10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015
Photo courtesy of Glenn Lamb
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
The Astoria Public Library and Waldorf Hotel are seen
from the roof of The Daily Astorian office Tuesday.
Council: ‘It’s not
going to happen
unless the whole
town is behind it’
got a lot of solid value there,”
said Osborn, who told the
“Nobody cares about this council he has been drafting
more than Mayor LaMear plans for a melded library
does. Nobody has been on and hotel.
this for as long as Mayor
LaMear said she has
LaMear” has, Herzig said. “If “grave doubts” but did not
she’s willing to step back and object to looking at Osborn’s
say, ‘Maybe we need to go idea.
a different direction.’ I think
Councilor Russ Warr ini-
that’s incredible on her part.” tially warned that it would be
Other councilors also a “real slap in the face” to the
welcomed LaMear’s propos- library board for the council
al to separate the fates of the to step away from the library
library and the Waldorf. The renovation plan. The library
library’s long-standing prob- board had recommended the
lems, which include aging renovation plan after extensive
infrastructure and a lack of study and public feedback.
accessibility for the disabled,
“My fear is that we’re
have been overshadowed going to get into a position
recently by the attention on where we’re not ever going
saving the hotel.
to renovate the library or do
anything with the Merwyn
Back to the Waldorf Hotel because it’s going to
But in the course of a get so messed up that no-
nearly two-hour discussion, body’s going to want to
councilors circled back to touch it,” he said.
where they started and were
Yet Warr said he is interest-
unable to untangle the library ed in seeing Osborn’s idea for
and the Waldorf.
a blended library and hotel.
Councilors said they
David Oser, who serves
would also entertain an idea on the library board, said af-
from Ted Osborn, the presi- terward that the library reno-
dent of the Lower Columbia vation plan does not have the
Preservation Society and a necessary support from the
retired architect, to expand community.
the library into the basement
Several observers have
DQG¿UVWÀRRURIWKH:DOGRUI complained that the renova-
DQG XVH WKH XSSHU ÀRRUV RI tion plan was crafted with the
the hotel for housing.
presumption that the Waldorf
The preservation society would be demolished and
has led the campaign to save the library’s budget and staff
the Waldorf, which preserva- would be not be increased,
tionists view as an example which at the time restricted
of Late Commercial with the options available.
Renaissance detailing and
A new or renovated li-
an important component of brary will need both public
the city’s historic downtown. and private money to suc-
The hotel, built in 1926, was FHHG DQG ¿QDQFLQJ ZRXOG
closed for health and safety OLNHO\EHGLI¿FXOWLIWKHFRP-
code violations in 1989.
munity is divided.
“Sure you have to gut the
“It’s not going to happen
library, you have to gut the unless the whole town is be-
Merwyn, but then you’ve hind it,” Oser said.
Continued from Page 1A
Klickitat County rancher Bill Giersch sold hundreds of acres of his property to the Columbia Land Trust in 2001, said
Columbia Land Trust Executive Director Glenn Lamb, after rebuffing efforts by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to
make it a wildlife refuge.
Forum: Despite progress, there’s much more work to do
Continued from Page 1A
holding on average between 500
and 1,000 acres, Lamb said. The
land trust is working with the
Washington Farm and Forestry
Association to create a program
to help families with increasing
land costs and no successors to
conserve their land and get reve-
nue from it.
Klickitat County rancher Bill
Giersch, distrusted the govern-
ment but loved and cared for his
land, Lamb said. He eventually
sold hundreds of acres along the
Klickitat River in south-central
Washington to Columbia Land
Trust in honor of his wife Mary
Giersch’s wishes.
Frank Glenn IV, a fourth-gen-
eration cranberry farmer from
Cranguyma Farms on the Long
Beach (Wash.) Peninsula asked
for help preserving 3.5 miles of
untouched forests that was to
be divided among his siblings.
With help from $1 million in do-
nations from a woman in Flor-
ida and another $900,000 from
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Glenn Lamb, executive director of the Columbia Land Trust,
spoke to a full room at the Columbia Forum Thursday.
Portland Trail Blazers owner
Paul Allen, Lamb said, the land
trust was able to buy and pre-
serve the land.
The land trust takes in about
$1 million in donations annually
from about 3,000 people. But
with donated land, he added,
it’s able to conserve about $30
worth of land for every $1 do-
nated.
But despite all the progress,
Lamb said, there’s much more
work to do.
Marbled murrelet popula-
tions are still decreasing by 10
percent per year, he said, and
regulations meant to protect
them are harming rural econo-
mies.
“Its time to move past
the antagonism of the tim-
ber-salmon wars,” Lamb said,
calling for a common vision,
possibly informed by the cul-
tures of Native Americans who
have lived with the land for
thousands of years.
After observing a moment
of silence for Ray Gardner, for-
mer chairman of the Chinook
Indian Nation who died Feb.
3, Lamb recounted “The Big
Promise,” a story told to him by
a member of the Umatilla tribe
about how to strike a delicate
balance.
In the story, the creator sent
the coyote down from the top
of the mountains to the river to
ask the animals of the world for
gifts in the creation of humans.
In exchange for those gifts, hu-
mans must promise to protect
the animals and nature, now
and for future generations.
All people have a creation
story, Lamb said, and all people
are connected to the earth.
“The answer lies in support-
ing the entire fabric of life that
surrounds us every day.”
Log ship: Trip has been daunting for ship’s crew
Continued from Page 1A
The Bunun Fortune will
arc north along the Pacif-
nine months. The negotiations ic, said Li, passing by the
have soured recently, with Aleutian Islands and the
PMA members shutting down Bering Sea. A trip to pick
all West Coast vessel loading up logs usually takes about
the weekend of Feb. 7 and two months, he said, and the
more recently on Thursday, crew’s contract is for eight to
Saturday, Sunday and Mon- nine months.
day.
The log ship African
The trip has been espe- Swan is expected by tonight,
cially daunting for Li’s crew, Port Executive Director Jim
which he said never got to Knight said.
leave the vessel because they
Meanwhile,
President
didn’t have immigrant visas. Barack Obama has sent Sec-
With the two to three weeks retary of State Tom Perez to
HDFK ZD\ DFURVV WKH 3DFL¿F California to mediate con-
and the two weeks in Astoria, tract negotiations between the
the crew will have spent about ILWU and the PMA. Long-
two months straight on the shoremen have been without a
vessel by the time it reaches contract since July 1, as nego-
China.
tiations have drug on for more
Li said he lives in the Fu- than nine months.
jian province in southeastern
China, a long way from Bei-
jing, which he added is the
only place Chinese can get im-
PLJUDQWYLVDVPDNLQJLWGLI¿-
cult to get the designation.
EDWARD STRATTON — The Daily Astorian
Port of Astoria Executive Director Jim Knight, right, pre-
sented Capt. Wang You Li with an Oregon-shaped plaque
commemorating the Bunun Fortune, which was complet-
ed in Imabari, Japan, in November and made its maiden
voyage to Astoria earlier this month.
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The watchdog role
of the Oregon
Attorney General
March 3rd
Ellen Rosenblum
Rosenblum is Attorney General of Oregon
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