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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 22, 2020)
A2 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2020 IN BRIEF Fort Clatsop to host meeting on park accessibility plan Lewis and Clark National Historical Park will host a virtual public meeting at 2 p.m. Wednesday to collect comments on a plan to improve accessibility for visitors. The park’s draft Accessibility Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan examines key park experiences — such as sites that help visitors better understand the life the explorers of the Lewis and Clark Expedition led during their stay at Fort Clatsop — and evaluates each areas’ accessibility needs. The plan will guide changes to the way existing ser- vices, activities and programs are provided in multiple locations throughout the park. To register for the meeting, contact the park at Lewi_ socialmedia@nps.gov State seeks candidate for fi sh restoration board The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is seek- ing candidates to serve on a board that reviews grant pro- posals for fi sh restoration and enhancement projects. The Fish Restoration and Enhancement Program Board is overseen by a seven-member, volunteer board that includes representatives from sport fi shing, com- mercial troll and gillnet fi sheries and the seafood pro- cessing industry. The position open now is the single public-at-large representative. For more info, visit dfw.state.or.us/fi sh/RE/board.asp. County seeking applicants for tax board Clatsop County is seeking applicants for three posi- tions on the county Board of Property Tax Appeals for the 2020 to 2021 term. The board reviews petitions from taxpayers seeking to decrease their real market or assessed value of real and personal property. The board has up to fi ve meetings in February and March to hear petitions and adjourns by April 15. Train- ing is provided in January. Applicants must live in the county, but cannot be employees of the county or any taxing district. The county Board of Commissioners will make appointments to a pool and the county clerk will select three people. Applications are available on the county’s website and are due by 5 p.m. Sept. 18. Contact the Clatsop County Clerk’s offi ce at 503-325-8511 with questions. — The Astorian Hailey Hoff man/ The Astorian SUMMER SIGHTS CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Boys played pickup basketball at Fred Lindstrom Memorial Park in Astoria on Tuesday afternoon. Dancers appeared outside the Barbey Maritime Center on Thursday. Nathan Morris gleefully holds a large rock he and his friends pulled up from the bottom of the swimming hole at Youngs River Falls on Tuesday afternoon. DEATHS Aug. 17, 2020 In GILBERT, Brief Kendra June, 78, of Warrenton, died in Portland. Ocean Deaths View Funeral & Cre- mation Service of Asto- ria is in charge of the arrangements. PETERSON, Bradley, 71, of Edmonds, Wash- ington, died in Astoria. Hughes-Ransom Mor- tuary is in charge of the arrangements. POCHERT, Alan, 75, of Seaside, died in Sea- side. Hughes-Ransom Mortuary is in charge of the arrangements. Aug. 16, 2020 DAWSON, Darle Ger- trude “Trudy,” 91, of Glen Cove, New York, formerly of Astoria, died in Glen Cove. Whitting Funeral Home of Glen Head, New York, is in charge of the arrangements. Aug. 10, 2020 STEELE, Patrick, 70, of Seattle, Washington, died in Seaside. Hughes-Ran- som Mortuary is in charge of the arrangements. Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian Morgan Grindy/The Astorian Protections sought for freshwater mussel By MONICA SAMAYOA Oregon Public Broadcasting BIRTH Aug. 1, 2020 Birth SCHLOSSER, Serena and Aaron, of Chinook, Washington, a boy, Howard Martin Schlosser, born at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria. Grandparents are Ann and Tom Orwick, of Portland, and Constance and Martin Schlosser, of Kennewick, Washington. ON THE RECORD Assault was arrested Thursday at On the record • Margaret Kater- Walmart in Warrenton for ina Wilski, 21, of Gear- hart, was arrested Friday on Bristol Street and Flor- ence Avenue in Astoria for assault in the fourth degree. Theft • Tiffani Wetterauer, 45, of Raymond, Washington, theft in the second degree. DUII • Bryce Anthony Whit- man, 32, of Portland, was arrested Wednesday on Sunset Beach in Warren- ton for driving under the infl uence of intoxicants. PUBLIC MEETINGS MONDAY Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., 989 Broadway. TUESDAY Clatsop County Board of Commissioners, 1 p.m., work session, (electronic meeting). Warrenton City Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S. Main Ave., (electronic meeting). Astoria Planning Commission, 6:30 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St., (electronic meeting). PUBLIC MEETINGS Established July 1, 1873 (USPS 035-000) Published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday by EO Media Group, 949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Telephone 503-325-3211, 800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Astorian, PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103-0210 DailyAstorian.com A nonprofi t conservation group has fi led a petition for Endangered Species Act protections for a unique spe- cies of mussel that is vanish- ing from rivers and streams in the Pacifi c Northwest. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation’s petition is aimed at improv- ing the chances of survival for the western ridged mus- sel. It’s found in the Pacifi c Northwest, along with some areas in California and Nevada. The species can live for many decades in riv- ers and streams and provide many benefi ts, such as fi l- tering water where they are located. When they’re young these mussels hook onto sculpin and other native fi sh. By doing this, they can expand into other parts of the river, where they bury themselves in the sedi- ment and fi lter and clean the riverbed. The Xerces Society, along with other agencies and organizations like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Teal Waterstrat Empty western ridged mussel shells from a recent die-off found in the John Day River in Eastern Oregon in August. Reservation, have been working on several projects over the p ast two decades to learn more about this unique species. Some of those proj- ects include tracking and monitoring populations and investigating recent die-offs in different river basins. A 2017 analysis looked at historic versus recent dis- tributing areas of the spe- cies and found that the pop- ulations have declined by almost 50% of its historic range and has been acceler- ating in recent years. “We’ve been fi nding that Volunteer Circulation phone number: 503-325-3211 Periodicals postage paid at Astoria, OR ADVERTISING OWNERSHIP All advertising copy and illustrations prepared by The Astorian become the property of The Astorian and may not be reproduced for any use without explicit prior approval. Pick of the Week Mike COPYRIGHT © Entire contents © Copyright, 2020 by The Astorian. 4 year old Tabby Cat MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF CIRCULATIONS, INC. Limited vision does not curtail this sunny fellow’s sunny disposition - he’s just a lovely gentleman. Printed on recycled paper Subscription rates Eff ective May 1, 2019 MAIL (IN COUNTY) EZpay (per month) ...............................................................................................................$11.25 13 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$37.00 26 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$71.00 52 weeks in advance ........................................................................................................ $135.00 (Read about the pet of the week on Facebook ) Out of County Rates available at 800-781-3214 DIGITAL EZpay (per month) .................................................................................................................$8.00 C LATSOP C OUNTY A NIMAL S HELTER C LATSOP 1315 SE 19 Street, Warrenton • 861 - PETS Noon to 4pm, Tues-Sat A NIMAL A SSISTANCE www.dogsncats.org Sponsored By th populations of this species are being hit by some kind of unexplained die-off that’s causing many mussels to just die off over the course of a single event or some- times over the course of sev- eral years,” Emilie Blevins, a senior conservation biolo- gist for the Xerces Society, said. Blevins said the species can live for many decades and reach a mature age for reproduction in 15 years. She said the recent mas- sive die-offs are alarming and protections are needed in order to learn more about the species and its threats. Some of those threats include habitat destruction and degradation, impacts to water quality and quantity, pollution, warming rivers due to climate change, inad- equate protection from rec- reational harvest and inva- sive species. Mussels often look like rocks and can be hard to see. As such, they can be unin- tentionally destroyed by construction work — even when Pacifi c Northwest riv- ers are being restored to help salmon recovery. “These mussels are totally open to the river environment. They fi lter constantly. They spend their entire lives in the bottoms of rivers and so as a result any- thing that’s affecting a local river can be causing harm to these species,” Blevins said. “They can be very sensi- tive. They are able to really put up with a lot, but drying rivers, polluted rivers, warm rivers, all those can have a real impact on them.” Alexa Maine is the f resh w ater m ussel p roject b iol- ogist for the Confeder- ated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. She said the western ridged mussels are important in two ways; historically and culturally for the Umatilla t ribes and for the ecosystems they are found in. The tribes tra- ditionally boiled or dried the mussels in the fall and stored them over winter as a supplementary food supply. Their shells were also used for jewelry, beads, orna- ments and ceremonies. “The cultural aspect is highly important and in the tribal culture we don’t sepa- rate the cultural importance from the ecological impor- tance,” Maine said. “It has to do with this whole inter- connection between the spe- cies and the river system. It’s like the house of cards, you take one away and the structure might be still sta- ble but less stable.” Maine called these mus- sels “the liver of the river” because of the way they fi l- ter and clean the water at a rate much higher than their body mass would suggest. “If we can get more peo- ple on board and interested in mussels, I think we have a really good chance of help- ing these guys continue liv- ing and helping rivers,” Maine said. “They can only help, they can’t hurt. If we can help them, they can help us.”
