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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 9, 2016)
DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2016 143RD YEAR, NO. 175 ONE DOLLAR ‘Fish stick¶ species retXrns :arP ocean possible cXlprit in hake collapse EO Media Group Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian In 2005, an older tide gate at Vera Slough near the Port of Astoria’s Astoria Regional Airport was replaced with a newer model that has created 16 additional acres of wetland — and increased the average water level entering the airport by 2 feet. High water may dampen airport work 5ising water IroP wetlands coXld pXt airport at risk By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Improved tide gate is fish friendly A55(1TO1 ² A decade ago, the 3ort oI Astoria worked with the &olXPbia 5iYer (stX- ary StXdy TaskIorce to expand the wetlands in 9era SloXgh, a tidal inlet, into the northwest corner oI the Astoria 5egional Airport IroP YoXngs %ay . The plan, Peant to oIIset the iPpact oI repairs at 3ier , worked as designed and cre- ated an additional acres oI wetlands MXst oII the Airport Dike Trail, raising the aYerage leYel oI water entering the airport by Ieet. 1ow the 3ort, as it prepares to spend Pillion in state and Iederal IXnding on a rXn- way oYerhaXl, has to ¿ gXre oXt whether the iPproYed aTXatic enYironPent coXld be endangering the airport . The 3ort has dealt with cracks in the cePent slabs on the airport¶s tarPac, XneYen settling and depressions where the tarPac connects to Yertical drains and bXildings. 3ort c oPPissioners haYe Yoiced concern that the water PoYePent in and oXt oI the airport coXld be rXining the IoXndation oI the tarPac, MXst as the agency is inYesting Pil- lions in goYernPent grants this sXPPer into a rXnway rehab. The 3ort is contracting a hydrologist to deterPine how water PoYes in and oXt oI the airport. ³The big takeaway in Py Pind is that there¶s a big change in the drainage charac- teristics oI the airport aboXt years ago,´ Airport Manager Gary Kobes said. Kobes said the inIorPation gathered by a hydrologist will be giYen to a geotechnical specialist to deterPine what eIIect, iI any, the 9era SloXgh proMect has had on the tarPac. The director oI &5(ST, Denise /|IPan, will present to the 3ort &oPPission on 9era SloXgh at its Peeting TXesday. In 2005, the Port of Astoria replaced a older tide gate with a newer type to ease fish passage, as part of a wetland mitigation project. W Old style tide gate Dike High tide Tide gate stays open only when the water level on the drained side is higher than the tide. The result is short bursts of one-way flow. Tidelands Drained land Tide gate Channel Brackish/saltwater estuary Fish that enter may be injured or trapped on the drained side. New style tide gate Dike High tide Farmland/ other with water flow to estuary Float devise allows exchange of water between drained land and tidewaters by holding tide gate open until water on the drained side reaches a pre-set level. Tidelands Drained land Tide gate Float Channel Brackish/saltwater estuary Fish can freely move from estuary to habitat on drained lands. Source: NOAA Farmland/ other with water flow to estuary Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group ‘The big takeaway in my mind is that there’s a big change in the drainage characteristics of the airport about 10 years ago.’ See AIRPORT, Page 12A Gary Kobes I/:A&O, :ash. ² :arPer ocean water Pay be to blaPe Ior a troXbling harYest decline last Iall in one oI the 1orth 3aci¿ c¶s Post iPportant coPPercial ¿ sheries, Iederal scientists report. 3aci¿ c hake, also known as whiting, becaPe scarce in :ashington and Ore- gon waters last Iall. This winter, they were ³PXch Iarther oIIshore than the ¿ sh XsXally occXr in sXPPer and Iall,´ 1OAA chieI sci- entist Sandy 3arker-Stetter wrote in a Feb- rXary blog. +ake are an iPportant part oI the nation¶s seaIood diet, bXt aren¶t well known by consXPers. According to 1OAA Fisheries, the species is processed into ¿ sh sticks, hake ¿ llets, sXriPi iPita- tion crab, ¿ sh Peal and ¿ sh oil. 1OAA notes, ³YoX¶Ye probably eaten hake with- oXt knowing it´ They also play an iPport- ant part in the /ower &olXPbia econoPy, at tiPes coPprising the largest catch by poXndage landed at local docks. See WHITING, Page 12A Barnett leaves Seaside Police By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian S(ASID( ² SteYe %arnett, a Yeteran police oI¿ cer who ran XnsXccessIXlly Ior coXnty sheriII in , is no longer with the Seaside 3olice D epartPent. &ity Manager Mark :in- stanley said %arnett has cho- sen to retire. Winstanley said there was no explanation Ior the sXdden PoYe, which was eIIectiYe Wednesday. Sean 5iddell, a 3ort- Steve land-based attorney Ior %ar- Barnett nett, declined to coPPent and said %arnett had signed a ³nondisparagePent reTXest.´ When Seaside 3olice &hieI DaYe +aP proPoted %arnett to lieXtenant last year, he pointed to %arnett¶s years oI law enIorce- Pent experience, inclXding the past years Astoria Regional Airport manager See BARNETT, Page 12A A YirtXal toXr oI Fort to Sea" -Xst Google it Online treks are possible on trail By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian Anyone in the world with access to the I nternet can experience the Fort to Sea Trail. Google Maps, along with the non- pro¿ t &onserYation FXnd, partnered to create a YirtXal toXr oI the .-Pile trail that extends IroP Fort &latsop to SXnset %each. Ann SiPonelli, a spokeswoPan Ior the &onserYation FXnd, said the Arlington, 9irginia-based nonpro¿ t partnered with Google Maps last year to captXre Pore than six locations. This year, she said, the IocXs was TAKE THE TOUR http://bit.ly/1UeOr4r on historic APerican sites. In addition to the Fort to Sea Trail, YirtXal toXrs haYe been created Ior GettysbXrg 1ational Military 3ark and the Flight 1ational MePo- rial in 3ennsylYania. The Pany docX- Pented places are lands the &onserYa- tion FXnd helps to protect. ³Making Street 9iew iPagery oI these iconic and historic places aYail- able to people all oYer the world to explore and enMoy is a trXe honor,´ Deanna Yick, Google Maps Street 9iew prograP Panager, said in a news Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian See TRAIL, Page 4A Virtual tours are now possible on the Fort to Sea Trail.