublette County residents to sell easements to a land trust.

Another question to be answered by the County Commissioners and the Planning and Zoning Commission is since when does our local goverment get involved in endorsing private contracts? The granting of a conservation easement occurs between a private land owner and the purchaser of the easement. Neither the County nor the Planning and Zoning Commission is, or should be, involved in that transaction. Surely Sublette County residents do not want the County Commissioners to decide who they sell all or part of their property to. Yet, the Planning and Zoning Commission have approved the change of a regulation which endorses the sale of land to land trusts. Next the County Commissioners will want to endorse the type of car you buy and the dealer you buy it from.

If Sublette County landowners can already sell conservation easements to land trusts, this regulation change is not needed. Sublette County is not Teton County. Sublette County residents need to take their county back.

I am tired of individuals and groups trying to rule the destiny of Sublette County from the grave. If our forebears had destined our future, what future would we have? The residents need to take the country back.

Dan Budd
Big Piney