The daily Astorian., April 28, 2016, Page 6A, Image 6

OPINION
6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016
South County’s Earth Day High School
Founded in 1873
STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher
LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager
Forestry has come
a long way
M
odern Oregon residents love loggers but don’t love
logging. This is one way of interpreting results of a
survey conducted by the Oregon Forest Resources Institute,
reported in a Capital Press story we published Tuesday.
Oregonians exhibit a cuts. This translates into
fairly sophisticated under- things like contouring har-
standing of the role forestry vest boundaries to resemble
plays in job creation, open- natural meadows, leaving
space preservation, support- green belts along highways
ing local government oper- and leaving clumps of trees
ations, and providing other standing.
beneits. Fully 68 percent of
It is important to con-
residents have a favorable tinue protecting the over-
view of the forest products all vitality of watersheds
industry — popularity most and riparian areas, and to
politicians and industries make sure the public under-
would sell their souls for.
stands that logged areas are
However, only a quarter replanted. There undoubt-
of Oregonians say clearcut- edly are ways in which
ting is an acceptable practice. logging practices can be
Another 30 percent express improved, but the industry
neutrality or ambivalence.
has come a very long way in
In rapidly urbanizing recent decades. It deserves
Western Oregon, such atti- credit for all it does, even
tudes translate into votes for while residents advocate for
and against restrictions on longer periods between har-
logging. Decisions based on vests and reinements like
visceral emotions and aes- avoiding excessive chemi-
thetic factors — without cal applications.
enough consideration for
Forestry isn’t the all-im-
rural economies and tech- portant economic segment
nical practicalities — could it was generations ago, but
worsen the divide between it still produces vital prod-
the urban counties around ucts and is a key ingredient
Portland and the rest of the in maintaining the viabil-
state.
ity of many rural towns and
The institute speaks of counties. We all should do
a need to do better “visual what we can to make sure it
management” of clear- survives.
Oregon kinda,
sorta matters
T
he Wall Street Journal
recently published a list of
the remaining state primary
elections. The WSJ failed to
include Oregon’s May pri-
mary. While it was wrong, the
omission did relect a certain
truth – that the Oregon Primary
has not mattered in presidential
politics in quite awhile.
It is true that former
President Bill Clinton spoke
on the plaza of the Columbia
River Maritime Museum in
spring 2008, to boost the for-
tunes of his wife, Hillary.
And Barack Obama spoke in
Pendleton.
But one must go back
decades to ind an Oregon
primary that saw candi-
dates criss-crossing the state.
It is hard to believe, but in
spring 1960, U.S. Sen. John
F. Kennedy stumped in many
locations across Oregon.
The publisher of this news-
paper saw JFK speak in the
Hawthorne Grade School
cafeteria on that occasion.
The elegant Jacqueline
Kennedy stood in a receiving
line in that humble setting.
How local high
school teachers
made a difference
E
arth Day is a big deal in
Cannon Beach.
I had no idea when I moved here
last year the extent of the appreciation
of the land, its preservation and main-
tenance. Where else does a parade
take place celebrating Earth Day?
Where else do residents celebrate it
for 12 days — four days longer than
Passover.
Earth Day here is “a sacred celebra-
tion of our relation with this wonder-
ful place,” District 5 County Commis-
sioner Lianne Thompson said recently.
The celebration of Earth Day draws
us in intellectually, and our hearts and
souls, she said.
“We’re here together in this place,
no matter how we get together cross-
wise, we’re together in this sacred
place.
“The best of what we do is to come
together and celebrate and pay atten-
tion. We have an awareness this is what
it means to be here, it calls us and tells
us to be responsible and careful in tak-
ing care of this land as we work here
and play here. I love it.”
The Daily Astorian/File Photo
Naturalist and photographer Neal Maine, of PacificLight Images, speaks
to a full house at Seaside Public Library about “How To See a Rainforest.”
SOUTHERN
EXPOSURE
B y
R.J.
M aRx
Of pufins and pinnipeds
Over the last year, on the Oregon
Coast, I’ve learned to look around in
ways I never had before.
When I irst went for an outdoor run,
I noticed a crow hovering above me on
a tree. As I ran, it lew to the next tree,
and then the next, keeping pace, before
peeling off in another direction.
Now I always look up at the trees,
especially at the top of the trees. It
seems like there’s always something
avian keeping an eye on you.
My irst story for this newspaper
upon arrival was on dune grading.
Homeowners spoke of the “Fran-
kendunes” that swallowed up their view.
Other citizens feared long-term
results of grading and setting a prece-
dent for more grading, upsetting the
beach’s natural order.
Subsequent stories brought a col-
lege-level education in geology, marine
life, archeology, forest management and
seismology. The irony of the “Twelve
Days of Earth Day” — as bounteous as
it is — that it is only the tip of the ice-
berg (one of the few natural wonders
Cannon Beach actually doesn’t have).
Local authors wax poetic about
the prehistoric beauty of the region.
With it come some prehistoric-looking
creatures.
One of the fun parts of watching
these shores is discovering wildlife we
never knew existed. The many kinds of
seals and sea lions. I learned the word
“pinniped,”
I still haven’t seen an elephant seal,
which came to Cannon Beach in 2007,
but I hope to. Author Doug Deur said he
saw one recently.
I can’t imagine the combination of
an elephant and a seal, but it does stim-
ulate the imagination.
‘Mr. Earth Day’
It’s hard to imagine the one-two
punch of a Seaside High School
science de partment in the decades of
the 1980s and 1990s with Ed Johnson
“He cared enough to come” and Neal Maine, teachers worthy of a
was Nelson Rockefeller’s top-notch university.
Geologist and environmental con-
appeal to Oregon Republican sultant Tom Horning, a Seaside High
voters in the 1964 primary. School graduate, recalls an Earth Day
at the high school with a
It worked, with Rocky beat- assembly
visit from none other than Gov. Tom
ing Arizona Sen. Barry McCall.
Johnson is Cannon Beach’s “Mr.
Goldwater among Oregon
Earth Day,” and he celebrated as he
Republicans.
does every year at the “Twelve Days of
Bobby Kennedy and
Eugene McCarthy made
Oregon appearances in 1968.
The ides of Trump
McCarthy prevailed.
outh of our community have a
Now that Ted Cruz and
lack of knowledge and apprecia-
John Kasich have a strategy tion for our government, as well as civ-
ics. In this day in age, we see more kids
that involves Oregon and a in the fourth grade staring at cell phone
few other states, we might screens rather than a book.
I get it, as I have problems
see a lot of Kasich. And with Yes,
most books, too. If a kid is only
Bernie Sanders will likely interested in social media and sim-
ple-minded tasks, then they will never
win the Democratic vote.
realize the importance of the knowl-
When we receive our bal- edge that lies around them in everyday
lots in the mail over the life.
back to the important stuff,
weekend, it will be a medium my Getting
point for writing this letter is that
thrill. Yes, we have the pres- with all of the distractions that clut-
idential races in both par- ter peoples lives in such a small world,
take the time to teach your kids about
ties. But our statewide races the political process now, so when they
demonstrate once again that do turn 18, they aren’t choosing a can-
who is an embarrassment to the
the Oregon Republican party didate
country. Or else, beware of the ides of
has no bench.
Trump.
DAKOTA SEVERSON
It will be fun to have a
Astoria
semblance of the presidential
primaries in Oregon. So we Another option
kinda, sorta matter this time
earhart is at a crossroads, fac-
around.
ing a serious situation which will
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Where else
do residents
celebrate
Earth Day for
12 days?
Earth Day” potluck dinner.
Like Horning, he’s been celebrating
the holiday since its inception.
Johnson’s grandparents moved to
Cannon Beach in the 1940s, and he
settled here after he got his master’s
degree at Cornell and taught with the
school district for 17 years, at Broad-
way Middle School and at the high
school, alongside Maine, another early
adopter and founder of the North Coast
Land Conservancy, author, naturalist
and philosopher.
Maine is still sharing his vision,
whether it’s how to see a rain forest,
saving a displaced osprey or a renewed
appreciation of the sand on our beaches.
His lecture, “Beaches: More than
Sand,” was part of this year’s “Twelve
Days” program.
Seaside’s High School science
department in the 1980s “was so good,
it had to end,” Johnson quipped.
“Ed Johnson was one of my all-time
favorite teachers,” Seaside High School
grad Jeanne Braun said in an email.
“Because of his passion for teaching
and his wonderful sense of humor, I
remember always looking forward to
being in his classroom.”
Maine is the reason why Braun
started volunteering for North Coast
Land Conservancy more than 10 years
ago, she said. “Neal is the kind of per-
son who inspires you to look at nature
in a whole new way — with your eyes
and ears and mind wide open.”
Both Johnson and Maine con-
tinue to share with us their deep pas-
sion and knowledge of nature and the
importance of taking care of our natu-
ral world, Braun said. “The impact that
they both have made in our community
and continue to make should inspire us
all to be better stewards of this precious
place that we call home (or as Neal
would call it: paradise!).”
It wasn’t just naturalists who thrived
at Seaside High School.
Horning remembered chemistry
teacher Leo Sayles as having “more
Open forum
Y
G
affect its future greatly in the years to
come. There is a solution. This solu-
tion is simple. We can have both a
market and a brew pub. Our market
has been an institution in our town
forever. We need a market.
A viable, thriving market is possi-
ble, and this has been proven in Clat-
sop County repeatedly. Currently,
some small town grocery stores sup-
ported by their communities are:
Peter Pan Market in Astoria, Main
Street Market in Warrenton, Ken’s in
Seaside, Mariner Market in Cannon
Beach and the Astoria Co-Op. I apol-
ogize for not listing them all.
People go out of their way to shop
in these stores, and even travel from
other towns to do so. Gearhart can
have such a market. A well-stocked,
friendly store with fresh, inviting pro-
duce, quality meats, dairy, organic
options, condiments, along with other
basic necessities, is something we all
need.
The present owners of Gearhart
Grocery have another option — a
property they own, which is already
zoned for a brew pub, the property
directly across U.S. Highway 101
from the Gearhart Dairy Queen. It
“Mr. Earth Day,” former Seaside
High School teacher Ed Johnson.
impact on me than any university
professor.”
He was just a “really good instruc-
tor,” Horning said. “Anybody who took
his class really enjoyed it.”
Horning became a chemistry major
at Oregon because of experiences in
Sayles’ class, he said.
“And I still rely on the things I
learned his class,” Horning said. “It
was something about the way we
were immersed in it, whereas opposed
to the university, where you could
only carve off a little bit of time. Ulti-
mately it turned out to be really rele-
vant to being an exploration geologist
in geochemistry.”
On location
The landscape that is celebrated in
ilm, from “The Goonies” to the lat-
est production, “Seaside” being shot
at Hug Point and Arch Cape, is illed
with “dangerous beauty,” in the words
of ilmmaker Sam Zalutsky, who grew
up in Portland spending summers on
the coast.
It is that dangerous beauty that is
our most tangible reminder of the envi-
ronmental responsibilities in this frag-
ile land.
“People moved to Cannon Beach
for its aesthetic beauty and they did
everything they could to protect it,”
Horning said.
Cannon Beach is proactive toward
the environment, Horning said, acting
in a sustainable manner, taking care of
trees, watershed and expand watershed
protection.
“They’re always ahead of the
curve,” he said. “The important thing
is to hold the line. It’s death by a thou-
sand pinpricks that sets back a commu-
nity. If you don’t draw the line and set a
standard, you wonder where everything
went.”
If you were to say anything to the
city of Cannon Beach about Earth Day,
we asked, what would it be?
“Keep up the good work,” Horning
said.
We would add: and start with a good
science teacher.
R.J. Marx is The Daily Astorian’s
South County reporter and editor of
the Seaside Signal and Cannon Beach
Gazette.
even has a parking lot and it is pre-
approved for serving alcohol. Not
only that, this property is available,
and for lease. Furthermore, a con-
ditional use permit would not be
required, because this choice exists.
And, residents, non-residents and
visitors alike could still walk to the
brew pub.
This controversy is not only about
location. It is also about money. A fair
number of people who do not reside
full time in Gearhart support the brew
pub. A fair number of these people
work in Gearhart, but live in the small
gated community to the north, and
even in Portland.
I am asking: Residents of Gear-
hart, is this what you want? Is this
what you need? It is hard and it is
dificult to make a stand, but please
make the time to attend the public
hearing which will be held on Tues-
day, May 3, at 6 p.m. at the Gear-
hart Fire Station. This is your oppor-
tunity to hear what is happening, and
to speak up and preserve the beautiful
town we love.
Man cannot live by brew alone.
SUSAN EDY
Gearhart