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A3 THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2019 Forum: ‘Greatest stories reveal something’ Christmas tree farmers are facing tough times Continued from Page A1 was where the “alcohol- ics and screw ups” went. “I loved it because it gave me a thick skin and it taught me how to be a reporter, ” he said. By 1993, Hallman had won a national award. “I say what I bring through story is not intel- lect. What I bring is heart,” he said. By KALE WILLIAMS The Oregonian A seedling shortage a decade ago has left some Oregon Christmas tree farm- ers with no trees to sell this year, and back-to-back hot summers in recent years have left others looking for ways to adapt to a changing climate. Cher Tollefson, co-owner of Historic Kirchem Tree Farm outside of Oregon City, said her fi elds will be closed this season for the fi rst time in 27 years. “We just don’t have the trees,” she said. “We have 2,000 that will be ready next year, but they are not up to size. They are not up to our standards.” Christmas trees take between seven and 11 years to mature and, just about a decade ago, seedling suppli- ers grew too few small trees to go around, according to Chal Landgren, a Christ- mas tree specialist at Oregon State University. “It became harder to get them,” he said. “Nurser- ies didn’t want to grow on speculation.” Now, 10 years later, that short supply of seedlings has left fi elds full of trees that are too short to sell, according to Tollefson. Then in 2017 and 2018, the Pacifi c Northwest sweated through two hot and dry summers in a row. Those conditions can be particularly hard on young trees, Landgren said. Christ- mas trees aren’t irrigated, they are “watered by God,” as Tollefson said, and young Practicing his craft Christmas tree farmers in Oregon are facing a tough season in 2019 after a seedling shortage a decade ago left some farms with no trees to sell. trees are especially suscepti- ble to heat stress. She said the 110-acre farm lost a “high percentage” of its seedlings. Once trees are established, they stand a better chance of withstand- ing high temperatures. The hot summers of late had no effect on this year’s crop, but they have left Christmas tree farm- ers looking for ways to cope with longer and warmer dry seasons. With climate change expected to increase the fre- quency of hot and dry sum- mers, some farmers have begun looking for ways to adapt. Growers are looking at new mulching strategies that retain more moisture, erecting shade structures and planting different species of trees that are more heat tolerant. Others are diversify- ing their crops, opting to grow products with shorter rotations, like grass seed or hazelnuts. Tollefson set aside a few acres this year and hosted a pumpkin patch around Halloween, complete with games for kids, food carts and beer for adults. That supplemental business won’t come close to making up for the lost tree business, however. “It’s not a fun time to be in the business,” she said. “In an average year we’ll take in $30,000 to $50,000. This year is a big zero.” Landgren said that, despite some farms facing trouble this year, others were forced to close for last sea- son for similar reasons and should have a decent crop. He said Oregon typically produces about 4.2 million Christmas trees annually and looks to be on track to get close to that number this year. With some growers side- lined, Landgren cautioned that others could be tempted to raise prices. “In general prices may go up,” he said. “But if you talk to growers, we’re about right in terms of supply.” Timber: Lawsuit focused on three words — ‘greatest permanent value’ Continued from Page A1 In a statement, the Ore- gon Department of Forestry said it “believes that balanced and science-based public for- est management produces the best long-term outcomes for all Oregonians, including the counties and taxing districts that receive revenue from state forests. “We are disappointed that the jury did not agree ... We will be reviewing options and next steps with attorneys from the Oregon Department of Justice.” During the four-week trial, attorneys for the state had argued that the counties wanted to allow clearcutting of forests and did not care about endangered species. The lawsuit was focused on three words — “great- est permanent value” — and what that meant when the phrase was written into law 80 years ago. Lawyers for the counties say it meant maximizing rev- enue from logging. Attor- neys for the state argue that it includes other factors such as recreation and habitat. The law stemmed from a time decades ago when private lumber companies descended on Oregon and clearcut forests. Instead of paying taxes, the companies left counties to deal with the land in a practice known as cut and run. The counties didn’t have the resources to restore the land. So, during his 1939 inaugural address, Gov. Charles Sprague urged the Legislature to pass a bill allowing the state to desig- nate the land as state forests, grow back the trees and man- age the land “to secure the greatest permanent value” and share revenue with the counties. The law enabled the state to adopt about 1,000 square miles — roughly the size of Rhode Island — from 15 counties that receive 64% of the logging revenues. Clat- sop County was the only county that declined to join the lawsuit. The counties claim the state breached the contact in 1998 when it adopted a rule defi ning greatest permanent value to mean healthy, pro- In observance of Thanksgiving will be closed Thanksgiving Day November 28 th The Thanksgiving edition will be delivered Wednesday, November 27 th ductive and sustainable for- est ecosystems that provide a social, economic and envi- ronmental benefi ts to the peo- ple of Oregon. Attorneys for the counties made it clear they want the trees treated as a commodity to be exploited. “Timber is like a crop of wheat, except for a longer growing season, isn’t that right?” John DiLorenzo, a Portland attorney hired by the plaintiffs, asked one witness at the trial. He also noted that smaller timber harvests mean fewer jobs in logging, milling, transportation and other services. Scott Kaplan, an attorney for the state, declared that the counties’ vision of greatest permanent value is “turning Oregon into a tree farm from the Cascades to the Pacifi c.” Nicole Bales of The Asto- rian and The Oregonian contributed to this report. Hallman doesn’t like writing. “Writing is awful,” he said, but he enjoys interviewing people. “The greatest stories reveal something” Hall- man said. “I learn about somebody’s life and I learn more about them than their spouse might, (more) than even their therapist might.” Hallman is a listener and strives to write with voice, feeling and heart. He tries to get out of the way in his stories and let dialogue from his reporting do the work. Hallman gave an exam- ple of a story about the San- ford & Sun Triathlon that started out with a standard newspaper lead. It could have shined, however, if the writer used a detail included at the end of the story about a father who pulls his 13-year-old daughter who has cerebral palsy with him in his races, he said. When he wrote the story about prom dresses, he real- ized it would be a challenge since there were over 3,000 girls there. So, he chose to focus on the universal human emo- tions a prom dress brings. “It’s just a dress. Only a few yards of fabric on a hanger. Take the fi nest, most expensive silk ever spun and there’s still no life and certainly no magic. What a dress always needs is a girl. A girl and a dress take a father’s breath away. … A girl and her dress stand before her mother and you realize despite all the argu- ments over messy rooms and dirty dishes, they share a bond that doesn’t need to be expressed with words … A girl and a dress stands before a mirror and sees her past and her future.” “My stories are simple in the words, complex in the thought and complex in the structure,” Hallman said. Because he gains the trust of his subjects, he lets them look over stories that aren’t news before they run. “When you write a book you are asking someone to give you their heart that you can sell,” he said. He recognizes the com- mercial nature of report- ing on people’s lives. He spoke about a time when he observed a family who let a baby die that had a birth defect. The mother told Hall- man, “I n my child’s 27-day life, he will live on forever because of the story you wrote.” U.S. Highway 101 could be reconfi gured in Gearhart. Highway: ‘We’re still really in the beginning’ Continued from Page A1 Seventy-fi ve poten- tial projects are listed in the plan, which out- lines policies and proj- ects considered important to protecting and enhanc- ing the quality of life in Gearhart. For Highway 101, the plan presents an option for the new confi guration through most of Gearhart, with additional lanes at intersections as needed. Traffi c safety and emergency evacuation is a key concern to city lead- ers, given their role in mov- ing people during emergen- cies , such as a tsunami . “We’re still having inter- nal conversations on whether this could be done with strip- ing, if it needs to be a part of a paving project, or if it needs to be part of another project,” Shonkwiler said. “We’re still really in the beginning of this. We know the direction right now. We’re just trying to fi nd out the details.” Consult a PROFESSIONAL your computer Q: If seems “stuck” try Clatsop Post 12 BAKED HAM & this. 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