7A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2017
‘The Beast’:
Kids helped
come up
with name
Continued from Page 1A
EO Media Group/File Photo
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s local leaders want to relocate Willapa National Wildlife Refuge headquarters from its current site on the east side of
Willapa Bay in Washington, shown here, to a new location more accessible to the population center of the Long Beach Peninsula.
Refuge: ‘We’re trying to be part of the community’
Continued from Page 1A
Refuge Manager Jackie
Ferrier said she wanted to
include the public in decid-
ing where to build the Natural
Resource Center and designing
it, although the project has yet
to be funded.
If federal dollars don’t come
through, Ferrier said, she’ll
work with the refuge nonprofit
to try to raise the money.
The cost of the center will
depend on what’s included in
its design. Refuge officials in
2011 estimated a cost of about
$6 million in its long-term
plans.
“We’ll be paring it down, at
least the government portion,”
Ferrier said.
New public face
She wants the new center to
have space for the refuge head-
quarters, a visitor center, educa-
tion programs, events and pub-
lic meetings.
Ferrier has long wanted to
move the headquarters closer to
Long Beach from its location at
3888 U.S. Highway 101, now
about a 15-minute drive from
downtown.
“We’re trying to be part of
the community,” she said.
Two sites are being con-
sidered for the center. It could
be built at the east end of 67th
Place, a tsunami-evacuation
route. The refuge could then
help Pacific County house
emergency supplies and pro-
vide a public meeting space
during an evacuation, Ferrier
said.
“I think it makes a lot of
sense,” she said.
The refuge was slated to
receive $2 million in federal
grants to help Pacific County
repave and improve 67th Place
during the next few years but
getting the money depends on
the federal highways budget.
95th Street work
The other site being con-
sidered is in the flood plain
Symbols: Dogs rescued from shelters
also proposed as state’s favorite pup
Continued from Page 1A
The Kiger Mustang, for
example, is native to southeast-
ern Oregon and named after
the Kiger Gorge there. Accord-
ing to the Bureau of Land Man-
agement website, the horses
are “one of the best remaining
examples of the Spanish Mus-
tang” and highly sought after in
BLM auctions. A Kiger Mus-
tang with the breed’s charac-
teristic gold coloring and dark
mane was used as the model
for the title character of the ani-
mated movie “Spirit: Stallion
of the Cimarron.”
“They’re beautiful animals,
sturdy and hardy,” Hansell said.
State dog
Hansell also sponsored a
bill naming the border collie
as Oregon’s state dog, at the
request of Ron Folck of Unity.
He felt a working dog like the
border collie was a good rep-
resentation of Oregon, but
Rep. David Gomberg, D-Cen-
tral Coast, had a different idea
and is sponsoring a bill to name
dogs rescued from a shelter as
the state dog.
Hansell said the reason Ore-
gon has never named a state
dog before may be because
there isn’t a particular breed of
dog that stands out for its ties
to Oregon. And while dog’s
are “humankind’s best friend,”
near 95th Street and San-
dridge Road. The refuge got a
$60,000 grant from the state
and county to put in park-
ing spaces, a viewing area
and a safer trail access point
on 95th Street. The refuge is
working on a federal grant to
pay for connecting its South
Bay Trail across the peninsula
to the Discovery Trail, but
again, those dollars depend
on the federal budget, Ferrier
said.
Either of the two sites
being considered for the cen-
ter would make it easier for
people’s favorite breed of dog
varies greatly.
“All my kids and I,
we love the corgi, because that
was our family’s first dog,” he
said.
This session there are also
proposals to name a state tar-
tan to honor the contributions
of Oregonians with Scottish
ancestry, a proposal to replace
the western meadowlark with
the osprey as Oregon’s state
bird, and a proposal to name
marionberry pie as the state’s
official pie in recognition of the
fact that the marionberry was
developed at Oregon State Uni-
versity and was named after
Marion County.
tourists and locals to access
the refuge, she said. It boasts
scenic beaches, coastal dunes,
old-growth forests, estuaries,
salt marshes, muddy tideflats
and ample wildlife watching
opportunities.
Ferrier has set two
more public meetings from
5 to 7 p.m. on May 17 and
June 14 at the Cranberry
Museum.
“We’re really looking for-
ward to having a lot of input
to help us design a space that
works for everybody,” Ferrier
said.
OREGON CAPITAL
INSIDER
Not looking for any
style of truck in particu-
lar, Wicklander found the
new one at a scrapyard in
Portland five weeks ago.
Although he was searching
for a smaller truck, this one
cost $4,200 and had only
been driven about 6,000
miles.
Wicklander has been
working for about a month
to give the truck — which
was coated in fading blue
paint — a face-lift.
“It was pretty cruddy
looking, so we touched it
all up,” Wicklander said.
The truck is now a dark
green color with Fort Ste-
vens logos on the doors.
Padded seats in the bed
of the truck will seat up to
26 people. A camouflage
tarp drapes over the top for
weather protection.
The hour-long tours fea-
ture 20 stops at historical
sites around the fort. Four
drivers will be on hand
throughout the summer,
and a recorded narration
will provide background
information for visitors
during the tours.
When
Wicklander
drove the truck soon after
its purchase, children on
the side of the road yelled,
“That thing is a beast!”
From that day forward,
Wicklander christened the
vehicle “The Beast,” even
painting it above the wheel
well on the driver’s side.
When visitors com-
plete their tour, shirts with
the phrase, “I survived The
Beast,” will be available.
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