A6
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 2021
Merkley: Researchers have projected a
dire future for Pacifi c Northwest’s forests
Continued from Page A1
Among the witnesses was
Forest Service Chief Vicki
Christiansen.
Merkley took over as sub-
committee chairman four
months ago, when Democrats
became the Senate’s major-
ity party with the tie-break-
ing vote of Vice President
Kamala Harris. He sits on
fi ve other appropriations
subcommittees,
including
agriculture.
“I took the chairmanship
to make the case for much
more substantial investments
in forest management, to sup-
port and increase fi re resil-
ience and to have the best pol-
icies possible for the forests
in fi ghting climate chaos,” he
said.
Funding priorities
Among his priorities are
boosting spending on for-
est collaboratives and spe-
cifi c work to reduce wildfi re
threats, such as forest thin-
ning and prescribed burning.
Merkley secured a dou-
bling of spending author-
ity, from $40 million to $80
million annually, in the 2018
farm bill for collaboratives.
They draw together disparate
interests — such as the tim-
ber industry and environmen-
tal groups — to fi nd ways to
restore forests. But the sen-
ator said his next goal is to
get Congress to approve full
funding for them in the fed-
eral budget for the coming
year.
Merkley also said he
wants to boost spending on
forest management by $1 bil-
lion annually through work,
such as thinning and pre-
scribed burning, to reduce
the prospects of catastrophic
wildfi res. He said such work
kept the Milli fi re, a light-
ning-caused blaze that still
consumed 24,000 acres in
2017, from reaching Sisters
in c entral Oregon.
Oregon has more than 2
million acres ready for such
work, he said, “yet we don’t
have the money to actually do
the treatment.”
Under questioning by
Merkley, Christiansen said
it boiled down to the lack
of money to pay for proj-
ects. Merkley said forest land
close to cities — the so-called
urban-wildland interface —
could be identifi ed for prior-
ity projects.
Merkley also said he
would like to see President
Joe Biden consider such work
as vital infrastructure under
Biden’s proposed American
Jobs Plan.
Merkley made two state-
wide swings after the Labor
Day wildfi res. He said he
senses a change in public
attitudes toward prescribed
burning.
‘WE REALLY
HAVE TO PAY
ATTENTION
TO FOREST
MANAGEMENT.’
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
“It used to be that people
said make sure there aren’t
any prescribed fi res burn-
ing, because we don’t like the
smoke coming down here,” he
said. “Now with the intensity
of the fi res we’ve had, the gen-
eral sense has been that we are
happy to tolerate a little bit of
smoke now if that makes our
town much safer and reduces
the odds of smoke and bad
fi res come fi re season.”
‘More of everything’
Asked whether he thinks
federal agencies are prepared
if there are similarly devas-
tating wildfi res this year —
drought is prevalent in much
of Oregon and the West —
Merkley said there would
never be enough help avail-
able if wildfi res were that
widespread.
“When we are having fi res
burn because of similar condi-
tions and similar storms start-
ing fi res in multiple states at
once, I think we are always
going to wish we had more
tankers, more people, more of
everything,” he said.
He said the federal bud-
get contains money for train-
ing of National Guard soldiers
to serve as backup forest fi re-
fi ghters. The Guard played a
similar role in the Labor Day
wildfi res.
“I want to make sure those
teams are ready,” he said.
“Last year, they were short
of experienced crew leaders.
That was a challenge of too
many fi res at once across the
country.
“When we’re sending out
teams to fi ght fi res, we have
to have experienced leaders in
order to protect the lives of the
crew.”
Forest fi refi ghting is
divided between the Ore-
gon Department of Forestry
— which also protects public
lands overseen by the federal
Bureau of Land Management
— and the Forest Service.
Merkley mentioned an
unpublished federal study that
projects a dire future for the
Northwest’s forests — that
they will disappear by the end
of this century — as they face
a drier climate, longer fi re sea-
sons and insect infestations.
A study by the Univer-
sity of Washington in coop-
eration with federal agencies,
published in 2020 before the
devastating wildfi res later in
the year, did warn of serious
consequences by midcentury.
“Starting the process of adapt-
ing to those changes now will
give us a better chance of pro-
tecting forest resources in the
future,” said David Peterson,
a professor at the university’s
School of Environmental and
Forest Sciences.
Merkley said: “We really
have to pay attention to forest
management.”
The Oregon Capital
Bureau is a collaboration
between EO Media Group
and Pamplin Media Group.
Park: Commissioners are hopeful
Continued from Page A1
The last signifi cant proj-
ect proposed for the busi-
ness park was a data center
and technology incubator in
2018, but a purchase agree-
ment fell apart in 2019 after
months of extensions.
Carnese said the county
has received interest in the
business park from com-
panies involved with con-
struction , telecom, food and
beverage and e-commerce .
“I believe it’s quite
challenging in this cli-
mate
where
develop-
ers are very active focus-
ing on low-hanging fruit,
if you will,” he said. “To
the point, this property has
some challenges. ”
Partners
County commissioners
are hopeful.
“For those who have
been listening to me rail
against this North Coast
B usiness P ark as one of
the least admirable actions
of former cohorts, I think
that for the fi rst time I have
some hope,” Commissioner
Pamela Wev said. “Looks
like we have a lot of smart
people on our screen, and
this is the fi rst time I’ve
ever thought we could
maybe pull this off , with
the advice of some creative
people.
“This, as far as I’m con-
cerned, never should have
been bought and never
should have ever been
called a business park. B ut
it looks to me like if we’re
careful about being very
strategic about the invest-
ments that we’ve all known
we had to somehow make
to make these at all attrac-
tive industrial sites, I think
this team maybe can do it.”
Wev said she wants to
see more information about
infrastructure costs.
“The city of Warrenton
has become very aggres-
sive in getting developer
fees for improvements,”
she said. “So we’re likely
to have to really play nice
with the city. And I think
getting perhaps some Busi-
ness Oregon type of money,
and especially for the infra-
structure bill that is slowly
moving through Congress.
I think maybe we could
actually do it.”
Commissioner
Mark
Kujala, the board’s chair-
man, who represents War-
renton, shared a sense of
hope. He said the outlook
has changed over the years
in regards to wetlands and
other constraints on the
property.
“It’s a much bigger bar-
rier now than it used to be,”
he said. “And I do think
that the city of Warrenton
certainly would like to see
something happen here,
so I think that they’ll be
very cooperative because
they’ve been anxious to see
development in Warrenton
at the North Coast Business
Park, as well.
“So I think they will be a
very good partner.”
Seaside: Staff , teachers appreciated
Continued from Page A1
The projected cost
for summer program-
ming for high school-
ers is about $250,000,
and the cost for the kin-
dergarten-through-eighth
grade programs is about
$345,500. The school dis-
trict is using grants from the
Oregon Department of Edu-
cation to cover a majority of
expenses.
The state Legislature
has backed $250 million
for summer educational
and recreational programs
for students statewide in
response to the coronavirus
pandemic.
The l ocal contribution
is 25%, while grant fund-
ing is covering the roughly
$171,000 allotted for wrap-
around child care services
that will be provided to local
families on a lottery basis.
Students who participate in
an activity will also receive
bus transportation and a
sack lunch each day of their
session, Blakesley said.
Tutoring, credit recovery
programs and the bookmo-
bile will run from early July
to late August. The book-
mobile will visit Cannon
Beach, Seaside, Gearhart
and Cullaby Lake one day a
week. Other programs will
run through August.
At the elementary level,
the school district is off ering
several enrichment camps,
including: dramatic arts
for fi rst and second grad-
ers; outdoor education for
second and third graders;
art and science, technol-
ogy, engineering and math
activities for fourth and fi fth
graders; heritage camp for
third through fi fth graders;
and two diff erent English
language
development
camps for second-through-
fi fth graders.
“It’s really kind of fl ip-
ping the concept of summer
school as remedial on its
head and approaching sum-
mer school as a very posi-
tive place to be,” Blakesley
said.
She expressed apprecia-
tion for the school district’s
classifi ed staff and teachers
who are voluntarily leading
the programs.
“One of the biggest
obstacles many school dis-
tricts are having right now is
teacher burnout,” Blakesley
said. “I feel really blessed
that we have a staff that’s
not burnt out, that’s totally
keen to teach this sum-
mer and serve our students.
That’s something we should
be really grateful for.”
Congratulations
to the Recipients of the
Knappa Schools Foundation
Scholarships 2021
* Knappa School Foundation
Way to Go!
Cameron Miethe
Gabriella Ann Morrill
Sierra McGuire-Weirup
Ashley Fledscher
Knappa Schools Honorary
Board Scholarship
$20,000
KSF* $1,000
Joni Westfall Memorial $1,000
Victoria Ramvick
McKenzie Johanson
Olivia Rilatos
Andrina Andrade
KSF* $2,000
Roger Schoenborn Memorial $500
Christy Miethe Memorial $1,500
KSF* $1,000
Robert Rankin Memorial $500
Allen Family Scholarship $500
KSF* $1,000
Joe Rohne Memorial $500
Josh Amana/Monte Kinsley Memorial $500
KSF* $1,000
Coastal Family Health $500
Corkill Family $500
KSF* $1,000
KSF* $1,000
Katherine Salvon McIntyre Memorial $750
Truax Family Memorial $1,000
Peter Fisher Memorial $500
Teevin Brothers Land & Timer $1,000
Truax Family Memorial $1,000
Autio Company $500
Megan Hellberg
KSF* $1,500
John Schuyler Memorial $500
Raven Corcoran
KSF* $1,000
Ted & Judy Ivarie $500
Newberg Family Memorial $1,000
Autio Company $1,000