10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2016 Salmon: ‘We want the EPA ... to look at all the sources of temperature’ Continued from Page 1A Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian A seagull takes flight near Del Ray Beach Recreation Site. Beach trafic: 75 percent of Clatsop County beaches are off-limits to cars Continued from Page 1A “It’s a very small group of people who complain,” Ber- gin said. “How are families going to get down there with their strollers and little kids? Elderly and handicapped people like to drive that sec- tion of the beach. These peo- ple are trying to encroach on that. They own these homes along the beach and want their own private little walk- ing space. It’s not going to happen.” A right or a privilege? The Oregon Coast consists of smaller beaches that are often secluded in the margins between the Paciic Ocean and steep, prominent headlands. The Warrenton-to-Gearhart route and some areas around Paciic City and Lincoln City are open for cars, along with Sand Lake Dunes Recreational Area, where off-road vehi- cles are permitted in some stretches. Cars and trucks are allowed at any time in the 10-mile stretch between Peter Iredale Road south to the beach ramp at Gearhart, including the Sun- set Beach State Recreation Site, the west trailhead to the Fort to Sea Trail. A 25 mph speed limit is in effect along the shore. State law grants the Parks and Recreation Department authority “to take action to protect ocean shore resources, to protect public health and safety, to provide secu- rity, to avoid user conlicts, or for other reasons deemed necessary.” Beach driving is considered almost a right among long- time residents, Wing said. Environmental concerns Neal Maine, a wildlife pho- tographer, pointed to the haz- ards to birds caused by drivers. “I don’t think there’s any- body patrolling the beaches,” Maine said. “It turns into a race track, turning around, spinning, spinning. Let’s have access to a phone number so on busy weekends there’s a patrol oficer there continu- ously, and they’re making their presence known.” Drivers like to cause birds to ly or roust locks while the birds are storing up valuable energy for migrations. “The main issue on our beaches is the continued action of shore- birds that is caused by cars,” Maine said. “They’re pick- ing out invertebrates out of the sand when they only have a limited amount of time. These are calories they need on the way to get to the Arctic to get to the nesting cycle.” Maine said he would like to see a new management plan with a police enforcement component. “Camping’s prohibited — but it’s easy to go to the beach and ind 100 tents,” he said. “The same with the driving. On the highway we have patrols, but on the beach it’s very lim- ited. State Parks has no vehicles to patrol it. They don’t plan on patrolling it. They don’t have the resources to patrol it. They farm it out to a default program with the county sheriff, which is not adequate for continuous monitoring.” Legislation opposed State legislation introduced in the 1990s limiting beach access for vehicles along the 10-mile roadway was highly unpopular in Clatsop County and vigorously opposed at the time. In 1995, the Gearhart City Council, backed by a peti- tion signed by hundreds of residents, sent a letter to the state Legislature opposing the bill, which ultimately died in committee. Today, 75 percent of Clat- sop County beaches are off-limits to cars, according to Wing, including Cannon Beach, where only permitted vehicles — for people with disabilities, boating or collect- ing driftwood, among other uses — are allowed along the beach. Access is at Tolovana Wayside. Enforcement Chris Havel, the associate director of the Parks and Rec- reation Department, said most people “run afoul of rules unin- tentionally,” and it’s faster and more effective to get people on track with a quick talk. Enforce- ment for speeding or other vio- lations along the beach fall to the Sheriff’s Ofice or Oregon State Police. “A lot of people go around in a circle, around and around, making ‘cookies,’” Wing said. “It’s not the right thing to do, but it’s something that people don’t realize they shouldn’t do. It’s a beach, not a playground.” Former Arizona state trooper Teresa McKee began work in July as reserve deputy, replacing retired deputy John Wood. She’s already made a big difference, Bergin said, recovering stolen bicycles and issuing citations for drug and alcohol offenses. Most citations are written to drivers for reckless driving, Bergin said. Other tickets may be issued for illegal camping, trash or ireworks. “We don’t write a lot of tickets,” he said. “But if we don’t get compli- ance, there will be a citation issued.” Despite concerns from homeowners, the beach road should remain open, he said. “Ninety-nine percent of the time people pick up their gar- bage and obey all the rules,” he said. “It’s that 1 percent that goes down there and causes a problem or two. Why should everyone else have to suffer for that 1 percent? We will con- tinue to enforce the laws and do the right thing to keep that Clat- sop County beach open.” In Mexico, high avocado prices fuel deforestation By MARK STEVENSON Associated Press MEXICO CITY — Amer- icans’ love for avocados and rising prices for the highly exportable fruit are fueling the deforestation of central Mexi- co’s pine forests as farmers rap- idly expand their orchards to feed demand. Avocado trees lourish at about the same altitude and cli- mate as the pine and ir forests in the mountains of Michoacan, the state that produces most of Mexico’s avocados. That has led farmers to wage a cat- and-mouse campaign to avoid authorities, thinning out the for- ests, planting young avocado trees under the forest canopy, and then gradually cutting back the forest as the trees grow to give them more sunlight. “Even where they aren’t visibly cutting down forest, there are avocados growing underneath (the pine boughs), and sooner or later they’ll cut down the pines completely,” said Mario Tapia Vargas, a researcher at Mexico’s National Institute for Forestry, Farming and Fisheries Research. Given that Michoacan’s for- ests contain much of the win- tering grounds of the monarch butterly, the deforestation is more than just an academic issue. Authorities have already detected small avocado plots in the monarchs’ reserve where farmers have cut down pine forest. Worse, Tapia Vargas said, a mature avocado orchard uses almost twice as much water AP Photo/Nick Wagner Avocados are displayed for sale in a large market in Mex- ico City. as fairly dense forest, meaning less water reaches Michoacan’s legendary crystalline mountain streams on which the forests and animals depend. Greenpeace Mexico says people are likely to suffer, too. “Beyond the displacement of forests and the effects on water retention, the high use of agricultural chemicals and the large volumes of wood needed to pack and ship avocados are other factors that could have negative effects on the area’s environment and the well-be- ing of its inhabitants,” Green- peace said in a statement. The two-lane rural roads that cut through the mountains are choked with lines of heavy trucks carrying avocados out and pickers in to the orchards. But it is hard to argue farm- ers out of the economic logic of growing avocados. “Avocado farming is very attractive, because of the prices being the way they are,” Tapia Vargas said. Avocado prices jumped from around 86 cents apiece in Janu- ary to around $1.10 in July, partly because of weak seasonal supply from Mexico. And the peso lost 16 percent of its value against the dollar over the past year, making exports cheaper for the U.S. customers. Mexican farmers can make much higher proits growing avocados than from most other crops. It is the enormous U.S. appetite for avocados that has driven the expansion. Between 2001 and 2010, avocado pro- duction in Michoacan tripled, but exports rose 10 times, according to a report pub- lished in 2012 by Tapia Vargas’ institute. The report suggested the expansion caused loss of for- est land of about 1,700 acres (690 hectares) a year from 2000 through 2010. NOW OPEN & WE NEED YOU! 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Johnson said a plan to manage river temperatures could include changes to dam operations and removal of what he called obsolete dams on the lower Snake River. “I think this is really about whether, looking down the road 50 years from now, do we want to be teaching our children and grandchil- dren to catch salmon in the Columbia or explaining to them what salmon were?” Johnson said. The EPA did not imme- diately provide an expla- nation for why the regula- tory process was initially shelved. A spokesperson said it was the agency’s policy not to comment on pending litigation. Brown: Golfer hopes to emulate longtime Mayor Kent Smith’s calmness Continued from Page 1A each other,” he said. “One of the things I’m most proud of through my years on the Planning Commission is that we went from having a dysfunctional relationship with the council to having a great relationship with the council.” Brown left the commission in 2012 but remained involved in city politics. During public hearings on vacation rentals, he provided testimony urging an adherence to values pro- moted in the comprehensive plan. Gearhart’s proposed short- term rental ordinance — requiring registration, 24-hour notiication and limiting trans- fer of short-term rental per- mits — is a compromise that reduces the number of vaca- tion rentals while protecting the rights of rental property owners. “The part-time and the full-time people — we’re all part of the same commu- nity,” Brown said. “But we all recognize times have changed with the internet.” The ordinance is expected to become law in October. “What I’ve admired about it is that we’ve gotten to hear both sides,” Brown said. “The city has done a great job of lis- tening and giving people the opportunity to speak, trying to come up with a solution that’s a compromise.” Issues in the city’s next four years include a transpor- tation master plan, a new ire- house, a parks master plan, and efforts to bridge the divide between residents on the east side of U.S. Highway 101 and the west. Emergency prepared- ness should not only focus on tsunamis and earthquakes, Brown said, but all natural disasters. “We have to be prepared,” he said. “We have to be updated on the facts. We don’t want to live in fear — but we have to be prepared.” Brown said he grew up at a time when longtime Mayor Kent Smith presided over the community. He admired Smith’s calm demeanor and listening skills and hopes to emulate those qualities. “He always gave everyone a chance to speak at the meet- ing,” Brown said. “He was always calm about it, and that’s how I feel about it. My mantra would be ‘calm waters.’ “Hey, we’re all in this together,” he added. “We have to communicate.” Lead: Results will help determine cause of high lead concentrations Continued from Page 1A Samples were taken from EPA guidelines for fountains and food prep faucets, Ely said. Some control samples, not from drinking or cooking faucets, were also taken. Some water taps at Sea- side Heights Elementary with lead levels approach- ing the limit of 20 parts per billion have been shut down and retested. The district will receive results in the coming months that will help deter- mine the cause of high lead concentrations. “We decided anything above 10 was high enough that we should look to see if something should be done,” Ely said. The district may replace the ixtures or seek a cleaner water supply. After high lead volumes discovered in some Port- land Public Schools drink- ing water was disclosed this spring, Oregon oficials rec- ommended statewide testing of school drinking water. “We made a decision to test early,” Ely said. “We would still be waiting for results if we hadn’t.”