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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015
Western snowy plover nest found
in Nehalem Bay State Park spit
A surprise sighting of a
pair of western snowy plovers
nesting on the spit south of
Nehalem Bay State Park has
Oregon State Parks staff on
“bird alert.” It also means some
changes for beachgoers on the
two-mile stretch of beach south
of the park’s day-use area.
“This is early in the year
for snowy plovers to be nest-
ing,” said Oregon Parks and
Recreation Wildlife Biologist
Vanessa Blackstone, who dis-
covered the nest Friday. “It’s
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time in 30 years that we have
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supports all the hard work
Oregonians have done to help
this species survive.” Other
adult male and female plovers
have been seen along the spit
in recent days as well.
The western snowy plover
is a species protected by both
federal and state statute. They
nest in dry open sand, in tiny,
shallow scrapes that are very
Submitted
Well-camouflaged eggs in a plover nest on the Nehalem Spit.
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nests easy to miss (or step on),
but the bird will abandon its
eggs if disturbed too frequently.
Sightings of nests prompt
special precautions in desig-
nated snowy plover manage-
ment areas such as the south-
ern portion of the Nehalem
spit. Visitors will see signs on
the dry sand in these shorebird
conservation areas. This also
means that all activities on
the dry sand will be curtailed
until the end of the nesting
season Sept. 15. People and
horseback riders are welcome
to walk along the wet sand on
the entire spit, but dogs, even
on leash, must use the three
miles of beach north of the
park’s day-use area. Driving
is already prohibited on the
spit. As with dogs, bicycles--a
kind of nonmotorized vehi-
cle under Oregon law — are
only allowed north of the area
during the nesting season.
OPRD spokesman Chris
Havel said, “We’re asking the
public to respect any directions
they may get from rangers, or
from signs and designated
areas.” He emphasized that
public recreation restrictions
happen only in those areas tar-
geted as special plover habitat,
and only in nesting season.
“If a plover pair nests out-
side the targeted beaches, we
protect the nest, but public use
of the beach doesn’t change.”
On the north coast, approxi-
mately 5 1/2 miles of riverside
or ocean beach divided among
three areas are part of a snowy
plover management area. The
Nehalem Spit management
area is approximately two miles
long. The other two areas are
portions of the Necanicum and
Submitted
An adult western snowy plover on the Nehalem Spit.
Clatsop spits. More details can
be found at bit.ly/wsplover.
Videos, photos, and other
updates of the new nest will
be posted online. The park
will present interpretive pro-
grams about plovers through
the summer.
OPRD is legally responsi-
ble for managing recreation
on Oregon’s ocean shore. The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice oversees the Endangered
Species Act, and thus the sta-
tus of the western snowy plo-
ver. OPRD’s legal agreement
with the USFWS, the Habitat
Conservation Plan, spells out
how to help the plover popu-
lation recover.
In 2014, 338 adult plo-
vers called Oregon home, an
increase of approximately 10
percent over 2013’s estimate
of 304 adults. 2014 was also a
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with 272 chicks surviving to
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City Lumber builds on 111 years of success in Astoria
By MIKE WILLIAMS
EO Media Group
ASTORIA — At least one
North Coast business has com-
mitments 90 years in the future
when the company will be
more than 200 years old. City
Lumber’s owners made the
commitment as a gesture, but
Jeff and Greg Newenhof say
it’s a distinct possibility.
“We’ve committed to 2105,”
Jeff said. “City Lumber spon-
sored the celebration for the
grand opening (of the original
Astoria City Hall in 1905). In
the centennial in 2005, we spon-
sored the celebration for the
hundred-year anniversary of the
building, and I think we com-
mitted to sponsoring it in 2105.”
The brothers joke that they
don’t anticipate being around
unless cryogenics makes some
important advances, but City
Lumber itself? Your descen-
dants’ descendants should look
for a banner or digital display or
hologram or whatever technol-
ogy comes up with bearing the
City Lumber name and logo at
the bicentennial celebration.
The company was founded
in 1904 as City Lumber and
Box Co. by three different com-
panies to sell lumber and boxes
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The Newenhofs became the
fourth owners in 1975 when Jeff
and Greg’s parents, Jerry and
Nancy, bought the business.
“It basically started as a
lumberyard and we added a lot
of hardware stuff upstairs, light
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Greg said.
“It comes from Dad’s
background,” Jeff added. “He
worked for a company called
Pay ’n’ Pak stores. … He got
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bring women into the store. So
lighting, home decor, wallpaper
— all that stuff helped bring
women into the store.”
They’ve also added rent-
al tools and a boom truck and
another with a forklift to make
deliveries a little smoother.
Competition
There were 10 lumberyards
when the Newenhofs bought
City Lumber started in 1904 as City Lumber and Box Co.
Technology
Photos by JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Jeff and Greg Newenhof say the company’s future looks bright.
City Lumber in 1975, now
there are three.
Asked how the company
has managed to adapt to the
changing environment and sur-
vive where others have failed,
Greg says simply, “Work hard.”
“When Home Depot came
into the marketplace, people
were closing their stores be-
cause they were so paranoid
about it,” Jeff said. “Now the
industry’s had some time to
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we did is change our suppliers.
We went from buying from an
independent distributor to Do It
Best.”
The lumberyard cooperative
gives the store better depth of
products to offer and other ad-
vantages.
They heard varying esti-
mates of how Home Depot’s
arrival would affect their busi-
ness.
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see a 25 percent drop in busi-
ness for a year, then get it all
back,’” Jeff said. “Second
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cent drop in business for three
months, then get it all back.’
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cent drop for a month, then get
it all back.’ First month they
opened, our sales went up.”
Home Depot opened in
Warrenton in September 2008;
the recession hit shortly after.
“It was like a light switch,”
Jeff said. “It affected everybody
throughout the Northwest. We
just sucked it up. Hard work’s
the key.”
hanging it up though, because
we enjoy it.”
Jeff’s children, an 11-year-
old and a 9-year-old, aren’t at
the point of thinking about tak-
ing over the business.
Technology has already
changed how the Newenhofs
do business.
“On my smartphone I can
dial into the system and know
what the sales were and get
customer stuff,” Jeff said.
“Ten years ago — we had no
idea.”
They’re not worried. Strong
lumberyards survived the re-
cession, Jeff said. There’s been
a dramatic consolidation in the
industry and there may be more
to come.
But houses will always need
repair, and homeowners will
continue to upgrade, and that’s
good news for City Lumber,
whatever form it takes in the
future.
“I think there’s always go-
ing to be a place for a small-
town, locally owned lumber-
yard and hardware store,” Jeff
said. “Do I see us here 40 years
from now? Yeah. Probably.”
Personnel power
The company has 15 em-
ployees and has added some
recently. That’s a big issue for
City Lumber.
“One of our family’s leg-
acies is that we’ve never laid
anybody off for lack of work,”
Jeff said.
They’ve let employees go
for other reasons, but the fam-
ily sees quality workers as part
of the key to long-term success.
“We consistently have well-
trained, knowledgeable em-
ployees. We’ve always resisted
the temptation to let people go
when things are bad, because
we know we need those guys
back. It takes two years to get
someone up to speed … so we
suck it up and do it.”
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Next generation?
The Newenhofs have no
plans to retire anytime soon.
They haven’t really thought
about the next step.
“They’ll take us out on
a stretcher, I guess,” Jeff
quipped. “Should we do some-
thing? Yeah. I don’t see us ever
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