A2
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2021
Black sands beckon gold prospectors
IN BRIEF
Seaside man arrested for
manslaughter after fatal crash
A Seaside man was arrested Monday for man-
slaughter following a crash that left a baby dead.
Emergency crews responded to a single-vehicle
crash at about 6 p.m. on Ecola State Park Road.
Police say a Mazda driven by Rony Tomas-Gar-
cia, 23, of Seaside, was heading southbound when it
veered off the road, struck a tree and came to rest on
its top.
A 3 1/2-month-old baby girl died in the crash. A
passenger, Esperanza Martin-Ramirez, 20, of Rose-
burg, was taken to Columbia Memorial Hospital in
Astoria before being transferred to Oregon Health &
Science University Hospital in Portland.
Tomas-Garcia was taken to Columbia Memorial
for medical treatment and was released.
He was arrested for manslaughter, assault, reckless
driving and driving under the infl uence of intoxicants.
Astoria approves forest thinning
The Astoria City Council on Tuesday approved
thinning two overly dense swaths of the Bear Creek
watershed.
The 3,700-acre watershed provides the city’s drink-
ing water. In 2015, the city agreed to limit logging
in exchange for banking carbon sequestration credits
sold to industrial polluters to offset their environmen-
tal impact.
The City Council approved taking bids on a 43-acre
thinning in the northwest corner of the watershed this
summer that would mimic historic forests and could
earn the city $250,000.
Known as a variable retention harvest, the thin-
ning would leave 30% to 50% of existing trees, mim-
icking the spacing of old growth forests. Benjamin
Hayes, the city forester, said the project would also
increase the species diversity of a stand dominated by
hemlocks.
“When we replant, for instance, we’re putting in
cedar, but we’re also retaining all of the spruce and
cedar — some alder – and increasing the species
diversity across the whole northwest portion of the
watershed,” Hayes said.
The city did not have a harvest in 2020, when it
sold $837,500 worth of carbon sequestration credits.
With the city unable to make profi table timber sales
some years, city staff are looking at how to supple-
ment capital improvement funds with carbon seques-
tration credits.
The City Council also approved taking bids on a
70-acre thinning of new forest just west of the main
Bear Creek Reservoir planted after a windstorm in
2007. The 14-year-old forest has grown to around
1,000 trees per acre, too dense for healthy growth and
too small to have any commercial value. The thin-
ning project would reduce the density to around 300
trees per acre and cost the city between $20,000 and
$30,000.
Hayes has pointed to such thinning projects as
a primary method of forest stewardship in the Bear
Creek watershed, along with road maintenance to
improve water quality.
— The Astorian
DEATHS
Feb. 15, 2021
In FLOYD,
Brief
David Merle,
73, of Astoria, died in
Astoria.
Caldwell’s
Deaths
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
Feb. 14, 2021
ARTHUR,
Carol
Diane, 77, of Warrenton,
died in Warrenton. Cald-
well’s Luce-Layton Mor-
tuary of Astoria is in charge
of the arrangements.
Feb. 11, 2021
HASKELL, Richard,
92, of Astoria, died in
Nehalem. Hughes-Ran-
som Mortuary is in charge
of the arrangements.
THURBER, Mary, 88,
of Nehalem, died in Port-
land.
Hughes-Ransom
Mortuary is in charge of
the arrangements.
Feb. 8, 2021
PINON,
Ignacio
Talancon, 49, of Ham-
mond, died in Portland.
Hughes-Ransom
Mor-
tuary is in charge of the
arrangements.
Feb. 6, 2021
BLAKE, Marion, 102,
of Seaside, died in Sea-
side.
Hughes-Ransom
Mortuary is in charge of
the arrangements.
print_headline
Incorrect reference — The federal Passenger Ves-
Correction:
Feb.
18, ships
sel Services Act requires foreign-fl
agged cruise
visiting multiple domestic ports to stop in another
country during each cruise. An A1 story on Tuesday
2021
incorrectly referred to the federal Jones Act, which
makes a similar requirement for cargo ships.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
THURSDAY
Astoria City Council and Astoria Planning Commission,
5:30 p.m., joint work session, City Hall, 1095 Duane St.
Seaside Transportation Advisory Committee, 6 p.m.,
(electronic meeting).
Cannon Beach Design Review Board, 6 p.m., (electronic
meeting).
PUBLIC MEETINGS
(USPS 035-000)
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DailyAstorian.com
By LUKE WHITTAKER
Chinook Observer
ILWACO, Wash. — They
stalk the beach in search of
black sand after the storms
hit.
The winter is some-
times best, when strong
winds and powerful tides
strip deep swaths from Ben-
son Beach, easing access to
the dark, gold-laden sands
underneath.
The payoff often isn’t a
lot. A successful day might
yield up to a couple of grams
of gold — about $60 at cur-
rent prices. But for the ama-
teur gold prospectors, the
experience is what’s truly
treasured.
On a brisk, overcast Feb-
ruary morning, Portland
resident Matt Tomlinson
methodically ladled scoop
after scoop of black sand
from a 5 -gallon bucket over
the top of his portable pros-
pecting equipment perched
on Benson Beach in the
southwest corner of Cape
Disappointment State Park.
Within minutes, glisten-
ing gold specks began to
gather in the riffl es of his
small sluice, a device that
traps heavy gold specks
while water washes away
lighter material.
“You could say I have a
fascination with it,” Tom-
linson said. “Humans have
always had a fascination
with gold.”
The gold on Ben-
son Beach isn’t big nug-
gets like those famously
recovered from rivers and
streams in California in
the 1800s during the g old
r ush. Instead, it’s very fi ne
— often smaller than 75
microns, about 0.075 milli-
meters — roughly the size of
a typical tiny grain of local
sand.
“It’s very small pieces
of gold,” Tomlinson said.
“It looks like powder, like
fl our.”
Tomlinson fi rst became
interested in prospecting
after observing others min-
ing on Benson Beach. He
purchased his own pros-
pecting equipment about six
months ago and has since
returned to the area a couple
of times .
“I’ve been waiting for
a break in the weather. My
vacation time was building
up, so I thought why not take
a day off and go fi nd some
gold,” he said.
New outlet
Gold prospecting doesn’t
require a huge investment
Luke Whittaker/Chinook Observer
Matt Tomlinson prospects for gold on Benson Beach.
and can provide a new out-
let for experiencing the
outdoors.
“You’ll see people with
homemade
equipment.
But this particular device
is called the ‘Gold Cube.’
It’s like a $300 kit,” Tom-
linson said. “When you’re
done, you’re probably about
$500 in, but you can do it for
cheaper if you’re handy.”
Any gold found on a
given day is considered a
bonus; the true pleasure
simply comes from being
outside .
“I noticed people doing
it and got intrigued. You get
out and enjoy the weather,”
Tomlinson said. “It’s a great
pandemic hobby. If you can
get a couple of grams of gold
a day, that’s a great day.”
Each miner is required
to carry a pamphlet about
the rules and regulations
for mineral prospecting
and placer mining from the
Washington Department of
Fish and Wildlife. The pam-
phlet also serves as a per-
mit. Placer mining consists
of separating gold from sand
and sediment, usually by
means of water.
Benson Beach is open to
amateur mining year- round,
but commercial equipment
isn’t permitted, Tomlinson
said. The rules allow the
resource to be made accessi-
ble without severely impact-
ing the environment.
“There’s rules about
things you can and can’t do.
For instance, you have to fi ll
your holes in and you can’t
use motorized or gas-pow-
ered equipment. I have a
car battery hooked up to a
bilge pump. There’s a limit
on how much sand you can
take away from the beach.
It’s one ( 5 -gallon) bucket at
a time.”
Tomlinson
suggested
anyone interested in beach
mining do some research
online or simply approach a
miner .
“There’s a community
for everything out there,”
he said. “Just come out here
and talk to other people.
They’re friendly and want to
share information.”
Mike Brannan, of Camas,
walked Benson Beach
scouting potential dig spots
while stopping to speak with
fellow prospectors he met
along the way.
“By March or April, this
sand will be gone,” Brannan
said, pointing to stretches of
light-colored sand. “Some-
times you come down here
and the whole beach will be
black, because the storms
come in and pull the top
layer away. In the summer-
time, it’s just the opposite.”
Brannan was searching
for the darkest sand possi-
ble, a sign there may be gold
mixed iron oxides and other
minerals. These simple signs
in the sand can steer pros-
pectors to more productive
mining areas, saving time
and effort .
“In the summertime you
have to dig down 2 or 3 feet,
other places not so much.
That’s what I’m doing today,
testing to fi nd out. You want
to dig down until you hit
pockets of the super dark or
black sand. That’s where the
gold will be at,” he said.
The amount of mining
on Benson Beach often ebbs
and fl ows with the tides.
“ In the summertime the
weather is nicer but you dig
deeper. From now through
summer is the prime sea-
son,” Brannan said.
A special gift
Bill Taylor was at fi rst
perplexed at what he wit-
nessed at Benson Beach a
few years ago.
“Five years ago I came
down here to camp and
watched it,” he said. “I
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thought what? Really?”
A retired nuclear engi-
neer, Taylor had an interest
in gold mining.
“Hydraulics and fl uids is
what I used to do,” he said.
One of the fi rst prospec-
tors Taylor met amassed a
siz able amount of gold and
left a lasting impression.
“The guy that got me into
it collected more than 2½
pounds over the years. He
had a back injury fi ve years
ago and he sold 1½ pounds
for $85,000. He did exactly
like we’re doing, just com-
ing down here and playing,”
he said.
Today, Taylor makes
routine visits to Benson
Beach during the winter and
spring, including the latest
trip that’s lasted more than
20 days while staying at the
park with his wife.
“We come down here to
play. This is just a beautiful
park. I just love it here,” he
said.
For the past few weeks,
Taylor had been “ chum-
ming” and prospecting
alongside another miner
who he happened to meet
on the beach. Together, the
retirees have been spend-
ing their mornings and after-
noons sifting through the
sands in search of glittering
gold.
“On a good day, a 5 -gal-
lon bucket will produce a
gram of gold,” Taylor said.
“A half or quarter gram is
probably the average.”
On his best day, Taylor
once found 8 grams, which
he added to the collection
he’s saving for a special gift.
“I don’t sell my gold, I
just keep it. Last year I got
around 0.75 of an ounce. It’s
not a lot but it’s a little bit.
This year so far I’ve gotten
about 8 or 9 grams. When
I get my fi rst ounce, I’m
going to make a nugget for
my wife.”
Former Gearhart camp sold as family compound
A property with
a storied history
By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
CORRECTION
Established July 1, 1873
Treasure hunts at
Benson Beach
GEARHART — When
Young Life Camp moved
out in 2018, residents won-
dered what was next for the
nearly century-old building .
Last week , Aaron Jones
and a close friend purchased
the property to use as a sum-
mer retreat for family and
friends.
“I have been tracking
the property and in discus-
sions with the owners since
before it hit the market in
2018,” Jones said . “I have
great memories of the place
from my days attending the
camp as a fi fth and sixth
grader.”
The Nita Avenue prop-
erty was listed at $1.4 mil-
lion. The purchase price
was just over $1 mil-
lion, according to Clatsop
County records. The buyer
in the transaction is listed as
Breakaway Lodge LLC.
The 6,800-square-foot
building features two fl oors
and 11 bedrooms, com-
mercial kitchen and dining
hall. The open interior fl oor
plan, designed in a coastal
style, comes with original
hardwood fl ooring, hard-
wood paneling on walls
and ceilings and two work-
ing gas fi replaces with stone
facades.
In promotional materials,
Cascade Sotheby’s
The former Young Life Camp in Gearhart.
Cascade Sotheby’s Inter-
national Realty, which bro-
kered the sale, described
the exterior as reminiscent
of a typical Nantucket sea-
side cottage, with weathered
cedar siding, a cedar-shingle
roof, sports courts and decks
on just under an acre.
The building remains
limited to residential use,
which eliminated poten-
tial commercial or vacation
rental use .
The property has a sto-
ried history in Gearhart.
The Arts and Crafts
style building was built as a
retreat by the Sisters of Holy
Names of Jesus and Mary in
the 1920s. Each summer,
the sisters traveled by train
from Portland to Gearhart
to stay at the retreat . The
convent closed down each
winter.
Many of the Holy Names
sisters were teachers and
would come for 10-day
retreats in the summer, for-
mer lodge manager Jeff
Johnson recalled in 2018.
Arriving by train near the
Dairy Queen, they walked
the dirt road to the cottage.
In 1959, the cottage and
chapel were sold to the Epis-
copal diocese, which used it
as a youth camp in conjunc-
tion with their other camp
east of the lodge, between
Second and Third streets.
They renamed the lodge
Scott Hall.
In 1969, the diocese sold
the lodge property to Young
Life, a nondenominational
ministry group , and joined
their collection of summer
camps. More than 1,000
campers attended each
summer.
Based
in
Colorado
Springs, Colorado, Young
Life operates camps in fi ve
countries. The largest of
these is the 64,000-acre,
160-square-mile Washing-
ton Family Ranch in Ante-
lope in Wasco County. The
Gearhart camp was Young
Life’s smallest.
Citing the building’s
small size, condition and
zoning restrictions, Gear-
hart’s camp closed after the
2018 summer session. The
property went on the market
later that year.
Sally Conrad and Nicki
Whittle, of Cascade Sothe-
by’s International Realty,
represented Young Life in
the sale. Whittle was also
the broker representing the
buyer.
“We had many, many
interested buyers over the
course of the listing, many
with great ideas, only to
be shot down over usage
restrictions,” Whittle said .
More than two years later,
a buyer stepped forward.
“I know many in the
community are curious what
the future holds for a prop-
erty with such rich history
and ever more restrictive
local zoning codes,” Jones
said. “Other than signifi cant
exterior and interior repairs
to address deferred main-
tenance, we have no other
plans than to use (the prop-
erty) as a private residence.
“The timeline is ASAP,
but it’s quite a bit of work,”
he added.