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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2017)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017 Founded in 1873 HEIDI WRIGHT, Interim Publisher JIM VAN NOSTRAND, Editor JEREMY FELDMAN, Circulation Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager Water under the bridge Compiled by Bob Duke From the pages of Astoria’s daily newspapers 10 years ago this week — 2007 GUEST COLUMN This dredging season will be another nail-biter for the Port of Astoria. The four-month window for dredging in the Columbia River opened Thursday, but the Port still doesn’t have approvals to dredge key parts of the waterfront. It could be another three months before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issues the required permits, according to Port compliance officer Lora Eddy, who said permitting agencies were working through a “backlog” of other applications for projects such as channel deepening and the Bradwood Land- ing liquefied natural gas terminal. Clean energy bill to help rural communities and tribes The agency in charge of restoring Northwest salmon concluded Wednesday that the latest court ordered plan for running fed- eral dams in the Columbia and Snake river basins is not likely to jeopardize the survival of threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead. “The picture that emerges is not pretty, but it is hopeful,” said Bob Lohn, Northwest director of NOAA Fisheries. If you didn’t notice the speed limit has been reduced from 35 mph to 30 mph on a portion of U.S. Highway 30, from 16th Street and Marine Drive to 34th Street and Lief Erikson Drive, you’re not alone. It was news to Mayor Willis Van Dusen and the Astoria City Council when Walt Wollenbecker, who lives on the east side of town, brought it to their atten- tion at Monday night’s meeting. Wollenbecker wondered what was going on — and when it happened. Van Dusen turned to acting Astoria Police Chief Alan Oja, who said his department didn’t know about the change until Monday morning. He subse- quently found out that the Oregon Department of Transportation had installed 30 mph speed limit signs Friday. 50 years ago — 1967 The Daily Astorian/File This is what remains of the once-proud Astoria reserve fleet base of the U.S. Maritime Administration. Twenty ships remain, most of them Liberties destined for the scrap heap. Soon the whole fleet, which once totaled more than 200, will be gone under a deliber- ate Maritime Administration policy to close the Astoria base, best on the West Coast, and build up the other two bases at Olympia, Washington, and Suisun Bay, California. The tug Salvage Chief anchored the Captaliannes S. just down- river from the Port of Astoria about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday after pull- ing the grounded Greek ship from the sands of Clatsop Spit at 11:20 a.m. Retrieving the freighter from the spit was being heralded in Astoria as a great event in the annals of Columbia River ship- wrecks. No other ship has been salvaged from Clatsop Spit inside the river. The Queen of the Pacific was pulled free of Clatsop Spit mouth of where the south jetty now stands in 1883 by five tugboats. LONG BEACH, Wash. — A joint legislative subcommittee heard testi- mony that a bridge across the mouth of Willapa Bay would cost $48 million and could be the most expensive, least-traveled toll bridge in the state. The state highway department made the cost estimate and added it would take a subsidy of about $1 million to keep the operation going if the toll was $1.50. The bridge would handle about 900 cars daily, compared with more than 1,000 for the $3 million Vernita bridge in Benton County, now the least trav- eled bridge in the toll bridge system. The bridge would cost twice as much as the Evergreen Point floating bridge in Seattle, which has a 25,000-car volume daily. While in other sections of the country last night, Halloween pranksters caused problems, there were only “the usual” reports of All Hallows Eve troubles in Astoria. Astoria police said they were told of shaving cream being squirted on cars and windows and balloons filled with water being thrown at people. 75 years ago — 1942 All dwelling unit rents in Astoria and Clatsop County were frozen as of Sunday, Nov. 1 at the March 1, 1942 levels and landlords will be required by law immediately to drop their rents to figures they were charging last March, it was announced today by the rental division of the office price administration. A total of 7.6 inches fell here in October and on the last day of the month a deluge of 3.45 inches neared the highest rainfall recorded during the last 15 years, Milo Carpenter, official U.S. weather observer said today. On Nov. 22 mileage rationing becomes a fact in Clatsop County. After that day no gasoline for operation of any gasoline engine, whether stationary, afloat or in rolling vehicles may be purchased without coupons from mileage rationing banks. Mileage rationing all appears to be confusing. There has been a lot of talk, most of it unconfirmed and half-told rumor, about what is coming. But the plan for mileage rationing is simple, although there will be many difficult problems involved in satisfying everyone’s real needs for varying amounts of gasoline. By DON SAMPSON For The Daily Astorian s a fishery biologist, I have worked on Columbia River salmon restoration for over 30 years. As an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, I grew up on the reservation hunting elk and deer and fishing for salmon. My work has involved studying changes to our river system. The impact of climate change became apparent almost 20 years ago as our tribes studied the flow of water in the river at different times. Since then, our tribes have worked extensively to document the impact of climate change on our salmon and Oregon rivers due to reduced snowpack and increased drought. For many of you reading this, you know summer wildfires fill our skies for weeks with smoke — affecting our air, our chil- dren, our elders. It is projected the intensity and magnitude of wildfires in the West will increase due to cli- mate change. We are seeing it now. Native Americans and rural communities in Oregon are affected by climate impacts on a daily basis. The salmon run sometimes arrives late — or not at all. The migration patterns of birds and elk, which we have hunted for generations, are changing. The native roots in the foothills and mountains that we have relied on for food arrive earlier and for a much shorter period of time. Last year the huckleberries were few, arrived early, and the window of time they were available decreased from three months to two- and- a- half weeks. These native foods have great cultural and ceremonial significance, and to lose them due to climate change means losing part of who we are. We’re working on adaptation strategies, but many tribes have also begun to focus on how to prevent and mitigate climate impacts by reducing carbon pollution, increasing the use of wind and solar energy, and developing innovative projects like at the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute, which is so energy efficient it produces nearly as much energy as it uses. The Clean Energy Jobs bill, a policy I’m advocating that the Legislature passes in 2018, is important to tribes and rural com- munities, because it will reduce climate pollution by making large emitters pay for what they pollute, and use the proceeds to invest in clean energy solutions. Investments will be prioritized to help Native American communities and other low income, rural and communities of color that are hardest hit by the impacts of climate change and air pollution. A Don Sampson and his grandson, Loren. Our lives and our way of life are interconnected with the climate. The Clean Energy Jobs bill will also help tribes protect the forest. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, and companies can “offset” some of their contributions to global warming by paying to protect the trees. The Warm Springs Tribe in central Oregon just completed a 20,000-acre forest land project on the east side of Mount Jefferson. This project will help mitigate carbon emissions for the next 100 years while bring millions in revenues to be reinvested the reservation’s rural economy. But this project is being developed under California’s cap and trade program. With Clean Energy Jobs, tribes could participate in the offset program, right here in Oregon benefiting the tribe and all of Oregonians. Most tribes in Oregon are devel- oping climate mitigation plans, and the reinvestment resources from Clean Energy Jobs would create an exciting opportunity for tribes to implement those plans. These plans are being developed with our local city, county and state partners. We could invest in expanding renewable energy like wind and solar and in land preservation, which creates jobs and protects our culture, food and watershed. Our lives and our way of life are interconnected with the climate. It’s time to transition Oregon from dirty to clean energy while creating jobs and business opportunities. On Saturday, we will have a kick-off rally statewide, so please join us and find out how you can help at RenewOregon.org. When the Legislature convenes in February, they should pass the Clean Energy Jobs bill. Don Sampson is the former chair- man of the Umatilla Tribe. He serves as climate change project director for the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, a consortium of 61 tribes in Oregon, Washington state, Idaho, Montana, Alaska and California. LETTERS WELCOME Letters should be exclusive to The Daily Astorian. We do not publish open letters or third-party letters. Letters should be fewer than 350 words and must include the writer’s name, address and phone numbers. You will be contacted to confirm authorship. All letters are subject to editing for space, grammar and, on occa- sion, factual accuracy and verbal verification of authorship. Only two letters per writer are printed each month. Letters written in response to other letter writers should address the issue at hand and, rather than mentioning the writer by name, should refer to the headline and date the letter was published. Dis- course should be civil and people should be referred to in a respectful manner. Letters referring to news stories should also mention the headline and date of publication. The Daily Astorian welcomes short “in gratitude” notes from readers for publication. They should keep to a 200-word maxi- mum and writers are asked to avoid simply listing event sponsors. They must be signed, include the writ- er’s address, phone number and are subject to condensation and editing for style, grammar, etc. Submissions may be sent in any of these ways: E-mail to editor@dailyastorian. com; Online form at www.dailyasto- rian.com; Delivered to the Astorian offices at 949 Exchange St. and 1555 N. Roosevelt in Seaside. Or by mail to Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103
