EDITORIAL: Volunteers and veterans trump cold weather any day

Posted 5/21/15

Here we are at the end of May, and it’s 20-30 degrees cooler than average with more rain than usual, too. Sure, rain is great for crops, but below-freezing temperatures aren’t and neither cold weather nor rain do any favors for bringing tourists …

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EDITORIAL: Volunteers and veterans trump cold weather any day

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Thumbs down to the weather — Mother Nature has some serious explaining to do between the recent tornado, hail storms, cold temperatures, and the rain that consistently falls on the weekends yet somehow is nowhere to be found in places that need it.

Here we are at the end of May, and it’s 20-30 degrees cooler than average with more rain than usual, too. Sure, rain is great for crops, but below-freezing temperatures aren’t and neither cold weather nor rain do any favors for bringing tourists to the county or participants to outdoor events.

Thumbs down to tourists getting themselves into dangerous situations. Sometimes it’s not their fault; other times, it’s disregard for common sense.

So, here’s some common sense advice: Heed road-closure signs, don’t mob around mama bears with cubs on a bridge, don’t take selfies with bison, and do watch your step around 200-foot ravines.

The bears on the bridge incident in Yellowstone last month was not intentional, merely an unexpected turn from the mama bear, according to a video posted on the Yellowstone National Park’s Facebook page on May 12. Still, please observe from a distance and don’t go jogging alongside the bears.

Meanwhile, a Massachusetts driver and an Iowan passenger had to be rescued in late April by Park County’s first responders from the Beartooth Highway — taking those responders away from their families and from duties other than saving two people who decided the rules didn’t apply to them.

To the girl who was hospitalized recently for attempting to take a selfie with a bison: This isn’t a Disney movie. Wild animals are just that — wild — and should be viewed from a safe distance. Moose and bison can be just as dangerous as bears, and even those cute Bambis have been known to rear up and kick.

Thumbs down to the illegal killing of a grizzly bear. The grizzly was shot and killed in the Shoshone National Forest west of Cody, about 20 yards off the Pahaska Trail and just past Sam Berry Meadows, around the beginning of May.

Wyoming Game and Fish and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are seeking information about the incident.

Grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem still are listed among endangered species, and an illegal killing doesn’t help the case for getting them delisted.

We assume the bear may have been killed for being a nuisance or because of a perceived threat — or it may have been the victim of someone who simply was out to kill a grizzly.

While it is legal to shoot a grizzly when your life is on the line, the incident must be reported as soon as possible.

Instead of shooting a grizzly, wildlife experts recommend using bear spray, which they say is as effective, or more effective than a gun, and it is not lethal to the animal.

If a bear is somewhere it shouldn’t be, or if it is behaving in threatening ways, when possible, call authorities and ask that it be relocated — it’s easier and safer than shooting the bear yourself, and it won’t get you into trouble.

Thumbs up to community service and residents helping one another. Last week, the Flowers family re-shingled a Powell resident’s garage roof for free, and they barely knew him.

John Flowers and his sons, Wilson, Eisaac and Gareth, acted as though it was not a big deal, but that level of volunteerism is almost unheard of. Cleaning up highways, sand-bagging for a flood and caring for animals at the shelter are some common ways of helping out; major construction projects, not so much.

It has been a few years since the movie “Pay it Forward” was in theaters, but the idea is pretty simple: do something nice for someone, and they’ll go on to do something nice for someone else. We’re not saying we should all go out and re-shingle garages, but if we were all just a little bit more like the Flowers family, the world would be a much better place.

Thumbs up to veterans. Memorial Day is almost here, a good reminder that we should always appreciate the sacrifices our veterans have made. We don’t pretend to understand what it’s like to serve in the military, but we’re glad there are people out there who choose to uproot their lives for multiple years and serve their country.

There are several events happening in the area for Memorial Day this weekend, so put the barbecue aside for an hour or two to go check them out and thank a vet.

Thumbs up to our local graduates and young award-winners. There must be something in the water, because the list of local youth accomplishments grows longer every time we check our inboxes. Dozens of students are graduating from high school this weekend, more graduated from Northwest College last weekend, and it’s starting to feel like being exceptional is the norm for many of Powell’s students.

Whether it’s athletics, academics, or unique things such as building robots, our local youth are doing it better than most across the board.

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