community
april4
2019
15
P.E.O. Spring Tea and Announcement of Election of Officers
Spring is here so it must be time for the an-
nual P.E.O. Spring Tea. The date this year is Saturday,
April 27, and starts at 1:00 pm at the Cabin in Verno-
nia (Scout Cabin). There will be a light lunch served
- fancy sandwiches, fruit, and irresistible desserts - and
tea, of course, as well as coffee and punch. We will
have special musical entertainment to add to the festive
event.
P.E.O. is an international organization founded
by seven college friends at Iowa Wesleyan College and
is celebrating its 150 th anniversary this year. Now with
6,000 chapters in the United States and Canada and
225,000 members, this Philanthropic Educational Or-
ganization’s mission has remained steady over its his-
tory: women helping women receive higher education.
There are 180 chapters in Oregon alone. The Verno-
nia Chapter, organized in 1945, is a small cog in that
huge wheel, but over the past two decades alone we
have awarded or helped women receive over $60,000
in scholarships. The tea party is one of the fun ways
for the community to help us with that effort.
Admission to the party is $10 for adults and $5
for children 12 and under. Tickets will soon be avail-
able in the Video Department at R&S Market as well
as at the door, but seating is limited so advance pur-
chase is advised. Raffle tickets will be available, too,
for three large baskets: a springtime basket filled with
items to help you shake off the winter gloom; a tea bas-
ket so you can have another party if only for yourself,
and a special basket with our younger guests in mind.
Raffle tickets may be purchased for $1 each or 6 for $5
and may be placed in the receptacle for the basket(s) of
your choice.
While we have fun setting pretty tables and
decorating for a fancy party, there is no “dress code;”
come as dressed up or casual as you wish. That said,
we do love to see the pretty and creative hats many
wear! Don’t have a hat? You can select one from the
“vintage” collection to borrow for the afternoon. This
is a wonderful opportunity for friends, mothers and
daughters, or grandmothers and their grandchildren to
have some special fun together. Men and boys are wel-
come, too!
***
The Vernonia P.E.O. chapter recently elected
its 2019-2020 officers: Sharon Parrow, President;
Patty Buchanan, Vice President; Recording Secretary,
Katy King; Corresponding Secretary, Katie Poetter;
Treasurer, Tobie Finzel; Chaplain, Coni Hodgson; and
Guard, Beth Kintz. Congratulations, all!
UNWC Speaker on Oregon Forest Practices continued from page 9
grow there. Buffers for spraying around schools and trees absorb more carbon, science is now showing
other buildings are just 60 feet in Oregon (around the that older forests are better at capturing and storing
building, not the property line); in California and Idaho carbon. Scientific best practices recommend that trees
buffers are a quarter mile.
should not be harvested until they are 70-90 years old;
• The current Oregon Forestry Practices Act only re- currently most industrial logging is on a 30-40 year
quires the logging industry to provide adjacent land- rotation.
owners with a six month window in which aerial spray- • A 2011-2015 study by Oregon State University found
ing may occur and it is often difficult to find out exactly that logging and wood product harvesting is the great-
which chemicals were sprayed. Gonzales said indus- est cause of carbon emissions in the state of Oregon,
trial logging operations may spray anywhere from five resulting in the release of approximately 35% of all
to 15 different chemicals on steep slopes and in gullies, carbon emissions, more than transportation (23%),
raising concerns that, not only are chemicals contain- residential and commercial (21%), industrial (12%)
ing probable carcinogens drifting in the air for up to and agricultural (5%). Forest fires caused just 4% of
10 miles, but are also working their way down into carbon emissions. Gonzales said those numbers have
drinking water supplies. There is limited data available changed slightly in the years since the study, but the
about how these chemicals interact with each other.
ratios remain mostly the same.
• Aerial spraying is not only impacting public drink-
ing water supplies, but is also harming the ability of
Buffers for spraying around schools and other
a number of businesses to thrive, including fishing
buildings are just 60 feet in Oregon (around the
guides, bed and breakfasts, and most importantly
building, not the property line); in California
organic farms - some very large, with hundreds
and Idaho buffers are a quarter mile.
of employees. The organic industry is one of the
fastest growing economic sectors in Oregon and
nationwide - in some cases aerial spraying is forcing • The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) provides la-
them to destroy product because it is tainted, and even beling to identify wood products that are sustainably
be denied their organic certification. He sited a study harvested for consumers. Oregon has just 4% of its
from 2016 from Penn State Agricultural Economist Ed- forestland in FSC production, compared to Idaho which
ward Jaenicke that shows communities that support the has 15% and California has 12%.
growth of organic businesses have lower poverty rates
Gonzales offered numerous ideas for how to
and higher median annual household incomes – those improve logging and business practices in Oregon to
same benefits are not found in general agricultural ar- protect the environment and also help support a robust
eas.
economy. Among his suggestions:
• Recreation is growing in Oregon and is becoming a • Oregon needs a stronger system of mills to support
strong economic driver, including bird watching, bik- smaller woodland owners
ing, hiking, fishing, and camping, along with busi- • Restrict the export of raw logs to help create more
nesses that support those activities like sporting goods jobs in the U.S.
stores, guide services, microbrews, and restaurants. • Let forests grow longer between harvests to allow for
Gonzales sited a study by Headwaters Economics in more carbon storage
southern Oregon which showed that “quiet recreation” • Protect streams and rivers with larger buffers of intact
is producing more economic benefits than logging in forest
certain areas.
• Encourage biodiversity through selective harvests
• Gonzales said he offers community workshops on and more restrictive herbicide use
accessing FERNS, the Forest-activity Electronic • Buy wood products from
Reporting and Notification System tool provided by the sustainable suppliers cer-
Oregon Department of Forestry. The system is used tified by the FSC
by logging companies to notify adjacent landowners of • Reduce logging on Or-
upcoming logging and when aerial spraying may occur. egon’s public lands
• Trees intake and store carbon in their trunks, bark, • Eliminate conflicts of
branches, root networks, and the soil they grow in; this interest on the Oregon
process is called carbon sequestration. Despite false Board of Forestry
claims by the logging industry that fast-growing young • Designate and preserve
more Oregon lands as wilderness
• Use science and ecological knowledge to manage Or-
egon’s forests and permanently protect remaining old
growth forests
• Revise how Oregon taxes timber corporations, espe-
cially large landholders with over 5,000 acres, and pro-
vide incentives for adhering to best practices and more
sustainable models
“The large logging companies operating in Or-
egon are not sustaining forests, they’re sustaining prof-
its,” said Gonzales. “Almost all the companies that op-
erate in Oregon also operate in neighboring states that
have severely more restrictive logging regulations and
protections. So why is it that Oregonians aren’t getting
the same deal?”
Oregon Wild is currently supporting several
changes to logging policies in the Oregon Legisla-
ture:
• HB 3221 and SB 926 end aerial herbicide spraying
on Oregon’s state lands
• SB 931 updates and improves the FERNS system
and requires companies to provide more complete
and timely information so rural residents can better
protect themselves
• HB 2656 ends tax breaks for clearcutting and invests
in climate smart forestry
• HB 2659 restricts logging practices that damage pub-
lic drinking water
• HB 3044 requires more stringent reporting when ap-
plying herbicides and pesticides from the air
• HB 3042 allows cities and counties to prohibit or reg-
ulate the application of chemicals by aircraft
“We’ve made large, systemic and societal
choices that we need to address,” said Gonzales. “If
we want companies like Weyerhaeuser to go easier on
these lands, we have to recognize that it is going to cost
them money. Our society right now is not willing to
pay for that – we’re not willing to pay for those values
and ecosystem services. We’ve created this capitalist
economic system and forced companies to perform.
We need to shift and look at what values we want to
reward, and how to compensate those values.”
IT’S TAX TIME
Call your LOCAL tax preparer
Notice of Budget Committee Meeting
A public meeting of the Budget Committee of the Columbia County 4-H and
Extension Service District, Columbia County, State of Oregon, to discuss the budget
for the fiscal year July 1. 2019 to June 30, 2020 will be held at the OSU Columbia
County Extension office, 505 N. Columbia River Highway, St. Helens, OR. The meeting
will take place on Wednesday, May 1 st , 2019 at 12:15 pm. The purpose of the meeting
is to receive the budget message and to receive comment from the public on the
budget. This is a public meeting where deliberation of the Budget Committee will take
place. Any person may appear at the meeting and discuss the proposed programs with
the Budget Committee. A copy of the budget document may be inspected or obtained
on or after April 29 th , 2019 at the OSU Columbia County Extension office, 505 N.
Columbia River Highway, St. Helens, OR between the hours of 8:30 am until 4:30 pm.
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