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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 2016)
7A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2016 Rescue school: Rescuers are always learning something new Continued from Page 1A On Monday, Senior Chief Petty Officer Eric Bednorz from Air Station Mobile stood on the dunes of Clatsop Spit and watched through a set of binoculars while six Coast Guard and two U.S. Air Force rescue swimmers treaded water. “They’re just trying to make it outside,” Bednorz said of the swimmers, who traded off playing survivor and rescuer, trying to pull each other through the 5- to 10-foot swells. The Coast Guard pushes its rescue swimmers past their comfort zone, Bednorz said, “but we want to do that under instruction.” Around the nation Trainers from Air Station Mobile in Alabama, swim- mers, pilots and hoist opera- tors from around the country head each year to the mouth of the Columbia River, which offers rough surf and diverse environments, from the cliffs at Cape Disappointment to the dunes of Clatsop Spit. Swimmers practice maneu- vering in the water. Pilots and hoist operators on the Coast Guard’s HH-60 Jayhawk and HH-65 Dolphin helicopters practice pulling them away from danger. The entire crew learns how to work together during a rescue. “The Coast Guard is the best at all rescue-swim- mer aspects,” said Allen- Mikel Armstrong, one of two pararescuemen on the North Coast this week for training from the Air Force’s 212th Rescue Squadron in Alaska. Jason Hughes, the other pararescueman, said the squadron coordinates closely with the Coast Guard’s Air Station Kodiak. The Air Force has similar training in Alaska, he said, but no surf compara- ble to the North Coast. Hughes was paired in the surf training with 16-year veteran rescue swimmer Ty Aweau, who served four years with Sector Columbia River and has gone through the training four times. Photos by Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Coast Guardsmen complete training exercises Monday at Fort Stevens State Park. Senior Chief Petty Officer Eric Bednorz, rescue swimmer and trainer from the U.S. Coast Guard’s Air Station Mobile, monitors training exercises from the shore on Monday at Fort Stevens State Park. Aweau said the dynamic surf environment means res- cuers are always learning something new. “Bednorz is aware of the water, what the ocean does. He brings that knowledge here.” Rescue school In the mid-1980s, the A Coast Guard helicopter takes flight above Fort Stevens State Park during training exercises on Monday in Hammond. Coast Guard established a helicopter rescue swimmer program. In summer 1993, HH-65 Dolphin helicop- ter air crews started train- ing using the hoisted swim- mers near San Francisco and on the cliffs of Cape Dis- appointment. With support from a helicopter, swim- mers rescued simulated sur- vivors from 200-foot cliffs, wave-swept rocks and heavy surf with ease, improving the Coast Guard’s rescue capabil- ities in otherwise inaccessible terrain. Master Chief Darell Gela- koska, who headed the Coast Guard’s rescue swimmer pro- gram, helped develop the concept of deploying rescue swimmers from helicopters. It was Gelakoska who rec- ommended that an advanced rescue swimmer training be created to familiarize swim- mers with the equipment and conditions they would face in the field. In 1996, a build- ing at North Tongue Point in Astoria was dedicated as the school’s home base. Since then, the Coast Guard held semiannual train- ings for pilots, hoist oper- ators, flight mechanics and rescue swimmers from air sta- tions across the country. Netting: Sportfishing groups don’t want 2013 agreement damaged Continued from Page 1A seines are a viable alternative to gillnets. Commercial fish- ers strongly disagree. Under a 2013 agreement, gillnets were to be phased out in the river’s main stem over four years and restricted to off-channel areas. The state was to give recreational fish- ing in the main stem stronger priority, enhance off-chan- nel hatchery releases for commercial harvest, and develop alternative gear and techniques. Sportfishing groups don’t want that agreement damaged. “It is imperative that you stand firm on ensuring the removal of gillnets from the main stem of the Columbia at the end of the transition period” on Dec. 31, Schamp wrote. While some “adaptive management” of the plan was expected, he and oth- ers argued to the commis- sion, the Fish and Wildlife staff recommendation would increase gillnetters’ take of salmon. He said the plan does not guarantee them more revenue. However, Astoria-based gillnetters, seafood proces- sors and community mem- bers say the plan imperils their livelihoods, alternative fishing methods aren’t eco- nomically feasible and revi- sion is necessary. Jim Knight, executive director of the Port of Asto- ria, said commercial fishing is crucial to the area’s econ- omy and multiple other busi- nesses are linked to it. Astoria gillnetter Otis Hunsinger said 80 percent of his income derives from the Columbia River. He recently bought a second boat and said the cost of gear, per- mits and other expenses is a worry. “I’d like to know what the future is,” he said. Lori Steele, executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Asso- ciation in Portland, said the group supports the Fish and Wildlife staff recommen- dations. Commercial fish- ers and processors have lost money under the reform plan, she said, and any fish- eries reform must be fair and flexible. Michael Finley, the com- mission chairman, said state statute requires that Colum- bia River fish management rules be structured in a way that they “enhance the eco- nomic viability of recre- ational and commercial fish- eries and the communities that rely on them. “That’s a dual mandate,” Finley said. CREST: Critics of dam’s removal cite Blitz’s report as proof of wrongdoing Continued from Page 1A The city’s attorney, how- ever, has since suggested that the federal government likely owns the dam. He also believes the structure is part of the city’s levee system and should be overseen by the city with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The city is awaiting clari- fication from the U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Ser- vice, which helped build the dam and two other flood-con- trol structures operated by the water district since the 1960s. Delved into other issues Blitz’s report also delved into whether former City Manager Kurt Fritsch, CREST and the water dis- trict withheld or downplayed information on the poten- tial flooding risk if the dam is removed. Fritsch resigned in June amid questions about the dam. Critics of the dam’s poten- tial removal, including the Nygaard family, which owns Warrenton Fiber and has had long-running antipathy for CREST, have held up Blitz’s report as proof of wrongdoing by the task force. But Blitz has said he has not made any conclu- sive findings about CREST. In an email Wednesday, the attorney said his preliminary report has been “mischarac- terized as an investigation, which it is not. It summarizes records that were reviewed and does so accurately. It identifies issues raised in the community. “The focus now needs to be on determining what the city should do with structures and levees, and on those mat- ters which the commission identifies for further review.” Supporters of CREST have bristled over the fact that Blitz spoke with John Nygaard, an attorney, about the dam but did not interview anyone from CREST or the water district. The report raised questions about CREST’s motives and asked whether the task force may have engaged in pub- lic corruption or civil rights violations. Financial benefit Sinnott’s letter to Blitz challenges the idea that CREST would have benefited financially from salmon cred- its tied to the dam removal project as a “fundamen- tal misunderstanding.” The federal Bonneville Power Administration, which was going to finance the project to help improve salmon hab- itat, would have received any salmon credits. CREST would have overseen the project. Nygaard, in a letter to the Bonneville Power Admin- istration in April 2015, said Warrenton Fiber should be compensated for any loss of development rights and for agreeing to allow increased salmon access from its private property near the river. Sinnott also attacks the doubts raised in the city’s report about the engineering plan on the dam’s removal that showed no significant flooding risk. The report high- lighted a city technical review that questioned whether the engineering plan accurately measured the flood plain. But Sinnott also points out that the report describes the dam as a potential asset for the city that could be removed later to offset the wetlands impact of a development pri- ority. “From this statement, it appears that the concern with the project is not the risk of flooding or insurance premi- ums, but the pecuniary inter- est of the dam as an ‘asset’ to be used for the benefit of cer- tain private citizens of War- renton,” she wrote. A RRIVING N OVEMBER 23 RD Just in time to plan your holiday shopping! • Shopping Locally • Holiday Traditions • Holiday Decorating • Holiday Event Schedules • Downtown Astoria Pull-Out Section Unduplicated coverage! Print and online! For more information or to reserve your advertising space, please call your sales representative at: 503-325-3211 or 503-738-5561 (South County) D EADLINE : N OVEMBER 10 TH
