THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015
NORTH COAST
3A
Tankers away
School
menus
now
online
The Daily Astorian
The Astoria School Dis-
trict now offers Nutrislice, a
website and free smartphone
app providing information
on school meals.
A calendar shows the
main entree each day, alter-
nate entrees and a la carte op-
tions. Each option includes
photos, descriptions and
detailed nutritional infor-
mation, including calories,
fats, cholesterol, sodium,
carbohydrates, ¿ber, sugar
and protein. The site also
provides allergy information
and nutritional education
messages.
“This fresh technology
allows us to more vividly
and accurately communi-
cate our menus, and makes
them convenient and acces-
sible to parents and students
anytime, anywhere,” the dis-
trict said in a release.
For more information,
visit astoria.nutrislice.com
Service fair
features city
departments
The Daily Astorian
The city is hosting a Ser-
vice Fair from 4 to 6:30 p.m.
Thursday at the Columbia
River Maritime Museum’s
Barbey Center.
The fair includes equip-
ment displays and booths
featuring the various depart-
ments within the city, and
gives citizens an opportunity
to learn about the depart-
ments and what they do, and
to see the various vehicles
and equipment up close.
The event also provides
an opportunity to meet
elected of¿cials and city
employees. Citizens will be
able to express comments,
concerns or ask questions
about different aspects of
city operations.
There will also be games
and prizes, and food will
be provided free of charge.
Families are welcome to
come and enMoy a fun-¿lled
evening.
For information about
the event, contact Julie Yuill
at 503-325-5824 or jyuill@
astoria.or.us, or Rosemary
Johnson at 503-338-5183 or
rjohnson@astoria.or.us
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
The SS Petersburg, one of Military Sea Lift Command’s tankers, passed by Astoria Friday. The command provides transportation for the Department
of Defense.
Legal action threatened over spotted frog habitat
lives upstream and downstream
of both and is harmed when riv-
er levels rise and fall rapidly in
response to irrigation needs.
In a prepared statement, the
center’s endangered species di-
rector, Noah Greenwald, said
the problems “can likely be
¿xed with minimal impact to
irrigation districts.”
He said the Oregon spotted
frog is “one of the most imper-
iled amphibians in the world”
and the Bureau of Reclamation
needs to “step up” its oversight
of the dams.
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
When Mike Britton answers
the phone at his North Unit Ir-
rigation District of¿ce in central
Oregon these days, the conver-
sations take a quick turn.
“The ¿rst three words are, µI
heard a rumor,...’” Britton, the
North Unit manager, said.
And so it goes. Environmen-
tal groups have warned they
intend to ¿le suit over Oregon
spotted frog habitat, and patrons
of multiple Deschutes River Ba-
sin irrigation districts worry the
outcome will leave their land
with less water and more restric-
tions.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service in August 2014 list-
ed the Oregon spotted frog as
threatened under the federal
Endangered Species Act. The
listing wasn’t a surprise; the frog
has disappeared from an esti-
mated 78 percent of its historic
range, from southwest British
Columbia to Northern Califor-
nia.
Loss of its favored marsh
habitat and introduction of pred-
ators such as bullfrogs are the
primary reason for the frog’s
decline. Fish and Wildlife pro-
posed 22,600 acres in the De-
schutes River Basin as critical
habitat.
The Upper Deschutes in
central Oregon is one of the few
places where the frogs can still
be found, particularly in Crane
Prairie and Wickiup Reservoirs
and in the wetlands downstream
from them and from Crescent
Lake.
Irrigation districts, recogniz-
ing the potential impact of an
Endangered Species Act listing,
worked with Fish and Wildlife,
the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
and other agencies and groups to
develop a habitat conservation
plan for spotted frogs. Britton
heads a group, the Deschutes
Basin Board of Control, which
represents eight irrigation dis-
tricts in the process.
Puzzling move
Courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Central Oregon irrigation districts worry they’ll be restricted by lawsuits over the Oregon
spotted frog, which is listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.
Legal
challenges coming
But this summer, the Cen-
ter for Biological Diversity
and WaterWatch of Oregon
separately gave 60 days notice
they would ¿le suit against the
Bureau of Reclamation, which
built the Crane Prairie, Wickiup
and Crescent Lake reservoirs,
and against the North Unit, cen-
tral Oregon and Tumalo irriga-
tion districts, which operate and
manage the dams and reservoirs.
The lawsuits allege the bu-
reau and districts have harmed
spotted frogs. In a news release,
WaterWatch said “managing
the Deschutes more like an ir-
rigation ditch than a river has
caused signi¿cant damage to
river health.”
WaterWatch said it is primar-
ily concerned about the stretch
of river from Wickiup down-
stream to Bend. The Center for
Biological Diversity questions
the operations of Wickiup and
Crane Prairie, saying the frog
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•
Meet City officials, employees, and volunteers
Find out what’s happening in City departments through
displays and demonstrations
See big construction equipment, police cars, and fire trucks
up close
Enjoy free hot dogs!!
M ust present coupon to server.
N ot va lid w ith other offers.
RE
Thursday, September 10, 2015
4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
at the
Columbia River Maritime Museum’s Barbey Center,
20th and Marine Drive
•
Just 15 m in. from the Lew is & Cla rk Bridge on H w y. 30
Hump’s Restaurant- 50 W. Columbia River Highway
Clatskanie, OR. 503.728.2626
Portion of the proceeds w ill benef it S HS Robotics
SERVICE FAIR
$9.95
All You Can Eat Chicken & Dumplings- Thursdays 5-8 pm $6.95
Prime Rib Fridays- starts at 5pm $9.95
B ring the F am ily!
City of Astoria
•
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14 OUN CE N EW Y ORK
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FOOD • B B Q • LIVE M US IC • D UNK TANK
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AT HUMP’S RESTAURANT
EV ERY W ED N ESD AY 5 -8 PM
No reservations, please
HAM
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Britton, the North Unit man-
ager, said he doesn’t want to
speculate on what the lawsuits
will speci¿cally allege once they
are ¿led. “I wish we knew, good
or bad,” he said.
Britton said the Center for
Biological Diversity’s involve-
ment is puzzling, because it
hasn’t been involved in develop-
ment of the habitat conservation
plan. Britton said WaterWatch’s
threat of legal action is disap-
pointing, because it was among
the agencies, districts, tribal
leaders and others involved in
the planning.
“I thought we were working
for a collaborative solution,” he
said.
One of the projects that
emerged from the spotted frog
work is called Ryan Ranch
Meadow, a 65-acre site. Fish
and Wildlife, the Forest Service
and the districts see it as possible
spotted frog habitat that could
mitigate habitat loss elsewhere,
Britton said. District volunteers
installed pipes and ¿sh screens
and plan to Àood the meadow to
determine if it can retain enough
water to be used by the frogs.
P ICNIC
S ATURDAY, S EPT. 19
1 1 AM -2PM
a t Ba yshore
Anim a l
H ospita l
BAY SH O R
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A N G EL
FU N D
Q u ilt R a
ff
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w ill ta k
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Tick ets a re
$1 ea . a t h
betw een n
ospita l
ow a
N eed n o t b n d Sept. 19th
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w in
P erfect fo
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lo vers o r h
u n ters
325 S E M ARLIN AVEN UE,
W ARREN TO N
503-861-1621
ba yshorea n im a lca re.com
