October 27, 2017
T he C olumbia P ress
Sixth-graders attend school in the forest
Hundreds of sixth-graders
took a hike through the forest
recently as part of a half-cen-
tury tradition in Clatsop
County.
The hike featured 11 edu-
cational stations that related
science, technology, engi-
neering, arts and math to for-
estry and natural resources.
The field day provides stu-
dents an opportunity to learn
about the forests that sur-
round us.
“Clatsop County is 94 per-
cent forestland,” said Valerie
Elder of Oregon State Uni-
versity Extension Services.
“It is valuable for students to
experience the place we live,
the forest, and meet the peo-
ple who call the woods their
office.”
Topics included social,
economic
and
environ-
mental benefits that forests
provide and how human
activities affect them. Oth-
er topics included fire, wa-
ter quality, forest wildlife,
how people use forests and
streams, fungi, recreation,
forestry tools, wood products
and natural resource careers.
This year’s event at the Bill
Lecture Demonstration For-
est was organized by Elder
and Charley Moyer, who is
with the Oregon Department
of Forestry. The demonstra-
tion forest is adjacent to the
ODF Astoria District Head-
quarters near the Clatsop
County Fairgrounds.
For nearly two decades
the Big Walluski Tree Farm,
owned by the Christie Family,
hosted the tour. John Chris-
tie was a small woodland
owner, forestry professor at
Clatsop Community College
Continued from Page 1
Todd Chase, who lives south
of the high school.
Chase’s neighbor, Brad
Johnson, wondered what
“similar storage uses” meant.
What if he wants to allow
someone to share his garage?
“I don’t consider my property
in the downtown,” he said.
Many
residents
were
less than pleased when a
mini-storage facility was
built at the four-way stop
in the heart of downtown 17
years ago.
City leaders and residents
have described a desire for
a walkable downtown with
lots of shopping choices and
places to hang out. A project
in the works to put a veter-
ans’ memorial plaza in front
of the post office is a step in
the right direction.
“The question boils down to
‘what do you want your down-
town to look like?’” Mayor
Balensifer said Wednesday.
Do you let property develop
willy-nilly or should thought
be given to creating a city
that has a sense of place for
residents and is welcoming to
visitors, he asked.
He initially proposed the
code change two years ago
and again last year, but both
5
CMH wins quality accreditation
Columbia Memorial Hos-
pital has been accredited
by the Healthcare Facilities
Accreditation Program, the
nation’s original independent
accreditation organization.
The
award
confirms
that the hospital provides
high-quality care as deter-
mined by an independent,
external process of evalu-
ation. The program is rec-
ognized by the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Ser-
vices.
“Columbia Memorial Hos-
pital clearly demonstrates
Submitted photo
John Christie, who developed the program, leads a class of
Clatsop County sixth-graders in this 1965 photo.
and ODF employee who was
instrumental in developing
this educational opportunity
for local youth.
The Christie Family legacy
was carried on this year by vol-
unteers from private and pub-
lic natural resource agencies.
The field trip was based
on conceptual framework
developed by the Oregon
Forest Resources Institute.
The annual event is open to
sixth-graders in Clatsop and
Pacific counties.
Mini-storage: Issue returned to City Commission
times it died because no one
seconded his motion. This
year, new members on the
commission agreed with him.
Balensifer said his goal is
to set a policy that keeps the
city’s main entryways and
downtowns – both Warren-
ton’s and Hammond’s -- open
to more walkable and shop-
able retail uses.
While the Planning Com-
mission rejected the new
rule, the City Commission
can draft a less restrictive
code change or include the
restrictions as it revises the
city’s development codes in
the months and years ahead.
a commitment to quality
and patient safety,” said Dr.
Lawrence Haspel, chairman
of HFAP’s accreditation bu-
reau. “We base our decision
on the findings of an exten-
sive and thorough on-site
review.”
The accreditation is pres-
tigious, said Erik Thorsen,
CMH’s chief executive offi-
cer.
“Being an accredited hos-
pital signals to our patients
that CMH has been thor-
oughly evaluated for quality
and safety,” Thorsen said.