DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2019
147TH YEAR, NO. 22
$1.50
NEW MAPS CHART
POSSIBLE COURSE FOR
ESTUARY RESTORATION
A startling
loss of habitat
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
A
new survey reveals the West
Coast has lost about 85% of
its historical estuary habitat,
but the mapping could also help iden-
tify restoration opportunities and pro-
vide a baseline for predicting future
changes.
Though large estuaries like the
Columbia River have been mapped
and surveyed extensively, the recent
survey is the fi rst time research-
ers have applied consistent mapping
methods for estuaries along the con-
tiguous West Coast.
M arshlands and tidal wetlands
that form where rivers transition to
the ocean provide rich, dynamic hab-
itat for plants and wildlife, and serve
as crucial nurseries for young salmon
and steelhead.
R esearch in the lower Columbia
River shows some salmon species lin-
ger in the estuary even longer than sci-
entists had realized, putting on the size
and weight that will help them thrive
in the ocean.
“Given how valuable estuaries
are to so many different species, it’s
important to understand how much
they have changed and what that
means for fi sh and wildlife that depend
Photos by Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
TOP: The lower Columbia River estuary outside of Brownsmead. ABOVE: The fertile
estuary of the Columbia River is an important habitat for many native plants and wildlife.
‘GIVEN HOW VALUABLE ESTUARIES ARE TO
SO MANY DIFFERENT SPECIES, IT’S IMPORT-
ANT TO UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH THEY HAVE
CHANGED AND WHAT THAT MEANS FOR FISH
AND WILDLIFE THAT DEPEND ON THEM.’
on them,” Correigh Greene, a co-au-
thor of the new study and a research
biologist at the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration , said in a
statement.
The new information accomplishes
two goals, said Laura Brophy, lead
author of the study and director of the
Estuary Technical Group at the Insti-
tute for Applied Ecology in Corvallis.
By combining past research with
elevation mapping called LIDAR and
water level modeling available from
NOAA , they establish the extent of
estuary habitat and uncover the reach
of the historic habitat.
Brophy and the other researchers
estimate West Coast estuaries once
covered nearly 2 million acres —
about three times the size of Rhode
Island. Now, following European set-
tlement and development, only a frac-
tion remain. The Columbia River has
lost about 74% of its estuary.
In the past, wetland mapping relied
heavily on the interpretation of aerial
photos and data like soil surveys.
Researchers would work with land-
owners to understand changes in the
habitat because of past and current
development.
More often than not, they spent a
lot of time peering through blackberry
bushes trying to fi nd out why some
areas that had likely once been wetlands
might be disconnected from the estuary.
“We still need people to go peer
through blackberries,” Brophy said.
Correigh Greene | co-author of the new study and a research biologist
at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
See Estuary, Page A6
Research studies tsunami
impact on infrastructure
Delving into the soil
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
New research from Oregon State Uni-
versity takes steps toward understanding
how tsunamis destabilize soil, which is
key to building and retrofi tting infrastruc-
ture that can withstand a disaster.
“Traditionally, in the past, the structural
engineers have only thought about what
happens at the soil level and above, and
the soil engineers have thought about what
happens at the surface and below,” said
Ben Mason, an a ssociate p rofessor at Ore-
gon State’s College of Engineering.
The project combines what scientists
know about how the soil will affect the
structure, and how the structure will affect
the soil. The fi ndings could help communi-
ties on the North Coast prepare for a Cas-
cadia Subduction Zone earthquake and
tsunami.
“Ultimately you have to understand the
marriage between the two during both the
earthquake and the tsunami to be able to
develop reasonable designs,” Mason said.
“It’s a symphony — it really is.”
The research was conducted in collab-
oration with the University of California,
Davis and published in July.
Up until now, scientists have been spec-
ulating about how water pressure changes
the soil, but now they have experimental
data they can use to improve their com-
puter models and run simulations to see
how infrastructure in different coastal
towns will be affected based on their soil
density and existing structures.
Building sustainable infrastructure
depends on the soil of a given location.
How engineers build a bridge should
depend on the soil, and how soil moves
depends on how engineers build the
bridge, Mason said.
“The perfect example of that is the 1986
Mexico City earthquake,” Mason said.
“The city is built on an ancient lake bed
and there’s buildings that got absolutely
demolished there due to a relatively mod-
est earthquake.
“And then if you go just barely up the
mountain to where it’s rock, none of the
buildings saw any damage. So, the soil is
extremely important to how the bridges
and buildings and infrastructure is going to
fare during an earthquake and a tsunami.”
Mason plans to continue having con-
versations with local governments on the
N orth C oast to help educate people on
what they should expect to see happen in
a large earthquake and tsunami.
“In terms of actual communities and
engineers or city managers, they’re largely
See Research, Page A6
Laura Lattig, center, coordinates children’s programs at Warrenton Community Library.
A life of service
A rich perspective on education
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
T
here are no straight lines when it comes
to the many careers Laura Lattig has
held over the years, but there is a common
thread: service.
“I really believe that’s why I’m here,” she
said. “To love people and give them more.”
As the volunteer coordinator at Colum-
bia Memorial Hospital in Astoria, Lattig
helped create the No One Dies Alone pro-
gram, where volunteers provide comfort and
companionship to dying patients. Before
that, she was the director of adult education
programs at Clatsop Community College
and developed a tutoring center — and then
there was everything else before, after and
in-between that took
her deep into education
and program building.
Now, retired from
the hospital, she coor-
dinates children and
family programs at the Warrenton Commu-
nity Library, a job she took on in October.
The small library is in a period of growth
and transition. A move to a new location in
See Lattig, Page A6