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Letters to the editor: DeFazio counters Walden nicely I must take time out of my busy schedule to write a thank you to Congressman Peter DeFazio for his work on a common sense alternative to Greg Walden's fire legislation. Congressman Walden's bill provides no financial support for costly thinning around at risk homes and communities. Furthermore, the bill will accelerate the logging of old-growth forests like the six-foot diameter, 440 year-old BLM tree recently covered on the news. Congressman Walden looked at that stump outside the Medford Rotary meeting and acknowledged that his bill did nothing to prevent logging of those ancient trees. I understand why when I see that the timber industry was the number one contributor to his campaign in the last election. Thanks to Peter DeFazio for putting forth a bill that was sensible and not a boondoggle like Walden's bill. All taxpayers should be proud of Peter DeFazio. We can only hope that as Walden's horrible bill goes to the Senate, Ron Wyden will do something to stop it. Roger Butterfield, Medford Ugly Americans In regards to maximum house size or conspicuous consumption, I see where we Americans appear ugly to the rest of the world. Larry Theis, Ashland Guest forum: Do we need laws to act responsibly? By A. Olins and C. Oswald Ashland Open response to letter from Sid and Karen DeBoer to local homeowners: Thank you for the letter providing your opinion on the proposal to limit home size in the historic district. We now provide our opinion on large homes, and humbly hope that our thoughts might influence others in the future. You spoke of "needs" twice. People need decent housing, clean air and water, health care, etc. They do not need a 10,000 square foot home, particularly when they already have a "wonderful Frank Clark historic home in Ashland." We do not mean to "deride or limit the needs of people with means." We question your concept of need. We appreciate that you "care deeply about our community." Consider that our use of resources affects the entire community: our town, our country, our world. The destruction of one home to provide space to build another is in itself wasteful of resources, and is compounded by the large size of the new home. When one person uses five (or more) times his or her share of resources, supply declines, prices increase, and the impacts on the environment for transportation, energy, and manufacture and disposal of materials affects us all. That the new home is "architecturally significant" does not change this fact. Land in Ashland is at a premium. Three perfectly functional, attractive homes could be built on a 22,000 square foot lot. The community would be better served by more homes for families, not more home for one family. You state that "the rules could force people to gather enough land so they can build the house size they want" (emphasis added). Only those who want (as opposed to need) to build excessively large homes would be "forced" into this position. You state we "should be concerned [about devaluation of our property]." We are far more concerned about the outrageous over-valuation of our property and properties throughout the valley, the environmental and social impacts of excessive consumption, and the future of the planet. You also state "our new home is not the issue - your home is." We beg to differ. The issue is far greater than either of our homes. There currently are few laws against wasting or hoarding resources, and some make the case that there shouldn't be any such laws. But one can hope that people don't need laws to act responsibly and with concern for their fellow humans and the earth. Perhaps one day it will be fashionable to live modestly and lightly upon the earth, and we will look back in disbelief that people once engaged in resource-profligate building practices. The individual choices of billions today impact the world tomorrow. We agree that those with opinions on house size limits, and housing issues in general, should contact the City Council. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -