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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (June 29, 2018)
June 29, 2018 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 7A Forest from the trees Conversation focuses on peoples’ relationship to forests Mariah Acton “Seeing the Forest for the Trees: Stewarding Our Public Lands,” a lecture by Mariah Acton, at the Cannon Beach Museum and History Center. By Nancy McCarthy For the Cannon Beach Gazette FLOORING CCB# 205283 y ou ou r r w ep alk ut o at n io n CANNON BEACH MUSEUM AND HISTORY CENTER In Oregon, where the issue of forest management is a hot topic, Mariah Acton asks a personal question: What does the forest mean to you? Acton, a former social sci- ence researcher for the U.S. Forest Service, recently led a conversation about the future of forest management with a group at the Cannon Beach History Center. She is study- ing for her master’s degree in conflict resolution at the Uni- versity of Oregon and works as a mediator for the state Housing and Community Ser- vices Department. “I noticed no one was talking about their own identi- ties as people living in the for- est, as third-generation timber families, or as environmental- ists or just speaking from their own values. I just felt this was a big part of the conversation that was missing,” Acton said. As part of a program spon- sored by Oregon Humanities, Acton has traveled throughout the state to talk about what public forests mean to Orego- nians. “Every community has a different relationship to the land that surrounds them,” she said. “This is a chance to explore those values and perspectives, the chance to be heard, to hear others and to reflect.” While most of the 15 par- ticipants lived in Cannon Beach, others were visiting from surrounding communi- ties. When Acton asked what forests meant to them, they cited the forests’ importance for recreation, sustaining watersheds and their connec- tion to the eco-system. Some participants talked about the beauty, solitude and peace forests gave to them and the need to protect them for future generations. “When I look at a forest, I think of life,” said Jan Sie- bert-Wahrmund. Clatsop County Commis- sioner Lianne Thompson, who also was among the par- ticipants, noted that she lived in a forest clearing in Falcon Cove. “Forests mean to me a place that I love, that I’m devoted to,” Thompson said. “But as a public figure, my job is to create a moderate middle where there’s a balance be- tween what John Muir called economic development and conservation; they go hand- in-hand.” “In Oregon, our forests mean a lot of different things,” Acton said. “We have a timber industry that is the economic driver of our state settling; there’s no way around that. The economics part of it con- tinues to fuel a lot of our com- munities across the state.” Forests also draw visitors, Acton noted. “People come here for nature, for finding the peace, the tranquility and the beauty of those trees when they’re standing upright.” Half of the 63 million acres in Oregon is in forests, Acton said. “We have lots of differ- ent forests across our state, so when we talk about different types of forest policies, we’re talking about lots of different types of trees,” she added. In eastern Oregon, conver- sations about forest manage- ment are different, she said. “They have to cut down a lot more trees to get the board footage to fuel their schools (economically) than over here. It’s different environ- mentalism, it’s different eco- nomics.” In addition, the type of ownership varies from region to region in Oregon. While federal ownership predom- inates on the east side, state forests are more common on the west side, she said. With the variations of ownership – city, state, federal, Bureau of Land Management, private holdings – come variations in management policies. “We can’t talk about forest policy as a monolithic; there’s a lot of different nuance there,” she said. Policies also change with time. Acton talked about the influence of two early conser- vationists: John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club, who sought preservation of forest land, and Gifford Pinchot, founder of the U.S. Forest Service, who promoted sustainable use of the forest. Acton asked participants to consider where they place themselves along the spec- trum of conservationism and utilitarianism. Thompson said she kept moving between “loving the planet” and taking care of “disenfranchised people who don’t have any way of earning a living.” “I see people with ade- quate and stable incomes say- ing I want to have only park land and we shouldn’t cut any trees and the money should magically come from some- where. Tourism creates air pollution and traffic and the load on fresh water and waste- water,” Thompson said. But Betsy Ayres, of Cannon Beach, noted that automation is taking away timber-related jobs. She said government’s priority should be to conserve natural resources. “I personally don’t feel like we are managing those in perpetuity. I think we’re still stealing from our chil- dren’s children for a profit,” said Ayres, who would like to see more of the corpora- tion-owned forests owned by families. At the end of the gathering, Acton challenged the group to continue the discussion. “Anyone can start these conversations,” she said. “In this world of hyper polariza- tion, we’re afraid to talk to our neighbor these days. Be willing to start these conver- sations.” Remembering the USS Shark USS Shark from Page 1A Annie Von Domitz, of the Oregon Travel Experience, supervised the renovation of the historic marker, in the style of the state’s his- toric wooden beaver markers. Arch Cape resi- dent John Piatt played a key role in working on the text and drafts, with historical support from Trucke and Jeff Smith, senior curator of the Co- lumbia River Maritime Museum. The postmortem is as fascinating as the Shark’s career in the waters. Long after it ran aground, the search for the ship’s three carronades — small, pow- erful cannons used to fire at ships at near range — be- came a local obsession. “For decades, the can- non played peekaboo,” Trucke said. One was found in 1896. Two others were discovered a day apart more than a cen- tury later, in 2008, revealed R.J. MARX by extreme low tides and Annie Von Domitz of the the natural loss of beach Oregon Travel Experience sand due to winter storms. at the ribbon-cutting of a Piatt recalled: “The sand new historic marker along was way out and a girl and U.S. Highway 101 in Arch her dad were out walking Cape. and she said, ‘This looks like a cannon!’ A couple of days later someone found the third cannon right near there.” The restoration of the three carronades became a community project, with the assis- tance of the Garden Club, the Arch Cape Community Club, Historic Markers Com- mittee, the Cannon Beach History Center and Museum and the Co- lumbia River Mari- time Museum. Funds were raised and the carronades were restored at the marine archaeology department of Texas A&M University before returning to the North Coast. Today, a replica stands at the site of the historic marker. One carronade stands at the history center and two are on exhibit at the Columbia River Maritime Museum. 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Audubon in 1831 to collect research specimens. The Shark was the first U.S. ship to navigate the Strait of Magellan in 1833 en route to Peru. According to the “Arch Cape Chronicles,” by David and Alma English, in the summer of 1846 Lt. Neil N. Howison received orders to carry supplies from Honolulu in readiness to ascend the Columbia River as far as the Willa- mette. Their reports would assist in formulating a decision on the location of the boundary be- tween England and the American lands. Amer- icans wanted the board to be 54 degrees, 40 minutes latitude, the reason for Polk’s slogan, “54-40 or fight,” immortalized in history books. But due to a lag in communications, crew members were unaware that the U.S. Senate had already ratified a treaty with Britain mak- ing the U.S. border the 49th parallel, render- ing the journey unnecessary. Some of the ship deserted, but the lieutenant in command was “impatient, naive and somewhat impetuous” in seeking his return south. 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