2A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MAY 16, 2017
Public lands could face brunt of solar eclipse visitors
As many as a
million visitors
are expected
By AMANDA PEACHER
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Smith Rock State Park
naturalist Dave Vick peered
through his spotting scope
perched on a red rock cliff.
He pointed the scope toward a
tall ponderosa pine, spotting a
downy mass in the middle of
a 6-foot-wide nest. Inside was
a 2-week-old bald eagle, or
eaglet, named Solo because he
was the only hatchling in this
year’s brood.
The fl oppy little bird was
guarded by a stately adult
bald eagle — one of the two
in a nesting pair that lives here
year-round. Solo then stared
expectantly at the parent bird,
opening his beak slightly.
It was a typical quiet,
spring day for these raptors
and the many other species in
the park. But come August,
Solo and the other park wild-
life will experience a rare
celestial event — a total solar
eclipse that will travel across
the entire midsection of Ore-
gon. For two minutes, the park
will go dark. Nocturnal crea-
tures will stir, daytime animals
will fall asleep, and the tem-
perature will drop dramatically
and suddenly.
Thousands of human vis-
itors are expected to visit the
state park, and many other wild
places within the eclipse’s path,
to experience the rare event.
And land managers are expect-
ing still more people who want
to experience the eclipse in
a memorable, wild setting to
fl ock to rivers, wilderness areas,
mountain peaks and lakes.
Amanda Peacher/OPB
Smith Park naturalist Dave
Vick is concerned that ex-
pected crowds during the
solar eclipse could impact
wildlife like the park’s resi-
dent bald eagles.
Potential problems
All those people amount to
a huge amount of planning for
public lands agencies — and
potential problems.
All reservable campsites
at Smith Rock are booked for
the eclipse. The same goes for
pretty much every other state
park, U.S. Forest Service, and
Bureau of Land Management
campsite, as well as cabins,
vacation rentals and motels
within the path of totality. With
all bookable lodging taken,
eclipse watchers are expected
to spill over onto public lands
to see the event.
Estimates of as many as 1
million visitors means land
managers are working hard
to protect the many sensitive,
wild places within the 70-mile
belt of the eclipse.
That includes educat-
ing visitors on how to pro-
tect wildlife. In addition to
bald eagles and other raptors
at Smith Rock, there are river
otters, nesting golden eagles,
mule deer, snakes and more.
Huge crowds of human visi-
tors can interrupt critters that
are hunting, sleeping or caring
for their young.
Takeshi Kuboki/Flickr
A solar eclipse in Hyogo, Japan, is pictured in this May 21,
2012, photo.
“The biggest issue is just
stress for the wildlife,” Vick
said.
Stress can lead to sickness,
weakness or even death for
sensitive species. He’s particu-
larly worried about bald eagles
being harassed by drone users.
Drones are banned in Smith
Rock park, in part because
of their noise. But during
a special event such as the
eclipse, there might be some
rule-breakers who want photos
of the celestial event.
“All these sheer cliffs really
amplify and echo that noise,”
he said.
Also within the park are
delicate,
ground-dwelling
mosses and lichens that can be
easily crushed.
Land managers are con-
cerned about potential dam-
age to places like the John
Day Fossil Beds, where one
FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA
TONIGHT
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
58
47
46
Mostly cloudy with a
couple of showers
A morning shower;
otherwise, some sun
ALMANAC
Low clouds
New
Salem
46/62
Newport
45/55
May 25
Coos Bay
46/58
Full
June 1
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
TOMORROW'S TIDES
Astoria / Port Docks
Time
12:00 a.m.
12:32 p.m.
Low
3.3 ft.
0.5 ft.
Ontario
38/58
Burns
30/52
Klamath Falls
26/58
Lakeview
27/57
Ashland
36/63
REGIONAL CITIES
City
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Eugene
Ilwaco
Klamath Falls
Medford
Newberg
Newport
North Bend
Hi
52
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54
57
53
49
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53
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Today
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26
39
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Hi
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61
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66
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55
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Wed.
Lo
35
31
45
39
48
29
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43
45
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City
Olympia
Pendleton
Portland
Roseburg
Salem
Seaside
Spokane
Springfi eld
Vancouver
Yakima
Hi
57
52
56
58
57
52
51
57
55
60
Today
Lo
43
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Wed.
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TOMORROW'S NATIONAL WEATHER
NATIONAL CITIES
Hi
90
77
87
73
88
85
78
71
84
85
84
79
68
88
87
90
86
79
80
80
90
65
63
54
82
Baker
32/52
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2017
Tonight's Sky: Corona Borealis the Northern Crown
will soar high across the sky tonight.
Today
Lo
65
57
67
43
67
66
54
44
73
66
66
62
55
68
78
68
70
63
61
60
72
40
51
47
65
La Grande
36/51
Roseburg
44/64
Brookings
42/60
June 9
John Day
35/49
Bend
33/55
Medford
39/66
UNDER THE SKY
High
7.7 ft.
6.9 ft.
Prineville
35/57
Lebanon
45/60
Eugene
43/61
First
Pendleton
41/59
The Dalles
48/66
Portland
48/61
Sunset tonight ........................... 8:43 p.m.
Sunrise Wednesday .................... 5:40 a.m.
Moonrise today ......................... 12:45 a.m.
Moonset today .......................... 10:24 a.m.
City
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Denver
Des Moines
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Honolulu
Indianapolis
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Memphis
Miami
Nashville
New Orleans
New York
Oklahoma City
Philadelphia
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Francisco
Seattle
Washington, DC
Sunshine and patchy
clouds
Tillamook
46/55
SUN AND MOON
Time
5:29 a.m.
7:32 p.m.
Intervals of clouds and
sunshine
62
48
Shown is tomorrow's weather. Temperatures are tonight's lows and tomorrow's highs.
ASTORIA
46/58
Precipitation
Monday ............................................ 0.76"
Month to date ................................... 4.88"
Normal month to date ....................... 1.74"
Year to date .................................... 46.12"
Normal year to date ........................ 31.78"
May 18
SATURDAY
63
49
REGIONAL WEATHER
Astoria through Monday.
Temperatures
High/low ....................................... 52°/44°
Normal high/low ........................... 60°/46°
Record high ............................ 85° in 1895
Record low ............................. 35° in 1985
Last
FRIDAY
61
46
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Wed.
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68
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By CLAIRE
WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SALEM — State econo-
mists say the state may have
nearly $200 million more
than expected in net available
resources, narrowing Ore-
gon’s projected budget gap to
about $1.4 billion.
The May economic and
revenue forecast provides the
best estimate of how much the
state can expect to realize in
revenue before the Legislature
adjourns in July. Legislators
are busy trying to resolve the
gap between what it expects
to bring in and how much it
would cost to maintain state
services at current levels.
Today’s
higher
than
expected revenue forecast
also brings Oregon closer to
triggering the kicker, although
that’s not a sure bet, said state
economist Mark McMullen.
Overall, the state’s rate of
economic growth is slowing,
although “Oregon’s economy
is bigger than ever and getting
bigger every day,” McMullen
said.
Gov. Kate Brown said
in a statement that the fore-
cast included good news
about revenue growth and
the state’s economy, but cuts
to key services remained
possible.
“ … This doesn’t change
the fact that Oregon still has
a structural defi cit,” Brown
said. “This means in the long
term, whether the economy
is good or bad, the state will
struggle to pay for education,
public safety, child welfare
and health care.”
The governor said she
was meeting with business
and labor leaders every week
to prevent signifi cant cuts
to such services, which may
be required in order to close
the budget gap without new
revenues.
Patrick Criteser, chairman
of the Oregon Business Plan
and the CEO of the Tillamook
County Creamery Associa-
tion, reiterated the Oregon
Business Plan’s stance in a
written statement today , say-
ing that new revenues alone
“will not fi x the state’s basic
budget problems.”
However, Criteser said the
coalition of businesses behind
the Oregon Business Plan
“remained optimistic” and
“encouraged” by engagement
from the L egislature and the
governor.
State Sen. Mark Hass,
D-Beaverton, said the reve-
nue outlook does not change
what he has characterized as
the need for changes to the
state’s tax system, a sentiment
echoed by Senate Major-
ity Leader Ginny Burdick,
D-Portland:
“We can’t dig out of this
hole with cuts alone,” Bur-
dick said in a statement. “We
need to reform and stabilize
our revenue system as well.”
Burdick said legislators were
examining “both sides of the
ledger.”
Meanwhile,
Republi-
can leaders in the L egisla-
ture said higher than expected
tax revenues were evidence
in favor of spending cuts.
House Minority Leader Mike
McLane, R-Powell Butte,
called the forecast “more evi-
dence that Oregon needs to
tighten its belt and get serious
about the unsustainable rate
of spending in Salem.”
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
LOTTERIES
May 14, 2017
HORD, John Dalton II,
73, of Astoria, died in Astoria.
Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mor-
tuary of Astoria is in charge of
the arrangements.
May 13, 2017
MASSEY, Peggy Ann, 76,
of Warrenton, died in Portland.
Ocean View Funeral & Cre-
mation Service of Astoria is in
charge of the arrangements.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
PACKAGE DEALS
APPLIANCE
AND HOME
FURNISHINGS
529 SE MARLIN, WARRENTON
503-861-0929
O VER
Mattresses, Furniture
3 A 0
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Y
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APPLIANCE
YE
Cash-strapped
Budget-strapped agencies
like the Forest Service already
face challenges with hiring an
adequate number of wilder-
ness rangers and law enforce-
ment offi cers. Smith Rock
State Park has only fi ve full-
time staffers plus a few vol-
unteers. Rangers from other
parks will be on site for the
eclipse, but that’s still just a
handful of employees for thou-
sands of visitors.
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
W
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Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy,
sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries,
sn-snow, i-ice.
IN
misstep can destroy irreplace-
able fossils, and pristine spots
within the Mount Jefferson
Wilderness Area that could be
overrun with illegal fi res, trash
and human waste.
Land agencies teamed up
to create a special blog where
campers and other visitors
can get information about the
eclipse and public lands.
That equation will be about
the same at Forest Service and
BLM campgrounds, trails and
dirt roads. And with the eclipse
happening during one of the
hottest months of the year,
there’s one topic that comes up
at every eclipse planning meet-
ing: wildfi re.
“We’re concerned about
fi re danger,” said Josie Bar-
num, another Smith Rock
ranger.
She’s hoping visitors obey
the parks’ bans on campfi res
and smoking.
“The idea of evacuating all
those people on a normal day
in a fi re is very frightening,”
Barnum said. “To think about
it happening when there’s dou-
ble or triple volume of people
in the park would be really,
really terrifying.”
With so many people in
these wild spaces, the likeli-
hood of serious injuries requir-
ing search and rescue teams
goes up. Rescues gobble up
time and resources.
“That takes staff away from
other priorities happening
up here,” Barnum said. And
that’s assuming rescue crews
can even get to an injured
hiker. Highways and roads are
expected to be clogged on the
day of the eclipse.
To limit crowding, offi cials
will close the road into the park
once it’s full. Latecomers will
have to walk 1/2 mile or more
to reach the entrance. Sheriff’s
deputies and fi re crews will be
staged nearby. The park will
have emergency medics at the
ready on the canyon rim. There
will be education and interpre-
tive sites about “Leave No
Trace” ethics and parks rules
banning drones, smoking and
fi re.
Agencies all across Oregon
are taking similar precautions
to protect places in the eclipse
path, including the Painted
Hills and the Mount Jefferson
Wilderness.
But despite all the extra
work and necessary precau-
tions that go into planning for a
day like this, Barnum is excited
to experience the eclipse in the
place where she works.
“Smith Rock is defi nitely
a very special place,” Bar-
num said. “If we can pre-
serve it and give people an
amazing experience watching
the eclipse when they come
out here, that’s pretty cool.
It makes me feel good about
what we do.”
NASA map of eclipse’s
path
& More!
HOURS OPEN: MON-FRI 8-6 • SATURDAY 9-5 • SUNDAY 10-4
We Service What We Sell
TUESDAY
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reation District, 4 p.m., 1225
Ave. A, Seaside.
Clatsop County Human
Services Advisory Council, 4
to 5:30 p.m., 800 Exchange St.,
Room 430.
Astoria Historic Landmarks
Commission, 5:15 p.m., City
Hall, 1095 Duane St.
Clatsop County Board of
Commissioners joint work
session with city councils,
5:30 p.m., McMenamins Hotel
and Sand Trap Pub, 1157 North
Marion Ave., Gearhart.
Seaside School District, 6
p.m., 1810 S. Franklin, Seaside.
Port of Astoria Commission, 6
p.m., 10 Pier 1 Suite 209.
Shoreline Sanitary District
Board, 7 p.m., Gearhart Hertig
Station, 33496 West Lake Lane,
Warrenton.
Seaside Planning Commis-
sion, 7 p.m., work session, City
Hall, 989 Broadway.
WEDNESDAY
Seaside Tourism Advisory
Committee, 3 p.m., City Hall,
989 Broadway.
Cannon Beach Budget Meet-
ing, 5:30 p.m., City Hall, 163 E.
Gower St.
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