A5
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2019
Carbon: 2020 deal is expected to
bring in about $1M in net revenue
Continued from Page A1
that can be used by indus-
trial polluters to offset car-
bon dioxide emissions that
contribute to climate change.
A deal with The Climate
Trust in 2015 generated a net
revenue of $1.8 million for the
city. The money fed a fund for
future renovation work at the
Astoria Library.
The 2020 deal is expected
to bring in about $1 million
in net revenue and would
likely go to the city’s capi-
tal improvement fund, City
Manager Brett Estes said.
The money could be kept in
reserve and doled out for city
projects and needs in the com-
ing years, he said.
Some routine timber har-
vest does occur in the water-
shed, but future cuts are not
expected to be as large as in
the past, resulting in less rev-
enue for the city.
“These (funds) could be
banked to be able to offset
that,” Estes said.
In an unusual move, The
Climate Trust approached
the city earlier this year with
an offer to buy 2020 carbon
credits.
“Is this contract a good
value?” David Ford, a carbon
credit consultant who worked
with city staff on the agree-
ment with The Climate Trust,
asked the City Council on
Monday. “My simple answer
is, ‘Y es, it’s actually a very
good deal.’”
The average price for for-
estry credits in the voluntary
market is just over $5 . “This
offer is substantially higher, ”
he said.
The Climate Trust is inter-
ested in paying more because
they have worked with the
city before and are familiar
with the project, Ford said.
The story behind the project
also provides additional value.
“You’re protecting wildlife
habitat, you’re protecting a
high-quality water resource,”
Ford said. “So there’s more
benefi ts there than just the
carbon value itself. … It’s a
higher value than what you
might fi nd elsewhere in the
marketplace.”
For the 2020 deal, the city
will need to complete a new
forest inventory, purchase
a buffer pool of credits and
undergo a third-party verifi ca-
tion and fi eld audit of the car-
bon credits available.
Adding in the cost of proj-
ect development and Amer-
ican Carbon Registry fees,
City Forester Ben Hayes esti-
mates the total cost to the city
will be $400,000.
The new inventory will be
completed this fall and could
reveal that even more carbon
credits are available, Hayes
said.
Colin Murphey/The Astorian
The Bear Creek watershed could generate around $1 million in revenue under a new plan
approved by the Astoria City Council.
Bridge: ‘Research is pretty conclusive that ... suicide is often an impulsive decision’
Continued from Page A1
sure how practical or effec-
tive it would be to put up
additional fencing or other
barriers along the length of
the bridge.
“It could cause other
kinds
of
maintenance
issues,” Torres said.
‘Guided by standards’
Since the two apparent
suicides , there have not been
any discussions internally at
the department about chang-
ing how the bridge is moni-
tored or policed.
Dorothy Upton, a state
traffi c operations engineer
who responded to the Hum-
ber s’ letter, appreciated the
motivation behind their
request, but wrote, “We are
guided by standards about
the types of signing we place
along the highway and can-
not sign for every variation
of human behavior.”
“While any loss of life is
tragic, it is not reasonable
to have suicide prevention
signing placed on a bridge
where there are not even
pedestrian facilities,” she
wrote.
People have used the
Astoria Bridge’s tall, main
span as a way to end their
lives ever since it was built
53 years ago. But the events
of the past few weeks stand
out.
When 24 -year-old Daniel
Williams jumped from the
bridge on May 23, his death
was the fi rst suicide at the
bridge in at least three years.
On
Friday,
police
responded to a report of an
unoccupied, parked, but still
running car on the bridge .
Investigators have not pub-
licly released the driver’s
name .
“Every indication is that
he obviously jumped off
the bridge, but we have not
recovered his body,” Ore-
gon State Police Lt. Andrew
Merila said. “There was
no reason for that car to be
there.”
The bridge is already
marked as closed to pedestri-
ans. Traffi c cameras near the
off-ramp on the Oregon side
and farther up monitor traf-
fi c conditions and are some-
times used by law enforce-
ment to locate vehicles.
“If someone is up on the
bridge, most of the time we
get a call and we respond up
there and take them off the
bridge,” Merila said.
Often people are just try-
ing to walk across and are
not a danger to themselves.
Over the years, many of the
people who have jumped
drove up the main span and
parked their cars before
climbing over the railing.
“At this point, I don’t
know what else you can do,”
Merila said.
Carrie Barnhart, who
had a history of schizophre-
nia and depression, jumped
from the Astoria Bridge in
2015. Her death led to an
examination of the gaps in
Clatsop County’s mental
health safety net.
Karen Humber still hopes
for a way to get suicide pre-
vention signs at least at
either end of the bridge. In a
follow-up e mail to the state,
she asked about how to
change the state’s policy so
signs could be posted. She
also wondered how much it
might cost if private citizens
raised money to pay for the
installation .
“It may not completely
stop somebody,” she told
The Astorian. “But maybe it
could give them a moment
of hope or an opportunity to
pause and rethink what they
are doing.”
“Some sort of barrier or
safety net would probably
be more ideal, but I’m not
an engineer,” she added.
‘A permanent decision’
Amy Baker, the exec-
utive director of Clatsop
Behavioral Healthcare, said
she would support efforts
to install suicide preven-
tion signs or physical barri-
ers to make it harder to jump
from the bridge — anything
that makes people pause and
consider other options.
“The research is pretty
conclusive that, especially
for youths and young adults,
suicide is often an impulsive
decision,” Baker said, “and
unfortunately it’s a perma-
nent decision.”
Baker pointed to 9-foot
suicide-prevention fences
erected at Portland’s Vista
Bridge, nicknamed “Suicide
Bridge.” Before the fences
were installed, an average
of two people a year jumped
between 2008 and 2012.
Since the fences went up in
2013, no one has died jump-
ing, T he Oregonian reported
in April.
“There are very clear
examples in other areas
where they’ve been able
to make access a little bit
harder and allow for that
pause,” she said.
For
many ,
suicide
attempts at the bridge may
seem like relatively rare
occurrences. But to Baker
and others in the mental
health fi eld, the bridge is a
constant source of concern.
Its presence creates that
much more of an opportu-
nity for people struggling
with suicidal thoughts . “To
me, it’s not just a bridge, ”
Baker said.
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