DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2017
144TH YEAR, NO. 168
BRINGING BACK
THE WETLANDS
Study looks at
invasive species
in Youngs Bay
watershed
A
See WETLANDS, Page 4A
Cascadia
Day 7: Be
prepared
Editor’s note: This is part two of a fi ve-
part series about a possible 9.0 Cascadia
Subduction Zone earthquake in the Pacifi c
Northwest.
By JADE McDOWELL
EO Media Group
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
stern-looking older man
pulled up in his truck on
Whiskey Road in Warren-
ton in 2014 to speak with Sarah
Kidd, who was standing on the
side of the road.
“Hey, what are you doing
here?” he asked her. Kidd, a
National Science Foundation f el-
low, told him she was surveying a
wetland in the area as part of her
six-year study of non-native, inva-
sive species in the Youngs Bay
w atershed.
ONE DOLLAR
Photos by Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
ABOVE: Chris Clatterbuck, c hief of n atural and c ultural r esources at Lewis
and Clark National Historical Park, points to the Colewort Creek wetlands
area on Thursday . BELOW: A lone hiker strides into the South Slough Trail
overlooking the Colewort Creek restoration area, left, on Thursday in Lewis
and Clark National Historical Park.
PENDLETON — If a 9.0 Cascadia
Subduction Zone earthquake hits the west-
ern half of Oregon, Umatilla County resi-
dents could still be ducking and covering a
week later.
The initial earthquake’s damage to the
eastern side of the state is expected to be
light to moderate. But Larry Givens, Uma-
tilla County commissioner and former chair
of the state Department of Geology and
Mineral Industries board, said the after-
shocks will move differently, possibly cre-
ating earthquakes up to a 6.0 magnitude in
parts of Eastern Oregon for weeks after the
initial event.
The 2010 magnitude 8.8 earthquake in
Chile, for example, created 19 aftershocks
larger than a magnitude 6.0 — some hun-
dreds of miles away — for a month after the
main event.
The state’s Cascadia Subduction Zone
Earthquake and Tsunami Operations
Plan assumes the impacts to Eastern
Oregon will be indirect, leaving eastern
counties free to serve as staging areas
for sending resources west and receiving
evacuees.
“I’m hoping we don’t underestimate what
the damage will be on the east side,” Giv-
ens said.
Aftershocks or not, Eastern Oregon
residents could still be without electric-
ity, internet, phone service, natural gas,
vehicle fuel and groceries a week after the
event.
Steve Eberline, preparedness presenter
for the Red Cross, said in those conditions
families should have a plan in place and
review it twice a year.
He and his wife, for example, plan for her
to wait two hours at home for him to show
up before setting out to pick up their young-
est child at school, while he would work to
get to the oldest two. They have a Plan A,
Plan B and Plan C for where to camp out
after. All of their extended family in the
Pacifi c Northwest also have a relative in
Chicago that they have designated to each
check in with should they have an opportu-
nity at a shelter to make a phone call or send
a message.
See CASCADIA, Page 4A
Thousands of protesters across US say ‘Not My President’
In Astoria, about 50
demonstrators gather
Associated Press and The Daily Astorian
About 50 local residents joined the
thousands protesting against President
Donald Trump on issues including immi-
gration, climate change and the environ-
ment rallied in cities around the U.S. on
Presidents Day, calling their opposition
outpouring Not My President’s Day.
The protests on Monday’s federal holi-
day didn’t draw nearly as many people as
the million-plus who thronged the streets
following the Republican president’s inau-
guration a month earlier, but the message
was similar.
In Astoria, the rally was organized by
Indivisible North Coast Oregon
“Our message is positive,” said Lau-
rie Caplan, an organizer. “We want to keep
our democracy strong.”
As part of the national
Not My President’s Day
protests, about 50 people
gathered at Commercial
and Eighth streets Mon-
day. Indivisible North
Coast Oregon plans to
host another “peaceful
rally” at 10:30 a.m. Friday
at Tapiola Park. Afterward,
they will attend U.S. Sen.
Ron Wyden’s town hall at
11:30 at the Astoria High
School auditorium.
National protests
Thousands of fl ag-waving protesters
lined up outside Central Park in Manhat-
tan. Many in the crowd chanted “No ban,
no wall. The Trump regime has got to fall.”
They held aloft signs saying “Impeach the
Liar.”
Edward Stratton
The Daily Astorian
See PROTESTS, Page 4A
Organic farming is at a crossroads
By ERIC MORTENSON
EO Media Group
At this point, maybe organic pro-
ducers and processors should just
declare victory.
They’ve won, haven’t they? Sales
of organic products show double-digit
growth year after year. Consumers
increasingly associate organics with
safer food and better nutrition, health,
soil and plants, not to mention more
humane treatment of livestock and
better conditions for farmworkers.
That little green U.S. Department
of Agriculture Organic symbol on a
package says this costs more because
it’s special. And it’s all delivered by a
chemical-free small farm worked by
a smiling couple and their beautiful
brood of happy children.
Eric Mortenson/EO Media Group
A producer sells jars of organic,
raw milk feta cheese at a Port-
land farmers’ market in this 2015
photo. Despite fears of “Big Ag”
taking over organics, industry
observers believe small produc-
ers will continue to find a niche.
nity, some worry the movement —
and that’s how many see it, as a move-
ment — will lose its soul as “Big Ag”
takes over organic production and
snaps up small organic processors.
“If we continue to mainstream,
is there anything left of what was
organic, or do we just become prod-
uct manufacturers?” asked Oregon
organic pioneer David Lively.
As the Costcos, Wal-Marts and
Krogers of the world continue to
enter the organic market, “Are they
really concerned with what we’re
doing, or is it a marketing opportu-
nity?” Lively said.
Main disagreements
Right?
Well, sure, to a certain extent.
But within the organic commu-
There are other issues out there,
See ORGANIC, Page 9A
Organically Grown Co.
Oregon organics pioneer David Lively
questions whether organic farming will
become just another manufacturing
process if its founding principles are
distorted by big producers.