Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 13, 2015)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2015 Daily Astorian File The Army Corps of Engineers planned to kill half the double-crested cormorants nesting on Sand Island near the mouth of the Columbia River because the birds eat too many young salmon and steehead. Cormorants: Birds eat 12 million juvenile salmon a year Continued from Page 1A Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin shows the case file room in the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office. 2f¿ Fe: About 3,500 people are booked and released in the county each year Continued from Page 1A “We are just completely growing out of this space,” Bergin said. Jail beds With the move comes the potential for using the current space for the county jail. In 2012, a proposal to expand the jail was rejected by voters. The $14 million proposal would have added 100 beds to the overcrowd- ed 60-bed jail. Four studies over the past several years have concluded the community needs a jail with about 180 beds, three times the current size, Bergin said. Each year, about 3,500 people are booked and re- leased in the county. The jail rents about 10 beds from Tillamook Coun- ty to help with the over- crowding. Clearing the space below the jail is the first step in potentially adding up to 30 beds. The addition would allow the county to possi- bly cancel its contract with Tillamook, Bergin said, sav- ing the community at least $200,000 per year. No specific plans have been set for a jail expan- sion. However, the extra space allows the sheriff’s office to start coming up with ideas. Bergin noted the work would not directly involve taxpayer money. Funds for the Warrenton relocation are from a special projects budget approved by the Board of Commission- ers. The board will also ap- prove the contractor for the project. Invitation to bid Clatsop County Pub- lic works is accepting bids from contractors for the Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Uniforms hang next to the evidence locker in the hallway of the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office. relocation project until Sept. 2. A mandatory pre- bid meeting will be held on Monday. While construction is un- derway, the parole and pro- bation office will operate temporarily out of offices at 16th and Exchange streets in Astoria. Lt. Kristen Hanthorn, who oversees the parole and probation office, said she requested the temporary location so her staff is not trying to work around the construction. The parole and probation office will have the same amount of space after the construction as it does now. It has only been using a por- tion of the building, located at 1190 S.E. 19th St. in War- renton. Much of the space was shared with a transition cen- ter, which closed in 2011 from budget constraints. The transition center opened in 2006 and housed 24 men and six women. It provided a holding facili- ty for local offenders and people about to be released back into the community. Members held jobs, were on work crews and took part in treatments and other mental health services during their stay. Hanthorn said her staff is looking forward to working under the same roof as the other sheriff’s office divi- sions. “We won’t be like the Island of Misfit Toys,” she joked. Waiting our turn Another benefit from the move to Warrenton is be- ing more centrally located, Bergin said, and possibly responding quicker to inci- dents in the rural parts of the county. Over the past couple de- cades every other county department has moved into nearby office spaces on the 800 block of Exchange Street. The majority of the departments previously shared space in the county courthouse. Bergin said he is pleased the Board of Commission- ers decided it was his turn. “We have been put on the back burner long enough,” he said. “It’s time to see what we can do to enhance the sheriff’s office and our capabilities.” Both agencies declined to comment on the documents, citing ongoing litigation. It’s unclear whether the Corps was aware of the analysis when it wrote its environ- mental impact statement. Save the salmon Federal agencies blame the cormorants for eating an average 12 million juvenile salmon a year as they mi- grate down the Columbia to the ocean. 6ome of the ¿ sh are federally protected spe- cies. Bob Sallinger, con- servation director for the Audubon Society of Port- land, said conservation groups repeatedly asked the agencies whether killing cormorants would make a difference. “We went through a ma- jor public process, which is supposed to ensure transpar- ency,” said Sallinger. “They never disclosed that their own biologists were fun- damentally questioning the ef¿ cacy of this action. They chose to bury it and that’s un- conscionable.” Sallinger also said the analysis con¿ rmed what conservation groups have been saying all along, includ- ing in their lawsuit: that it’s the dams that most impact ¿ sh. In their analysis, the federal biologists found that efforts to reduce mortality during passage through the hydro system on the Colum- bia would result in increased productivity and abundance of steelhead. The focus on cormorants, Sallinger said, is “about distracting the public from the real reason of salmon decline, the hydro system. They’re spending tax dollars killing protected birds that will have absolutely no im- pact on salmon.” The conservationists are calling for the government to stop killing the cormorants, and to launch an investiga- tion into why the agencies ignored their own biologists’ ¿ ndings and didn’t disclose the documents to the public. So far, 158 cormorants have been killed using .22-cal- iber riÀ es and more than 5,089 nests have been oiled, destroying the eggs inside them. Cormorants are not the only animals to be targeted for eating salmon. Caspian terns have also been pushed off an island in the Colum- bia, and sea lions have been killed to reduce the numbers of salmon eaten. AUGUST 22nd | 4-8 pm It has been said, “Creativity knows no age” and the residents at Suzanne Elise would certainly agree with that statement. They will be hosting an art show featuring local artists from the Seaside area. There will also be a silent auction. Proceeds will benefit the Alzheimer’s Assocation. ART SHOW Visit us online at www.DailyAstorian.com & Silent Auction G ET YO U R NAME O U T TH ER E a t a low August 22nd 4-8pm cost Suzanne Elise assisted living community a p a r t of the a v a m e r e f a m i l y of c o m p a n i e s 503-738-0307 101 Forest Drive Seaside, OR 97138 www.suzanneelise.com Contact: Jeanne Devitt