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THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020
A DARK DANCE
IN BRIEF
BLM proposes fuel breaks
to combat wildfi res
The federal Bureau of Land Management announced
a proposal Friday that would fund up to 11,000 miles of
strategic fuel breaks in Idaho, Oregon, Washington state,
California, Nevada and Utah in an effort to better con-
trol wildfi res.
According to the BLM, the concept behind fuel
breaks, or fi rebreaks, is to create gaps in vegetation in key
locations to slow the process of a wildfi re. When a wild-
fi re burns into a fuel break, the fl ame length decreases
and its progress slows, making it safer and easier for fi re-
fi ghters to control. The proposed plan would help con-
trol wildfi res within a 223 million-acre area in the Great
Basin states.
“Fuel breaks are one of the most important tools we
have to give wildland fi refi ghters a chance to safely and
effectively contain rapidly moving wildfi res and poten-
tially reduce wildfi re size,” William Perry Pendley,
BLM’s deputy director for policy and programs, said in
a statement.
All of the proposed fuel breaks would be imple-
mented along existing roads or rights of way on BLM
lands in order to minimize the disturbance and habitat
fragmentation for wildlife.
The agency said it wasn’t immediately sure how fuel
breaks would affect fi refi ghting resources on Indian
reservations.
Under the proposal, fuel breaks would only be imple-
mented in adjacent areas of reservations that are man-
aged by the BLM.
Oregon fi nds toxic air pollutants
at above-average levels
New data from the Oregon Department of Environ-
mental Quality found six toxic air pollutants were above
average in urban and rural areas throughout the state.
The agency monitored 109 pollutants at six locations,
including spots in The Dalles, La Grande and four sites
in the Portland metro area. Of those tested, none were
found to pose an immediate health risk to the public.
But six air toxic pollutants — including arsenic and ben-
zene — were found at above what researchers call their
“ambient benchmark concentration average” at all mon-
itoring locations.
According to the report, average levels of arsenic
were higher in the Portland area sites compared to The
Dalles and La Grande. Arsenic can come from vehicle
emissions or certain kinds of industry.
“The ambient benchmark concentrations are goals that
we set that we hope we can achieve, but they are goals
that are fairly conservative standards that are defi nitely
protective of people, even sensitive populations,” Tom
Roick, of the Department of Environmental Quality, said.
The report shows concentration levels of pollutants in
ambient air, meaning they can come from a variety of
sources in the community and are not necessarily specifi c
to any facility or source. Researchers will use the infor-
mation and data collected to track and implement new
strategies for reducing pollutants throughout the state.
— Oregon Public Broadcasting
DEATHS
Feb. 14, 2020
In C V Brief
I TA N O V I C H ,
Mary, 71, of Astoria, died
in Astoria. Hughes-Ran-
Death
som Mortuary is in charge
of the arrangements.
Dec. 10, 2019
SWANSON, David
A., 71, of Forest Grove,
formerly of Astoria, died
at home. There will be
no service. To sign the
online guest book, or to
send a condolence to the
family, go to tualatinval-
leyfa.com
MEMORIALS
Saturday, Feb. 22
Memorial
KUBIK, George Alan — Celebration of life from 1
to 4 p.m., Long Beach Elks Lodge, 110 Pacifi c Ave.,
Long Beach, Washington, followed by a potluck.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Union Health District of Clatsop County, 8 a.m., Provi-
dence Seaside Hospital Education Center, Room B.
Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District, 5:15 p.m.,
Bob Chisholm Community Center, 1225 Avenue A, Seaside.
Astoria City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St.
Shoreline Sanitary District Board, 7 p.m., Gearhart Her-
tig Station, 33496 West Lake Lane, Warrenton.
Seaside School District Board of Directors, 7 p.m., 1801
S. Franklin.
Seaside Planning Commission, 7 p.m., work session, City
Hall, 989 Broadway.
WEDNESDAY
Seaside Tourism Advisory Committee, 6 p.m., City Hall,
989 Broadway.
Clatsop Community College Board, 6:30 p.m., Room 219,
Columbia Hall, 1651 Lexington Ave., Astoria.
THURSDAY
Astoria City Council, 1 p.m., work session, City Hall, 1095
Duane St.
Seaside Transportation Advisory Commission, 6 p.m.,
City Hall, 989 Broadway.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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Shireen Press, of Flamebuoyant Productions, dances with fl aming hula hoops at the Festival of Dark Arts at Fort George Brewery
on Saturday night. Festivalgoers watched performances throughout the day while trying new stouts.
Deal could heal old wounds in timber wars
Hinges partly
on spraying bill
By SAM STITES
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — The deal
announced last week was
intended to end the war in the
woods that has beset Oregon
forestry for decades.
But not everyone is cheer-
ing what Gov. Kate Brown
described as a historic agree-
ment between timber fi rms
and environmentalists. The
critics suspect something
more is at play than the pur-
suit of peace.
Some characterize the
agreement as the fi rst step in
healing, but it also has bear-
ing on much broader discus-
sions in the Capitol, particu-
larly over climate change.
“There are people who
had the rug pulled out from
under them 30 years ago, and
they never really recovered,”
said state Sen. Jeff Golden,
D-Ashland. “That makes
what we’re trying to do with
the climate bill hard for them
to accept. It’s interesting that
all this is coming together at
the same time, the question
for those of us with a gavel is
how to make the most of it.”
The opening came after
representatives of the tim-
ber industry reached out to
Brown and sat down for a
meeting with her staff on Jan.
9. They requested that the
governor moderate a discus-
sion between industry lead-
ers and the environmental
community on moving for-
ward as partners rather than
adversaries.
The governor agreed,
mediating four meetings
from Jan. 27 to Feb. 5 in Port-
land and Salem. Represen-
tatives from both sides aired
long-standing
grievances,
explained their views and
then considered how they
might proceed together.
What emerged was a
memorandum of agreement
signed by 13 of the most rep-
utable Oregon companies and
organizations on either side of
the debate. It also means both
sides will drop dueling sets
of proposed ballot initiatives
which seemed destined for an
expensive clash in November .
The agreement — some-
where between a handshake
deal and legally-binding doc-
ument — incorporates three
key pieces.
The fi rst outlines that the
two sides will come together
to create a habitat conser-
vation plan that rules over
30 million acres of pub-
lic and private timberlands
throughout the state, protect-
ing endangered species and
updating timber practices.
The second calls for all
parties to support legislation
to protect forest watersheds
Sam Stites/Oregon Capital Bureau
Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, left, and Sen. Herman Baertschiger Jr., R-Grants Pass, have
diff erent takes on what the agreement between timber interests and environmental groups
means for Oregon.
by restricting aerial spraying
of pesticides and herbicides.
The bill also outlines imple-
mentation of a state-of-the-art
system to notify neighbors of
aerial spraying.
Lastly, it widens buffer
zones for streams within the
Rogue-Siskiyou region of
southern Oregon. New leg-
islation also would expand
stream buffers along salmon,
steelhead and bull trout
streams to bring forest prac-
tices into line with the rest
of western Oregon. The deal
is predicated on the idea that
both sides agree on what is
the best science to use for
decisions.
Agreeing to the deal
were Hampton Lumber,
Weyerhaueser,
Roseburg
Forest Products, Seneca
Sawmill Co. , Hancock Nat-
ural Resource Group, Stim-
son Lumber, Greenwood
Resources, Campbell Global,
Pope Resources, Port Blakely
and the Oregon Small Wood-
lands Association.
In the environmental
camp, Oregon Wild, Wild
Salmon Center, Oregon
Stream Protection Coalition,
Beyond Toxics, Audubon
Society of Portland, Casca-
dia Wildlands, Klamath Siski-
you Wildlands Center, Pacifi c
Coast Federation of Fisher-
men’s Associations, Trout
Unlimited, Northwest Guides
and Anglers Association and
the Oregon League of Con-
servation voters all signed.
Shared vision
According to Casey Ros-
coe, vice president for public
affairs for Seneca, the agree-
ment is a step to see if there’s
a shared vision between the
two sides for the future of for-
est practices which accounts
for sustainability and Ore-
gon’s ecosystem. She’s cau-
tiously optimistic that the deal
represents a fresh start for
both sides.
“That vision is of healthy
trees. It’s of thriving wildlife.
It’s of cool, clean water and
world-class recreation. It’s
of renewable building mate-
rials and other wood prod-
ucts,” Roscoe said. “That is
our vision. What we’re hop-
ing is perhaps that can be
their vision too, and if that’s
true, if we do have, in fact,
shared vision, then maybe
we can come to the table and
talk about how to make that
happen and work toward it,
because we’re all on the same
planet.”
Bob Rees, executive direc-
tor of the Northwest Guides
and Anglers Association, said
the deal shows good faith by
the timber industry to hear out
conservationists.
“The pesticide application
on these lands and waterways
is of course of great concern
to us, the real punch in the
MOU is if the timber interests
agreed to formulate this hab-
itat conservation plan that’s
on the table,” Rees said. “It’s
a good thing, and the science
is already developed, but we
haven’t implemented these
practices on state or private
lands.”
Rees recalled when he
started as a professional fi sh-
ing guide in 1996 and fi sher-
men were allowed to catch
fi ve of the six species of sal-
monids in the rivers of Ore-
gon’s N orth C oast. Over time,
with warming temperatures
and rising levels of dissolved
oxygen, the list of endangered
species slowly grew and
depleted runs of every type of
salmon, crippling the state’s
fi shing industry.
“If the negotiations are
successful, it really shows an
effort by private landowners
to recognize the value of other
natural resources other than
timber that their lands har-
bor,” Rees said.
Jim James, executive
director of the Oregon Small
Woodlands Association, is
one of the sponsors of the
three ballot initiatives from
the timber industry that will
be set aside now.
“The real benefi t is that
we’re getting the opportunity
to sit down and talk with each
other to fi nd a compromise,”
James said.
But not everyone is feeling
as hopeful as those directly
involved in the deal.
Harder to fi ght
Republicans in the state
Legislature criticize the deal
for putting them in a less sta-
ble position around the dis-
cussion of Oregon’s proposed
greenhouse gas reduction bill,
Senate Bill 1530.
On Thursday, Senate
Republican Leader Herman
Baertschiger Jr., R-Grants
Pass, went on the “Lars Lar-
son Show” to denounce the
deal, saying it made his life
more complicated.
“What they basically said
is, ‘I f you want your tim-
ber industry’s pesticide bill
to pass, you’re going to have
to stick around for cap and
trade,’ and we simply can’t
do that,” Baertschiger told
Larson. “The timber industry
didn’t do us any favor. I don’t
know who is advising them
politically, but I’d give them
their walking papers.”
That would be Greg Miller,
formerly of the Oregon For-
est & Industries Council, who
said the deal is a shared rec-
ognition between the tim-
ber industry and conservation
groups of the diverse benefi ts
forests provide and the need
for more meaningful efforts
on forest issues.
Baertschiger has charac-
terized the deal as big corpo-
rate timber selling out to the
Democratic
supermajority
and hurting the state’s smaller
timber interests.
James, representing wood-
land owners, feels otherwise.
“My perception is that if
we can get to the compromise
and stop the wars, it would
be benefi cial to every for-
est landowner in Oregon,” he
said. “Oftentimes folks try to
separate the family landowner
from the forest products
industry, but there’s a reality
that family woodland owners
need a strong forest products
industry so when they har-
vest, they have value.”
The next step in moving
toward fi nal solidifi cation of
the deal is passing new laws
on aerial spraying of pesti-
cides. According to Miller,
that bill is in the drafting stage.
The Oregon Capital
Bureau is a collaboration
between EO Media Group,
Pamplin Media Group and
Salem Reporter.