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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 12, 2018)
7A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 2018 Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian ABOVE: A juvenile bald eagle was recently brought to this enclosure at the Wildlife Center of the North Coast for rehabilitation. BELOW: A rehabilitated bald eagle takes flight in an enclosure. Eagle: Center sees around six to 12 bald eagles a year Continued from Page 1A “I think we’re just seeing nature take its course,” Ste- phensen said. “It fluctuates all the time. The populations of different prey species change. The predators, they reflect that.” The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers blamed eagles for a mass dispersal of dou- ble-crested cormorants from East Sand Island at the mouth of the Columbia River in May. At one point, 25 to 30 eagles were observed near the col- ony. The number of cormo- rants roosting upstream on the Astoria Bridge swelled. In Washington state’s Grays and Willapa bays, observ- ers reported thousands of cor- morants while the Colum- bia River estuary was nearly empty. The Army Corps had intended to spend the spring and summer months shoot- ing double-crested cormorants and destroying their nests, fol- lowing a plan set in motion in 2015 to cut the growing colo- ny’s numbers and reduce pre- dation of juvenile salmon. These activities were tem- porarily suspended after the cormorants abandoned their nests. Release The Wildlife Center of the North Coast sees around six to 12 bald eagles a year. The eagle gaining back weight and strength at the center now is a 2 or 3-year old male whose brown head and tail feathers have yet to turn the distinc- tive white that people identify with America’s national bird. He came to the wildlife center by way of another rehab cen- ter farther south. He was found with a bro- ken wing at the base of the Yaquina Head Lighthouse near Newport and was taken to the Oregon Coast Aquar- ium. Eventually, he landed at the Chintimini Wild- life Center near Corvallis. After undergoing surgery on his wing, the eagle entered a long recovery period. He was taken to the Wildlife Center of the North Coast because the center’s flight enclosure is about 20 feet lon- ger than the one Chintimini had available. “Any little bit helps with an eagle,” said Mary Estes, Chintimini’s wildlife rehabil- itation program director. The eagle will be released near the end of the month at a known bald eagle winter roost site off U.S. Highway 30 near Knappa. “He’s old enough that he’ll probably keep away from the other eagles,” Saranpaa said. “If he was fresh out of the nest, we would have some concerns. Since he came in at 2 or 3 years old, he’s had some time out in the wild to learn to be an eagle.” Wood: ‘People like the nail and bolt holes’ Rentals: Majority of commissioners support regulations to various degrees Continued from Page 1A The project also entailed removing about 150 wooden pilings from the old trestle bridge, Morrill said. Designed to last only as long as the jet- ty’s construction, the timbers were not treated with creo- sote, a toxic chemical used to preserve wood. Bergerson was left to decide how to dispose of the timbers. “When we realized the wood was in good shape but untreated, we started to explore options of recycling rather than cutting it up as firewood,” Morrill said. “I was talking to some local builders, and one of them suggested I call Tobey, and he developed a scheme.” They brought in a mobile mill and spent four months processing the timbers into boards 16 to 19 feet long and more than 3/4-inch thick. Some of the boards have found their way onto the floor of a wooden barn house under con- struction by general contractor Duane Clayton in Svensen. “They wanted a barn house, the rougher the better,” Clay- ton said of the owners. The house is a laboratory of reused wood. The trestle tim- ber flooring includes semi- circular saw marks from the milling process, left for char- acter. The blue pine walls were sourced from a forest burn in Continued from Page 1A Clatsop County Historical Society Some of the pilings from a former railroad trestle used to transport boulders for the con- struction of the South Jetty have been repurposed for home construction. California. Structural beams come from North Dakota. And stairs to the second floor are marked with bolt holes from the underpinnings of a struc- ture at North Tongue Point. “I buy truckloads of old beams all the time to make plank floors,” Parsons said. “People like the nail and bolt holes.” Parsons estimates he has installed reclaimed flooring at dozens of homes in Asto- ria, with 300,000 square feet still sitting at his warehouse in Hillsboro. Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Tobey Parsons of McGee Salvage sweeps the floors of a new home in Svensen that utilized reclaimed wood from pilings near the Clatsop Spit for the flooring. Commissioner Sarah Nebeker, a Gearhart resi- dent and critic of the reg- ulations, called the city’s rules the most extreme in the state. Commissioner Lianne Thompson, in turn, pointed to the vote tally in her rebuttal. Nebeker and Commis- sioner Lisa Clement took issue specifically with the parking restrictions in the county’s proposed ordinance. “I’m just so con- fused about this,” Nebeker said. “Why is it a safety issue if someone is rent- ing short-term but it’s not a safety issue if you have five cars and you live there full time?” Clement’s hesitation was more general. “I’m always just con- cerned with too much regu- lation,” Clement said, adding Nebeker’s questions made sense. Lee, Thompson and Com- missioner Kathleen Sullivan were in favor of the parking regulations. “There’s a public safety issue here, and people’s right to own property doesn’t supersede public safety,” Thompson said. Despite concerns about county staff time and cost to homeowners, Sullivan has repeatedly called for per- mit inspections every three to four years rather than the five-year requirement. Thompson also supported that sentiment. The majority of commis- sioners support regulations to various degrees. The ques- tion later this month appears to be who, if anyone, will budge or compromise on the final details. “There are some peo- ple who come here because they think there are no rules and they can do whatever they want to and they want to behave badly,” Thomp- son said. “If we have ways to negotiate these things so that we can cooperate flexi- bly, I’m happy.”
