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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2016 Proposed Oregon bike trail unnerves farmers Growers are concerned about conlicts with farm practices By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press CARLTON — Farmer Scott Bernards has more than one reason to be nervous about bicyclists and joggers regularly traveling a stretch of abandoned railroad next to his ield. With the negative atten- tion given to pesticides in recent years, converting the decommissioned railroad into a hiking and biking trail could complicate spray operations, Bernards said. “What if I don’t even see them?” he said. Expecting him and other farmers to shut down sec- tions of the proposed 17-mile “Yamhelas Westsider Trail” between Gaston and McMin- nville when applying pesti- cides is also unrealistic, Ber- nards said. “I never know exactly when I’m going to spray,” he said. As the “rail to trail” pro- posal gains steam among Yamhill County oficials and supporters, several local farmers have been pushing back against the project. A chief concern is the reac- tion that urban trail users will have upon encountering com- mon farming practices to which they object for envi- ronmental or philosophical reasons. “Farming is hard enough without people from Portland telling us what to do,” said Chris Mattson, whose prop- erty is bisected by roughly 1,000 feet of the railroad. Aside from potential con- licts with farm operations, Bernards, Mattson and other growers are worried about the prospect of increased trespassing, ire danger and vandalism. Mattson said he’s fenced off his property abutting the railroad because of problems with teenagers drinking, rid- ing all-terrain vehicles and dumping trash on his property. If the railroad becomes an oficial trail and attracts even more visitors, Mattson said he’s worried it will be inhabited by transients simi- larly to the Springwater Cor- ridor Trail in Portland, which is known for homeless camps. Supporters of the rail-to- trail proposal say these con- cerns are overblown given the rural nature of the area. “This is not Springwater,” said Ken Wright, a winemaker in Carlton who supports the project. The nearby 21-mile Banks-Vernonia State Trial — an abandoned railroad pur- chased by the state more than four decades ago — hasn’t Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press Farmer Scott Bernards speaks about why he’s nervous about the potential conversion of an abandoned railroad into a hiking and biking trail next to one of his fields near Carlton. caused increased crime or attracted transients, he said. “It’s more of a visceral reaction than a reality,” Wright said. “Those concerns are not justiied by history.” Conlicts between trail users and landowners also haven’t materialized, he said. “There have been no issues with farm- ing practices up there.” New visitors to the area would spend money on restau- rants and lodgings, strength- ening Yamhill County’s busi- ness community, Wright said. Clearing brush from the overgrown railroad track would actually reduce ire hazards, and volunteers could help with the work to contain costs, he said. There’s also a legitimate reason why grant dollars from the state Department of Transportation should be invested in the project: Bicy- clists who already use Ore- gon Route 47 are regularly killed on the narrow state highway, he said. “They don’t want bikes on these roads. It’s just death waiting to happen,” Wright said. Roughly $2.3 million in grants has been raised in sup- port of the project, which is also in contention for another $1.2 million in grants from ODOT, he said. Yamhill County oficials have offered to purchase nine miles of the railroad from its current owner, Union Paciic Railroad, but those negoti- ations are ongoing, Wright said. Capital Press was unable to reach a representative of Yamhill County as of press time. The Oregon Farm Bureau has argued that Yamhill Coun- ty’s commissioners should irst complete the land use process and issue a condi- tional use permit for the trail before spending money on the land. The bureau disagrees with the county’s view that it would be premature to begin the land use process before the county buys the railroad, said Mary Anne Nash, pub- lic policy counsel for the farm bureau, in a letter to the commissioners. “Constructing a bike path near agricultural lands cre- ates a host of potential con- licts and liability concerns which the county has yet to address,” the letter said. “These concerns should be addressed before the county invests more resources in this project.” Human-caused warming burns more Western forests By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho — A new study of Western forest ires conirms what is already apparent — wildire seasons are getting longer and more destructive. But researchers with the University of Idaho and Colum- bia University also say humans are to blame. The study says human- caused global warming con- tributed an additional 16,000 square miles of burned forests from 1984 to 2015. Researchers say the 16,000 square miles represent half of the forest areas that burned over the last three decades. “We’re no longer wait- ing for human-caused climate change to leave its ingerprint on wildire across the western U.S.,” John Abatzoglou, the study’s lead author and an asso- ciate professor of geography at the University of Idaho, said in a statement. “It’s already here.” The authors of the study, published online in the Pro- ceedings of the National Acad- emy of Sciences, say it’s the irst to try to quantify how much human-caused climate change has increased wildires in West- ern forests. Some other factors that had to be considered as contributing to the increase, the report said, included a legacy of ire suppression in the West, natural climate variability, and human settlement. The study found that longer and hotter dry spells are caus- ing Western forests to dry out and become more susceptible to wildires. Speciically, researchers said, spring and summer tem- peratures have warmed by 2 to 2.5 degrees since 1950. Researchers said that warm- ing accounts for 55 percent of what they call “fuel aridity” from 1979 to 2015. The study attributed the other 45 percent to natural climate variations. The study found that since 2000 there’s been a 75 percent increase in forested lands with elevated aridity and nine more days each year with dry for- ests especially susceptible to wildires. “Anthropogenic climate change has emerged as a driver of increased forest ire activity,” the report says. Park Williams of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and a co-au- thor of the study, said the report provides a better understanding of the effects human-caused global warming has on West- ern forests. “This knowledge will allow us to make more educated ire and land management deci- sions,” he said. Clatsop Post 12 Goulash with Coleslaw, Garlic Bread and Apple Crisp Friday Oct. 14 th 4 pm until gone $ 6PM “Karaoke Dave” W A NTED ASTORIA AMERICAN LEGION A der and Map e Saw Logs & Stand ng T mber ort w e t H rdw ood • Lo gv ew , A Con ac S eve Ax e • 360 430 0885 o John Ande on • 360 269 2500 8. 00 Clatsop Post 12 1132 Exchange Street 325-5771 In Loving Memory of our Beloved Don McComber who passed away August 29, 2016. He was very special to all his family and many friends. He will be greatly missed for the loving, caring family man he was. We could always count on him to be there for us. May he rest in peace with our Lord and Saviour. Love, The Family C elebration of L ife for Christine “Tina” Stanley S ATURDAY O CTOBER 15 1 TO 3 TH PM Time and money. We give you both. 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