A2
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 2022
IN BRIEF
Seaside planner to step down
SEASIDE — After 23 years with the city, Kevin
Cupples, the planning director, announced his retire-
ment Tuesday night.
After welcoming a new planning commissioner,
Brandon Kraft, Cupples said his last day will be Feb.
15. “I’m going to remain here in Seaside, but I’ve got
some other pressing things that need to be taken care of
in my life,” he said.
Cupples grew up in Scappoose and graduated from
Southern Oregon University. He worked in planning
for Coos County and then the city of Coos Bay before
coming to Seaside in August 1998.
Waterfront bridge replacement
project recognized
Astoria’s waterfront bridge replacement was
awarded fi rst place in the Daily Journal of Commerce’s
Top Projects.
The Portland newspaper covers building and con-
struction in the Pacifi c Northwest and recognized proj-
ects completed in the region in 2020.
The $10.4 million project won in the category of
infrastructure.
— The Astorian
A new Wauna
Pacifi c County limits fi reworks use
SOUTH BEND, Wash. — After meetings and pub-
lic hearings that spanned several months, the Pacifi c
County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to
adopt new restrictions on the sale and use of consumer
fi reworks in the unincorporated areas of the county.
The new restrictions were voted on at the commis-
sioners’ Dec. 14 meeting, and will limit the sale and
use of fi reworks over the Fourth of July holiday once
the amended ordinance goes into eff ect in time for the
summer of 2023.
Under the updated fi reworks ordinance, the sale and
purchase of fi reworks will be permitted on July 1 to
July 4, and the use and discharge of fi reworks will be
allowed from July 2 to July 4.
Under existing rules, both the sale and use of fi re-
works are allowed from June 28 through July 5.
The ordinance also allows for an emergency ban to
be implemented on fi reworks in any given year if cer-
tain conditions have been met, including if the fi re dan-
ger is set to “high” by the Washington State Depart-
ment of Natural Resources or if the state has issued a
burn ban.
“There is only one year left of Wild West celebra-
tions. In 2023, the reductions will be in place for the
unincorporated as well as some municipalities,” Bon-
nie Lou Cozby, the president of the Ocean Park Area
Chamber of Commerce, wrote in an email to the Chi-
nook Observer. “It is not the same across-the-board
requirement we were initially told was the only way in
2015. It is a good compromise.”
— Chinook Observer
DEATHS
Jan. 3, 2022
Deaths
PULLEN,
Robert,
63, of Knappa, died in
Knappa. Hughes-Ransom
Mortuary is in charge of
the arrangements.
REHNERT, Eric, 66,
of Seaside, died in Sea-
side.
Hughes-Ransom
Mortuary is in charge of
the arrangements.
Jan. 1, 2022
BENSON,
Viola,
93, of Nehalem, died in
Nehalem. Hughes-Ran-
som Mortuary is in charge
of the arrangements.
CONDRA, Kevin, 68,
of Astoria, died in Asto-
ria.
Hughes-Ransom
Mortuary is in charge of
the arrangements.
Dec. 31, 2021
MORROW, Lavonne,
85, of Seaside, died in
Seaside. Hughes-Ransom
Mortuary is in charge of
the arrangements.
Dec. 28, 2021
DREESZEN,
Ray-
mond, 92, of Astoria, died
in Astoria. Hughes-Ran-
som Mortuary is in charge
of the arrangements.
CORRECTION
Incorrect quote — Clatsop County District Attor-
Correction
ney Ron Brown has indicated he misspoke when he
said “none of the tests that were done captured any
kind of controlled substance” in an A2 story Tuesday
about the decision not to charge a driver responsible
for a fatal crash south of Warrenton in 2020.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
MONDAY
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway.
TUESDAY
Clatsop Care Health District Board, 5 p.m., (electronic
meeting).
Lewis & Clark Fire Department Board, 6 p.m., main fi re
station, 34571 U.S. Highway 101 Business.
Cannon Beach City Council, 6 p.m., work session, (elec-
tronic meeting).
Warrenton City Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S. Main
Ave.
Clatsop Community College Board, 6:30 p.m., (electronic
meeting).
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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Workers are putting the fi nishing touches on a new
Wauna Credit Union off Marine Drive in Astoria.
Photos by Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Research examines carbon storage
potential of grass seed crops
Prospect of
healthier soils and
more revenue
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
FOREST GROVE . —
New U.S. Department of
Agriculture research is dig-
ging into the carbon storage
capacity of grass seed crops
grown in the Willamette
Valley that could benefi t
farms by providing healthier
soils and potential revenue
from emissions trading pro-
grams such as cap and trade.
Kristin Trippe, a micro-
biologist at the Agricultural
Research Service in Cor-
vallis, shared the results of
a study examining carbon
stocks in 24 fi elds growing
tall fescue.
While carbon measure-
ments between fi elds did
vary, the average total was
76 tons per acre going down
to a depth of 40 inches,
Trippe told grass seed pro-
ducers at Oregon State Uni-
versity’s winter seed and
cereal crop production
meeting Thursday in Forest
Grove.
That was higher com-
pared to soil samples col-
lected from fi elds growing
annually tilled crops.
Whether grass straw was
baled or left in the fi eld
made little diff erence in the
overall amount of soil car-
bon, Trippe said.
“Even though it’s thou-
sands of pounds per acre,
it’s not enough to compete
with this incredible pool
of deeper soil carbon,” she
said.
Interest in gauging soil
carbon has been on the rise
in recent years as a means to
combat climate change and
trap harmful greenhouse
gases.
Gov. Kate Brown signed
an executive order in 2020
requiring state agencies to
adopt policies that will cut
greenhouse gas emissions at
least 80% below 1990 levels
by 2050.
In response, the Ore-
gon Global Warming Com-
mission developed a state-
wide natural and working
lands proposal last year that
calls for increasing carbon
sequestration by 5 million
metric tons of carbon diox-
ide per year by 2030, and 9
million metric tons per year
by 2050, in order to meet
those climate objectives.
Planting grass is one of
Capital Press
U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers are digging into the carbon budget of grass seed
crops grown in the Willamette Valley, with farms standing to benefi t from healthier soils and
potential revenue from emissions trading.
INTEREST IN GAUGING
SOIL CARBON HAS BEEN
ON THE RISE IN RECENT YEARS
AS A MEANS TO COMBAT CLIMATE
CHANGE AND TRAP HARMFUL
GREENHOUSE GASES.
the fastest proven ways to
increase soil carbon, Trippe
said, since it provides con-
tinuous soil cover, allows
farmers to till their fi elds
less and returns carbon-rich
residue to the ground.
“It makes sense that
planting grasses increases
carbon,” Trippe said.
Oregon ranks No. 1 in
the country in production of
several grass seed varieties,
including orchardgrass, fes-
cue, ryegrass, red and white
clover.
For her project analyz-
ing carbon stocks in grass
seed systems, Trippe said
she received funding from
the Oregon Seed Coun-
cil. Researchers collected
216 soil samples during
the spring, ranging in depth
from zero to 40 inches.
Trippe said they chose
tall fescue because it rep-
resents a large percentage of
production in the Willamette
Valley — roughly 154,000
acres — with root systems
reaching 16 inches deep
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and stands typically kept for
four to seven years.
Earlier studies had pro-
duced mixed results whether
baling straw made an impact
on the amount of soil organic
matter in grass seed fi elds.
Organic matter makes up
about 3% of soil, and carbon
makes up about 58%.
The project’s fi ndings
found that carbon stocks
were marginally higher in
fi elds where straw was left
on the ground, versus baled.
In older, more estab-
lished fescue fi elds, the total
was 84.5 tons of carbon
when straw was left on the
ground, and 72.6 tons per
acre when baled. In younger
fi elds, the totals were 70.5
tons of carbon per acre
when straw was left on the
ground, and 69.8 tons per
acre when baled.
“I would caution the
numbers are incredibly vari-
able,” Trippe said. “It’s very
diffi cult to aggregate the
data, and it’s very diffi cult
to know what’s happening.”
Trippe said their work is
far from done. In the future,
she hopes to receive fund-
ing for more long-term stud-
ies at several locations, and
work with growers to better
understand which manage-
ment practices result in the
most carbon stored.
Those numbers are nec-
essary for grass seed grow-
ers to participate in carbon
markets and inform regula-
tory policies, Trippe said.
“You’re working toward
that (carbon) potential,” she
said. “I think we can do a lit-
tle better.”
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