WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2018 ❚ SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM
PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK
Warm winter, low snowpack makes drought likely
Zach Urness
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
One of the warmest winters in Willamette Valley
history could tilt Oregon toward drought next summer.
Temperatures from November through January
were the 12th warmest in Salem records stretching
back to 1892.
The result has been most of the state’s precipitation
falling as rain instead of snow in the Cascade Range,
where snowpack is an anemic 35 to 40 percent of nor-
mal.
“The lack of snowpack is concerning, and without a
cool, wet spring drought development is likely in parts
of the state,” said Kathie Dello, climatologist with Ore-
gon State University.
January’s average temperature of 45.7 degrees was
4.5 degrees warmer than normal in Salem, officials at
the National Weather Service said. November was also
warmer than normal, while December was a half de-
gree cooler.
“We’ve had a high-pressure system over the West
Coast or just off the coast for a good chunk of winter,”
National Weather Service meteorologist Colby Neu-
man said. “That’s led to fewer storm systems than nor-
mal.”
Neuman pointed out that Oregon just missed a few
cold storm systems that have blanketed Washington,
Montana and Idaho in normal or above-normal snow.
“If the direction of the storms coming from the Gulf
of Alaska changed just a little bit, a lot could change in
February and March,” Neuman said.
But if things stay the way they are, a situation simi-
lar to 2014, ’15 and ’16 could play out, with summer
drought conditions bringing issues for wildlife and for-
est health.
“Water managers will need to carefully evaluate wa-
ter supplies this summer if snow and spring rains fail
to bring relief,” said Julie Koeberle, Snow Survey hy-
Mount Hood is seen in 2014, a little short on snow.
See DROUGHT, Page 2A
ZACH URNESS/STATESMAN JOURNAL
Wildfires slow number
of visitors to Oregon’s
outdoors in 2017
Kevin Lierman
Chris Mayou
Justin Much
Silverton
Progressives
host 7-speaker
potluck
Justin Much Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Onlookers watch the Eagle Creek Fire on September 4. U.S. FOREST SERVICE
Crater Lake day-use
visitors
Oregon Coast day-use visitors
711,749
8
446,516
See POTLUCK, Page 2A
20.9 million
30
7
29.6 million
35
25
IN MILLIONS
6
5
4
3
20
15
10
2
5
1
0
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
0
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
IN HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS
Sustainable energy
being surveyed in
Silverton
USA TODAY NETWORK
SOURCE: Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
Justin Much Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Oregon state parks visitation
50.8 million
Day-use visitors
60
41.5 million
38.6 million
50
40
30
SOURCE: Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
0
2003
20
2002
Turns out, the only thing that
will keep Oregonians from the out-
doors are catastrophic wildfires.
The number of people visiting
Oregon’s outdoor destinations
showed a slight dip during 2017,
due largely to the state’s active
wildfire season, according to state
and national parks officials.
Officials began 2017 expecting
another record-shattering season,
following four years of explosive
growth. August's solar eclipse was
expected to bring millions.
“There was a little bit of relief
that we didn’t continue on the same
record-breaking pace,” Oregon
Parks and Recreation Department
spokesman Chris Havel said. “It
gives us a chance to catch our
breath and catch up.”
Oregon’s state parks system had
roughly 50.8 million visits in 2017, a
slight drop-off from the previous
year’s record of 51.7 million.
The biggest declines were at
parks in the Columbia River Gorge
and Central Cascade Range, due
mostly to wildfires, Havel said.
A similar trend was observed at
many, but not all, national parks,
monuments, national forests and
wilderness areas across Oregon.
Crater Lake National Park had
711,749 visits in 2017, down from the
Area state park visitation
IN MILLIONS
Zach Urness Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Silverton skies gave no hint of winter at midday
Feb. 7, where some conversations at Live Local Coffee
House took place outside on the deck perched over
Silver Creek.
Brighter skies in a more figurative sense was the
topic with Chris Mayou of the Silverton Progressives
. The group formulated in recent years, primarily
consisting of Bernie Sanders supporters. Following
the 2016 election, it continued with a local focus,
gaining momentum and members from a wider spec-
trum.
“Our membership is broader now than just people
who supported Bernie,” Mayou said. “But we are pri-
marily liberal and progressive.”
She said the grassroots element is vital to social
change, and shared a recent OPB segment about
women's suffrage as an example.
"That's where change always starts, because the
people in power are comfortable where they are,"
Mayou said.
The group meets twice monthly; a 10:30 a.m. cof-
fee meeting on the fourth Thursday of the month and
a first Wednesday evening meeting. The meetings
USA TODAY NETWORK
See WILDFIRES, Page 2
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Should Silverton be more proactive when it comes
to handling its energy needs and usage?
Members of an emerging local advocacy group,
“Sustainable Silverton,” presented the idea to Silver-
ton City Council on Monday, Feb. 5, and proposed a
plan to study it.
The council was receptive.
“We would like to see Silverton jump on the
chance to leverage the growing energy sector to our
greatest advantage by actively selecting the strate-
gies and tactics that we will employ to be prepared for
and get the most from these opportunities,” said
Elyce Brown, one of Sustainable Silverton's mem-
bers.
Brown said clean energy projects and their bene-
fits are not new to Silverton, noting a solar park west
of the city, water purification ponds above Pettit Lake
and electric vehicle charging stations at Roth's. She
said encouraging such projects empowers the city in
making its own energy decisions rather than being
pulled along by the tide.
She said the group also hoped the city would ac-
knowledge that climate change and energy concerns
are a valid concern.
“We are also asking the city to acknowledge that
both the climate and the energy sector are changing;
on the one hand, we are facing reduced snowpack,
See SUSTAINABLE, Page 2A