Letter to the Editor:
We really enjoy reading the segments of the history of Cottonwood in commemorating our 150 years. The pictures and stories are very interesting. Thanks to all that are helping with this effort. 
The Jerry Richardson family

Letter to the Editor
The Idaho County Farm Bureau supports the Idaho County Commission in its attempt to protect our tax base and prevent a taking in the overall land in Idaho County. The current lands in question represents 1/5 of all private productive timber within Idaho County.
The original  involvement  in this issue represents forward thinking and a willingness to protect the economic base of Idaho County. For the first time ever a quantified number was attached to an action taken by a federal  agency and what this action would mean to the communities they work in. For far too long, federal agencies have been taking from our economic base and it has not been recognized; the economic analysis commissioned by the Idaho County Commission has shed some light on these circumstances. In quantifiable numbers, any action taken by the Forest Service which does not leave the county whole in its productive land base will result in the loss of jobs and our tax base. Forty thousand acres of private productive timber ground represents 128 jobs, $8,000,000.00 in economic activity and over $90,000.00 in annual property taxes to the county and state. It is time for the Forest Service to recognize its moral and fiduciary responsibilities to the communities they work in.
 Sincerely, Idaho Co. Farm Bureau Board of Directors

To the Editor
Dear Editor,
I want to address the “Lochsa Land Exchange”.This exchange issue is about keeping the tax and productivebase in Idaho County whole.
Most are aware that Idaho County has 5,430,528 acres. Of this acreage, 4,523,385acres, 83.3%has become federal land!
 Once the Federal Government has ownership of our land the tax and production once realized on it are gone forever.  Stop the takings!
Betty Alm

Dear Editor,
I’m sure that you, and the majority of the town, are aware of the incident that took place on the boys’ basketball bus recently, though you may not know the truth of the matter. For the sake of this letter, I’ll simply inform you that one of the boys pushed his genitals into the face of another boy on the bus; the others merely pulled their pants down to pelvic level. Now, if something like this is happening, something about bus travel ought to change and the boys need reprimanded.
In terms of reprimand, I believe the punishment doled out by the administration was not severe enough in relation to the crime in one case, and in the others fit fairly well.
However, as far as bus travel, the boys are being separated from the girls. Now isn’t the point of changing bus travel so that things like this will stop? As far as I’m aware, yes, yet separating the boys from girls won’t end this, merely ensure that if some boys being jousting with their genitals, few girls will see, and vice versa. The reason this happened in the first place, aside from general stupidity, is insufficient supervision. Chaperones for every bus trip I’ve been on sit in the front seats and face forward almost constantly, missing most everything that happens on the bus, something students have capitalized on. If incidents like this are going to be stopped, chaperones must stop neglecting their duties and spread out among the students to supervise more effectively.
Something I suspect most of the community is unaware of, however is that incidents far more severe than that which occurred on the bus have been happening at the school for at least as long as I have been here. Boys in my class have had other men’s genitals placed on their facial area almost daily in weight lifting classes, and freshmen guys in sports endure sexual harassment of the same, and sometimes greater, intensity, something which I believe is called hazing.
More than bus travel, something about the school’s, and the coach’s policies need to be altered. In regards to this, I claim to have no answers; I ask only that the school change something about this situation so that future students needn’t suffer this. Because unless something changes, this trend will continue to be part of male culture at Prairie High School for countless years, just as it has been for my time at Prairie.
This past week was anti-bullying week at the high school, and I’m sue many of you would agree with me that sexual harassment is an extreme form of bullying, and one that needs to be stamped out. When children are sent to school, that school assumes legal responsibility for both their actions and their well being, and currently, many students’ well being is in jeopardy because not actions have been taken that will stop this chronic pattern of sexual harassment. I ask only how long it will be until Prairie High School faces a scandal similar to Penn State.
To fix the bus problem, simply spread out the chaperones on the bus so they can monitor the students more effectively. As to the sexual harassment that has somehow become integrated with the school’s male culture, I don’t claim to know how to fix it, but I do know that the administration must take relevant steps to stamp this problem out and make Prairie High School a safe place for its students once again.
Sincerely,
Mckenzie Candalot 

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