That's very thoughtful of Tedosaurus. Does he breathe?

Oh great Jack. I lived in the valley for several years. I had to deal with a few grass seed farmers and found some them to be the most greedy, self serving lot I had ever seen. They denuded the habitat for all type wildlife by getting rid of hedge rows because weed seeds would diminish the purity of a minor portion of their crop. There isn’t a lot of wildlife that eats grass seed. So no pheasants, dove, quail or rabbits to hunt in those areas. Most of the farmers although really care about the environment, habitat and ecosystems. So I am a hunter disappointed with the agricultural practices of a few farmers. But my disappointment pales in comparison of the smug yuppies that move to their hobby farms and mandating urban values to rural communities, or city folks like you that never got their hands dirty doing any type of labor excepting planting some ornamental flowers. Field burning was an established efficient agricultural practice to rid the fields of insect and weed infestation. The state regulators screwed up one year and there was a tragic fatal accident on the I-5. Leave the farmers alone. So what if a few Eugene communists eat smoke. Heck they inhale quantum quantities of marijuana in relation to some field burning remnants.

No one deserves to be poisoned by industrial smoke.

And the number of people who actually benefit from the burning is ridiculously small.

After the I-5 Massacre, we were told that life as we know it would end if burning were cut way back. Those were all falsehoods, as decades the ensuing decades have proven.

Once upon a time, most of the grass seed fields in the Willamette Valley were used to produce food crops. But that went away and so did the canning industry when the market for premium grass seed grew and that resulting from home owners demanding PGA quality lawns.

The farmers loved it. No more problems with berries to pick, cauliflower to rot or irrigation water to pump. All they need to do with grass seed is to plant the field and then for years to come just pour on the Dow, Monsanto, Chevron and money flows into their bank accounts.

Our choice now is to either eat smoke or suffer tax base loss resulting from depreciation of homes troubled with quack-grass syndrome.

When my face blows up like Jerry Lewis's, I turn south and thank the Lord that Oregon's grass seed growers can buy their kid a Hummer for their HS graduation.

I like having the grass seed for my yuppie lawn. A few pansies think there going to live forever cry about a few days of haze but yet it's o.k. when its wildfires ravaging forests. How bout a compromise? More forest thining like Senator Wyden advocates to control forest fires better and fewer grass seed burning days. A win, win.

Bob, you are correct. The enviro-whiners cry and moan about the smoke, but forest fires put out 100 to 1000 times the smoke. And it is true, you never hear any liberal whine about 2nd hand smoke from somebody's bong at the Country Fair.

Valley smoke can and is being managed. Besides, it is good work for the illegals that need jobs to feed their families.

Don't shut down the grass seed industry just cause you let a little smoke get into your eyes.

From a former windrower and combine driver.