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THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019
Battling the spruce aphid on the North Coast
IN BRIEF
Pest attacks
Sitka spruce
Airport receives FAA grant
The Astoria Regional Airport received $900,000 from
the Federal Aviation Administration’s airport improve-
ment program for apron reconstruction.
The Port of Astoria’s airport, largely because of its
military traffi c through the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S.
Army, regularly receives grants from the program to
keep up runways, taxiways and the surrounding apron. It
most recently received nearly $3.2 million in August to
extend a taxiway and add lighting.
“This grant funds the fi rst phase of much-needed
rehabilitation of the airport apron,” Gary Kobes, The
Port’s airport manager, said in a news release about the
$900,000 grant. “The original was constructed in the
early 1940s and has served well but is approaching the
end of its useful life. The Port of Astoria and the aviation
community are grateful for the federal support in sus-
taining this regionally important infrastructure.”
A rendering of The Lodge in Seaside.
Groundbreaking for new Seaside hotel
SEASIDE — Construction has started on The Lodge
at Seaside, a 65-room luxury hotel.
For hospitality workers, construction workers, city
and county offi cials, putting shovels to the ground was
a way of marking the launch of the $11 million project.
Seaside Lodging co-owner and managing director
Masudur Khan called it a “dream come true,” 10 years
in the making.
“We are shooting for an upscale hotel,” Khan said.
“It’s a new market in Seaside. We think everyone who
comes to the hotel — young, middle-aged or older,
regardless of their age — will have a good time.”
Guests at the four-story property will have a swim-
ming pool, game room, meeting room, ocean views and
high-end amenities.
— The Astorian
DEATH
Sept. 30, 2019
ABRAHAMS, Donald D., 90, of Astoria, died in
Astoria. Ocean View Funeral & Cremation Service of
Astoria is in charge of the arrangements.
U.S. Forest Service
The spruce aphid is a
source of concern for
trees on the North Coast.
By KATHERINE
LACAZE
For The Astorian
SEASIDE — In light of
the spruce aphid outbreak
this year, local landowners
and community stakehold-
ers came together to gather
insight on the pesky insect
and how to defend against
the damage it is causing.
“This is something that’s
happening in our own back-
yards, in our own neighbor-
hoods,” said Oregon State
University Extension For-
ester Dan Stark, who orga-
nized an informational
meeting held at the Bob
Chisholm Community Cen-
ter in September .
Christine Buhl, a forest
entomologist for the Ore-
gon Department of Forestry,
gave a presentation at the
meeting, which drew about
35 property owners, for-
esters, m aster gGardeners
and other individuals from
across the North Coast .
Buhl’s purpose was to
both clear up misconcep-
tions about the methods
for dealing with the insect ,
which is most commonly
hosted by Sitka spruce on
the coast, and put the epi-
demic into perspective.
According to Buhl, the
department started receiv-
ing calls early in the sea-
son from concerned citizens,
park rangers and others who
reported that a signifi cant
number of spruce trees along
the coast seemed to be in
poor condition. Upon further
investigation, she identifi ed
the culprit of the noticeable
defoliation to be the spruce
aphid.
While the insect has a
continual presence along the
W est C oast, from Canada to
California, large-scale infes-
tations — or outbreaks —
only occur periodically, Buhl
der their ability to rebound
after an aphid attack.
In addition to sharing
ways to identify the signs
and symptoms of a spruce
aphid infestation, Buhl also
discussed a few methods for
controlling the pest insect.
Natural controls
‘WE DO NEED TO KNOW
HOW EXTENSIVE OF DAMAGE
WE ACTUALLY CAN EXPECT
TREES TO BOUNCE BACK FROM.’
Christine Buhl | forest entomologist for
the Oregon Department of Forestry
said. The most recent spruce
aphid outbreaks occurred in
Alaska from 2015 to 2016
and in Oregon in 1998 and
2005.
The good news is they
typically run their course
in two to three years. Other
extensive epidemics have
not wiped out all spruce
trees, which Buhl said gives
her “hope we will make it
through this one.”
Damage lingers
A single event of the inten-
sity experienced this season,
however, can create dam-
age that lingers for several
years. According to informa-
tion from the Department of
Forestry, aphids feed on the
sap in needles, causing them
to turn yellow, then brown,
and fi nally fall from the tree
prematurely.
In many ways, spruce
trees are resilient. As a type
of conifer, they possess sev-
eral years’ worth of nee-
dles at a given time. Spruce
aphids only feed on the foli-
age produced in past years,
not the current year foliage,
because concentration of
terpenes is too high in new
growth.
They tend to feed near the
start of the growth season
— or late winter and early
spring — before the nitro-
gen from older needles has
been allocated to cultivate
other growth.
An outbreak that lasts for
a single season is unlikely
to lead to high tree mortal-
ity rates, even if devastating
defoliation occurs, because
buds are unaffected by aphid
infestations and new growth
fl ushes normally. A couple of
consecutive years of high-in-
tensity infestation, however,
exponentially increases the
probability of issues such as
reduced shoot growth, radial
and height growth and root
mass, as well as, potentially,
tree mortality.
The situation on the coast
is further complicated, Buhl
said, because of the state-
wide drought that has per-
sisted since 2012. While
drought stress does not make
spruce trees more desirable
for consumption, it does hin-
The best controls are nat-
ural ones, including pred-
ators such as ladybugs and
patristic wasps. Addition-
ally, a frost that drops tem-
peratures to 14 degrees Fahr-
enheit or below can wipe out
a large portion of the aphid
population. Property owners
can also boost a tree’s natu-
ral line of defense through
irrigation, but it is a mea-
sure that, once taken, must
be sustained long term, Buhl
said.
Insecticides and other
chemical controls are expen-
sive alternatives that must
be used in a certain way to
be effective. Common con-
trols for large spruce trees,
such as a soil drench or stem
injection, must be applied
in the early spring. Accord-
ing to Buhl, sprays are often
ineffective as they easily
drift and hit other insects and
natural predators.
She encouraged property
owners with heritage trees
or other spruce trees they are
concerned about to speak
with someone from Depart-
ment of Forestry’s f orest
h ealth program or a certifi ed
arborist. She also invited
attendees at the meeting to
become citizen scientists
and help collect data that the
state can use to monitor the
aphid outbreak and the dam-
age to trees.
“We do need to know
how extensive of damage
we actually can expect trees
to bounce back from,” Buhl
said. “If it’s a little bit lower
than we thought, we need to
take some added steps for
preventative management,
which is going to be really
costly.”
MEMORIAL
Sunday, Oct. 6
PURTLE, Jacquetta Jean — Memorial at 1 p.m.,
Peace Lutheran Church, 565 12th St.; reception fol-
lows at the church. Purtle, 84, of Warrenton, died Sat-
urday, Sept. 28, 2019, in Portland. Springer and Son,
of Aloha, is in charge of the arrangements.
ON THE RECORD
DUII
• Douglas Alan Portin,
65, was arrested Sunday
on U.S. Highway 26 for
driving under the infl u-
ence of intoxicants. His
blood alcohol content
was 0.09%
• Steavan Wade, 58,
of Washington state, was
arrested Saturday on the
500 block of Avenue A in
Seaside for DUII.
• Thomas Shaffer, 39,
of Cannon Beach, was
arrested Saturday on S.
Roosevelt Drive in Sea-
side for DUII.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Seaside Community Center
Commission, 10:30 a.m.,
Bob Chisholm Center, 1225
Avenue A.
Port of Astoria Commis-
sion, 4 p.m., Port offi ces, 10
Pier 1 Suite 209.
Seaside Library Board,
4:30 p.m., Seaside Library,
1131 Broadway.
Clatsop Care Health District
Board, 5 p.m., Clatsop Care
Memory Community, 2219
Dolphin Ave., Warrenton.
Sunset Empire Park
and Recreation District,
5:15 p.m., workshop, Bob
Chisholm Community Cen-
ter, 1225 Avenue A, Seaside.
Astoria Library Board,
5:30 p.m., Astoria Library Flag
Room, 450 10th St.
Miles Crossing Sanitary
Sewer District Board, 6 p.m.,
34583 U.S. Highway 101
Business.
Seaside Planning Commis-
sion, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989
Broadway.
WEDNESDAY
Seaside Improvement
Commission, 6 p.m., City
Hall, 989 Broadway.
Gearhart City Council,
7 p.m., City Hall, 698 Pacifi c
Way.
THURSDAY
Astoria Design Review
Commission, 5:30 p.m., City
Hall, 1095 Duane St.
Seaside Parks Advisory
Committee, 7 p.m., City Hall,
989 Broadway.
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Judge overturns aerial spray ban
Reversal for
Lincoln County
By MATEUSZ
PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
A judge has invalidated
Lincoln County’s prohibi-
tion against aerial pesticide
spraying because the ordi-
nance is pre empted by state
law.
Voters narrowly approved
the aerial spray ban in 2017,
but two landowners fi led a
lawsuit challenging the ordi-
nance for overstepping the
county’s authority.
Lincoln County Circuit
Court Judge Sheryl Bachart
has now ruled that Oregon’s
Pesticide Control Act disal-
lows local government reg-
ulation of pesticides, includ-
ing aerial spraying.
“Since the ordinance
seeks by its very terms to
regulate pesticide use, the
county is completely pre-
empted under state law from
adopting any ordinance
regarding pesticide use,” the
judge said.
The judge rejected argu-
ments by supporters of the
ban who argued the ordi-
nance’s legality was sup-
Associated Press
A helicopter prepares to apply pesticides. A judge has invalidated
an ordinance banning aerial spraying in Lincoln County.
ported by the Declaration of
Independence, U.S. Consti-
tution and Oregon Consti-
tution, calling these claims
“misplaced and without
legal precedent.”
“There is simply no
authority for the proposi-
tion that the people of Lin-
coln County are granted an
inalienable right of local
self-government which pre-
empts any authority of the
state,” Bachart said.
The plaintiffs in the
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WEDNESDAY
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case, Rex Capri and Wake-
fi eld Farms, rely on aerially
applied herbicides to con-
trol weeds on their land and
asked that the prohibition be
declared void.
The ordinance amounts
to an “attack on the rule of
law” because it claims the
“right of local community
self-government” overrides
Oregon’s overall system of
government, according to
the plaintiffs.
It’s beyond the coun-
ty’s power to adopt an ordi-
nance that supersedes state
and federal laws, and local
restrictions on spraying are
pre empted by the state’s
Pesticide Control Act, For-
est Practices Act and “right
to farm and forest” law, the
plaintiffs said.
Supporters of the ordi-
nance argued that all power
is inherent in the people
under the Oregon Consti-
tution, which trumps the
state’s pre emption of local
regulations.
Setting a “ceiling” on
the protections from toxic
chemicals violates the Ore-
gon Constitution’s “fun-
damental right” to local
community
self-govern-
ment, according to Lincoln
County Community Rights,
a group of supporters who
intervened in the case.
The authority for the local
ordinance is derived from
the Oregon Constitution,
rather than state statutes,
and thus can’t be voided
by the pre emption laws, the
intervenors claimed.
Lincoln County’s ordi-
nance is immune from state
pre emption laws, which
were enacted at the behest
of “corporate interests”
to overrule the will of the
people, according to the
intervenors.
Lincoln County Com-
munity Rights has vowed
to appeal the ruling and said
the judge “did not substan-
tively consider” its argu-
ment that local self-govern-
ment “must prevail against
state pre emption when
exercised to protect health,
safety and welfare.”
WKH
&ROXPELD
Sunday, October 13, 2019
10K Run/Walk across the Astoria-Megler Bridge
GreatColumbiaCrossing.com
g
PRESENTING SPONSOR
Registration: $40 per person.
T-shirt: $15-$17 each.
Chip-timing for all participants.
Oregon included no-fee
Firearm Training NW 360-921-2071
or email: FirearmrainingNW@gmail.com | www.FirearmTrainingNW.com
Bridge will be closed to
vehicles from 8:30 to 11 a.m.
EVENT HOST