A2
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 2021
IN BRIEF
Saddle Mountain reopens to hikers
Saddle Mountain, closed for more than a year in
part because of the coronavirus pandemic, is open to
hikers again.
A small campground at the trailhead remains closed
to overnight visitors, however, and ongoing mainte-
nance issues mean there is not a functioning water
system at the site.
Hikers are encouraged to pack in their own water,
said Ben Cox, Nehalem Bay Unit manager for the
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. Chemical
toilets are available at the parking lot.
Saddle Mountain, with a summit of 3,290 feet, is
the tallest peak in Clatsop County. Rare wildfl ow-
ers grow on its slopes and there have been eff orts in
recent years to reintroduce endangered Oregon silver-
spot butterfl ies in the area.
The natural area was heavily damaged in the ice
storm that hit the North Coast in February. A team
of rangers and an inmate work crew spent consid-
erable time clearing the road to the parking lot and
trailhead.
Besides ongoing maintenance issues, the state has
looked at problematic spots along the steep trail that
leads up the mountain, though it is unlikely there will
be a major overhaul of the trail anytime soon.
— The Astorian
EASTER
MOMENTS
Northwest agriculture groups say
Simpson dam plan poses threat
Representatives of Northwest agriculture believe
U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson’s plan to tear down four
dams on the Snake River is unlikely to go anywhere
in Congress, but that it poses a particular threat to their
industry.
Simpson has fl oated a $33.5 billion plan to boost
salmon recovery, remove four dams on the lower
Snake River and impose a 35-year moratorium on
dam-related environmental litigation. He said he
would incorporate feedback from farm groups “where
possible.”
No legislation has been introduced.
Simpson, an Idaho Republican, has suggested
it could be included in President Joe Biden’s clean
energy stimulus bill.
The plan has drawn opposition from agricultural
stakeholders, power companies and environmental
groups.
“Idaho Farm Bureau hopes it fades away for
good,” said Sean Ellis, the farm bureau’s spokesman.
“We will continue to vigorously oppose this plan, if
it moves forward in the current language or diff erent
language.”
— Capital Press
ABOVE: Lena Tilton struggles to hold her eggs from her
overfl owing basket at an Easter egg hunt organized by
Spruce Up Warrenton on Saturday.
INSET: An Easter cross is laid outside of Pioneer Presbyterian
Church in Warrenton.
LEFT: Elijah Mesak and Jep Puckett go for the same egg.
BELOW LEFT: Maci Stackhouse sprints to fi nd eggs.
BELOW: Summer Burns hunts for eggs.
Photos by Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
DEATHS
March 30, 2021
In RAMSEY,
Brief Rosalie,
88, of Warrenton, died
in Warrenton. Caldwell’s
Deaths
Funeral & Cremation
Arrangement Center of
Seaside is in charge of the
arrangements.
March 15, 2021
CLARKE,
Charles
Michael “Mike,” 68, of
Yuma, Arizona, formerly
of Warrenton, died in
Yuma. Smart Cremation
of Yuma was in charge of
the arrangements.
ON THE RECORD
DUII
arrested Friday on U.S.
On
Record
• Chloe the
Stephanie
Hoe- Highway 30 for DUII.
lzel, 18, of Seaside, was
arrested Saturday on U.S.
Highway 101 in Gear-
hart for driving under the
infl uence of intoxicants.
• Brandon Nicho-
las Denmark, 27, was
• Erick Matthew
Mansell, 44, of Beaver-
ton, was arrested Friday
off of U.S. Highway 26
for DUII, reckless driv-
ing and recklessly endan-
gering another person.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Seaside Community Center Commission, 10 a.m., Bob
Chisholm Community Center, 1225 Ave. A.
Clatsop County Board of Commissioners, noon, work
session, (electronic meeting).
Port of Astoria Commission, 4 p.m., (electronic meeting).
Clatsop Care Health District Board, 5 p.m., (electronic
meeting).
Astoria Library Board, 5:30 p.m., Library Flag Room, 450
10th St.
Cannon Beach City Council, 6 p.m., (electronic meeting).
Seaside Planning Commission, 6 p.m., 989 Broadway.
WEDNESDAY
Astoria City Council, 1 p.m., work session, City Hall, 1095
Duane St.
Seaside Improvement Commission, 6 p.m., 989 Broad-
way.
Gearhart City Council, 6:30 p.m., (electronic meeting).
THURSDAY
Seaside Civic and Convention Center Commission,
5 p.m., Seaside Civic and Convention Center, 415 First Ave.
Gearhart Planning Commission, 6 p.m., (electronic
meeting).
Warrenton Planning Commission, 6 p.m., (electronic
meeting).
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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US sued over its
inaction to protect
threatened species
By MONICA SAMAYOA
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Decisions by the Trump
administration to withhold
endangered species protec-
tions for the northern spotted
owl, monarch butterfl ies and
other imperiled wildlife and
plants could be set aside.
That’s the goal of a con-
servation group’s lawsuit
Thursday, challenging inac-
tion on petitions to extend
Endangered Species Act pro-
tections for several species
that warranted them.
The Center for Biological
Diversity claims the Trump
administration knowingly
kept 10 species that needed
immediate Endangered Spe-
cies Act protections in wait-
ing. All the species listed in
the lawsuit were given “war-
ranted but precluded” deci-
sions, meaning the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service recog-
nized the species needed fed-
eral listing but did not have
the resources to list them.
In addition to the spotted
owl and the monarch but-
terfl y, other species covered
by the lawsuit are the east-
ern gopher tortoise, long-
fi n smelt, magnifi cent rams-
horn, Texas fatmucket, Texas
pimple back, Texas fawns-
foot mussels, peñasco least
chipmunk and the bracted
twistfl ower.
“Continued delay of pro-
tections for 10 species,
including the northern spot-
ted owl and the monarch
butterfl y, is unlawful,” said
Noah Greenwald, the endan-
gered species director for the
Center for Biological Diver-
sity. “This relates to the
Trump administration’s just
abysmal record on protect-
ing species under the Endan-
gered Species Act.”
Greenwald said the for-
mer administration only
listed 25 species as either
threatened or endangered
over the course of four years.
He said it is the lowest num-
ber of species that have been
listed for federal protections
since the law’s 1973 passage.
Greenwald said conser-
vationists had reached an
agreement with the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service under
former President Barack
Obama to work through a
backlog of 260 species that
scientists and offi cials had
determined to warrant pro-
tections under the Endan-
gered Species Act but pre-
cluded them from the list
of protected plants and ani-
mals. That backlog had been
reduced but persisted into
2017, when former President
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The northern spotted owl is on a slow but steady course
toward extinction.
Donald Trump entered the
White House.
“And of course didn’t
make a whole lot of progress
on it,” Greenwald said.
The northern spotted
owl’s status has been threat-
ened since it was listed
under the Endangered Spe-
cies Act in 1990. Its num-
bers in Pacifi c Northwest
and Northern California for-
ests continue to fall. Late
last year, the Trump admin-
istration denied a petition
to increase protections by
uplisting its status to endan-
gered. Then, in the fi nal days
before Trump left offi ce in
January, his administration
moved to lift restrictions
on logging and road-build-
ing on millions of acres of
forests by removing critical
habitat status that protected
those forests in the name of
the northern spotted owl’s
survival.
Democratic lawmakers
have called for a delay in
stripping critical habitat sta-
tus for 3.4 million acres and
an investigation into what,
if any, scientifi c evidence
exists to warrant the fi nal
days decision. Conservation
groups have gone to court to
reverse the previous admin-
istration’s actions.
The timber industry has
countered with a legal chal-
lenge against eff orts to delay
or overturn federal actions to
strip away logging restric-
tions in place for spotted
owl-designated habitat.
The monarch butterfl y’s
range includes Washington
state and Oregon, reaching
into the intermountain states
to the east and south to the
U.S. border with Mexico.
In December, the Fish and
Wildlife Service rejected a
petition to invoke the Endan-
gered Species Act for the
butterfl y, while acknowledg-
ing it merited endangered
species status.
The monarch was fi rst
proposed for protections
in 2014. The western mon-
arch butterfl ies have seen a
drastic decline in their spe-
cies and are on the brink of
extinction, with more than
99% of their population hav-
ing been wiped out.