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.
Call Kerby
503-298-7835
Glastonbury
Queen Size Sets
$
Adopt a
Pet
Beautiful
Golden Brown Tabby
$
999
2014 - 2017
WOMEN’S CHOICE AWARD ®
AMERICA’S MOST RECOMMENDED
Individually wrapped coils with
luxury cooling comfort
$
Ingrid
SALE
Pillow Top
Mattress • Pillow • Box Spring
Plush
899
Firm
899
Add this QUEEN MOTION BASE
to any one of these 9 Queen Sets
for only
Dacosta
Queen Size Sets
Individually wrapped coils with
luxury cooling comfort
Pillow Top
$
1599
Soft, sweet, ladylike.
Every friend is a
new door to a
beautiful world.
$
1
$
Cooling
Memory Foam
Queen Size Sets
Queen Motion
Essentials III
11" Rysdale
$
Plush
1499
9" Hemmingsen
$
(More on http://Petfi nder.com/ )
LATSOP C OUNTY A NIMAL S HELTER
C LATSOP C 1315
SE 19 Street, Warrenton • 861 - PETS
Noon to 4pm, Tues-Sat
A NIMAL A SSISTANCE www.dogsncats.org
Sponsored
By
1299
$
th
1199
Firm
1499
17" Fallwood
$
1099
ASTOR STREET OPRY COMPANY
1099
33rd Season of
$
S hanghaied in A storia
July 7 - September 9
Thursday through Saturday: 7pm
Sunday Matinees: 2pm
Aug. 6 & Sept. 9
FREE
FINANCING
Thank
You!
from
- UP TO -
5 YEARS
Rich
and
TO PAY!
Jeff!
*APPLY ONLINE FOR INSTORE USE ON
APPROVED CREDIT
For over 25 years, our family owned & operated
businesses on the Oregon Coast, have prospered and
grown. From Carpet One to America’s Mattress… we
want to say thank you to all our customers and friends
that we have made along the way! We believe that our
customers deserve the very best from us… our stores…
and our 25 full-time employees.
Tickets on Sale ONE HOUR before all shows
***Reservations Recommended***
For tickets, visit our website
www.astorstreetoprycompany.com
or call
503-325-6104
129 West Bond Street | Uniontown | Astoria
www.facebook.com/AstorStreetOpryCompany
We are proud sponsors of many local non-profits
and charitable events within every community that
we serve… from Habitat for Humanity to local school
events…and everything in-between.
With the opening of our 1st America’s Mattress
location in Newport (October 2013) to our 6th America’s
Mattress location in Tillamook (June 2017), we are
forever grateful for the support we have received
from all of you!
Rich Keller & Jeff Norman
Co-Owners
America’s Mattress- Oregon
FREE
FREE
Local Delivery
*
Min. $599 Purchase
Set-Up *
T HE S LEEP
Y OU N EED
GUARANTEED
Warrenton
503-861-6085
Located next to Big 5
and Fred Meyer
HOURS: M-F 10-7; SAT 10-6; SUN 11-5
www.americasmattress.com
With 6 convenient locations NEWPORT | FLORENCE | COOS BAY| LINCOLN CITY | WARRENTON | TILLAMOOK