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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 28, 2017)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 28, 2017 Trespassing, other disturbances are down at Haystack Rock intervene instead of multiple calls in just the summer like in previous years. “When we do go down it is usually an educational oppor- tunity,” Schermerhorn said. “Having the interpreters down there has been a great help.” Rarely do his officers have to issue trespassing citations, he said, but if they do a viola- tor could face a $500 fine with the city. Most violations of the wildlife laws and regulations are class A misdemeanors. Drones are a growing issue for seabirds By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian CANNON BEACH — Keeping people from climb- ing Haystack Rock can be a challenge. But thanks to an increase in staffing and education, the Haystack Rock Awareness Program has seen a decrease in trespassing and other dis- turbances to wildlife, program director Melissa Keyser said. “We’ve really tried to make a transition from enforcement to education,” she said. “I would say 90 percent of visi- tors aren’t aware of the regula- tions that protect this area.” For 32 years, the Haystack Rock Awareness Program has been a city-funded group which promotes stewardship of the environment and prevents ecosystem degradation through outreach and education. A team of about 15 inter- preters work as educators and enforcers on the beach to help preserve Oregon’s most-Insta- grammed landmark. Rules of the Rock Haystack Rock was incor- porated as a national wildlife refuge in 1968 and became a marine garden refuge in 1991. The refuge includes everything above the high tide line and goes all the way up to 500 feet above the rock, and anything past that point can’t be climbed on or walked on, Keyser said. Multiple signs are posted informing visitors to keep out of sensitive areas that are Fulton raised $3,880 for Port campaign Fishing boat sinks on Hoquiam River New problem Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian A nesting seabird can be seen through a scope used by the Haystack Rock Awareness Program to monitor the population of puffins and other species. home to a variety of nesting seabirds, sea stars, anemones and other wildlife. Despite the warnings, Key- ser said once a week interpret- ers will find people attempt- ing to climb the rock or snag animals from the tidepools. But compared with the 98,000 contacts her interpreters have made in the past nine months, Keyser said it’s an improve- ment from when she started as director four years ago. Expanding the work on the beach from four months to nine months and doubling the number of interpreters on staff play a large role in this decline, Keyser said. “There used to be a lot more disturbances that required police resources at the rock,” Keyser said. “In the past, inter- preters were more like enforc- ers, and we got negative feed- back. You don’t have a good opportunity to educate with that approach because they are already embarrassed.” Interpreter Briana Ortega has been working for the awareness program since April, and said many of the violations she sees are peo- ple not understanding they are walking through tidepools. “We’re out here to help,” she said. “The people who ask questions about what they are doing wrong instead of getting mad are usually happier in the long run.” Some of their work has resulted in small, environmen- tal victories. This year was the first in many where the black oystercatcher seabird success- fully gave birth to three chicks in an intertidal zone, Keyser said — an area that often is dis- turbed by human interference. While disturbances from people seem to be on the decline, awareness program interpreters are facing a new kind of trespasser: drones. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, oper- ating drones on refuges like Haystack Rock is illegal with- out special permits. But Key- ser said her interpreters have talked with more than 100 drone operators just this year, and each one said they weren’t aware it was illegal. “Flying drones is caus- ing these birds to flush, leav- ing their eggs behind,” Keyser said. “It’s disrupting our sea- bird populations. Birds don’t know how to react to this new predator.” The Daily Astorian HOQUIAM, Wash. — The U.S. Coast Guard responded to a 42-foot com- mercial fishing vessel that sank while moored in the Hoquiam River near Grays Harbor Wednesday. Coast Guard watchstand- ers in Warrenton received a report at 3:40 p.m. Wednes- day from Hoquiam Police Department that the vessel Perwyn, with a potential 800 gallons of diesel aboard, had sunk and left a sheen on the water. The Coast Guard’s Inci- dent Management Division opened the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund for up to $50,000 and contracted Global Div- ing and Salvage marine casu- alty responders for cleanup purposes. Global Diving and Sal- vage personnel placed a con- tainment boom around the sunken vessel and removed an estimated 200 gallons of marine diesel from the fuel tanks Thursday morning. An absorbent boom has been left in place as the state monitors the site. Enforcement Cannon Beach Police Chief Jason Schermerhorn said he has also noticed a gen- eral decline in the number of trespassing calls his officers receive about Haystack Rock. He said officers are only get- ting about four calls a year to W A NTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 Luxury QUEEN SET At the Port of Ilwaco This Friday & Saturday 7/28 & 7/29 10 am – 5 pm By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Former Port of Astoria Commissioner Stephen Ful- ton raised $3,880 in contri- butions for his unsuccessful election campaign in May. The contributions, reported online with the Sec- retary of State’s Office in late May, included $1,000 from Port- land-based attorney Tom Knutsen, $500 from Pacific Sea- food Group, $200 from Ryan Osburn Stephen P l u m b - Fulton ing and sev- eral contribu- tions from current and former longshoremen. Commissioner James Campbell, who defeated Ful- ton, reported $4,554 in con- tributions this year. They included $1,000 from Born- stein Seafoods, $500 from marine contractor John E. McAmis, $350 from marine contracting firm Bergerson Construction and $250 from state Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose. Pat O’Grady, who lost an open seat on the Port Com- mission to Frank Spence, ulti- mately recorded $3,799 in contributions, largely from current and former longshore- men. Spence did not have a candidate committee. Former Warrenton City Commissioner Dick Hell- berg, who lost to Dirk Rohne, recorded $1,750 in contribu- tions, mostly from current and former longshoremen. Rohne raised $4,395, includ- ing $2,445 in miscellaneous contributions of less than $100 each, $1,000 from Bornstein Seafoods, $500 from Berg- erson Construction and $250 from Johnson. U.S. Coast Guard The 42-foot commercial fishing vessel Perwyn sank Wednesday in Washington’s Hoquiam River, leaving an oily sheen on the water. 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