DECEMBER 2, 2016 • VOL. 40, ISSUE 25
WWW.CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM
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South County clash over Oregon timber lawsuit
Former mayor
wants county to
say no to joining
By Lyra Fontaine
Cannon Beach Gazette
Former Cannon Beach
Mayor Mike Morgan wants
the City Council to encourage
Cannon
Beach
awaits fi rst
pot retailer
Retail ban is
defeated by
only 10 votes
By R.J. Marx
Cannon Beach Gazette
Inquiries yes, but appli-
cations have yet to be fi led
in Cannon Beach for a retail
cannabis outlet.
Voters knocked down a re-
tail cannabis prohibition at the
polls on Election Day. By vot-
ing “no” to prohibition, they
green-lighted the retail licens-
ing of cannabis dispensaries
in Cannon Beach. The vote
was 446 against prohibition
and 436 in its favor.
Cannon Beach voters also
approved a 3 percent local
tax on recreational marijuana
sales to support public safety.
City Recorder Colleen
Riggs said there were no retail
license applications fi led yet,
but she had received calls for
information.
Applications would be
fi led through the Planning
Department, “which would
determine whether or not it
meets the intent of the zon-
ing,” City Manager Brant
Kucera said, followed by a
land-use compatibility pro-
cess.
The Cannon Beach City
Council voted in July to re-
strict marijuana sales to three
separate commercial zones.
Under the ordinance, retailers
could operate downtown from
Ecola Creek south to Wash-
ington Street, midtown from
Harrison Street south to Elliot
Way and in Tolovana Park
from Delta Street south to the
Sandcastle Condominiums.
In 2014, marijuana-legal-
ization Measure 91 passed
with 63 percent of the vote
in Cannon Beach. In July, a
group of residents gathered
155 certifi ed signatures and
successfully brought forth
Measure 4-179, asking vot-
ers whether recreational sales
should be banned.
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
See Pot, Page 3A
Mike
Morgan
Lianne
Th ompson
the Clatsop C ounty Board of
Commissioners to opt out of
a $1.4 billion lawsuit against
the state over timber revenue .
Morgan also plans to ap-
proach Seaside and Gearhart
with resolutions against coun-
ty involvement in the lawsuit.
The class action suit, fi led
by Linn County on behalf of
15 counties, including Clat-
sop, claims the state has not
maximized revenue from tim-
ber harvests on land it manag-
es for the counties.
“From an environmental
standpoint, I think it’s un-
wise,” Morgan said.
Morgan’s draft resolution
states that the lawsuit, if suc-
cessful, “could undo the exist-
ing forest management plan,
with the intent of permitting
more intensive timber harvest-
ing to generate additional reve-
nue for taxing districts.”
The Northwest Oregon
State Forest Management Plan
is based on structure-based
management, which is de-
signed to “produce and main-
tain an array of forest stand
structures across the land-
scape” that provide social,
economic and environmental
benefi ts.
It was adopted in 2010 after
a public involvement process
and two scientifi c reviews.
“An adopted plan is a
plan,” Morgan said. “It’s
not just a negotiating tool. It
should be taken seriously.”
Morgan served as mayor
when Cannon Beach acquired
a parcel from the state Depart-
ment of Forestry that added
800 acres to the Ecola Creek
Forest Reserve.
See Timber, Page 9A
COASTAL EDGE
Conservancy group signs a deal to buy 3,300 acres on the North Coast
By R.J. Marx
Cannon Beach Gazette
W
hat could be the largest private land preserva-
tion deal in western Oregon was signed Friday,
Nov. 18.
The Seaside-based North Coast Land Conser-
vancy and private investment equity fi rm Onion Peak Hold-
ings took the fi rst steps toward the acquisition of 3,300 acres
of timberland from Stimson Lumber Co . as the conservancy
raises funds to meet the costs over a fi ve-year period.
For the purchase price, “We’re looking somewhere about
$10 million,” Jon Wickersham, board president of the North
Coast Land Conservancy, said .
Conservancy Executive Director Katie Voelke called the
deal a “monumental act of preservation.”
The property is in the heart of what the conservancy char-
acterizes as the “Coastal Edge,” an area between Tillamook
Head and Nehalem Bay.
Together with Oswald West State Park and Cape Falcon
Marine Reserve, the acquisition would create a conservation
corridor of more than 29 square miles linking land and sea.
According to the conservancy, the property will be the fi rst
place in Oregon, and one of the few in the world, where an
entire coastal watershed is permanently conserved from the
headwaters to the ocean. The purchase would mark the larg-
est single private acquisition of land for conservation in west-
ern Oregon.
The property is part of 5,000 acres sold by Stimson, which
has owned the property since 2004, to Onion Peak Holdings.
The agreement gives the North Coast Land Conservancy an
opportunity to arrange funds from public agencies and pri-
vate donations to acquire the property in phases within the
next fi ve years.
The conservancy intends to transition the property to
long-term, local, conservation-oriented ownership and man-
agement. In the interim, the property will be managed by
Ecotrust Forest Management on behalf of Onion Peak Hold-
ings. During this period Onion Peak Holdings and the conser-
vancy will collaborate on a management plan to return the
forest to late old -growth conditions. The land will be man-
aged with a recreation component, allowing people to enjoy
the property while protecting the sensitivity of the site.
If the conservancy can’t raise the funds to buy the land ,
there is a “high probability” that the property would be re-
turned to an industrial timber farm.
If the sale is completed, Stimson will reinvest the funds raised
from the sale in other timberlands in Oregon and other regions.
Scott Gray, Stimson’s director of w estern r esources, said in
a statement that the lumber company was “compelled by the
uniqueness of the property and the Coastal Edge vision and
the potential long-term benefi t to the public through the re-
alization of this vision.”
NORTH COAST LAND CONSERVANCY
Onion Peak may become part of North Coast Land Conservancy’s “Coastal Edge” vision of the coast.
Defi ning the region’s artistic vision
Behind the scenes of the
Portland Art Museum
By Lyra Fontaine
Cannon Beach Gazette
Understanding the Northwest arts scene is a
lifetime study. Few are more at the center than
Bonnie Laing-Malcolmson.
In 2010, she became the Portland Art Muse-
um’s c urator of Northwest a rt, where she was re-
sponsible for curating and building the museum’s
collection of regional art from the late 19th centu-
ry to the present. She presented exhibitions and a
biennial group show by artists in Idaho, Montana,
Oregon, Washington state and Wyoming.
“Everything I did really prepared me for work-
ing with artists in the Northwest,” she said.
The Cannon Beach Arts Association’s “Art-
ists Talk” series kicked off this month with a talk
from Laing-Malcolmson . The recently retired arts
professional answered questions from audience
members about curating shows, unique museums
and her background.
Laing-Malcolmson grew up in Seattle among
Northwest art, taking art classes and frequenting
the Seattle Art Museum and galleries. After learn-
ing that she could study with artists she admired
at the Pacifi c Northwest College of Art, former-
ly located at the Portland Art Museum, she en-
rolled and began studying sculpture and painting
in 1970.
“It was really interesting going to school and
learning about the insider art scene in Portland,”
she said. “It was an interesting time being a wom-
an going to art school because it was still pretty
sexist.”
After leaving school, Laing-Malcolmson spent
time on the Oregon C oast. Back in Portland, she
formed a house-painting business with other art-
ists. Then she wound up back at the Pacifi c North-
west College of Art, this time as director of aca-
demic affairs and admissions.
“That was my fi rst arts administration job, and
I really enjoyed it,” she said.
See Curator, Page 7A
LYRA FONTAINE
Bonnie Laing-Malcolmson, former Curator of
Northwest Art at the Portland Art Museum, dis-
cussed her work and answered questions at the
Cannon Beach Arts Association’s Creative Coast
Project Space.