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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, MARCH 20, 2017
Legislation would close gaps
along the Oregon Coast Trail
Hikers want to
avoid highway
By ZACH URNESS
Statesman Journal
SALEM — Few path-
ways conjure up more conflict-
ing emotions than the Oregon
Coast Trail.
One moment you’re hiking
to the top of a rocky headland
and looking upon a vast sweep
of ocean. The next you’re risk-
ing life and limb on the shoul-
der of U.S. Highway 101 as
cars and trucks scream past a
few feet away.
The 367-mile trail, which
stretches from the California
state line to Astoria, brings hik-
ers to Oregon’s most beautiful
coastal viewpoints and cliff-
walled beaches. But it also
forces them onto one of the
state’s busiest highways, some-
times for miles at a time.
“It’s an incredibly beauti-
ful trail — the only one of its
kind in the nation,” said Connie
Soper, an author and expert on
hiking the Oregon Coast Trail.
“Unfortunately, it’s unfinished.
Having to walk on the highway
is dangerous, unpleasant for
hikers and drivers, and really
stops the trail from reaching its
potential.”
Now a collection of hik-
ers and lawmakers is hop-
ing to change that. Legislation
intended to help complete the
pathway will have its first hear-
ing Tuesday morning at the
Capitol.
An advocacy group, Friends
of the Oregon Coast Trail, has
been formed by Soper and
Salem resident Dan Hilburn to
spearhead the project.
‘Village-to-village’
They say making it possi-
ble to hike the trail end-to-end
— without long stretches on the
highway — could make the trail
a world-famous destination,
providing a “village-to-village”
experience unmatched in the
United States.
“It has the potential to allow
people to hike the entire length
of the coast without carrying
a tent or stove,” Hilburn said.
“It’s set up to let people hike
from town-to-town, staying at
hotels and eating at restaurants.
That’s very popular in Europe,
and it could be huge for Ore-
gon’s coastal economy.”
The first step has already
been taken. A 2011 report by
the Oregon Parks and Recre-
ation Department identifies 33
“critical gaps” in the trail total-
ing around 50 miles. The report
even sets a date — 2021 — as
a goal for connecting the entire
route.
House Bill 3149 is an
attempt to keep the state
AP Photo/Don Ryan
Depoe Bay is one of the stops on the Oregon Coast Trail.
focused on that goal. The bill,
sponsored by Rep. David
Brock Smith, R-Port Orford,
and with 10 sponsors, requires
the parks department to create
a development plan that would
get the project as close to shov-
el-ready as possible.
Parks officials said they’ve
made some progress on clos-
ing the gaps. But finishing the
trail by 2021 — given com-
plexities with private land, river
crossings and other issues —
will be a tall order. It would
also require shifting resources
away from other projects, such
as repairing state park facilities.
“With or without legisla-
tion, it’s an ambitious goal,”
said David Stipe, state parks
planning and design manager.
“That said, I love a challenge.
If our state Legislature and the
governor say this needs to be a
priority, we’ll get to work.”
… the best scenery is lost to a
person who stays on the road. A
trail will be necessary.”
Dicken’s idea took root and
in 1971 construction began.
By 1988, the trail was deemed
“hikeable.”
Yet the trail never quite
became a household name in
Oregon. The trail is unsigned
and confusing in many places,
and the inherent danger of hik-
ing along Highway 101 turns
many people off, Soper said.
In one particularly scary area,
between Heceta Head and
Baker Beach, hikers must travel
through a highway tunnel with
no sidewalk or guardrail.
“I refused to do it,” said
Soper, who hiked the entire
trail for her book “Exploring
the Oregon Coast Trail.” “But
someone in my party tried it
with us following him slowly
in a car with our lights flashing
so he wouldn’t get killed.”
Two moments
Two moments in Oregon’s
history made the Oregon Coast
Trail possible.
The first is well known. In
1913, Gov. Oswald West des-
ignated the ocean shoreline for
the public. That concept was
upheld and expanded with the
1967 Beach Bill that ensured
every Oregonian would have
access to the state’s sandy
shores.
The idea for a trail stretch-
ing from the Columbia River
to the California border came
from Dr. Samuel N. Dicken,
who hiked the coast and wrote
about it in his book “Old Ore-
gon,” published in 1959.
“A traveler along Highway
101 has many opportunities to
see spectacular scenery in turn-
outs and from the highway,” he
wrote. “But in many sections
Mired in obscurity
While the trail has remained
mired in obscurity, the Pacific
Crest Trail, which runs in one
unbroken line through Ore-
gon’s mountains, has ascended
to superstar status. It was fea-
tured in the movie “Wild” and
hosts armies of hikers every
year.
The Oregon Coast Trail,
meanwhile, isn’t even well
known in its own state.
“I’ve lived in Oregon for
25 years and consider myself
an avid hiker,” Hilburn said.
“But until last spring, I hadn’t
even heard of the Oregon Coast
Trail. The reason many people
haven’t heard about it is that it
was never finished.”
For an example of what’s
possible on the Oregon Coast,
Hilburn pointed to the Camino
de Santiago Trail in Spain.
The 495-mile trail follows
a historical pilgrimage route
through countless small vil-
lages. It’s hiked by upward of
278,000 people each year, most
of whom stay in hotels and hos-
tels and eat at restaurants along
the way.
“It was such a fun experi-
ence,” said Hilburn, who hiked
the Camino in fall of 2016.
“It’s full of people from around
the world, happy to shell out
money for a mattress and roof
every night.”
Other
village-to-village
routes include the Queen Char-
lotte Track in New Zealand,
Coast to Coast Path in England,
and 88 Temples Trail in Japan.
Done right, supporters think
the trail, which cuts through
numerous small towns on the
coast, could become the United
States’ first village-to-village
trek.
Small towns
“There are the beaches,
capes and forest that are all
wonderful,” Soper said. “But
one of the highlights is that
the trail passes through small
towns. People get the chance to
visit these coastal communities
on foot and really get to know
them. A connected trail would
really give them the chance to
shine.”
Two good examples, Soper
said, include Depoe Bay and
Yachats.
“I particularly love coming
into Yachats from the beach, up
the historic 804 Trail alongside
a dramatic bluff and through
town,” she said.
The idea of long-dis-
tance hikers arriving on the
Oregon Coast and spending
money appeals to Oregon’s
lawmakers.
Smith, the bill’s chief spon-
sor, said as a former restaurant
owner in Port Orford, he saw
a major benefit from bicyclists
who rode the length of High-
way 101 and stopped to eat
along the way. There would be
even more customers for local
businesses with a completed
trail.
“Anytime we can drive
eco-tourism to rural Oregon,
let’s do it,” Smith said. “There’s
no downside to this for the
coast and its communities.”
More than 450,000
Oregonians could
lose health coverage
under GOP plan
Medicaid costs
would hit state
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — As many as
465,000 Oregonians would be
unable to afford coverage and
lose health insurance by 2026
under the U.S. House GOP
health care proposal, accord-
ing to an analysis released by
the state.
And it would cost the
state an additional $2.6 bil-
lion through 2023 to maintain
Medicaid coverage extended
to 375,000 Oregonians and
subsidized by the federal
government under President
Barack Obama’s Affordable
Care Act, the state anaylsis
says.
The Republican plan,
known as the American
Health Care Act, would also
cost 42,000 jobs, the state
says.
“This bill is not about
improving health care. This
bill is about giving tax breaks
to the wealthy,” Gov. Kate
Brown said during a news
conference Thursday where
she took no questions.
The Governor’s Office
did not specifically address
an emailed question about
whether Brown intends to
have Oregon make up the
losses from the federal gov-
ernment, if the GOP bill
becomes law. However,
Brown and her communica-
tions director, Chris Pair, said
she plans to share the report
with federal officials and
Congress to “influence their
deliberations on the AHCA.”
Most of those who would
lose coverage now benefit
from the Oregon Health Plan,
the state’s Medicaid program.
In addition to losses in
Medicaid coverage, state offi-
cials expect coverage pro-
vided by employers also to
decline because the proposal
eliminates the tax penalty for
employers who don’t provide
insurance.
Patrick Allen, director of
Oregon Department of Con-
sumer and Business Ser-
vices, said he is concerned
some insurers might drop
out of the market as a result
of the changes. That agency
regulates commercial insur-
ance companies and man-
ages the state health insurance
marketplace.
Da Yang: Will pay civil
penalties starting this month
Continued from Page 1A
“Oregon’s wage and
hour protections help ensure
the health and safety of our
workforce,” Labor Commis-
sioner Brad Avakian said in
a release. “We’re committed
to fair enforcement of worker
protections so that employ-
ees are treated fairly and
other law-abiding businesses
have a level playing field on
which to compete.”
Da Yang will pay the
civil penalties in six monthly
allotments of $10,000 start-
ing this month. The state will
suspend $24,000 in addi-
tional civil penalties if Da
Yang complies with wage
and hour laws for at least
three years. By signing a
consent order, the company
waived the right to a con-
tested case hearing.
Following the Da Yang
investigation, the bureau’s
new proactive investigation
and enforcement unit audited
other seafood processors
to ensure compliance with
wage and hour laws.
In December 2015, the
state Department of Envi-
ronmental Quality fined Da
Yang $85,319 for discharg-
ing wastewater from its Pier
2 processing plant into the
Columbia River between
June 2008 and May 2015
without a federal permit.
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