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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 2019)
A8 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2019 Lichen: Covers 6% of the earth’s surface Continued from Page A1 And they haven’t even left the parking lot yet. McCune and Stone are lichenology experts and pio- neers of the fi eld. Through- out the past three decades, their knowledge has guided a new wave of scientists toward the small, colorful organism that covers 6% of the earth’s surface. This week, they guided the Northwest Lichenolo- gists, a nonprofi t that pro- motes professional train- ing, through the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. The team of seven conducted lichen surveys , each bearing a pocket knife, a hand lens and a bag full of the leafy, scaly species. This is big news for the park. Without the help of the volunteer lichenologists, the park would have to draft contracts, secure funding and possibly wait years to conduct similar surveys. In just three days, the park’s lichen herbarium — a collection of preserved plant species kept under lock and key in a climate-controlled room — more than doubled. “A good starting point is to at least know what spe- cies we have,” Carla Cole, the park’s natural resources project manager , said. “To really manage things prop- erly, you have to know what you have, so we’re always wanting more inventory.” At the park, making that inventory list took time, as the region is covered in lichens. It took the lichenol- ogists more than an hour to drop from the visitor center to a footbridge less than half a mile away. And that’s a really good sign for the plants, the park and the people that live here. It means the air we’re breathing is clean. Air quality indicators Because of their genetic build, lichens are extremely sensitive to their living con- ditions, which makes them natural air quality indicators. “They care about where they live, so now we use lichens to notice air qual- ity,” Stone said. “The lichens are out there getting the air blown by them all the time, so they know much more about air quality than a machine can measure, or than we think we know.” Scientists throughout Continued from Page A1 Photos by Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian Daphne Stone, also known as Dr. Usnea, holds a sample of usnea lichen she pulled from a tree branch. Usnea grow in small net patterns to catch water from the air and are indicators of good air quality. the country utilize lichens to study air quality and bet- ter understand the impact humans have on their natural surroundings. In highly pol- luted urban areas, lichens are few and far between. In Clat- sop C ounty’s cool and moist coastal climate, lichens are everywhere: dangling off branches, growing on road signs, clinging to bridges. But it’s not just the fact that they’re here that mat- ters. The specifi c type of lichens scientists found tell us even more about the air . “By looking at the lichens we fi nd on a plot, we can tell exactly what the air quality is like, which is just amaz- ing,” she said. “There’s nothing else that sensitive.” Understanding the lichens that thrive in this region is a crucial fi rst step for the National Park Service . Lichens are at the base of the food chain. They act as their own miniature for- est and provide a habitat for small, sometimes micro- scopic animals. Larger pred- ators, such as birds, frogs and bigger bugs, pick through lichens to feed on those smaller creatures. The more park monitors know about the lichens, the more they can understand all the ani- mals that live in the region. “There’s a lot of life going on at the tiny level inside the lichen habitat,” Cole said. An understanding of the lichens throughout the park’s ‘ANYTHING THAT LOOKS LIKE IT CAME OUT OF A DR. SEUSS BOOK IS PROBABLY A LICHEN.’ Daphne Stone In regions dominated by agricultural land, such as parts of Oregon’s Interstate 5 corridor, small, orange- tinted lichens grow aggres- sively, a sign that the air is polluted with nitrogen compounds. “We’re not seeing that at all here,” Stone said. Instead, the survey team found abun- dant amounts of cyanoli- chen, which enhance tree growth and are not found in polluted places. “It means that the air is really clean.” seven units will help guide it forward. Discovering and recording different types of lichens throughout habitats will infl uence design plans and enhance habitat diver- sity. The knowledge helps guide restoration projects for prairies and wildfl ower meadows, according to Cole. “The fi rst step in knowing what to do is getting these basic inventories and species lists down,” she said. “That always informs the next step of management.” Enhance growth Lichens are epiphytes , which means they don’t take nutrients from the plants they grow on, and though lichens are often wrongly blamed for killing trees, they actually enhance growth by retaining mois- ture and stabilizing soil. Lichens also have medic- inal properties and cultural value. Native Americans used lichens to dye wool and Scandinavians feed them to reindeer. Some lichens, such as usnea, have an antibiotic substance used in tinctures and sold commercially. But none of those rea- sons are what drew Stone or McCune to lichenology. For McCune, it was “ the lure of the unknown.” “It’s as if they’re from outer space,” he said. “They’re weird forms. They’re beautiful, they’re colorful, they’re so varied in form. It’s just one sur- prise after another.” For Stone, it was the fact that they made intricate fairy houses when she was a young girl. “I loved all the details I found on the forest fl oor,” she said, “and one of them was lichens.” Now, she has a general tip for anyone interested in exploring the lichens in their own backyard or in the park. “Anything that looks like it came out of a Dr. Seuss book,” she said, “is proba- bly a lichen.” Students: ‘I think every district ... has some work to do’ Continued from Page A1 Less than 18% of Knappa students were on track in math, a decline from 23.1% two years ago, half the state- wide rate and signifi cantly worse than county peers. “We have work to do,” Paulette Johnson, the schools superintendent in Knappa, said of the results. “I think every district in the state has some work to do.” Johnson couldn’t pin- point exactly why Knappa students struggle on state assessments, but said it could be related to demo- graphics, academic rigor or teaching styles. “We always thought we need to add more rigor to what we do,” she said. School districts statewide are creating improvement plans to secure an estimated $1 billion annually in addi- tional revenue from the Stu- dent Success Act starting in fall 2020. Knappa educators have talked about investing more in after-school oppor- tunities, expanding pre- school and increasing school days, Johnson said. In Astoria, just more than half of students were on track in English and lan- guage arts, tracking similarly to the last three years and just below the state average. Nearly 37% of Astoria stu- dents were on track in math, a slight decrease from the previous spring, but within 2% of the state average. Nearly half of Warren- ton-Hammond School Dis- trict students were on track in English and language arts, down from half of students Violations: Newer tour providers have complained about Port’s arrangement with Conner the previous spring, but up from less than 44% two years ago. Warrenton-Hammond students were again the most profi cient countywide in math, with more than 37% on track. District students in 2017-18 eclipsed the state average in math profi ciency, a rarity for county school districts. In Seaside, 44% of stu- dents were on track in English and language arts, down from more than half of students in 2017-18. A mere 28.4% of Seaside stu- dents were on track in math, down from more than 32% the year prior. In the rural K-12 Jewell School, where results can skew heavily because of a small student population, more than 42% of students were on-track in English and language arts, compared to around half of students the previous two years. Nearly 22% were profi cient in math, down from more than 26% the previous spring. “It is clear improvement is needed in these two sub- ject areas,” Colt Gill, direc- tor of the state Department of Education, said in a news release. “Thanks to the his- toric Student Success Act passed by lawmakers and signed by Gov. Kate Brown, we will eventually see more resources targeted to help students graduate high school ready for college or a career.” Fre e Est Fast ima tes Call me ti Any Jeff Hale Painting • • • • Residential Commercial Cedar Roof Treatments Exterior Repaint Specialist Over 25 years local experience 503-440-2169 Jeff Hale, Contractor LICENSED BONDED INSURED CCB#179131 See the Impact of Your Generosity TODAY If you are 70½ years old or older, you can take advantage of a simple way to give to the OHSU Foundati on and receive tax benefi ts in return. You can give any amount up to $100,000 per year from your IRA directly to a qualifi ed nonprofi t such as the OHSU Foundati on without having to pay income taxes on the distributi on. If you have not taken your required minimum distributi on for the year, your gift through a qualifi ed charitable distributi on can sati sfy all or part of that requirement, and you pay no income taxes on the gift . 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The investigation noted an email from Port c oun- sel Eileen Eakins to Knight last year recommending the Port consider terminating Conner’s marketing con- tract. Conner “is not only being paid by the Port, but the work he is doing for the Port will have the direct effect of increasing tour sales for his company,” she wrote. Will Isom, the Port’s interim executive director , said he will meet with Eak- ins and Conner to discuss the relationship moving for- ward. C onfl icts of interest aren’t in themselves wrong- doing and could just require more disclosure, he said. “My goal is just to pro- tect the Port here,” Isom said. “At the same time, I don’t want to hang Bruce over this.” Contract: Repairs expected to last until October 2024 Continued from Page A1 The Army Corps has not asked a contractor to source so much rock since the last major rehabilitation of the South Jetty in the 1960s. The rock will come from quarries in Oregon and Washington state, includ- ing the Drake Pit in Clatsop County, Vandegrift said. McAmis has been awarded three of the last four major jetty contracts along the Columbia River and is fi nishing up the repair of the North Jetty. For the repair, McAmis has had rocks barged to Tansy Point in Warrenton and trucked over the Astoria Bridge and through Cape Disappointment State Park in Washington. The company plans to initially truck a lot of materials before construct- ing a barge facility in Fort Stevens State Park in the spring to accept rocks, Van- degrift said. Part of the project entails keeping pub- lic access open to all park- ing areas. The repairs are expected to last until October 2024. Storms generally limit stone placement to between May and October, with more constraints on the outer reaches of the jetty. “The construction dura- tion is fi ve years,” Vande- grift said. “We’re always shooting to get done early, but I’d say four to fi ve years.” facebook.com/Dailyastorian WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 CONCEALED CARRY PERMIT CLASS MULTI-STATE 6PM CL ASS ONLY! *The Multi-State Permit is TH valid in 35 States Best Western 555 Hamburg Ave including Astoria, OR WA Multi-State $80 Oregon Only $45 WEDNESDAY OCT 9 Oregon included no-fee Firearm Training NW 360-921-2071 or email: FirearmrainingNW@gmail.com | www.FirearmTrainingNW.com
