3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 2017
Split vote advances
Brown’s nominees for
environmental panel
By PETER WONG
Capital Bureau
AP Photo/Rick Bowmer
The Dollar Lake fire smolders in 2011 near Laurance Lake on Mount Hood. notforsale
Fires, low timber revenues
plague Forestry Department
The agency
spent more
than it took in
By CLAIRE
WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Harsh fire sea-
sons and lower than expected
revenues from timber harvests
have and may continue to put
state forests in a tough financial
spot, according to the Oregon
Department of Forestry.
The agency’s state forest pro-
gram, as of late January, spent
more than it realized in revenue
during the ongoing two-year
budget period. And the agency
says the state’s Forest Develop-
ment Fund, which funds state
forests, will go into the red start-
ing in 2022. Previous projec-
tions estimated that could hap-
pen in 2020.
The head of the agency’s
administrative services divi-
sion told the Board of For-
estry Wednesday that there are
several other budget issues to
“watch out” for, including low-
er-than-expected revenues from
harvests of timber and other for-
est products.
Timber harvest tax reve-
nues are about 9 percent lower
than projected when the state
was crafting its budget in 2015,
due in part to a downturn in the
Asian market in the interven-
ing months, according to Satish
Upadhyay, head of the Depart-
ment of Forestry’s administra-
tive services division and the
chief financial officer for the
agency.
And due to large wildfires in
Oregon in 2013, 2014 and 2015,
the amount of accounts receiv-
able — essentially, money the
agency has spent and is wait-
ing to have reimbursed by other
entities — is substantial.
“We have a huge amount of
accounts receivable,” Upadhyay
told the board.
The amount is currently
about $92 million, Upadhyay
said, with about $80 million in
costs incurred due to fires. The
single largest entity that needs
to reimburse the department is
the Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency, which owes
the state about $40 million to
$45 million, but there are sev-
eral technical hurdles to leap
before the state receives that
money.
In the event that the depart-
ment doesn’t have enough cash
on hand, it has a line of credit
with the state treasurer.
“We’ve been using that quite
a bit lately,” said Upadhyay.
The current two-year budget
for the agency approved by the
Legislature is about $432 mil-
lion. Most of the department’s
revenue comes from other funds,
such as timber sales, although
about 21 percent comes from
the state’s general fund.
Gov. Kate Brown has pro-
posed a $349 million over-
all budget for the department
for the next two years. That
decrease from $432 million is
due in large part to the cost of
unusually large wildfires.
However, in the face of
a $1.6 billion gap between
expected revenues and the costs
of maintaining existing services,
the Legislature may reduce the
department’s expected bud-
get further by cutting back on
expenses in some of the Depart-
ment of Forestry’s programs.
Meanwhile, though, the
department says it is making
progress on implementing sug-
gestions made by the Secretary
of State’s Office in an audit last
year.
The audit found several sig-
nificant issues: recent harsh fire
seasons taxed Department of
Forestry personnel and took
away from the agency’s other
programs. Auditors recom-
mended the agency conduct
long-range workforce plan-
ning, better evaluate whether
its fire prevention and detec-
tion measures were effective,
and increase its fire mitigation
efforts.
But Doug Grafe, head of the
agency’s fire protection divi-
sion, said things were trending
in the right direction.
“We’re in a very good
place,” Grafe told the Board of
Forestry Wednesday.
The Capital Bureau is a col-
laboration between EO Media
Group and Pamplin Media
Group.
Seaside man in standoff accepts plea deal
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
The Seaside man involved
in a standoff with police in Jan-
uary reached a plea deal ear-
lier this month with the Clat-
sop County District Attorney’s
Office, agreeing to supervised
probation.
Brian Wallin, 49, locked
himself inside his home on
Whispering Pines Drive for
nearly 64 hours. He fired a
number of shots before surren-
dering to police.
Wallin’s mother exited
the home uninjured shortly
after the standoff began. He
shot and killed the family dog
during the standoff.
Wallin was later indicted on
six counts of unlawful use of a
weapon, seven counts of reck-
lessly endangering another
person and one count of first
degree aggravated animal
abuse. He pleaded no contest
to one count of unlawful use of
a weapon, one count of aggra-
vated animal abuse in the first
degree and two counts of reck-
lessly endangering another
person.
In addition to three years
of supervised probation,
Wallin agreed to serve 90
days in jail with credit for
time served and treatment
court with a mental health
evaluation. He also agreed
to forfeit all weapons and
not care for animals for 15
years.
FREE SENIOR EDERCISE CLASS!
let’s get fit at suzanne elise
CLASS: TAI CHI FOR RELAXATION
»
SALEM — Gov. Kate
Brown’s three nominees for a
new majority on the Environ-
mental Quality Commission
have advanced to a vote of the
full state Senate.
But in a 3-2 vote Wednes-
day by the Senate Rules Com-
mittee, minority Republicans
served notice they want the
Legislature to weigh in on a
pending plan for how the com-
mission regulates toxic air pol-
lution from industrial sources.
The shift that a Brown-ap-
pointed advisory panel rec-
ommends would focus state
efforts on cumulative effects
of pollutants on public health,
rather than the amounts gener-
ated by individual plants.
The commission is the pol-
icy-making arm of the Depart-
ment of Environmental Qual-
ity, which regulates a variety of
pollutants.
The Republicans praised
Brown’s nominees — a sci-
entist at Oregon State Univer-
sity, a tribal council member
who has worked at the Depart-
ment of Environmental Qual-
ity, and a retired wood products
executive.
“Our bone of contention is
not with the three of them, but
for the next 48 hours, with the
governor,” said state Sen. Brian
Boquist of Dallas.
“It is this notion of creat-
ing policy without regulatory
or statutory authority. It is one
of those constitutional clashes
between the executive and
legislative branches. I believe
most of that will be resolved in
the next day or two.”
Although he voted “no,”
Boquist said he expects he will
vote for the nominees when
their names come up for a vote
by the full Senate for four-year
terms.
Brown abruptly fired three
commissioners in March
and replaced them in what
Boquist called “unusual cir-
cumstances.” She said she dis-
puted their process, but not the
result, of hiring Richard Whit-
man as permanent director of
the Department of Environ-
mental Quality.
Such mass firings are rare,
although Neil Goldschmidt
requested and received resig-
nations from all five members
of the Oregon Transportation
Commission upon becoming
governor in 1987.
No quid pro quo
All the replacement nom-
inees told the committee their
appointments were not contin-
gent upon automatic support of
the new plan, which would allow
the department to regulate pol-
lutants generated from several
sources in the same area even
if an individual’s pollutants are
considered at a safe level.
“If the governor appoints
you, I certainly would listen to
her input,” said Robert “Wade”
Mosby of Lake Oswego, the
retired wood products execu-
tive. “It does not mean I would
rule with what the governor
says; that was never implied.”
Mosby has worked for sev-
eral companies, including the
privately held forest products
company now known sim-
ply as Roseburg, although it is
based in Springfield. He was a
senior vice president for Col-
lins, another company based in
Portland.
“We recognize the desire
that there needs to be a bet-
ter path in Oregon for man-
aging and regulating air tox-
ics,” said Kathleen George, a
council member of the Con-
federated Tribes of the Grand
Ronde and a former Depart-
ment of Environmental Qual-
ity employee who worked with
small communities for compli-
ance. “The details of that have
not been shared with us beyond
an overview of the air quality
program.”
“The minute you talk about
using a natural resource, it is
automatically contentious,”
said Molly Kile, an associ-
ate professor at Oregon State’s
College of Public Health and
Human Sciences, who special-
izes in how exposure to chemi-
cals affect public health.
“It is important that you
hear from different stakehold-
ers involved,” she added, espe-
cially those who are often
unrepresented in these public
debates.
Senate Republican Leader
Ted Ferrioli of John Day
responded: “I think the ret-
icence of these members to
comment without full informa-
tion gives me confidence that
they understand the complexi-
ties of these issues.”
Tough job ahead
Brown appointed the advi-
sory panel last year after public
reaction to pollutants generated
by two Portland eastside glass-
makers — Bullseye Glass,
which is now in compliance,
and Uroboros Glass, which
was sold in December and its
production moved to Mex-
ico — and by Precision Cast-
parts at its plant in southeast
Portland.
The panel’s plan also calls
for the state to set health-based
concentrations for 215 toxic air
pollutants, up from the current
52. Formal rulemaking by the
commission would start in a
year.
Majority Democrats were
largely silent. But Sen. Lee
Beyer of Springfield, who sat
on the Public Utility Commis-
sion from 2001 to 2010, had an
observation for the nominees.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
G o n e , B u t N e v e r F o r g o t t e n
Heaven ’ s Honor Roll
January of 2 01 7
4 Ova Mae Tomlinson 95
5 Carole Lee Bingham 80
7 Christopher Arthur Causley 68
8 Alice Winifred Herrmann 97
8 Nels Irving Rasmussen 93
10 Katherine Ann Lemke 73
12 Stanley Robert Helligso 73
13 Verna Elina Branthover 99
13 Patricia Bradshaw Button 89
14 John Benham Spring 80
17 Paul Virginius Mossberg 93
18 Erma Mae Houck 91
19 Richard Herman Babcock 89
22 Kenneth Raymond Kelly 88
22 Marian Joan Bauer 86
27 Phyllis Alene Linehan 87
Every Monday at 9:15am
Heaven ’ s Honor Roll
February of 2 01 7
5 Geraldine Mabel Holmgren 92
6 William Melvin Roach 46
8 Henna Marja Lammi 90
11 Marjorie Ruth Wilcoxen 96
11 Lionel Richard Cloutier 64
12 Brandon Allen Getten 29
14 Alice Lorene Merrill 84
16 Joan Elizabeth Roberts 74
17 Doris Jean Abrahamson 94
17 Pamela Ellen Lindstrom 58
18 Elvi Kristina Brunner 88
18 Michelle Marie Berry 47
18 Dennis Tim Waddell 75
20 Gertrude Maria Rinell 92
20 Lawrence Alan Pfund 59
21 Sherman Daryl Birney 76
23 Jay Severin Westerholm 68
24 Joan Memrie Logan 92
26 Carylon Maurine Viuhkola 68
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
»
Heaven ’ s Honor Roll
Space is limited. Please RSVP.
Ask for Heather.
101 Forest Dr. Seaside
www.suzanneelise.com
March of 2 01 7
503-738-0307
Experienced in
Industrial and
Commercial Projects
Big and Small!
Our union electricians
are members of the
local community
and are ready
to bring power to
your projects !
Established 2000
Excellent Tax Credits and
an Energy Trust Grant
can pay for up to 75% of a
PV Solar System
C ALL
503.717.9148
For around-the-clock service or
project planning and scheduling
O U R
11 Ruth Charlotte Huckaby 85
13 Steven Edward King 61
15 Ray Dykes 84
25 Robert Harris Engblom 90
26 Violet May Malo 91
27 Frances Ardell Jurasin 89
A I L A B L E 2 4 H O U R S A
S T A F F A V
D A Y
,
R 8 0 Y E A R S E X P E R I E N C E
E
V
O
&
Compassion and respect matter
to you and your loved ones...
Your choice in funeral homes
should matter as well.
Don’t settle for
anything but the best.
Caldwell’s
Luce-Layton Mortuary
CO M PASSIO NATE, SINCERE
AND DEPENDABLE
Providing quality funeral service
nation wide since 1925.
Please stop in or call and ask for a price
comparison. We would love to compare
any policy you currently have, in an effort
to save you money.
RENEE CALDWELL
Owner & Licensed Funeral Director
CALDWELL’S LUCE-LAYTON MORTUARY
& NORTH COAST CREMATORY
1165 Franklin Ave. • Astoria • 325-1811
Office hours: 9am-5pm Monday-Friday • Sat & Sun by appt.
OR CCB# 151632
WA LIC# NORTHBE941
Serving the Long Beach Peninsula & North Oregon Coast
1725 N. Roosevelt Drive
Seaside, OR 97138
3 Roberta Jean French 82
5 Lillian Louise Nimmo 88
7 Jerry E. Davis 81
7 Virginia Kathryn Lee 87
7 Thomas Anthony Rudolfi 86
10 Lynn Jimette Brown 60
CALDWELL’S FUNERAL & CREMATION
ARRANGEMENT CENTER
113 N. Holladay • Seaside • (503) 738-9936
Office hours: 9am-5pm Monday-Friday • Sat & Sun by appt.