A2
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2018
Oregon State could use Elliott State Forest for research
A vote by the
State Land Board
By JES BURNS and
DIRK VANDERHART
Oregon Public Broadcasting
After years of struggling
to fi gure out what to do with
the Elliott State Forest, Ore-
gon offi cials now have a pro-
posal they like.
Members of the State
Land Board voted Tuesday
to start work on a plan to
transfer the 80,000-acre for-
est near Coos Bay to Oregon
State University.
The university’s idea is
to create the Elliott State
Research Forest.
Oregon State President Ed
Ray told Land Board mem-
bers that the university’s
“unmatched” experts would
be available to assist with the
Elliott regardless of who was
tapped to own the forest.
“The question is, ‘Do you
want to stop there, or do you
want to go further?’” Ray
added. “Do you want or do
you aspire for Oregon, the
nation and the world to have
a leading research capabil-
ity that helps all of us under-
stand around this globe how
to manage forest resources
going forward?”
The plan would include
a mix of uses on the forest
Oregon Department of Forestry
The Elliott State Forest could be used for research.
including, Ray said, “active
management.” Other uses
would refl ect public val-
ues identifi ed by the Land
Board, like recreation, pub-
lic access and conservation.
“We envision this being the
source of critical information
that we use to inform conser-
vation management now and
as we work through the ongo-
ing changes driven by our cli-
mate,” Oregon State Interim
Forestry Dean Anthony Davis
told the board.
Size advantage
It would be one of the
largest forests devoted
to experimentation and
research in the United States
and the size advantage
would allow scientists to
ask questions that couldn’t
be answered on smaller
tracts of land.
“They see a strong
research component that
will inform the future of
not only timber manage-
ment, but of climate change
adaptation and response,”
said State Treasurer Tobias
Read, who voiced enthu-
siastic support for the
plan. “(There would be)
signifi cant potential for
tribal partnerships and, of
course, support for rural
communities.”
Gov. Kate Brown also
voiced support for the
research forest proposal.
“I do think we can move
forward on this path and
keep the forest for the ben-
efi t of Oregon schoolchil-
dren. Probably in a differ-
ent way — maybe less of a
fi nancial resource, and more
of an educational resource
for the next seven gener-
ations,” Brown said.“This
would be a unique oppor-
tunity for Oregon to lead
the nation, if not the entire
world.”
The state has been con-
sidering what to do with the
Elliott State Forest for years.
It started when endangered
species court rulings lim-
ited logging and the forest
stopped generating money,
as required, for Oregon
schools through the Com-
mon School Fund.
Most recently the Land
Board, comprised of Read,
Brown and Secretary of
State Dennis Richardson,
asked for proposals that
would keep the forest in
public ownership.
Several other entities had
expressed interest in the
forest, including two local
counties, two tribes, the Ore-
gon Department of Forestry
and a nonprofi t Christian
ministry group.
Last year, the Legisla-
ture approved $100 million
in bonds to hold the school
fund over while a new for-
est owner could be found.
And on Tuesday, the Land
Board approved a declara-
tion allowing the bonding to
move forward.
But an additional $121
million is needed to com-
pensate the Common School
Fund for the appraised value
of the Elliott State Forest.
Uncertain path
As with every applicant,
Oregon State’s path to fi nd-
ing the necessary $121 mil-
lion is deeply uncertain. The
university “can’t foresee cir-
cumstances in which the
university could purchase
the forest outright,” Ray told
the Land Board.
Part of that uncertainty,
he noted, comes from the
two-year budget Brown pro-
posed earlier this month.
The proposal would hold
funding for state universities
fl at — effectively creating
a budget cut as higher edu-
cation costs rise. The gov-
ernor has promised funding
increases to universities if
state lawmakers are able to
fi nd some $2 billion in new
funding for her education
priorities.
“Under the currently pro-
posed budget, OSU faces a
funding challenge of budget
reductions of perhaps $20
million of operating funds,”
Ray said, noting that the uni-
versity was unwilling to bor-
row against “forest harvest-
ing that cannot be sustained,
or add more controversy to
the university.”
That left a question of
where funding might come
from — something that
will have to be answered in
months to come.
Both Ray and Read
expressed a desire for details
of the plan to be worked out
by the end of 2019.
FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA
TONIGHT
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
49
40
38
Partly cloudy with a
couple of showers
Tillamook
37/48
Salem
35/48
Newport
38/48
Last
New
Dec 29
Coos Bay
40/50
First
Jan 5
Baker
28/39
Burns
23/34
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
TOMORROW'S TIDES
Astoria / Port Docks
Time
5:39 a.m.
6:45 p.m.
Low
3.0 ft.
-0.7 ft.
City
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Eugene
Ilwaco
Klamath Falls
Medford
Newberg
Newport
North Bend
Hi
42
51
54
54
54
47
49
53
53
53
Today
Lo
28
27
40
35
41
22
34
35
38
39
W
c
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
Hi
39
37
51
47
49
38
45
45
48
51
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
period of painful, uncertain
transition to a budget that
refl ects the true costs of run-
ning the parks department.
Before Cosby announced she
was leaving, the department
planned to spend this year
focusing on rebuilding and
stabilizing internal operations.
“I am excited to be join-
ing the Astoria community
and working with the Asto-
ria Parks and Recreation
Department staff,” Williams
said in a statement. “The
leadership here in Astoria is
excellent.”
City Manager Brett Estes
said the city is looking for-
ward to having Williams.
“He brings a lot of expe-
rience and passion for parks
and recreation,” Estes said.
Astoria has struggled to
replace a number of depart-
ment leaders over the past
two years after a string of
expected retirements and
unanticipated resignations.
Estes is still searching for
a community development
director since former direc-
tor Kevin Cronin left the city
in October 2017. The city
is working with a recruiter
to fi nd candidates for fi re
chief, a role being fi lled by
interim Fire Chief Richard
Curtis following Ted Ames’
retirement this year.
Lakeview
25/35
Ashland
34/43
REGIONAL CITIES
Tonight's Sky: Orion's Belt stands almost straight
up from the horizon.
Fri.
Lo
19
23
37
31
43
16
27
35
40
37
W
pc
c
c
pc
c
pc
pc
pc
c
c
City
Olympia
Pendleton
Portland
Roseburg
Salem
Seaside
Spokane
Springfi eld
Vancouver
Yakima
Hi
54
55
55
52
54
54
45
54
54
47
Today
Lo
34
35
36
37
35
39
30
37
36
30
W
r
sh
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
sh
Hi
47
44
47
48
48
48
37
47
45
44
Fri.
Lo
34
30
36
32
34
42
25
31
36
26
W
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
c
pc
pc
pc
pc
Blustery weather downs trees, causes outages
The Daily Astorian
High winds toppled trees
and power lines and caused
power outages this morning
on the North Coast.
More than 1,000 custom-
ers lost power, according to
Pacifi c Power. Outages have
been reported in Astoria,
east of Astoria, south of Sea-
side and in Cannon Beach.
Emergency
person-
nel have also responded to
downed trees and power
lines, including on high-
ways. State Highway 202
was closed at milepost 6 for
downed lines. A tree cover-
ing both lanes of U.S. High-
way 26 has been cleared.
ton police on U.S. Highway
101 and Ensign Lane and
charged with driving under
the infl uence of intoxicants,
reckless driving and reck-
less endangerment. An offi -
cer allegedly found mari-
juana in the car.
TOMORROW'S NATIONAL WEATHER
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Hi Lo
54 47
49 43
46 31
49 28
39 24
44 37
60 36
-11 -21
81 69
49 38
42 26
65 47
75 53
53 38
82 68
52 40
59 44
46 45
54 30
49 48
49 33
48 33
57 51
55 39
49 48
La Grande
29/37
Ontario
31/44
Klamath Falls
22/38
Astoria hires new parks director
Astoria has hired a new
parks and recreation director.
Tim Williams, the parks
and recreation director in
Roswell, New Mexico,
will replace former direc-
tor Angela Cosby, who left
Astoria this summer to take
a parks job in Colorado.
Jonah Dart-McLean, the
parks maintenance super-
visor in Astoria , served as
interim director during the
city’s search.
Williams’ fi rst day is Jan.
8. He joins the city after a
Roseburg
37/48
Brookings
40/51
Jan 13
John Day
29/35
Bend
27/37
Medford
34/45
UNDER THE SKY
High
7.8 ft.
10.0 ft.
Prineville
28/40
Lebanon
37/46
Eugene
35/47
Sunset tonight ........................... 4:32 p.m.
Sunrise Friday ............................. 7:55 a.m.
Moonrise today .......................... 3:19 p.m.
Moonset today ............................ 5:18 a.m.
City
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Denver
Des Moines
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Honolulu
Indianapolis
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Memphis
Miami
Nashville
New Orleans
New York
Oklahoma City
Philadelphia
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Francisco
Seattle
Washington, DC
Periods of rain
Pendleton
35/44
The Dalles
37/46
Portland
36/47
SUN AND MOON
Time
12:19 a.m.
11:34 a.m.
Periods of rain
Shown is tomorrow's weather. Temperatures are tonight's lows and tomorrow's highs.
ASTORIA
38/49
Precipitation
Wednesday ....................................... 0.04"
Month to date ................................... 5.79"
Normal month to date ....................... 6.15"
Year to date .................................... 59.18"
Normal year to date ........................ 63.52"
Dec 22
51
39
REGIONAL WEATHER
Astoria through Wednesday.
Temperatures
High/low ....................................... 53°/48°
Normal high/low ........................... 48°/36°
Record high ............................ 61° in 1981
Record low ............................. 17° in 1924
Full
MONDAY
51
42
Mostly cloudy, a little rain
in the p.m.
Clouds and breaks of sun
ALMANAC
SUNDAY
50
43
W
r
pc
r
s
c
r
s
pc
s
r
c
s
s
r
t
r
r
r
s
r
r
s
pc
r
r
Hi
48
62
36
62
40
41
65
-11
82
40
44
64
69
45
73
46
56
61
55
64
39
43
58
48
61
Fri.
Lo
35
52
24
27
27
30
43
-15
70
26
30
45
50
31
54
30
39
48
33
47
26
30
44
38
45
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
W
r
r
c
s
s
r
pc
pc
pc
sn
s
c
pc
pc
pc
r
s
r
s
r
c
pc
c
pc
r
DUII
• At 12:13 a.m. Thurs-
day, a Hammond boy, 17,
was arrested by Warren-
MEMORIAL
Sunday, Dec. 23
FAIRLESS, Curtis Robert — Informal memorial gathering at 11 a.m., Seaside Ameri-
can Legion Post 99, 1315 Broadway in Seaside. A military service is planned, and will be
announced at a later date.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy,
sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries,
sn-snow, i-ice.
CLATSOP
POWER
EQUIPMENT , INC.
SALES SERVICE RENTALS
•
ON THE RECORD
THURSDAY
Cannon Beach Design Review Board Meet-
ing, 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Seaside Transportation Advisory Commis-
LOTTERIES
OREGON
Wednesday’s Pick 4:
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Wednesday’s Lucky Lines:
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Estimated jackpot: $21,000
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Estimated jackpot: $5.8 million
Wednesday’s Powerball: 15-
29-31-37-43 Powerball: 16
Estimated jackpot: $281
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Wednesday’s Daily Game:
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Wednesday’s Lotto: 3-13-30-
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Estimated jackpot: $1.9 million
Wednesday’s Hit 5: 4-26-28-
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Wednesday’s Keno: 8-10-14-
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40-43-51-55-62-63-67-72
Wednesday’s Match 4: 4-5-
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