Wining, dining
on the coast
Astoria beats
the Perth Heat
INSIDE
SPORTS • 4A
142nd YEAR, No. 256
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2015
ONE DOLLAR
State OKs new enterprise zone
County, Port and Warrenton partnered on tax break effort
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
Businesses looking to build or expand
in Clatsop County have a new incentive:
property tax breaks.
The Oregon Business Development
Department has approved the Clatsop
Enterprise Zone, which will offer prop-
erty tax exemptions on new plants and
HTXLSPHQWIRUWKUHHWR¿YH\HDUVLQUHWXUQ
for job growth and maintaining minimum
employment levels.
Clatsop County, Warrenton and the
Port of Astoria partnered on the en-
terprise zone as a tool to attract new
businesses. The enterprise zone covers
land planners have targeted for devel-
opment, including the Astoria Regional
Airport and the North Coast Business
Park.
Astoria chose not to participate in the
enterprise zone after some on the City
Council had misgivings about partnering
with the Port due to a history of mistrust.
So the Port’s piers in Astoria and proper-
ty at Tongue Point, which Port executives
are eager to redevelop, are not part of the
enterprise zone.
See ZONE, Page 10A
Crossing the Columbia
Scott Somers
Corps
halts bird
culling,
for now
Contractors
prevented from
killing birds now that
chicks have hatched
By KATIE WILSON
EO Media Group
CANNON BEACH — A year re-
moved from the celebrated 50th anni-
versary, the 2015 Sandcastle Contest’s
estimated 10,000 attendees seemed
almost quaint by comparison. Compe-
tition in the Masters division, howev-
er, remained near the Cannon Beach
event’s high-water mark.
:DEL 6DEL WRRN ¿UVW SODFH $ORQJ
with medals and bragging rights, the
10-member team received a check for
$1,200.
ANDREW R. TONRY — For EO Media Group
EAST SAND ISLAND — Con-
tractors for the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers didn’t kill a single dou-
ble-crested cormorant on East Sand
Island near Chinook from June 11 to
June 17.
The Corps, which established a
management plan for the birds ear-
lier this year, says chicks are the rea-
son.
Under that management plan,
the Corps’ contractors, the U.S. De-
partment of Agriculture, Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Services
(APHIS), cannot kill birds that are
provisioning — tending to or pro-
viding for — chicks.
The Corps didn’t receive its dep-
redation permit and record of deci-
sion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, which had to approve taking
birds protected under the Migratory
Bird Treaty Act, until April, and a re-
cord of decision from APHIS until the
end of May. By that time, nesting was
in full swing on East Sand Island.
The cormorants are seasonal vis-
itors; they come to nest, and when
they’re done nesting, they leave.
From May 24 to June 10, howev-
er, the Corps’ contractors, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture Wildlife
Services, shot only 125 double-crest-
ed cormorants and sprayed oil on
eggs in 1,769 nests.
Under the one-year depredation
permit issued byFish and Wildlife,
the Corps’ contractors can kill up to
3,489 double-crested cormorants,
take 5,879 nests and accidentally kill
up to 105 Brandt’s cormorants, which
also nest on the island, and 10 pelag-
LF FRUPRUDQWV ZKLFK VRPHWLPHV À\
nearby, through Jan. 31, 2016. The
permit must be renewed annually.
This is one piece in a larger man-
agement plan. Ultimately, the goal is to
reduce the colony from about 14,000
breeding pairs to 5,600 by 2018.
Now, given the number of provi-
sioning chicks, the Corps is adjust-
ing operations, said Corps spokes-
woman Amy Echols.
“We’re not performing any boat-
based shooting because we don’t
know if one of those birds is help-
ing to take care of chicks,” said Bob
Winters, project manager for the
Corps in a phone interview June 22.
And they’ve held off on any
on-island shooting for now.
“To date we haven’t had any
culling opportunities because most
would occur on the west side be-
cause there’s no chicks present …
but there’s been eagle disturbances
making those birds kind of jumpy,”
Winters said. “They’re not commit-
ted to that portion of the island, yet.”
The portion of the island the dou-
ble-crested cormorants use for nesting
is divided into fenced quadrants and
monitored on the ground and from the
air. Using both observation and aerial
SKRWRJUDSK\$3+,6 LGHQWL¿HV ELUGV
that are not in nesting patterns and
shoots them, Echols and Winters said.
See SANDCASTLE, Page 10A
Spectators photograph Wabi Sabi as the team builds its first-place sand-
castle.
See CULLING, Page 10A
DAMIAN MULINIX — EO Media Group
Deckhand Mark Hoover walks the deck of the Oscar B ferry prior to letting cars aboard at the terminal on Puget Island, Wash. The new
ferry is significantly larger than its predecessor.
Ferry route
a way of life
for some
By DAMIAN MULINIX
EO Media Group
C
ATHLAMET, Wash. — It
isn’t a long ride, but you
can’t really blame people
for wanting to get out and look
around on a sunny day, especially
on the Columbia River.
“This is gorgeous,” said Joy
Cooper, of Portland, as the new
ferry, Oscar B, left the terminal
on Puget Island recently. She last
rode the ferry “years and years
ago” when it was the Wahkiakum
making the trip across the river
to Westport, Ore. The ferry ride
takes all of about 15 minutes, but
driving to get to the same location
would take up to six times as long.
DAMIAN MULINIX — EO Media Group
Cars exit the Oscar B as a line of cars wait to board at the dock in West-
port. It takes about 15 minutes to cross the Columbia River on the ferry.
And with the new, larger Oscar B,
the short sojourn is a pleasure.
“I was totally surprised,” Coo-
per said. “I was amazed that we still
have ferry service, and that it’s as
nice as this. It’s a great tradition.”
The Oscar B is the last ferry
still operating on the Columbia
River. From the Cathlamet area,
the alternatives include driving
east to Longview, crossing the
river and then driving west on
OR-30, which takes about an
hour, or driving west and taking
the Astoria Bridge to Astoria and
driving east on OR-30, which
takes more than 90 minutes.
Neither one is a good option for
someone who works on either
side of the river.
“I used to work over at the mill
in Wauna,” said Ray Stoddard, who,
DVD3XJHW,VODQGUHVLGHQW¿QGVWKH
ferry valuable. “I’ve been riding
UHJXODUO\IRUWKHODVW¿YH\HDUVEXW
I’ve used it off and on most of my
entire life. It’s pretty nice.”
Pete Ringen, director and
county engineer for the Wah-
kiakum County Public Works
Department, said the ferry trans-
ports many commuters who work
at the Wauna mill early in the
morning, and then again around
5 p.m. But there are also many
other travelers just looking for a
scenic shortcut.
“On sunny days there can be
more people that take it on trips
to Astoria or Clatskanie,” he
said. “Saturday and Sunday be-
tween 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. tend to
be busier on summer weekends.”
See FERRY, Page 10A
:DEL6DELWDNHV¿UVWLQVDQGFDVWOHTXHVW
Annual event almost
tranquil compared
to 2014 crowds
By ANDREW R. TONRY
For EO Media Group