3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 2017
Oregon faces 90 percent reduction
in key federal timber payments
Program
has not been
reauthorized
Associated Press
SALEM — A U.S. Forest
Service program that infused
rural communities with mil-
lions to make up for lost timber
revenue is drying up, and that
means Oregon will see a 90
percent reduction in the pay-
ments that have kept critical
services afloat in many coun-
ties since environmental rules
curtailed logging nearly 30
years ago.
The Salem Statesman Jour-
nal reported that the changes
will impact more than 700
counties and 4,000 school dis-
tricts in 41 states.
The Secure Rural Schools
program was enacted in 2000
to help ease the financial blow
after a dramatic reduction in
logging in the 1990s.
But the program has not
been reauthorized and pay-
ments going forward will
revert to a 1908 law that dedi-
cates 25 percent of timber reve-
nues to local governments.
For Oregon, the reduction
would be particularly severe,
dropping the 2015 payment
of $86.4 million to $7 million,
according to an analysis by the
National Association of Coun-
ties. The law had provided
gradually reduced payments
since 2012 and was authorized
a final time at $285 million in
April 2015 and expired six
months later.
Payments to counties at the
previous 25 percent level will
start to be sent out in February,
said Babete R. Anderson, the
national press officer for the
Forest Service.
“We are working through
the steps required to process
the 25 percent fund payments
expeditiously and anticipate
making those payments by the
middle of February,” she said.
The National Association of
Counties is trying to drum up
support for reauthorizing the
program — and some Western
lawmakers are listening.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden,
D-Oregon, was a co-author
of the 2000 bill and is work-
Oregon governor, AG
condemn Trump’s
immigation order
Associated Press
AP Photo/Rick Bowmer
Trees in the Mt. Hood National Forest outside Zigzag
in 2004. A U.S. Forest Service program that infused ru-
ral communities with millions to make up for lost timber
revenue is drying up; for Oregon, the reduction would be
particularly severe, dropping the 2015 payment of $86.4
million to $7 million, according to an analysis by the Na-
tional Association of Counties.
ing with Sen. Mike Crapo and
Sen. James Risch, both Idaho
Republicans, to craft a solu-
tion and called the money a
“lifeline for rural counties” in a
recent statement.
SALEM — Gov. Kate
Brown said President Donald
Trump’s executive order that
bans U.S. legal permanent
residents and visa-holders
from seven Muslim-majority
countries from returning to
the United States for 90 days
divides and discriminates.
Brown said Sunday that
Trump’s actions “do not
reflect the values enshrined
in the U.S. Constitution or
the principles we stand for as
Oregonians.
“In Oregon, where thou-
sands have fought for and
demanded equality, we can
not and will not retreat,”
the governor said in a state-
ment. “As governor, I will
uphold the civil and human
rights of all who call Oregon
home. My staff is studying
the recent executive orders to
determine what effects they
may have on Oregonians,
and I will explore options to
keep Oregon a safe place for
everyone. I am also in contact
with the Port of Portland and
local authorities and am pre-
pared to assist if necessary.
“Now, more than ever, we
must stand together, guided
by the enduring belief in
freedom, liberty, and justice
for all, and make our voices
heard.”
Attorney General Ellen
Rosenblum said Satur-
day she is “appalled” by the
immigration crackdown on
non-American citizens from
Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan,
Libya, Somalia or Yemen.
She adds that Oregon will
use the “force of the rule of
law” to protect and serve all
people in Oregon.
Trump signed the order
Friday and it’s having an
immediate effect on U.S.
legal permanent residents and
visa-holders who are travel-
ing outside the U.S.
Trump’s ban on asy-
lum-seekers came even as
Iraqis endangered by work
for the United States in their
home country were midflight
to the United States.
Getting up close and personal with gray whales
Whale research
provides some
important clues
By REBECCA HERREN
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — Vacationers
are not the only part-time res-
idents of our region.
About 200 gray whales in
the Pacific Coast feeding group
return every year. Instead of
migrating with the rest of the
population north to the Ber-
ing Sea, they cavort for sev-
eral months along Oregon’s
coastline.
Known as resident whales,
animals in the group do not live
in the area year-round, accord-
ing to Oregon State University
graduate student Florence Sul-
livan at a lecture, “Inside Gray
Whales,” presented by the
North Coast Land Conservan-
cy’s “Listening to the Land”
series this month.
Sullivan is part of a research
team for Geospatial Ecology
of Marine Megafauna Labora-
tory, studying the gray whales
that feed in the southern waters
between Northern California
and southeastern Alaska.
Sullivan noted that gray
whales do not feed during
migration, which makes the
Oregon Coast an important
habitat for them on their return
to Alaska.
The focus of Sullivan’s
research is to document the for-
aging behavior of the feeding
group, the affect of man-made
disturbances, overall health,
body condition and the whales’
response to changing ocean
conditions.
After the findings are
completed, Sullivan works
with local communities and
whale-watching operators to
Rebecca Herren/The Daily Astorian
Florence Sullivan, a graduate student in Oregon State Uni-
versity’s Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, points to a
near collision between a gray whale and a kayaker during
her powerpoint presentation.
Rebecca Herren/The Daily Astorian
Florence Sullivan, center, discusses the “Watch Out for Whales” brochure with Lianne
Thompson, Jeff Gage, Judith Pearson and Jim Border.
create scientific guidelines for
vessel operation in the presence
of feeding gray whales.
Foraging ecology
The researchers’ view-
ing location is concentrated
between Titchener Cove and
Mill Rocks near Port Orford
and Depoe Bay. The team uses
a surveyor’s instrument called
a theodolite to track and map
the movement of individual
whales as they forage. The data
collected shows the whales’
traveling patterns between kelp
beds, how they search for food
and how they interact with
vessels.
New research techniques
such as GoPro cameras and
aerial drones benefit the team
to closely observe the whales’
patterns and behaviors, and
hydrophones aid in record-
ing the ocean noise — natu-
ral, human and mechanical —
whales become exposed to.
In an effort to gain a bet-
ter understanding of the forag-
ing ecology of the gray whales’
feeding group, the team col-
lects samples of a particular
prey called mysid. Mysids are
small, shrimp-like crustaceans
found near the kelp beds.
“We think the reason
they’re attracted to these for-
aging hotspots along the Ore-
gon Coast is an abundance of
mysid shrimp,” Sullivan said.
“During summer months, the
mysid can be really dense from
the sea floor to the surface and
really close to shore. We want
to know if this wealth of for-
aging is enough to get these
whales to disrupt their migra-
tion north, or is there some
other mechanism that makes
200 whales act differently than
the other 20,000? That’s what
we hope to find out.”
Monitoring the activities of
commercial, charter and recre-
ational fishing boats, as well as
whale-watching boats, can also
determine the effects on whale
behavior.
Understanding patterns
Sullivan pointed to a series
of graphs and charts explain-
ing how the data collected on
vessel noise showed a signifi-
cant disruption to the whale’s
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Astoria OR 97103
503-325-7780
The primary tasks of this
position are to
1) monitor city streets and
parking areas to enforce
Astoria’s parking ordinances,
2) improve the quality of our
downtown visitors’ experience,
including information
distribution, and
3) communicate with downtown
businesses to address any
issues with the ADHDA such as
planters, tiles, fl ags or
2nd Saturday Art Walk.
Leigh Torres’ research. Sulli-
van noted that photographing
a gray whale involves multiple
photos and a lot of patience.
“To identify gray whales,
we need to take five pho-
tographs compared to one
photo of the underside fluke
of a humpback whale or one
photo of the profile of a dor-
sal fin and saddle patch of an
orca,” said Sullivan. To iden-
tify gray whales, researchers
need to photograph the knuckle
ridge along the back, under-
side of the fluke, both sides of
the head and body showing
scarring, barnacle patterns and
mottling to make individual
identification.
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behavior patterns while trav-
eling from one kelp bed to
another, whereas there was lit-
tle change to their behavior
when actual foraging and eat-
ing was in process.
Photographing individual
whales is another form of data
collection. This allows the team
to follow the whale’s migration
patterns, their health and nutri-
tional state. Aerial photographs
allow the team to document
breeding females with or with-
out a new calf. This can also
give the team an estimate of
the number of calves produced
each year, which is an import-
ant key of reproductive health
and part of marine ecologist
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