The Columbia Press
4
January 29, 2021
Local estuary partnership included in protection funding plan
A new law expands a pro-
gram to protect and restore
estuaries throughout the na-
tion, including the lower Co-
lumbia River.
The Protect and Restore
America’s Estuaries Act had
strong bipartisan support and
was signed into law on Jan.
13. The act reauthorizes the
National Estuary Program
and nearly doubles the annual
funding for the program.
“Estuaries are often over-
looked and undervalued,
but they are a key tool in our
work to solve the climate cri-
sis,” said Congresswoman Su-
zanne Bonamici, D-Ore. “As
co-chair of the Congressional
Estuary Caucus, … I am com-
mitted to securing additional
resources to protect our pre-
cious coastal ecosystems. I
applaud the Lower Columbia
Estuary Partnership for lead-
ing outstanding resiliency ef-
forts in the Pacific Northwest
to restore and protect habitat,
improve water quality, restore
flood plains, and address ma-
rine debris.”
Oregon and Washington
congressional leaders unan-
imously voted in support of
the bill.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley,
D-Ore., wrote the Columbia
River Basin Restoration Act.
“Estuaries provide critical
habitat for waterfowl, migrat-
ing birds, fish, and other wild-
life—all invaluable elements
of Oregon’s natural beauty,”
Merkley said. “The Columbia
River estuary, in particular,
is a local treasure, and I’m
pleased that this bill will en-
sure a robust National Estu-
ary Program will continue.”
Funding will support re-
search, restoration, water
quality, community engage-
ment, and programs to ad-
dress threats to the nation’s
estuaries.
The act also ensures na-
tional estuary programs take
climate change and extreme
weather events into account
and it expands grant eligibil-
ity for organizations working
to address stormwater runoff,
coastal resiliency, and accel-
erated land loss issues.
The National Estuary Pro-
gram was established in 1987
by amendments to the Clean
Water Act and is a program of
the U.S. Environmental Pro-
tection Agency. Twenty-eight
national estuary programs
exist across the United States,
including Lower Columbia
Estuary Partnership and Til-
lamook Estuaries Partner-
ship.
In Oregon and Washington,
the Lower Columbia Estuary
Partnership was founded in
1995 when the lower Colum-
bia River was declared an
estuary of national signifi-
cance.
A contractor works on an estu-
ary survey last year.
Crime: Walmart’s security department has led to the arrest of many shoplifters
Continued from Page 1
– a 19 percent drop that went
from 87 cases in 2019 to 70
in 2020. He expects an even
greater drop in 2021 as the
full effect of Senate Bill 110 is
felt. The new law decriminal-
izes many drug-possession
crimes.
With more people at home,
Workman said he was sur-
prised to see a small drop
in disturbance calls, rather
than an increase. However,
police answer many of those
calls at bars and other busi-
nesses. Last year, the agency
responded to 1,022 distur-
bances.
Property crimes decreased
9 percent, from 1,254 calls
in 2019 to 1,143 last year. A
property crime occurs when
someone’s belongings are
stolen or destroyed without
the use or threat of force,
such as burglary, vandalism
and arson.
Many Warrenton resi-
dents have wondered about
Walmart’s contribution to
the crime rate.
“Even before the Warrenton
Walmart opened on June 13,
2018, I would regularly get
questions on what I thought
Walmart has two parking
spots reserved for police
officers.
the store would do to our call
volume and levels,” Work-
man wrote. “My routine an-
swer would be that any large
retail store will have an effect
on the call volume and statis-
tics for my department.”
There have been an increase
in calls where Walmart stores
have opened throughout the
United States, Workman told
city commissioners.
“They do produce 33 per-
cent of all calls for the city
of Warrenton,” he said. “…
That’s huge. Fred Meyer is
not that far behind.”
Both
stores
employ
loss-prevention
personnel
Police Chief Matt Workman
and have intricate securi-
ty systems to spot and stop
shoplifters. Home Depot re-
cently established a loss-pre-
vention department at its
Warrenton store.
Workman also compared
calls between Walmart, Fred
Meyer and Costco, the city’s
three big-box stores that
had security departments
in 2018, 2019 and 2020. He
included calls that may have
been handled by other agen-
cies, including Warrenton
Fire Department, Clatsop
County Sheriff’s Office, and
Oregon State Police.
Thefts and arrests were
highest at Walmart while dis-
turbance and other types of
calls, such as fender-bend-
ers in the parking lot, were
fairly steady across the three
stores.
Last year, Walmart account-
ed for 33 percent of the city’s
theft calls, Fred Meyer had 14
percent, and Costco, which is
a members-only store, had
1 percent. For assault and
disturbance calls, Walmart
made up 6 percent of calls,
Fred Meyer had 5 percent,
and Costco had 3 percent.
At all three stores, the most
likely time for a police call
is between 6 p.m. and mid-
night. The next busiest time
is between noon and 6 p.m.
Workman also reported on
trends and changes within the
department during 2020.
Overtime was up, as officers
filled in during staff shortages.
Commissioner Rick New-
ton warned against consis-
tent use of overtime, which
in 2020 could have paid for
another full-time officer.
“Overtime is a very dan-
gerous thing. It’s like a dou-
ble-edged sword,” Newton
said. When it becomes stan-
dard practice, “any time you
reduce overtime, you can
have a morale problem be-
cause people have learned to
live on more money.”
A new practice, which began
in the middle of 2019, is use
of clearance codes to distin-
guish when a contact involves
someone who is homeless, or
physically or verbally aggres-
sive. Astoria and Seaside also
have adopted the codes.
“2020 was a very unique
year for everyone, present-
ing multiple challenges and
changes that affected all of
Warrenton’s citizens and vis-
itors,” Workman wrote in his
report.
“… (T)he men and wom-
en of the WPD persevered
through these challenges
and remained committed to
community policing by being
involved in numerous com-
munity events, all while con-
tinuing our duty to protect
and serve.”
Among the events: story
time at the library, Shop with
a Cop at Christmas, buddy
programs, Warrenton High
School’s virtual graduation
and parade, Trunk or Treat
at Halloween, and drug take-
back events.