area news
PCC Students Assist
Vernonia with River
Cleanup Projects
About 150 Portland
Community College students
spent the afternoon of September
17 in Vernonia, planting trees,
dinator. Paul had heard details of
the December 3, 2007, flood from
a colleague who lives in Verno-
nia and wanted to do something
to help out the town’s residents
as well as give PCC students a
chance to do something for the
community.
According to Peyton, the
project was a great success, with
the students getting some great
work experience and the UNWC
getting some much needed vol-
unteer labor assistance.
clearing brush, and picking up
garbage near Rock Creek and the
Upper Nehalem River.
Maggie Peyton, Direc-
tor of the Upper Nehalem Wa-
tershed Council (UNWC), wel-
comed the students’ leaders, as
they completed a service learning
project. The river clean-up proj-
ect, to help Vernonia complete
its comeback from a devastating
flood in 2007, was led by Chris-
tine Paull, Rock Creek Campus
Women’s Resource Center coor-
What’s Happening at
Stub Stewart State Park?
By Heather Currey
As summer draws to a close
and we gear up for another year,
some may wonder: How has this
year gone so fast? Weren’t we just
buried in three feet of snow?
Remember peering out the
window last winter and seeing a gi-
ant snowdrift? That feeling of being
trapped? Well, a good antidote-- and
an inexpensive one-- is to make sure
you get outside whenever you can!
A visit to Stub Stewart State Park
may be just the ticket.
Many Vernonians and visi-
tors alike have used the Banks-Ver-
nonia State Trail, but how many of
you pass by Stub Stewart State Park
every day with every intention of
stopping in sometime? Maybe some
of you stopped in for a visit after
we opened in 2007? Come see us
now. Even in two years, the park has
changed and we now offer meeting
halls and a picnic shelter.
Looking for something a
little more active? Our 17-mile trail
system offers loops and lengths ap-
propriate for all ages. Wildlife and
birds are everywhere, if you look for
them-- especially at Boomscooter
Pond and Beaver Pond. Come see
everything from alligator lizards to
white-tail deer.
Sit quietly for a while and
the wildlife may come to you!
Want human interaction?
Our Rangers are ready to answer
your questions about the park, wild-
life and recreational opportunities.
Is a naturalist-led program more
your style? No problem. Call us!
Schedule a guided hike or Junior
Ranger program for your family,
club, or class with our park natural-
ist.
Take some time to breathe
deeply in your outdoor spaces (that’s
good). Your Oregon state parks are
just a breath away and offer all kinds
of things to do, even if you can only
escape for a moment.
You can reach the park
naturalist, Heather Currey, at 503-
324-0606 x223 or Heather.Currey@
state.or.us. For reservation informa-
tion, contact Reservations Northwest
at 1-800-452-5687 or the web www.
oregonstateparks.org.
Benefit for
Darrold
Mushatt
Sun. October 11th
4-7 PM
at the
Blue House Cafe
Come enjoy live
music and order food
off the menu while
helping Darrold who is
in need of a kidney.
All proceeds go to NTAF
Northwest Kidney Transplant
Fund in honor of
Darrold Mushatt.
october
2009
UNWC Welcomes Back Salmon
7
Part I: Still Working to Protect Our Rivers, Streams and Fish
By Scott Laird
They have been observing stream habitat, count-
ing coho, steel head and juvenile chinook, seeing
where they are clustering, and looking at how
those high temperatures are affecting the juveniles
as they seek refuge from the heat.
This past winter, staff and the Board of Di-
rectors met for a three-day workshop and worked
on Consensus Building, Conflict Resolution and
Holistic Financial Management. Peyton recently
moved into an office in the Vernonia Community
Learning Center, just across the courtyard from
her old office. One year ago, she was forced to
move the UNWC office to her home when the city
sold the building that housed their operation for
numerous years, and a suitable new space could
not be located. “I’m happy to be back here in
town,” said Peyton.
One other important role that Peyton and
the UNWC have played is in evaluating flood
mitigation-- what is being done in our community
to understand what caused the flooding in 2007,
and what might be done to make the community
better prepared in the event of another high water
event. “I feel I was able to be a valued contributor
to that process,” says Peyton. “I feel like I was
heard when I talked about the state of the water-
shed, and what is contributing to the flooding.”
Peyton says she knows there is more work to be
done, but there have been positive things that have
been done. “The storm water management plan,
and the flood modeling that will be done for the
City of Vernonia by the US Army Corp of Engi-
neers will be helpful. And the LIDAR flights over
the County that will be used in that modeling, and
could be used at a later date if we are able to pur-
sue the Natural Valley Storage concept, was a very
positive step forward. “
“The flood, for me, pointed out that all
these enhancement projects we work on are great--
and they’re making improvements holistically
across the watershed over time-- but they are not
actually getting at the true decline of the health of
the watershed,” says Peyton about her continued
concerns. “The health of the watershed-- the veg-
etative cover, the state of the cover, and it’s ability
to hold water and release water in a timely manner
as opposed to just flash flooding during a major
rain or snow event, its capacity to absorb and cre-
ate a buffer is diminished by the current condition
of the watershed.”
Maggie Peyton, Director of the Upper
Nehalem Watershed Council (UNWC) is still hard
at work, trying to find ways to protect, preserve
and enhance the quality of Vernonia-area rivers
and streams.
After a difficult year and a half, that in-
cluded a major flood, a layoff last winter, and loss
of their headquarters, the UNWC is again back to
work. This October, the UNWC will again be a
key collaborator in the Vernonia Salmon Festival,
the annual fall festival that celebrates the return
of salmon to our region, as well as the fall harvest.
The UNWC will provide educational materials,
salmon-viewing opportunities, and Claudia Chi-
nook, the giant salmon.
This past summer, the UNWC contracted
to complete three significant projects, two juvenile
salmon presence habitat surveys-- one of the East
Fork Nehalem and the other 274 miles of the upper
Nehalem River and a third project removing two
salmon passage barriers on Tweedle Road in Clat-
sop County near Jewel. These types of stream as-
sessment and restoration projects require partner-
ships with multiple agencies, partnerships that the
UNWC, and Peyton in particular, have excelled at
building. Peyton and UNWC staff have worked
together with county and state road departments,
various contractors, as well as the Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Envi-
ronmental Quality, Bureau of Land Management,
and many other government and local agencies.
Funding usually is acquired through grants that
UNWC writes, and they then become the project
manager and fiscal adminstrators. “We are really
starting to build a cohesive group that is dedicated
to getting these projects all the way to comple-
tion,” says Peyton. “All the partners are showing
up and helping all the way through with identify-
ing, permitting, project development, engineering,
contracting, implementation and reporting. That
makes it great for us.” Those past successful part-
nerships have made funders more willing to assist
with new projects proposed by UNWC.
This past summer, UNWC did some
stream survey work on the Upper Nehalem River
and on the East Fork of the Nehalem, and contin-
ues to monitor local stream health. “We recorded
the highest water temperatures in the Nehalem that
we’ve seen in fifteen years, eighty-four degrees,
during that really hot stretch in early August,” Next Month-- Part II: A Closer Look at a UNWC
said Peyton. “We’ve never seen it do that before.” Project
Property Reappraisal Underway in
Rural Vernonia, Mist and Birkenfeld
verifying the physical condition of buildings
and accessories and any additions or deletions
to the property since it was last inspected. Most
of these inspections will be conducted from the
exterior of the property and the appraiser will
only attempt to contact property owners to veri-
fy substantial changes to the property.
All properties must be ap-
praised at 100% of Real Market Value
Don’t miss this once a year
each year as of January 1 based on
Oregon State Statutes. This is usually
seafood special at
done by market trending, a process of
Blue House Cafe
analyzing property sales through the
year and trending properties based on
Saturday, October 3rd
the sales study, but must be supple-
mented with periodic physical reap-
praisals to recognize the changes that
may have taken place over the years.
For the majority of property owners,
the reappraisal will not affect their tax
assessed value, unless there have been
major changes to the property since the
last inspection.
Salmon platter-$14.75
If you have any ques-
Wild salmon baked in Chardonnay
tions or comments regarding the
with tarragon, served with ziti
reappraisal, you may call the Co-
pasta, spinach and walnut salad.
lumbia County Assessor’s Office at
This unique platter will be served
503-397-2240 or email sue.poling@
from 4:00 - 8:00 PM.
co.columbia.or.us.
The Columbia County Assessor’s Of-
fice is presently in the process of reappraising
all residential, farm and forest properties in the
rural Vernonia area, and in Mist and Birken-
feld for the 2010-11 tax roll. The last time the
majority of these properties were physically
inspected was in 1989-90. Appraisers will be
Salmon Festival
