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4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2017 Lesson: ‘See something, say something’ Jewell: Structure From left, Clatsop Coun- ty Emergency Management Coordinator Bijan Fayyaz looks on as Seaside High School juniors David Schwinof, Cole Her- rington and Megan Brown practice car- rying injured survivors. Continued from Page 1A disaster response. “With the situation our county is in, I thought it was a great opportu- nity,” Clouse said. See something, say something Seniors in Joshua Funk’s classroom at Astoria High School Friday filed in past a black briefcase left by Fayyaz in the doorway, complete with suspicious wires poking out of the top. In his emergency manage- ment training, Fayyaz said, he specialized in recognizing ter- rorist threats, another unit he teaches students. While one might not think of the rural North Coast as a target, Fayyaz said, the area has already been tar- geted by animal-rights activ- ists, who in 2010 firebombed a mink farm. And the region includes at least one high-value target. “The Megler Bridge, if you cut that off, if you took down that bridge, you would cut off the Pacific Ocean from the Columbia River,” Fayyaz said. Fayyaz noted that explo- sives, like the ones that theo- retically could have been con- cealed in his briefcase, are used Edward Stratton The Daily Astorian in about 80 percent of terror- ist attacks. While Fayyaz said it shouldn’t be assumed that something out of the ordinary is immediately a threat of ter- rorism, he reminded students to always consider the possibility and remember the U.S. Depart- ment of Homeland Security’s motto: “If you see something, say something.” Creating assets Astoria Principal Lynn Jackson said that besides the basic self-preservation skills students learn in earthquake or tsunami evacuation drills, only students in clubs like Boy Scouts of America and 4-H get training in how to become an asset in a disaster. Astoria had tried the emer- gency response team train- ing as an after-school club, Jackson said, but “as it wasn’t structured in a classroom envi- ronment, attendance was hit or miss.” With the training inserted into the classroom, Fayyaz expects to have about 100 stu- dents in Astoria, 75 in Warren- ton and 75 in Seaside trained as volunteer responders in a disaster. The hope is that some of those and future students will join local response teams, and spread the training to their families. Fayyaz said this year will cement the model of teach- ing disaster preparedness in the classroom. Eventually, the county will train local teachers to add disaster preparedness within their classes. Fayyaz said he’s seen simi- lar in-class programs along the coast in Lane and Lincoln coun- ties, with interest even coming from Gov. Kate Brown on a recent visit to talk about disas- ter preparedness. “I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point this becomes a part of state pol- icy in our curriculum.” Bump: ‘We need the tree huggers’ Continued from Page 1A GOP-controlled Congress will run roughshod over the environment. “It’s time to turn shock and outrage into action,” the Natu- ral Resources Defense Council encourages would-be donors in a social media campaign. “NRDC is gearing up to fight the Trump administration’s disastrous anti-environmental agenda at every turn — in the courtroom, in Washington and on the global stage.” Experts who track nonprofit organizations expect environ- mental activists to use their donation windfall — they call it the Trump Bump — to step up litigation. They also predict environmentalists, who may find themselves stonewalled at the federal level, will shift their focus to local, state and interna- tional venues. Many involved in agri- culture say they hope Trump will ease some of the regula- tions governing their industry, but worry that environmen- tal groups will use their bigger war chests to fight more legal battles on key issues such as public lands management, air- and water-quality standards, food safety and endangered species. “The fear is you would have an unfounded lawsuit filed, and then the (agricultural) business is still responsible for funding a defense of themselves, even if the suit has no legitimacy,” said Rick Naerebout, director of operations at the Idaho Dairy- men’s Association. Naerebout recalled a case in the early 2000s in which an environmental group filed a notice of its intent to sue a dairy for alleged methane-emission violations. The suit was eventu- ally dropped, but only after the association made a six-figure investment in scientific stud- ies that proved the dairy didn’t pollute. Leveraging the Cabinet Environmental groups con- tacted all say they have received many more contributions since the election, though they wouldn’t provide numbers. “We’re clearly seeing folks who were hesitant to associate with us because we’re the tree huggers, and now they’re com- ing around and saying, ‘We need the tree huggers,’” said Jeremy Nichols, who handles climate and energy issues for New Mexico-based WildEarth Guardians. Josh Mogerman, a spokes- man for the Natural Resources Defense Council, emphasized his organization would rather be broke than have to defend “bedrock environmental pro- tections Americans have come to expect.” But he acknowl- edges the group has experi- enced an “exponential bump in engagements for online actions, as well as fundraising.” “To some extent, we ini- tially didn’t have to ask people (to donate). People were com- ing to us,” Mogerman said. The additional contributions are on top of already substan- tial revenues. According to tax forms filed with the Internal Revenue Service, from July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015, the Natural Resources Defense Council reported $155 mil- lion in total revenue, including slightly more than $134 million in contributions and grants. For the year through Decem- ber 2015, WildEarth Guard- ians reported nearly $3 million in total revenue, and Earthjus- tice, a nonprofit law firm that takes on environmental cases, brought in $48.1 million. During that same period, the Sierra Club reported $109.2 million in revenue, including $94.3 million in contributions and grants. Hailey, Idaho-based West- ern Watersheds Project brought in $639,000 in total revenue for the year ending December 2014. More recently, criticizing Trump’s Cabinet and agency leadership choices has been an especially lucrative fundrais- ing strategy, the environmental- ists said. A Sierra Club blog describes Trump’s pick to lead the Envi- ronmental Protection Agency, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, as a “climate sci- ence denier who repeatedly partnered with the state’s larg- est polluters to block health and environmental safeguards.” The organization concludes that the choice of Pruitt will make “America the scorn of the world.” On the site is a link with instructions to donate to the club each month and “pro- tect the planet from Trump.” In its online advertising, the Natural Resources Defense Council encourages supporters to “Speak out! Tell your sen- ators to vote NO on Donald Trump’s Cabinet of polluters.” The group contends Secretary of State pick Rex Tillerson, the retired CEO of Exxon Mobil, “put his company’s interests ahead of those of the U.S. and thwarted action on climate change.” The Natural Resources Defense Council also takes to task former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, tapped to oversee the Department of Energy, for his record on climate change and claims Secretary of the Interior pick Ryan Zinke, a second-term congressman from Montana, has a “rock-bottom voting record on the environment of 3 percent,” as calculated by the League of Conservation Voters. “You have a list of extremely pro-industry advo- cates with very weak records on environmental protection and conservation,” said Erik Molvar, executive director of the Western Watersheds Proj- ect. “That elevates the need for conservation groups like West- ern Watersheds to hold them accountable.” Avoiding pushback Though the Trump admin- istration is generally viewed as friendly to agriculture, some warn against trying to go too far, too fast. Jay Byrne, president of the St. Louis issues management and research firm v-Fluence, advises agricultural leaders to focus their advocacy on core issues instead of “moving too quickly on too many fronts” in pursuit of reforms that could be viewed as extreme. The firm provides public policy intelli- gence to the food industry, “Some suggest there may be a radical dismantling of reg- ulations, and that could end up with pushback and other reac- tions that, in the end, could hurt farming interests,” said Byrne. “You want to take advantage of the opportunities, but also be T HE D AILY A STORIAN ’ S C UTEST B ABY C ONTEST If your baby was born 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!* cautious that we don’t enable and lift up some of the more radical opponents.” Regardless, Byrne predicts unprecedented levels of liti- gation impacting agriculture ahead. Based on observations from 2005 to 2007 — the last time Republicans held both houses of Congress and the White House — Byrne expects envi- ronmental activists to take many of their fights to the city, county and state levels. For example, Byrne said anti-ag- ricultural groups recently con- vinced a New York City Par- ent Teacher Association to endorse a ban on serving genet- ically modified foods in school, as well as a ban on milk and other dairy products from cows treated with artificial growth hormone. Regardless of the science, Byrne said many liberal-lean- ing local and state leaders will be apt to support the activists because of their general disdain for Trump. “We’re going to be chal- lenged by fighting thousands of little fires,” Byrne said. He also expects the groups to increase their lobbying in international policy forums, which could influence key agri- cultural trade partners such as China, Japan and South Korea. “Junk science” — scientific claims appearing in so-called pay-to-play journals not backed by credible research — will also proliferate in the coming years, Byrne said. He said bio- tech crops and animal health products are popular targets of junk science. will be used for high-level medical marijuana products Oregon Jewell Continued from Page 1A In late December, the Clatsop County Community Development Department issued a notice of decision approving Plew’s applica- tion, giving any opposed par- ties until Jan. 3 to appeal. Just in time were Hunsa- ker and Jewell School Board Chairman Brian Meier, who appealed the county’s approval Jan. 3. Hunsaker said the school district’s appeal took issue with the proximity of the facility to the school, the location across the street from a bus stop, the mini- mum notice given, clarity on the use of the facility and the impact to surrounding land. Hunsaker called it a high-profile issue not only for homeowners, but for the school district and the com- munity, “and to narrow that notification window and meet only the very mini- mum public notice standards for something of that level of concern is not acceptable.” Cold welcome Unaware the owner was sitting in the audience, school board members shared their disgust with the idea of a marijuana business so close to the school. “We live out here so we don’t have to live close to crap like that,” said board member Ginger Kaczenski. “So, I don’t know. I moved from Beaverton to be out here away from stuff, and to have it even think about com- ing close to 1,000 feet of our school is insulting. I think it’s disgusting.” Board member Brian Swearingen took issue with the county’s approval never mentioning Jewell School. The approval said the pro- cess met notification stan- dards, including the adjacent property owners, “Oregon Department of Transpor- tation, and other relevant agencies.” Meier said it was sad the school board even had to waste time on such a mat- ter. He asked whether there were more comments, after which Plew introduced him- self and got a chance at the end of the meeting to explain his venture. Plew said the 1,600-square-foot structure will be named Oregon Jewell LLC and used for high-level marijuana medical products. In June, a butane explo- sion engulfed marijuana extraction company Higher Level Concentrates in Asto- ria’s Uniontown. Trying to allay such concerns, Plew said his family’s equipment extracts THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, using carbon dioxide, seen as a much safer method. As for the retail dispen- sary portion of his appli- cation, Plew said he was required to sell something on the property to meet the county’s requirements for general commercial zoning, whether it’s a dispensary or a Dutch Bros. Coffee stand. “The dispensary part — and I don’t even like using that word, because I don’t like dispensaries. I’ve been in them, and I’ve seen the pipes and stuff — that’s not what that is,” he said of the dispensary listed on his application. Asked why he didn’t locate the business in Happy Valley, Plew said it’s dif- ficult there to get general commercial zoning. He said his research indicated Jew- ell as the best location, add- ing that he could show the school board thousands of plants growing within a half- mile of the school. Instead of growing, Plew said he plans to process his products from the leftovers of other growers. The lot’s corner on the two highways is excellent for whatever type of business goes there, he said, just as a tavern once succeeded in the same place. “And I promise you a whole lot more dam- age was done with that tav- ern, and a whole lot more tax dollars and school dol- lars will come from what our plan is on that property,” he said. Meier thanked Plew for coming in to speak, but said he should expect many peo- ple to not welcome him. Hunsaker said Plew should help create a more proactive communication with the dis- trict moving forward on his project. The most valuable and respected source of local news, advertising and information for our communities. www.eomediagroup.com W A NTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 Think newspapers are dead? Think again. 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