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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 2019)
N EW ESS R OG COMMUNITY I NSIDE — S ECTION C RESS PR Travel Oregon seeks to ‘create a better life for all Oregonians’ OG WEATHER I NSIDE — A5 PR NEWS & VIEWS THAT DEFINE OUR COMMUNITY F LORENCE , O REGON B OOK M ARKS PROGRESS RESS Siuslaw News VOL. 129, NO. 100 ESS P R PR R OG OG SN SATURDAY EDITION | DECEMBER 14, 2019 | $1.00 TH THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM Postal Customer Florence, Ore. 97439 Turning out for Toys for Tots Oregon Tourism Commission meets in Florence Cloudy with some rain. Expect a high of 47 and a low of 37. Full forecast on A3 COMMUNITY Holiday events continue in December INSIDE — A3 SPORTS Sailors play basketball INSIDE — SPORTS RECORDS Obituaries Inside — A2 CALENDAR This week’s events Inside — B4 SIDE SHOW Activities and comics Inside — B6 CLASSIFIEDS Listings and public notices Inside — B7 FOLLOW US FOR THE LATEST NEWS : /S IUSLAW N EWS @S IUSLAW N EWS T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News S IUSLAW N EWS 3 S ECTIONS | 28 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2019 In 2003, the Oregon Tourism Commission (OTC) decided it would be beneficial to take a more proactive approach to bringing visitors and tourists to the state. The unemployment rate at the time was 8.2 percent and the hospitality in- dustry reported even higher jobless rates in many recreationally-oriented areas of the state. The result of the concern regard- ing unemployment was the initia- tion of a 1 percent State Transient Lodging Tax, which was raised to 1.8 percent in 2016. The program was designed to promote Oregon tour- ism and has proven to be instrumen- tal in helping to fund outreach and to disseminate information to those interested in visiting or relocating to the state. According to the Travel Oregon website, more than 29 million people visited Oregon last year, spending approximately $287 per trip. In 2018, more than $12 billion was spent by visitors to the state, with munici- palities receiving $539 million in revenue from the State Transient Lodging Tax. Travel Oregon has divided the state into seven distinct regions and the Oregon Coast is one of the most visited of those regions. According to the Travel Oregon website, visitors spent $2.1 billion on the coast last year with 24,000 individuals directly employed as a result of that spend- ing. “Everything we do at Travel Oregon — from product develop- ment to destination marketing, to regional investments in tourism and our matching grants program — supports our vision of creating a better life for all Oregonians through strong, sustainable local commu- nities that welcome a diversity of travelers,” said Todd Davidson, Chief Executive Officer of Travel Oregon. Twenty percent of the money gen- erated by the State Transient Lodg- ing Tax is directed to the Regional Cooperative Tourism Program and 10 percent is set aside for a competi- tive grants program. Travel Oregon is the primary in- formational vehicle created by OTC to promote the beauty and diversity of the state, and a number of OTC staff were in Florence this week for an informational visit, with a good amount of area activities mixed into the day’s schedule. Jesse Dolin, the Travel Oregon Destination Coordinator for the Central Coast and former employee of the City of Florence, is familiar with the many recreational options available here for visitors. Dolin was the point person for the OTC visit and helped coordinate the itinerary for the group. See TRAVEL page 9A MARK BRENNAN/ SIUSLAW NEWS COURTESY PHOTOS ore than 50 local volun- teers flocked to Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue (SVFR) Main Station on Tuesday for the distribution of the Toys for Tots campaign, sponsored by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. “This year’s event was the larg- est yet,” said SVFR Recruiting and Retention Coordinator Pete War- ren, who has overseen the give- away for the last three years. While a line formed outside the By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News M station first thing, the prospect of receiving toys for the holidays overcame any weather related concerns for parents. Toys were available for children ages 0 to 14. According to Warren, the com- munity is appreciative of the effort as each year has seen increases in the number of families who par- ticipate in the giveaway. “The rain, while heavy much of the day, didn’t deter many families from getting presents from our main station,” he said. “There was a big jump in the numbers this year.” This year saw an extension of the giveaway to seven hours, which allowed more families to partake in the community-provid- ed gifts. See TOYS page 9A Siuslaw’s new restoration economy Council details progress on restoring the Siuslaw watershed and building into local economy By Chantelle Meyer Siuslaw News Siuslaw Watershed Council (SWC) held its annual meeting and potluck at the Deadwood Commu- nity Center on Dec. 4. Afterward, SWC Executive Director Eli Tome talked about the event, the wa- tershed’s restoration projects and what it plans to focus on in 2020. “We talked about all the work that got done,” Tome said. “One of the things we’re really excited about is that we secured over $1.6 million in grants this year, so we’ve been doing a lot of grant writing. All that money gets reinvested in the community to do restoration work, and employs us at the watershed council.” The Deadwood Community Center, with its warm fireplace and focus on creativity, was the right venue to focus on the Siuslaw and its people. Tome and other staff members were able to give the an- nual report, which was followed by public interaction. “This year, we invited people to share art, poetry, songs and music about what the watershed has in- spired. People shared a lot of sto- ries about personal connections to the watershed,” Tome said. The SWC is also essential to the regional economy, according to SIUSLAW NEWS FILE PHOTO Tome. “One way our work is relevant is that we hire a lot of local people to work on our projects,” he said. “In 2018, we spent over $1.3 mil- lion on contracted services. That was hiring mostly local contrac- tors to do restoration work. With that $1.3 million investment, we supported 15 to 18 local jobs. That has an economic output multiplier of 1.6, so every dollar we spent on restoration work, we created $1.60 in our local economy. Contractors also stay at local hotels or go eat at local restaurants, they fix their equipment and buy stuff from the local community.” The watershed council has a staff of eight, but that expands during the summer and as larger resto- ration projects need extra hands. In addition, it has more than a dozen partnerships with regional groups and nonprofits who all work to preserve the watershed and coho salmon as a keystone species. “The loss of the logging industry has spurred this new restoration economy. We’re able to use a lot of the folks that were logging previ- ously,” Tome said. “Now, their spe- cialized skills are helpful in han- dling trees and moving them to do restoration work. I’m really excited about creating a new economy and helping support that.” Area businesses can now have a hand in the watershed’s nonprof- it work. A new business steward program launched in September for businesses to sponsor SWC at certain levels. So far, Banner Bank and PeaceHealth have elected to sign up. “There’s just so many moving parts that have to be coordinated,” Tome said. “We get to work with a lot of people, and it’s a great thing about our work — it just brings so many people together.” See WATERSHED page 8A Embrace the goodness of the season, and look forward to the blessings coming your way. Happy Holidays to all. 541.997.8202 • shorewoodsl.com 15th & Spruce, just off Highway 126
