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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 2020)
The Columbia Press August 7, 2020 5 Conservancy plans to repair Tillamook estuary Tillamook Mayor Suzanne Weber and other residents plant a peace tree in Carnahan Park on Fifth Street in Tillamook. County’s ‘peace tree’ represents strength after devastation Trees do plenty of good things, including helping to clean the air. But one tree in Clatsop County stands for peace. This week marks the 75th anniversary of the atom bombing of Hiroshima, which will soon be followed by the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. The county’s peace tree, a gingko planted in Sea- side’s Cartwright Park, 1942 S. Franklin St., stands as a reminder that countries can heal from devastating wounds. Oregon has 45 peace trees, one of the largest plantings of Hiroshima-origin peace trees outside of Japan. Hiroshima survivor Hideko Tamura-Snider of Medford is co-founder of One Sunny Day Initiatives. Launched in 2017, her hope was to bring the beautiful shade trees, which have re- bounded in her native coun- try, to her adopted state. Tamura-Snider has been working with Michael Oxen- dine, an Oregon Community Trees board member, to ob- tain and grow the seeds. The seeds come from Green Leg- acy Hiroshima, which col- lects them from trees known to have survived the 1945 bombing. In addition to gingko, the group is growing and plant- ing Asian persimmon trees. The peace trees have been planted across the United States and in 36 countries around the world. The Tillamook Bay Estuary could look and act very differ- ent soon, a conservation group says. North Coast Land Conser- vancy, which is based in Sea- side, purchased 73 acres of wetlands south of Tillamook last year. The purchase is the first step in a proposed resto- ration of the tidal floodplain along the Tillamook River. Restoration of Tillamook River Wetlands, a collabora- tion between the conservancy and Tillamook Estuaries Part- nership, will complement sim- ilar projects already under way on the Miami, Kilchis, Trask and Wilson rivers. “With this acquisition, and the restoration we’re plan- ning, all five major rivers that enter Tillamook Bay Estuary will have seen major progress in restoring wetland salm- on-rearing habitat.” said Jon Wickersham, the conservan- cy’s associate director. Many animals depend on the availability of tidal wetlands to complete their life cycle. But much of it on the Oregon Coast has been converted to agricul- ture and other development. Activities such as levee con- struction, diking, draining, and filling have altered or elim- inated 85 percent of Tillamook Bay’s once-expansive tidal wetlands. It’s led to a decline Wetlands on the Tillamook River. in the population of many spe- cies, including the threatened Oregon Coast coho salmon. The agency and its partner plan to allow the Tillamook River to return to a large area of its historic floodplain. Cur- rently, the property is separat- ed from the Tillamook River by a berm and four tide gates. By reconnecting the wet- land to the river, the project will restore habitat complexity critical to healthy salmon and trout populations and other wetlands-dependent species, the group contends. The property has historically been used for agriculture but has not been actively hayed or used for grazing for more than a decade. It was purchased from Til- lamook Shooters Association, which retained 17 upland acres for possible use as a firearms safety range. The acquisition was funded, in part, with grants from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the Oregon Watershed Enhance- ment Board.