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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2016
Gearhart: Foredune
management plan could
lead to state grants
Continued from Page 1A
Watts advised the city
to develop a comprehen-
sive rather than a piecemeal
approach to managing the
dunes.
“It makes sense to have
a comprehensive plan they
(homeowners) can bring to
you and you can say ‘thumbs
up, thumbs down,’” Watts
said. “Under your current
code, you can’t do that.”
A foredune management
plan could also lead to state
grants, Watts added. “In
order to be eligible for those
sorts of grants, you need a
code switch.”
Forum lineup
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Volunteers prepare to deliver boxes stuffed with food and household supplies for families in need at American Legion
Post 168 on Friday in Cannon Beach.
Community: The American Legion is the
only service organization in Cannon Beach
Continued from Page 1A
and Shorewood Apartments
and other Cannon Beach
households.
Since 1977, American
Legion Vice Commander Don
Boehm has organized the pro-
gram and shopped for food.
The program began when
someone donated $5,000 for
Christmas baskets.
“We’ve carried that on,”
Boehm said. “We’re here
for the community. We wish
to thank all the people who
donate and make it known
that we appreciate their
support.”
Volunteers Stacie Gilligan
and Heidi Lent have coor-
dinated the food baskets for
about seven years.
“It takes us about a week
to get it done,” Lent said. “It’s
very necessary. The Amer-
ican Legion is the only ser-
vice organization in Cannon
Beach, so it felt natural for
them to take this on.”
Some items are donated
Lyra Fontaine/The Daily Astorian
Mirian Luna, daughter Silvia Avila and son Christian Avi-
la volunteered for the Cannon Beach American Legion’s
Christmas Basket Program for the first time this year.
by community members, food
banks or local businesses like
Bruce’s Candy Kitchen. The
rest is purchased by the post’s
charitable account, which
comes from donations and
proceeds from fundraisers. It
cost about $3,500 to $4,000
to fill the food baskets, Gilli-
gan said.
Police Chief Jason Scher-
merhorn — assisted by
12-year-old son Jackson —
said the officers help with the
program each year.
“It’s such a good partner-
ship,” Schermerhorn said.
“This is one of those things
that officers love to do, and
it’s great for people to see a
different side of the police
officers. We’re actually doing
what we want to do, which is
help people, and we appreci-
ate the legion for keeping us
involved.”
Siblings Silvia and Chris-
tian Avila volunteered for the
Christmas basket program
with their mother, Mirian
Luna.
“I have time and I want to
help,” Christian said. “I’ve
always lived in Elk Creek so
I’ve experienced this from
the other perspective … I feel
like we kind of took it for
granted. This doesn’t happen
everywhere else. I think it’s a
sigh of relief for the parents.
They will buy one or two
things for each child, but hav-
ing this much more to bulk up
what’s under the Christmas
tree really helps.”
A volunteer firefighter, Sil-
via said she decided to volun-
teer because she enjoys help-
ing others.
“It’s what we do in the
fire department,” she said,
“and Christmas is my favor-
ite holiday.”
Land battle: ‘What does the federal government
know about what’s going on around here?’
Continued from Page 1A
But now, the forest com-
missioners say, the govern-
ment is tightening access to the
same natural resources by clos-
ing roads and curtailing log-
ging and other industries that
allowed previous generations
to be self-sufficient.
The commissioners feel
they lost, by the stroke of a
judge’s pen, a tool voters gave
them to fight back.
Kim McKrola, a local,
voiced the concern of many:
“I would think we should have
more say, because what does
the federal government know
about what’s going on around
here?”
With 1,700 residents, John
Day is Grant County’s biggest
town, named for a fur trapper
who in the early 1800s sur-
vived being robbed of every-
thing by American Indians
but trekked with a compatriot
to safety. The second longest
free-flowing river in the conti-
nental United States also bears
Day’s name.
Created by voters in a bal-
lot measure 14 years ago, the
forest commission was tasked
with determining the fate of
public lands, which comprise
66 percent of the county’s
4,529 square miles.
Sympathy for the cause
Hours before the meeting
at the Squeeze-In Restaurant
& Deck, forest commissioner
Jim Sproul drove his pickup up
a canyon and into the Malheur
National Forest.
“My
great-grandfather
came here in the 1870s. He
started the Humboldt Mine,”
the 64-year-old said. A pin on
his cap proclaimed support for
Sheriff Glenn Palmer, a sympa-
thizer of the refuge occupiers’
cause.
Sproul looked at skeletal
trees killed by a 2015 fire that
burned 43 homes and more
AP Photo/Andrew Selsky
A cow stands on a ranch outside the Malheur National
Forest near John Day. The armed takeover of the Malheur
National Wildlife Refuge headquarters caused a sensation
and global headlines, but a quieter and perhaps more im-
portant struggle is being waged by those trying to use the
levers of power, and not firearms.
than 172 square miles. He
blamed the U.S. Forest Service,
saying it let the forest grow too
thick, allowing the blaze to
crown and become a “huge fire-
ball.” Sproul wants the agency
to open more burned areas for
loggers to salvage trees.
At the Squeeze-In, com-
mission members voiced more
complaints.
“You’re missing the point,”
growled Commissioner Mike
Smith from beneath the brim
of his cowboy hat. “The point
is, they want to make it so you
can’t make a living in rural
Oregon, so you have to leave.”
Others nodded assent.
Commissioner Dave Tray-
lor said he suspects the gov-
ernment and environmentalists
want to create a 200-mile-wide
corridor from Canada to Mex-
ico, with only animals present
and no humans.
Federal officials say no
such plots exist.
District Ranger Dave Hale-
meier noted the Forest Service
has increased its transparency.
“We meet with the pub-
lic before we even have an
idea of what we want to do in
an area,” Halemeier said in an
interview. “Historically, we’d
come up with a plan and then
present that plan, and now the
public’s involved in develop-
ing that plan.”
Malheur National Forest
Supervisor Steve Beverlin said
he had productive talks with
a forest commissioner about
modifying rules for gathering
firewood, but faced hostility at
commission meetings.
“It was difficult to engage
because they wouldn’t share
information,” Beverlin said
Mark Webb, whose petition
for judicial review led to the
commission’s dissolution, said
he felt it was growing too close
to Palmer and his “increasing
belligerence toward federal
government.”
The leaders of the wildlife
refuge takeover were planning
to meet with Palmer when offi-
cers intercepted them in Janu-
ary. State police shot and killed
LaVoy Finicum as he appeared
to reach for a pistol.
No militia
Sproul said he had invited
takeover leaders Ammon and
Ryan Bundy to speak to res-
idents about the Constitution
and states’ rights, with no ulte-
rior motives.
“Anyone who says there’s
a militia here is a liar,” Sproul
said. “But are there patriotic
citizens here? Hell yes.”
Forest commissioners say
no one informed them of the
petition.
Judge W.D. Cramer ruled
in September that the ballot
measure that created the com-
mission violated the U.S. and
state constitutions and federal
statutes. In explaining his rul-
ing, Cramer said he “may have
personal views that align with
many on how public lands are
managed (or not), and views
on how those who live close to
the land should be heard.” But
“facts and the law” dictate a
decision.
Webb heads another organi-
zation, Blue Mountains Forest
Partners, which describes itself
as a diverse group of stake-
holders who work to improve
local forests and communities.
He said his group and the for-
est commission have similar
goals but “radically different”
approaches.
“The public forest commis-
sion thought they had author-
ity to tell the county (officials)
and the national forest how to
manage public lands. But Blue
Mountains respects the frame-
work … we have to operate
in.”
Webb ran in the May pri-
mary for one of the commis-
sion’s seven seats. His name
was removed from the bal-
lot because of a technicality,
Grant County Clerk Brenda
Percy said. Webb told The
Associated Press he ran in case
his petition failed, so he could
“inform or redirect” the com-
mission, which he said was
ineffective.
The forest commission,
meanwhile, is planning to
appeal the judge’s decision
and has been in contact with
the secretary of state’s office,
which manages elections, to
seek a remedy, Sproul said.
Marino has assembled
a lineup of arborists, soil
experts, along with repre-
sentatives from the Oregon
Parks and Recreation, the
Department and Fish and
Wildlife, the Department of
Geology and Mineral Indus-
tries, Columbia River Estu-
ary Study Taskforce, North
Coast Land Conservancy and
others.
“The city and Planning
Commission will hear these
experts at one forum — these
people who have advised
and want to engage with the
city,” Marino said at Decem-
ber’s City Council meeting.
Kathleen Sayce, a certi-
fied ecologist who assessed
the issue at a fall council
meeting, will be among those
participating at the forum.
“You will get an unbiased
review from her,” Marino
said. “That is what she does.
We’re very fortunate to have
her.”
City Administrator Chad
Sweet will set the stage for
the forum, and members of
the panel will present their
views.
Fire Chief Bill Eddy and
Police Chief Jeff Bowman
will also participate in the
event.
“One thing I’d like from
the council is leadership
and guidance at the forum,”
Marino said. “For me the
purpose of this is to learn
from all these experts. I’m an
engineer by training and edu-
cation, and I believe in find-
ing facts for people to make
good decisions.”
At their December meet-
ing, city councilors were
concerned that this be pre-
sented as an informational
session rather than a public
hearing.
“What we’re trying to
accomplish at a town hall
meeting is different than a
‘for or against thing,’” Coun-
cilor Sue Lorain said.
Marino said she hopes the
meeting will provide enough
information for a Plan-
ning Commission review in
March.
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
The Gearhart dunes are the topic of an educational fo-
rum Jan. 5.
Heroux: ‘We’re trying
to embrace the rain’
Continued from Page 1A
“We really love it here,
but Sam has discovered that
fishing is much harder than
it is back in Minnesota,”
Heroux said with a smile.
“He gets kind of frustrated,
because at home you just put
a worm on a hook and you
catch 30 different fish.”
But she added, he loves
Broadway Middle School
and being a member of the
swim team.
Along with fishing, clam-
ming and crabbing — with
guidance from Ruth and Don
Swenson from the Hillcrest
Inn — Heroux enjoys out-
door photography and tries
to incorporate that into their
fishing trips. She enjoys
swimming at the Sunset
Empire Park and Recreation
District pool, and said she
“really likes the small town
feel of Seaside.”
As for the rain, Heroux
said she is trying to adapt.
“I know they told us
about the rain, but it’s a lit-
tle more than we thought,”
Heroux said. “We’re trying
to embrace the rain — we
bought some good rain gear
— but sometimes it gets a lit-
tle bit much. They warned
us, but they didn’t tell us this
much.”
T HE D AILY A STORIAN ’ S
C UTEST B ABY C ONTEST
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January 1st &
December 31st , 2016 ,
between
you can submit your
newborn’s picture either
via email at:
CLASSIFIEDS @ DAILYASTORIAN . COM
or drop by one of our offi ces in Astoria or
Seaside and we can scan in the photo for you.
Deadline to enter is
Wednesday, January 25 th at 5 pm
Entries will be printed in The Daily Astorian
on January 31st.
*Human babies only please!*