ASTORIA TOPS TILLAMOOK TO IMPROVE TO 4-2 SPORTS • PAGE 10A DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2017 145TH YEAR, NO. 71 ONE DOLLAR Boats across a vast Pacifi c TACKLING TOURISM Clatsop, Tillamook counties seek a balance to preserve resources By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian ANNON BEACH — After the weather, tour- ism has become one of the biggest conversa- tion starters on the North Coast. As the number of people visiting the region grows, so does the impact on the community. According to a study done by Dean Runyan Associates, tourists spent $779 million in 2016, almost doubling the $391 mil- lion recorded in 2000. More than 8,000 tourism-re- lated jobs were supported by travel spending in 2016. But with the economic benefi t comes issues of over- crowding . Trails are taking a beating. counted More C than 100,000 visitors were counted at Haystack Rock just this year. Insuffi cient parking in places like Can- non Beach has left communities feeling overwhelmed. To help address the concerns , the Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce and the Haystack Rock Awareness Program have secured a $20,000 rural tour- ism studio grant from Travel Oregon, the state’s larg- est tourism agency. “Around here, sometimes we have too much of a good thing,” Court Carrier, the chamber’s executive director, said. “What can we do to manage tourism better?” See TOURISM, Page 7A Knappa students part of an exchange with Japan By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian KNAPPA — All around Misty Lind- strom’s third-grade classroom Friday, stu- dents were sanding hulls, fi lling keels and studying the currents in the Pacifi c Ocean. Next door, Melissa Reid’s third-graders were planning the letters they would write to their peers in Hachinohe, a city in Japan. The two classes are part of a new program by the Columbia River Maritime Museum connecting students in Oregon with peers in Japan through a voyage across the Pacifi c. See BOATS, Page 7A Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian Nate Sandel, education manager for the Columbia River Maritime Museum, shows students the miniature boat they’ll be building. City library celebrates 50th birthday Fundraising has started on renovation project By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian ABOVE: Overcrowding and lack of sufficient parking are some of the concerns with increased tour- ism on the North Coast . TOP: T ourism-related businesses support over 8,000 jobs in the region, ac- cording to a recent travel impact study. Cash cascaded down on a small model replica of the Astoria Library during an event Sunday afternoon that was both a celebration of the library’s 50th birthday and the start of fundraising efforts to renovate the building. “So today we wish a happy birthday to this library building and at the same time rec- ognize that there have been a few changes in libraries and in our world in 50 years,” Mayor Arline LaMear said to the crowd that gathered in the library’s main room and spilled out into the children’s area . See LIBRARY, Page 8A Library assistant goes behind the caution tape Balances life of books and forest fi res By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian A mi Kreider has tried to reconcile her two lives. For most of the year, the library assistant lives a life focused around books and the Astoria Library community. During the summer, she fi ghts forest fi res with the Oregon Department of Forestry. She loves fi ction — the worlds authors build for readers to disappear inside. Then there’s the physical work, the time outdoors, the adventures that draw her to fi refi ghting. “It’s kind of like getting behind the ‘caution’ tape,” she concluded, pulling the threads together, tying a mental knot. “I like having access to other worlds that I wouldn’t have access to otherwise.” Originally from Pennsylva- nia, Kreider moved to Astoria in 2007 by way of Seattle. She started working at the library in 2008 and has been fi ghting wildland fi res for even longer. She remembers going off to fi ght her fi rst big fi re not long after she moved to the West Coast. She was 20 years old with very little sense of what she was getting herself into. She told her boyfriend at the time, “I might die.” “He humored me I think,” Kreider said, “but I really believed I was going to be walking into some inferno.” Katie Frankowicz/The Daily Astorian See KREIDER, Page 7A Ami Kreider balances life as a library assistant and a sum- mer firefighter for the Oregon Department of Forestry.