Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 2019)
T he C olumbia P ress December 27, 2019 Clatsop’s 2019 timber share: $19.6 million Clatsop County’s state forest lands contributed $19.6 million toward pub- lic services in 2019, ac- cording to a new report. The report, released by Oregon Department of Forestry, was issued to the 15 state forest trust land counties, which includes Clatsop. The forest trust counties receive revenue generated by timber sales on the state forest land within their boundaries. The Clatsop State Forest consists of 147,000 acres (although a small portion of it is in Tillamook and Columbia counties). County government and entities receiving reve- nue include Clatsop Care Health District, Clatsop Community College, Jew- ell School District, Rural Law Enforcement District, Port of Astoria and numer- ous other providers of fire protection, public transit and other services. The annual report in- cludes a recap of timber sales and revenue distri- bution, conservation and forest health activities, and recreation use, in- cluding popularity and number of visitors. Statewide, counties and local governments re- ceived a record $86.9 mil- lion in revenue. The state agency replant- ed 3.1 million trees and hosted 40,000 campers at ODF campgrounds. “ODF manages these healthy working forests for a balance of benefits over time for all Oregonians, and we’re proud of the accomplishments that this report highlights,” State Forester Peter Daugherty said. b y the nuMbers • Clatsop State Forest pro- tects 373 miles of fish-bear- ing streams and 959 miles of non-fish bearing streams. • The state harvested 297 million board feet of timber. • ODF restored 2.3 miles of fish access and removed six fish barriers. • The state maintained 339 miles of trail. • More than 53,500 people visited ODF’s Tillamook For- est Center. Conservation group makes way for future forests Fifteen men armed with chainsaws climbed into pick- up trucks at daybreak last month and drove up a gravel road on Tillamook Head. By day’s end, they would cut a lot of trees on Boneyard Ridge. Yet the project begun that morning will help trees grow to a ripe old age — ul- timately becoming part of a mature temperate rainforest of the kind that once char- acterized the iconic coastal headland. Boneyard Ridge is a 340- acre habitat reserve acquired by North Coast Land Con- servancy in 2016. It sits be- tween state park land along the shoreline and NCLC’s own Circle Creek Conserva- tion Center at the south end of Seaside. The forest is all second growth, and one 85-acre por- tion, densely planted with now 20-year-old hemlock and spruce trees, needed to be thinned to improve forest health. By the time the thin- ning project was completed 3 Students can ride for free Sunset Empire Trans- be experienced in using portation District will public transportation be- provide fare-free student fore they leave home,” Ha- transportation in Clatsop zen said. Some of the grants the County beginning Jan. 6. All students in kin- district receives are based dergarten through high on ridership, so the addi- tional passengers school can ride for also could help with free on all routes in those grants. the county. “We are hopeful Some of the fund- that this fare-free ing the district program will re- receives requires duce the barriers that 1 percent be that some students dedicated to trans- face when wanting portation for high to participate in all school students, Hazen school activities.” He Executive Director said. Jeff Hazen said. The transit agency will “We want to do more than that and extend the work with the schools to fare-free service to grades get the message out to stu- kindergarten through 12 dents and parents about because, someday, these the new program. kids will graduate and For more information, some will be going to col- contact Hazen at jeff@ride- lege and they will already thebus.org or 503-861-5399. A habitat pile left in the cleared woods to benefit birds, sala- manders and other forest critters. Courtesy NCLC 10 days later, the forest was about a third as dense, about 630 trees per acre was cut to 220. The thinned trees were left on the ground, and some were arranged in “habitat piles” mimicking large downed wood. Amphibians such as the gi- ant Pacific salamander and red-legged frog can find the kind of damp, dark shelter they need, and birds rang- ing from pileated woodpeck- ers and mountain quail can perch and survey the forest as they forage. As the habitat piles age, the wood will decompose, enrich- ing the forest soil. A couple of large gaps were left in every acre of thinned forest so NCLC can plant western red cedar and big-leaf maple in an effort to restore the species diversity that his- torically characterized the for- est on Tillamook Head. “We are pioneering tech- niques that we may be able to use in the proposed Rainforest Reserve,” said Melissa Reich, NCLC stewardship director. Looking for an investment? Warrenton UPS Store’s owners are retiring and it’s for sale. Location and all contracts and leases to carry over to new owners. To learn more, call Cindy at 503-791- 3972 or D.B. at 503-741-5977.