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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2019
Oregon, awash in marijuana,
takes steps to curb production
By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press
SALEM — Oregon is awash in pot, glut-
ted with so much legal weed that if growing
were to stop today, it could take more than six
years by one estimate to smoke or eat it all.
Now, the state is planning to curb
production.
Five years after voters legalized recre-
ational marijuana, lawmakers have given the
Oregon Liquor Control Commission more
leeway to deny new pot-growing licenses
based on supply and demand.
The bill passed in Oregon’s House
late Thursday in a 39-18 vote after it was
approved earlier in the Senate. It is aimed not
just at reducing the huge surplus but also at
preventing diversion of unsold legal mari-
juana into the black market and forestalling a
crackdown by federal prosecutors.
“The harsh reality is we have too much
product on the market,” said Democratic
Gov. Kate Brown, who intends to sign the
bill.
Supply is running twice as high as demand,
meaning that the surplus from last year’s har-
vest alone could amount to roughly 2.3 mil-
lion pounds of marijuana, by the liquor com-
mission’s fi gures. That’s the equivalent of
AP Photo/Richard Vogel
A bud tender shows a top cannabis strain at a
dispensary in Portland.
over 1 billion joints.
Oregon has one of the highest such imbal-
ances among the 10 states that have legalized
recreational marijuana since 2012, in part
because it had a big head start in the weed
business.
With its moist climate and rich soil, Ore-
gon has a long history of pot growing. When
it became legal, many outlaw growers went
legitimate, and others jumped into the busi-
ness, too.
They are now all cultivating weed in a
multitude of fi elds, greenhouses and con-
verted factories, with 1,123 active producer
licenses issued by the OLLC over the past
three years.
The legislation could be a lifeline to some
cannabis businesses that are being squeezed
by market forces.
Retail prices in Oregon for legal pot have
plummeted from more than $10 per gram in
October 2016 to less than $5 last December.
At the same time, smaller marijuana busi-
nesses are feeling competition from bigger,
richer players, some from out of state.
Offi cials worry that some license hold-
ers will become so desperate they will divert
their product into the black market rather than
see it go unsold.
“We’re a very young industry,” said Margo
Lucas, a marijuana grower and vendor in the
Willamette Valley who is hoping the measure
will give her business breathing room.
She noted that growers can’t seek federal
bankruptcy protection — pot is still illegal
under federal law, and banks avoid the indus-
try — and that many owners have taken out
personal loans to fi nance their businesses.
“So when we go out of business, we’re
going to go down hard,” Lucas said. “Many
of us will lose our homes. ... You’re going to
have a lot of entrepreneurs in this state that
are pretty unhappy with the way that this ends
if we don’t get some support with this bill.”
Cormorants: ‘This problem is only just starting’
Continued from Page A1
Island from the more than 13,600 pairs in
2014 to about 5,600 by 2018 to protect fi sh.
The cormorant colony abandoned the
island several times in 2016 and 2017, a
dispersal the Army Corps blamed on pred-
ators, such as eagles, and that opponents
of the agency’s management plan blamed
on the Army Corps.
This year, the Army Corps has focused
on modifying the terrain of East Sand
Island to discourage mass nesting and
maintain colony numbers at the target
established in 2015.
“We have discouraged the few birds
attempting to nest in the central portion of
the island, which was previously the east-
ern area of the colony, with minimal haz-
ing activity,” Henon said.
Eagles have been observed dispersing
cormorants, he added.
Each year since hazing at East Sand
Island began, the number of birds nesting
at the Astoria Bridge has grown — a situ-
ation that could cause signifi cant expense
to the state Department of T ransportation .
The state just fi nished repainting the
bridge’s span in 2018, a lengthy and
expensive process that caused routine traf-
fi c delays. More work is planned in 2021
on the under truss, where many of the cor-
morants now appear to be nesting.
The birds’ droppings are corrosive and
reduce the life span of the bridge’s pro-
tective steel coating. State offi cials worry
that if the birds continue to nest in such
high numbers on the bridge, both the
expense and the frequency of painting will
increase.
It is too late in the year to haze the birds
off the bridge , but, internally, the Depart-
ment of Transportation is still looking at
its options for next spring ahead of the
2021 work .
“We have not come up with a plan yet
to address the cormorant problem,” said
Lou Torres, a department spokesman . “We
are currently working very closely with
the Oregon Department of Fish and Wild-
life on a variety of possible deterrents and
tools that include hazing the birds.”
Cormorant kingdom
Rex Ziak, who lives in Washington state’s
Pacifi c County, said he didn’t fully grasp the
dilemma until last week, when he saw the
nests for the fi rst time while stuck in traffi c.
Looking down, he had a perfect view of the
structures undergirding the bridge and the
cormorant kingdom .
He saw dozens and dozens of cormorants
and nests full of eggs. He grabbed his wife’s
phone and started taking pictures.
“It’s just like it awakened me to the dan-
gerous situation that has occurred,” Ziak
said. “Dangerous in terms of just the integ-
rity of the bridge’s expensive paint job.”
One of his photos shows a nest full of
eggs cozily tucked in a corner. A spray of
white bird droppings surrounds the nest and
obliterates the new, green paint.
The bridge cannot host an infi nite number
of cormorants, but Ziak, looking at all the
eggs below him, kept thinking, “This prob-
lem is only just starting.”
Brown wants to
divert kicker from
top income earners
By SARAH ZIMMERMAN
Associated Press
SALEM — Gov. Kate Brown
announced a plan Thursday to limit Ore-
gon’s unique tax rebate known as the
kicker, saying she wants to divert $500
million in tax credits away from the state’s
top income earners to pay down pension
costs and invest in rural housing.
“It’s fi scally responsible and makes
common sense,” the Democrat told report-
ers. “Most Oregonians would get their full
kicker back.”
Excess revenue is automatically
returned to taxpayers in the form of a tax
rebate whenever the state takes in more
revenue than what state economists fore-
cast. Oregon’s facing a historic year for
state revenue, and the so-called “kicker”
rebate is expected to be the highest in state
history at $1.4 billion.
The governor is proposing to limit
refunds at $1,000, which would reduce
expected payments for approximately
20% of all taxpayers. Brown said it’s a
way to provide most Oregonians their full
refunds while retaining $500 million in
extra revenue for the state.
Some Democrats have long criticized
kicker payments for disproportionally
favoring the wealthy. Under this year’s
historic kicker, the median taxpayer would
be expected to receive $330 dollars while
the top 1% of income earners could enjoy
rebates up to 40 times higher than that —
nearly $14,000.
Under Brown’s plan at least $250 mil-
lion of the kicker funds would go to help
pay down the state’s pension debt. The
rest would be dedicated to rural housing
and beefi ng up broadband infrastructure in
more remote areas of the state.
There’s still no formal legislation for
the proposal, and Brown said she’s open
to changes. She also said she’s met with
Republican leaders but didn’t specify if
they supported the move.
Republicans have recoiled at any
attempt to cut the kicker, saying the rebate
is meant to be a safeguard against rampant
government spending.
“Our state income tax revenue is at an
all-time high,” said House Majority Leader
Carl Wilson, of Grants Pass. “This is no
time to begin skimming off money that
hard-working Oregonians have earned.”
Brown admitted that diverting any
amount of the kicker is politically diffi -
cult, as it requires a two-thirds vote from
the House and Senate.
CLATSOP ANIMAL ASSISTANCE’S
Port: Exploring outsourcing dredging 20 th Anniversary Gala Dinner
The marina could reopen
18 more slips with dredging,
said Janice Burk, the Port’s
marina manager. Each slip
brings in around $2,000 in
annual revenue, Isom said.
Port c ommissioners com-
prise half of the 10-member
budget committee, with the
other fi ve appointed from
the community . Every mem-
ber of the committee voted
Wednesday to support the
West Mooring Basin p roject
except Port Commissioner
Bill Hunsinger, who lodged
a protest vote over the agen-
cy’s lack of investment at the
ailing East Mooring Basin.
T he east side marina sits
mostly empty. Last year, t he
Port closed the causeway
providing access after state
engineers found a severely
rotting substructure and
judged it unsafe to walk on.
The proposed budget con-
tains no new major invest-
ments at the east marina,
which the Port is considering
leasing to a private develop-
ment group led by Pier 39
owner Floyd Holcom.
The Port could take care
of its entire waiting list of
boaters by improving the
east marina, which doesn’t
require as much dredging
because of a self-scouring
hydrology, Hunsinger said.
“This is going to be a defi -
nite loss to the Port of Asto-
ria and to the community,
because that other 100 peo-
ple that would like to come
here are also going to spend
money in Clatsop County,”
he said.
Budget c ommittee mem-
ber John Lansing and Port
Commissioner Dirk Rohne
commiserated with Hunsing-
er’s concerns, but said the
Port has the opportunity to
keep a full west marina in
business and provide a better
return on investment.
Keeping the marina in
working order is also import-
ant for the Port’s efforts to
sell the surrounding Asto-
ria Riverwalk Inn, Chinook
Building and former Sea-
fare Restaurant to a private
developer.
The dredging project at
the west marina comes as
the Port explores how to
outsource dredging entirely
rather than maintain its
aging, outdated dredge, the
Felkins.
Operating the dredge
takes much of the Port’s
maintenance staff off the
docks for a large portion of
the year. But contracting out
for dredging costs signifi -
cantly more money.
June 13 th • 5:30-7:30 • $ 75
Seaside Convention Center, 415 First Ave, Seaside
Join us for dinner, drinks, dessert & fun!
An incredible evening hosted by longtime NBC co-host of the Westminster Kennel
Club Dog Show & the National Dog Show, David Frei, and KATU Meteorologist Mary
Loos & her four-legged forecaster, Willis the Weather Dog.
CAA will recognize the volunteers who make it all possible & look back on the
animals we have been able to help heal, love & get ready for adoption. Some of our
favorite furry success stories will be joining us!
Fabulous live auction items,
a paddle raise and more!
Live auction items include:
• Seven nights in Kona & round trip airfare for 2
• A day with a Columbia River Bar Pilot for 4
• Private dinner for 8 prepared in your home by Chef Andy Catalano
• PNW Staycation that includes luxury lodging, dinner out & two
tickets to the Liberty Theatre!
All proceeds to directly benefit the animals at the
Clatsop County Animal Shelter.
Meal choices include pork tenderloin,
chicken cordon bleu & stuffed summer squash (vegan).
A limited number of tickets will be sold, so DO NOT WAIT!
Get your tickets for June 13th NOW!
For more information about this event or to host a
table, contact Crissy Christian (Christian_crissy@yahoo.
com) or Natalie Hannam (natahubbard@gmail.com).
If you are hosting a table we will contact you for your
menu choices. For more information about Clatsop
Animal Assistance go to dogsncats.org
Follow us on
Continued from Page A1
503-861-7387 • 503-861-0737 • www.dogsncats.org
Open 12-4 pm, Tues-Sat • 1315 SE 19th St., Warrenton