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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JULY 3, 2021
Ethan Myers/The Astorian
Cannery Pier Hotel & Spa donated $100,000 toward
the Astoria Nordic Heritage Park. Pictured, from left,
Petra Cereghino, Junior Miss Sweden; Miss Scandinavia
Kaisa Liljenwall; Linh DePledge, the general manager at
Cannery Pier; Loran Mathews, the president of the Astoria
Scandinavian Heritage Association; and Judi Lampi, who
leads the park committee.
Nordic park:
‘Visitors will have
access to Nordic
heritage year-round’ Otter pup: Will be released when she is older
Photos by Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
TOP: A rescued river otter pup eats fi sh at the Wildlife Center of the North Coast. BELOW: The river otter in a quiet moment after eating.
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The park, designed by
The West Studio, of Seat-
tle, will be located at the
spot of the former Peoples
Park downtown . Ricken-
bach Construction , of Asto-
ria, will be in charge of con-
struction and the h eritage
a ssociation will maintain
the park upon completion.
The park will honor
the rich history of Nordic
immigration into Astoria ,
which in turn shaped much
of the cultural heritage and
tradition of the city.
With a view of the
Columbia R iver and an
entrance from the Astoria
Riverwalk, features inside
the park will include a mid-
summer pole in the plaza,
granite slabs representing
Denmark, Finland, Iceland,
Norway and Sweden, as
well as a gateway arch lead-
ing to 10 interpretive panels
describing the heritage of
Scandinavians on the North
Coast.
Janet Bowler, the vice
chairwoman of the p ark
committee, said they hope
to hold events on the plaza,
as well as educational tours
for schools and cruise ships.
Bowler and Lampi
emphasized the park will
not just be for the Nor-
dic community, but for the
whole city.
“Visitors will have
access to Nordic heritage
year-round,” Bowler said.
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Sea otters were once
hunted to near-extinction in
waters off Oregon and Wash-
ington state as part of the fur
trade in the 18th and 19th
centuries. While the mam-
mals were successfully rein-
troduced in Washington,
parts of Alaska and in Can-
ada in the past 50 years, sim-
ilar eff orts failed in Oregon.
In January, the push to
bring sea otters back on the
Oregon Coast received a
small boost when former
President Donald Trump
signed the federal budget.
Included in the budget was
a directive to the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service to study
sea otter reintroduction in the
Pacifi c Northwest.
Rare visitors
A surfer died in June at Short Sand Beach at Oswald West
State Park.
If sea otters remain rela-
tively uncommon , common
river otters are rare visitors
to the Wildlife Center of the
North Coast.
The river otter pup there
now was one of a pair
found in the Deer Island
area in neighboring Colum-
bia County. There had been
a vehicle accident where the
two pups were found. The
Portland Audubon Society
played baby otter calls at the
site hoping to lure the mother
out of hiding, but she didn’t
respond. It is likely she was
hit and either too injured to
respond at the time or already
dead.
One of the pups, a male,
didn’t survive. The other pup
did. The wildlife center was
better equipped to care for
an otter than Portland Audu-
bon, so she came to the North
Coast. She will be released
back near Deer Island when
she is older — and bigger —
and after she has hit several
key milestones, such as the
ability to hunt her own food
and recognize predators.
Otter pups are diffi cult to
raise in captivity for release
back into the wild. They are
highly social animals that
rely on their mothers to teach
them how to survive.
So,
wildlife
center
employees — much like local
school districts after a year of
the coronavirus pandemic
— have planned enrich-
ment activities designed to
keep the otter entertained
and socialized, as well as to
educate her on key points of
being an otter. Eventually,
they will have to teach her
how to swim.
At the same time, it
is important that the pup
maintains a healthy fear of
humans. As tempting as it
might be to give her a name
or speak to her in baby talk,
Hogan and the others who
care for the pup must be care-
ful to give her no positive
interaction whatsoever.
When she’s released, “she
should be able to hide, not
slowly walk up to us like,
‘Where’s the food?’” Hogan
said.
It’s a tricky balance.
While the pup is at the wild-
life center, they need her to
trust them enough so they
can feed her and handle
her, but she also needs to be
scared of them, Hogan said.
changed in the weeks she’s
been receiving care , going
from the low grunts regis-
tering a deep fear to a high-
er-pitched squeaking when
w ildlife c enter employees
approach, noises that, in the
wild, would signal some-
thing like, “Mom! Here they
come!” Hogan said.
On a chart on her cage
door, which is shrouded with
blankets and towels, there is
a note reminding caretakers,
“Do not open or peek” — a
measure intended to ensure
the otter doesn’t become
accustomed to the sight of
humans being around, but
also to guard against escapes
as the center allows the pup
more room to roam around
her enclosure. S taff try to
handle her as little as pos-
sible and keep their voices
down when they are near her
cage.
While the otter pup might
be tucked out of sight and
sea otter recovery in Oregon
still uncertain, people on the
North Coast can try to spot
local river otters at Lewis and
Clark instead.
The park does not track
river otter numbers , but
the mammals are certainly
present.
Cole suggests visiting the
Netul Landing Visitor Center
at the south end of the park
along the Lewis and Clark
River at dawn or in the early
morning or at sunset.
Ocean: ‘Always
have children in life Hospital: Relationship has expanded through the years
jackets. It’s the law’
‘Mom! Here they come!’
Her vocalizations have
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Tiff any Brown said. “I
think about all the peo-
ple that went swimming
this weekend that aren’t
really swimmers. That’s
what hot weather does, it
pushes people to do things
that they wouldn’t nor-
mally do because they’re
uncomfortable.”
Over the past month,
several
ocean-related
deaths and injuries showed
the dangers.
On Memorial Day in
May, a 14-year-old boy was
presumed to have drowned
off the Long Beach Penin-
sula in Washington state.
In June, an 11-year-
old Portland girl died after
being swept out to sea off
Cannon Beach.
A 34-year-old col-
lege professor drowned in
June while surfi ng at Short
Sand Beach at Oswald
West State Park north of
Manzanita.
Last
weekend,
a
44-year-old man from
Tacoma, Washington, was
pulled unconscious from
the water off Beards Hol-
low at Cape Disappoint-
ment State Park in Wash-
ington state. His family
said he was later deter-
mined not to have mean-
ingful brain function.
Beaches on the North
Coast can be particularly
treacherous for swimmers
due to colder-than-average
water temperatures, strong
currents and rocky shore-
lines, notes Cannon Beach
Fire & Rescue Chief Marc
Reckmann.
“We’ve had the most
water rescues this year that
I’ve ever seen,” Reckmann
said. “The point is, if you
see someone in trouble,
call 911 immediately, do
not hesitate.”
Stefan Holubar, a vaca-
tioning doctor from the
Cleveland Clinic, was on
the scene at Short Sand in
June when people tried to
help the surfer. “We had
an experienced team and
we gave him everything
we could,” the doctor said.
“A couple hundred people
were watching. It was very
traumatic for the whole
beach.”
U.S. Coast Guard Petty
Offi cer Diolanda Cabal-
lero said she hopes people
diligently prepare them-
selves ahead of time before
getting in the water. “No
matter what, even the best
swimmers can be caught
off guard. The ocean is
extremely unforgiving,”
she said.
Life jackets can also be
an asset to people of all
ages, particularly minors,
when on the water. Of the
27 reported boating fatal-
ities in Oregon in 2020,
the Oregon State Marine
Board said that 17 could
have been prevented if
the victim had worn a life
jacket.
“Always have children
in life jackets. It’s the law,”
Caballero said.
Nancee Long, the direc-
tor of communications at
Columbia Memorial, said
the move also brings a higher
level of care to the commu-
nity now that the providers
have access to resources at
OHSU.
The relationship between
the two health care organiza-
tions has expanded through
the years. About 10 years
ago, the Columbia Memorial
Hospital Board of Trustees
decided it wanted to partner
with a larger institution and
chose OHSU.
Thorsen described it as a
unique partnership.
“It’s unique in the way
we have been able to part-
ner without merging, but yet
growing our specialty care
locally with a major aca-
demic university that has
now improved access to care
for our community,” Thorsen
said. “It started with the
( CMH-OHSU Knight Can-
cer Collaborative) and has
grown through that 10-year
period to this.”
Thorsen said the transi-
tion of the 28 providers was
the fi nal of three primary
goals the collaboration set
in 2019. The fi rst was com-
pleted when OHSU physi-
cian James Heilman joined
the CMH b oard in 2019, and
the second happened on June
1 when the Astoria hospital
hired Chris Strear as chief
medical offi cer.
“That position is really
set up to help be the liai-
son between the work we do
here locally and the work at
Sarah Bello
Erik Thorsen, the CEO of Columbia Memorial Hospital, stands with Heather Pilkington, Oregon
Health & Science University clinical project manager; Dr. Mark Rawson, a podiatrist; Dr. Peter
Bales, an orthopedic surgeon; and Ryan Larsen, an orthopedic physician assistant, on the fi rst
day of a new provider collaboration.
OHSU and trying to help us
drive strategy,” Thorsen said.
Long said it’s important
for patients to know that it’s
a collaboration, not a transfer
of ownership, so there won’t
be any changes to billing or
who their doctors are.
“A patient can now know
that their provider has the full
strength of OHSU behind
them, insofar as education
and collaboration, and it’s a
great thing,” Long said.
While OHSU is the
employer, Columbia Memo-
rial remains independent and
reimburses OHSU for the
cost of the employment and
is responsible for providing
the space for clinic and sup-
port services.
The collaboration also
brings the opportunity for
specialists from OHSU,
like vascular surgeon Rob-
ert McLaff erty, to come to
Columbia Memorial on a
part-time basis, whereas
without it the hospital would
not be able to recruit a pro-
vider to the area for a part-
time job.
Long said the provid-
ers continue to be part of
the local community and the
prestige of the new brand
will help recruit staff .
“Economic development
depends on bringing people
here, building houses, hav-
ing great health care, so I
think we’re providing a way
to really bring a much higher
level of medicine to the area
and keep them here,” Long
said.
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