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4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, AUGUST 28, 2017 Debate: Salmon farms remain controversial in Pacific Northwest Continued from Page 1A gram, said there’s no evi- dence the escaped fish pose a threat to native fish popula- tions, either through disease or crossbreeding with Pacific salmon. Still, he said the state wants to protect native fish species and has urged anglers to catch as many escaped salmon, some up to 10 pounds, as possible. Wild salmon reigns supreme Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian The band Radical Revolution played on the main stage at the end of Hood to Coast Saturday. Hood to Coast: ‘It’s about doing something for ourselves’ Continued from Page 1A The team likes to keep it light, rotating team names with other walking puns like “Walks on Walks Off” and “Sasqu-walks.” But the walking itself is anything but casual. “We’re a part of a race walking network. There’s a real technique to it,” team member David Howitz said. The team competes in other events where there are strict guidelines for race walking form. And thinking of race walking as a slow sport is a misconception, they said. Cur- rently, the record for fastest walking time for a mile is 5 minutes and 31 seconds. The technique comes down to how the arm swings, how the hip drops and making sure Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian A runner makes the final turn off the boardwalk in Seaside toward the finish line of the Hood to Coast Relay on Saturday. to roll the foot forward. But that challenge of balancing physical and the mental com- ponents is what makes race walking more fun than run- ning to some, team member Michelle Chuaprasert said. “If you think you’re just going to walk faster, it’s not going to work. It’s not intui- tive,” she said. But for some race walk- ing teams, like the “Chris- topher Walkins” from Sher- wood, competing in Portland to Coast is a way to connect as friends out of the routine of their everyday lives. “Why do we race walk? Because we don’t run,” team member Jenni Kelley laughed. “Because someone on your friend’s team cancels, and you do it for the first time and then you get hooked.” For this team, race walking isn’t about form and just doing something physical, team member Michelle Coxcy said. “It’s about doing something for ourselves,” Coxcy said. “It’s not easy, but it’s some- thing we can do together that’s fun.” Wyden: ‘Republicans do not want to have anything to do with paying for this wall’ Continued from Page 1A Taxes and spending Wyden, the ranking mem- ber on the Senate Finance Committee, blasted the Trump administration’s one-page tax reform proposal, which would lower top-tier rates on individ- uals and businesses and reorder much of the federal tax code. In the guise of helping small businesses, he said, there is a disturbing proposal to reclassify ordinary income as capital gains, taxed at a lower rate. “On my watch, I’m going to fight that every single step of the way,” he said, promising to advocate for bipartisan tax reform that benefits the middle class and helps produce more jobs. Asked about Trump’s recent threat at an Arizona rally to shut down the government this fall unless significant money for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border is included in the fed- eral budget, Wyden said Trump will find bipartisan resistance. “Republicans do not want to have anything to do with pay- ing for this wall,” Wyden said, adding the U.S. instead needs infrastructure investment. Health care Amid widespread oppo- sition, Republicans narrowly failed to repeal and replace the federal Affordable Care Act. Wyden said the efforts made a mockery of Trump’s campaign promises to expand insurance coverage and lower costs, with federal analyses concluding the two iterations of Trump- care would have increased pre- miums and cut coverage for millions of people. The sena- tor said Congress needs to pass Raju: He and Continued from Page 1A bipartisan legislation to stabi- lize the private insurance mar- ket, clamp down on prescrip- tion drug prices and give states more flexibility to set up pub- lic and single-payer health care options. Wyden highlighted bipar- tisan efforts with U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, to pass legislation on chronic care, which would use telemedi- cine, coordinated care and val- ue-based payment to decrease costs and expand access. The bill, forecasted by the Con- gressional Budget Office to reduce direct spending on Medicare and Medicaid by more than $215 million over the next four fiscal years, was recently approved by the Sen- ate Finance Committee. Environment his plans. That is what I intend to do in September.” Dean Rutz/The Seattle Times Washington has the larg- est marine finfish aquacul- ture industry in the U.S., with farms producing about 17 million pounds of Atlantic salmon each year, according to the state. While salmon farms have operated for more than 30 years in Washington, they still remain controversial in the Pacific Northwest where wild salmon reigns supreme. Alaska has banned commer- cial finfish aquaculture. Sev- eral counties in the state, such as Whatcom County, have moved to limit commercial finfish aquaculture. Cooke blamed high tides and currents coinciding with the solar eclipse for the fail- ure at its farm off Cypress Island in Skagit County. “The ongoing tides were a huge challenge,” said Nell Halse, a Cooke spokes- woman. She said the com- pany called in experts last month to stabilize the salmon farm during high tides, though no fish escaped then. “We put our best expertise to stabilizing this farm and we had no reason to believe that it would have collapsed on Sunday.” Critics weren’t buying that reasoning, noting that tides weren’t higher than usual over the weekend. “They’re trying to imply that this was some unnatural natural event. This was abso- lute negligence on their part,” Riley Starks of Lummi Island Wild shows three of the farm raised Atlantic salmon that were caught alongside four healthy Kings in Point Williams, Wash. said Kurt Beardslee, execu- tive director of the Wild Con- servancy. Fish farms “are polluting every single day a massive amount of phospho- rous and nitrogen into the waters that we’re trying to clean up.” Halse said Cooke had applied for permits to upgrade the net pens at the Cypress Island to its level of standards. It also plans to make investments in opera- tions across the state. The Lummi Nation has been so concerned about the fish escapes that tribal anglers have been trying to catch the Atlantic salmon before they enter local rivers. The tribe declared a state of emergency Thursday, saying the fish spill needs to be addressed imme- diately. Tribal officials are worried that farmed salmon will eat native fish or disturb its spawning grounds. Michael Rust, science adviser with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s aquaculture office, said farmed salmon tend to be domesticated, raised on feed and not used to catching fish or escaping predators. Farmed salmon are more likely to be prey than predator, he said. He and others note that science and technology advances have improved fish farming practices in the U.S. over the decades and aqua- culture operations must meet strict regulations. Jill Rolland, who directs the U.S. Geological Sur- vey’s Western Fisheries Research Center in Seattle, said she’s not concerned that the escaped fish have any pathogens that will spread to wild fish. “We have a very strong regulatory environ- ment to ensure that these fish are under veterinary care,” she said. A conservation group, meanwhile, plans to sue. The Wild Fish Conservancy says it gave Cooke Aquaculture notice Friday that it will sue for violations of the federal Clean Water Act. The conservation group says the release poses a threat to struggling wild fish pop- ulations and the ecosys- tem. It alleges the fish spill violates federal pollution laws because it sent farmed salmon, dead carcasses and other debris into the water. Cooke has blamed high tides for the disaster. A com- pany spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the legal action. State and tribal fisheries managers are urging anglers to catch as many as possible to protect native fish species. Russia Speaking of federal inves- tigations into interference by Russia in U.S. elections, Wyden, who serves on the Sen- ate Select Committee on Intel- ligence, said both Congress and special counsel Robert Mueller are both trying to fol- low the money. “What I said on the (intel- ligence) committee is that our job is to tell all of you, the American people, what hap- pened, how our democracy was hacked and do it in a way that doesn’t compromise clas- sified information,” the sena- tor said. Charity Golf Tournament for Wildlife Center of the North Coast Charity Golf Tournament for Wildlife Center of the North Coast Wyden talked about his leg- islation, the Presidential Tax Transparency Act, to require all presidential candidates to release their tax returns, while Golfers and and Volunteers Volunteers who made very lauding the new sanctions To To all all of of our our Sponsors, Sponsors, Golfers who made our our very first first against Russia overwhelm- To all of our Sponsors, Golfers and Volunteers who made our very first our wildlife patients! all by of the our our very patients! first for for our wildlife ingly To passed Senate. Sponsors, Golfers and Volunteers who made Thank You!! Thank You!! Astoria recently joined a number of cities formally opposing a proposed oil ter- minal in Vancouver, Washing- ton. Wyden was asked what he will do to protect the Columbia River from becoming a fossil fuel highway to Asia. Wyden said the federal government can’t play Rus- sian roulette with people’s safety and needs to support initiatives that create incen- tives to improve tracks, replace aging trains and support first responders. So far, he said, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt hasn’t said much regard- ing oil trains. “Under normal circum- stances, I’d say, ‘Well, maybe that isn’t all bad,’” Wyden said. “But … when I hear about all the stuff his staff is working on behind the scenes, I think we got to get him on the record on Faced with a woman who said Trump was causing people mental health issues, Wyden Sponsors reminded the audience that for an awesome day! despite all the dramatic rhet- Sponsors oric, President Trump has not Riptide Threads Salt Threads H Threads Riptide been able to pass major legisla- Riptide Salt Hotel & Pub Arbor Care Tree Specialists tion and faces mounting oppo- Depo Depot Restaurant sition from both Democrats Nikki Fowler, in loving memory of Lois Riptide Threads and Republicans. Riptide Threads Riptide Threads Kinsley “I do think the last few Nake Naked Winery Peninsula Golf Course days have seen a lot of push- Cleanl ing back,” Wyden said about Cleanline Surf Shop Riptide Seaside Aquarium Trump’s arguments with even Beach Beach Books conservative Republicans. “I The Hi Box K Auto Repair don’t know how he expects The Highlands Golf Course Adrift Hotel Don & Debbie Stotts to get his legislation passed. Don T Paul Adrift Hotel Bronze Coast Gallery & Debbie Debbie Stotts Adrift Hotel Don & Stotts T Paul's Supper Club And that’s probably a good Oman Bryan & Lisa Lewis thing, because most of it is so Oman & Builders Supply flawed.” Adrift Hotel Don & Debbie Stotts different. She had an opportu- nity to transfer out to the North Coast, and Raju started look- ing at local opportunities. He met Larry Popkin, a managing member in Campbell & Pop- kin and a licensed real estate broker, while looking for a home, which turned into a dis- cussion about his law firm. Raju said he feels fortunate that he and his wife can con- and live in a place where they The Wildlife Center is our local wildlife rehabilitation can Okie's go on Thriftway walks and hear Market The Wildlife Center is our is local The Wildlife Center our wildlife rehabilitation the Starley ocean. Despite being in Family Dentistry local wildlife rehabilitation the legal and medical fields, center, based near Raju said, he feels like they Okie's Thriftway Market are The both Wildlife in the people busi- Center is our local wildlife rehabilitation Astoria OR, serving our ness, albeit from different coastline from Family southwest Dentistry Starley perspectives. Washington down to “One of the big motivators Newport Oregon. for me is that they entrust me The Wildlife Center is our local wildlife rehabilitation with their interests,” he said. “I don’t want to let them down.” Pushing back tournament a success, raising over $3,000 for our wildlife patients! To all of our Sponsors, Golfers for and our Volunteers who made our very first wildlife patients! To all of special our Thank Sponsors, Golfers and Volunteers who To all of a our Sponsors, Golfers Volunteers who made our Eaton very first m And, very You and to Agnes Waliser and Sondra for our wildlife patients! for our w for an awesome day! for our wildlife patients! Adrift Hotel Okie's Market Don & Thriftway Debbie Stotts Okie's Thriftway Market Snap F Lost Roo Okie's Thriftway Market Snap Starley Family Dentistry Adrift Hotel Fitness Family Animal Dentistry Don & Debbie Stotts Starley Oceanside Clinic Family Dentistry The Wildlife Center local Okie's Thriftway Market his wife are in the people business Starley The Wildlife Center is is our our local wildlife wildlife rehabilitation rehabilitation Okie's Thriftway Market The Starley Wildlife Center our local wildlife rehabilitation Family is Dentistry & Services, wanted something tinue their professional careers Starley Don & Dentistry Debbie Stotts Family his belt, he estimates about 150 of his cases have gone to trial, more than some other attor- neys with twice the number of years practicing. After several years of prac- ticing criminal and family law in the Portland metro area, Raju said he and his wife, Christy, an occupational ther- apist with Providence Health Th Adrift Hot