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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 2015)
6A • December 18, 2015 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com Board selects Violets return to Clatsop Plains outside interim Violets return to lure threatened butterfly back fire leader By Dani Palmer By Katherine Lacaze Cannon Beach Gazette EO Media Group The Cannon Beach Ru- ral Fire Protection District’s neZ interiP ¿re chieI is on duty. The district’s Board oI Directors introduced -iP 6tearns oI +erPiston to the public during its regular monthly meeting. The district provides ¿re¿ghting and emergen- cy service to the commu- nities oI Cannon Beach Arch Cape and Falcon Cove. Board members in- terviewed Stearns and two other Special Districts As- sociation oI 2regon can- didates, Dale Kamrath and Doug Dawson, in Novem- ber in executive session. During a special meeting on Dec. 2, they selected Stearns. “I think he’ll be a good new addition,” Board Presi- dent Sharon Clyde said. Former ¿re chieI 0ike Balzer was dismissed in mid-2ctober due to per- sonnel issues and Assistant ChieI Frank Swedenborg has covered his post since. Stearns is working with Swedenborg, who is ready to retire and not looking to ¿ll in permanently, to tran- sition into the role. Stearns spent 31 years — 2 as chieI — with +erm- iston Fire and Emergency Services. +e has served on the state’s wild¿re manage- ment team, perIorming as incident commander at one point, and been on a Iederal interagency wild¿re team that primarily covered the Western states. +e has also volunteered Ior the Sumpter 9olunteer Fire Department, where he owns a cabin. “I retired and didn’t take to retirement well,” he said. Cannon Beach is Stea- rns’ third interim gig since he began working Ior the Special Districts Associ- C/ATS2P P/AINS — About 9,000 early blue violet seedlings, native to the region, Iound a new home — or rather, returned to home — at sites across Clatsop Plains, assisted by volunteers Irom local com- munities who helped the North Coast Land Conser- vancy during the organiza- tion’s two-day violet plant- ing event Nov. 20 and 21. Planting the Àower seed- lings was the latest chap- ter in the conservancy’s decadelong quest to restore a prairie habitat on the Clat- sop Plains and Long Beach (Wash.) Peninsula that will bring back a robust 2regon silverspot butterÀy popu- lation, which is listed as threatened under the En- dangered Species Act. The diet oI the butterÀy larvae consists entirely oI dried violet stems and leaves. There to get the violets into the ground were near- ly 90 volunteers, including about 20 students Irom Sea- side +igh School’s Nation- al +onor Society and art oI ethnobotany classes. Com- munity members joined in Irom as Iar away as New- port and Lincoln City, with only a Iew repeat volun- teers between the two days. “The Iortunate weather certainly Iavored our high turnout,” Stewardship Di- rector 0elissa Reich said. JIM STEARNS ation oI 2regon. +e most recently served as Wash- ington County Fire District 2’s interim chieI Ior six months. +e will likely be in Can- non Beach Ior halI a year, as well. Stearns is staying in the Cannon Beach R9 Resort. +is wiIe, Becky, is a re- tired school teacher who’s splitting her time between Cannon Beach and +erm- iston. They have a daughter in 0edIord and two sons in the Seattle area. Stearns said he is “anx- ious to meet Iolks in the community” and encourag- es residents to stop by and visit. When he interviewed Ior the position there were volunteer ¿re¿ghters in at- tendance along with board members. “It seemed clear to me everyone wanted to Iocus on the community and the department being an active part oI that community,” he said. “That’s what I like to see and do.” There has been some community opposition to Balzer’s termination. Resi- dents expressed disappoint- ment in the board’s han- dling oI the situation during its November meeting. Stearns said his outlook is to “start Irom today and move Iorward.” +e and the Special Dis- tricts Association oI 2regon will assist in the search Ior a permanent Cannon Beach Fire and Rescue leader. KATHERINE LACAZE/SEASIDE SIGNAL North Coast Land Conservancy Associate Director Jon Wickersham (left) oversees volun- teers from Seaside High School who helped plant more than 10,000 early blue violets on the Clatsop Plains. Using native plants The early blue violet shoots were developed Irom seeds collected since 2006 at Camp Rilea and elsewhere on Clatsop Plains. From there, seeds were taken to the Natural Resources Con- servation Service’s Plant 0aterials Center in Corval- lis to be planted. When the seed pods reached maturi- ty, the center gathered the Àowers’ scattered seed to make a stock oI more than 16,000 seeds. “We keep the seed Irom the diIIerent regions sepa- rate because the habitat and conditions are diIIerent,” Reich said. “2ur violets need to thrive in very san- dy soils and coexist with all the other native dune prai- rie plants in the area.” In 201, a bag oI Corval- lis-grown violet seeds was sent to the North Coast Resto- ration Partnership’s temporary native plant nursery in Tilla- mook. A group oI young men Irom Camp Tillamook, an 2r- egon <outh Authority Iacility, ¿lled thousands oI plastic plug containers with seeds. The seedlings spent most oI 201 and the winter oI 2015 at the nursery, where they were exposed once again to the coastal envi- ronment. In -uly, the con- servancy collected thou- sands oI the burgeoning shoots and brought them back to the organization’s Circle Creek property near Seaside to continue matur- ing in time Ior Iall planting. 2n Clatsop Plains, ap- proximately 9,000 violets were placed at two sites owned by the land conser- vancy — Neacoxie Forest and Reed Ranch — and one site owned by the Nation- al Park Service — -ohn B. Yeon Scenic Corridor. The conservancy is planting the violets into plots treat- ed last Iall by an excavator that removed topsoil. “We waited a year aIter the treatment to give the little violets an extra year to grow and develop their roots,” Reich said. 2verall, the group had about 16,000 violets. The remainder were planted at the conservancy’s SurI Pines property and are go- ing to be planted later at the Willapa National WildliIe ReIuge on the Long Beach Peninsula, Reich said. PUBLIC MEETINGS Tuesday, Dec. 22 Monday, Jan. 19 Cannon Beach Public Works Committee, 9 a.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Seaside School District, 6 p.m., 1801 S. Franklin St. Monday, Jan. 11 Monday, Feb. 8 Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protec- tion District Board of Directors Meeting, 6 p.m., 188 W. 2nd St. Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protec- tion District Board of Directors Meeting, 6 p.m., 188 W. 2nd St. Monday, Feb. 16 1801 S. Franklin St. Seaside School District, 6 p.m., 1801 S. Franklin St. Monday, May 17 Monday, March 15 Seaside School District, 6 p.m., 1801 S. Franklin St. Seaside School District, 6 p.m., 1801 S. Franklin St. Monday, April 19 Seaside School District, 6 p.m., Monday, June 21 Seaside School District, 6 p.m., 1801 S. 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