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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 2016)
August 5, 2016 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 7A North Coast Land Conservancy acquires Boneyard Ridge property New college president mingles, talks priorities Breitmeyer’s focus is on enrollment By Edward Stratton EO Media Group SUBMITTED PHOTO Conservationists have acquired Boneyard Ridge on Tillamook Head. By Lyra Fontaine EO Media Group North Coast Land Con- servancy will permanently conserve Boneyard Ridge, a former commercial tree farm on Tillamook Head, with the goal of helping the property mature into a high-function- ing temperate rainforest. The nonproit organization inalized the $1.3 million ac- quisition of the 340-acre par- cel July 27. The land is adjacent to El- mer Feldenheimer State Natu- ral Area and Ecola State Park and west of the land conser- vancy’s Circle Creek Habitat Reserve in the Necanicum River loodplain west of U.S. Highway 101. “The whole ecosystem gets to lourish when you have that scale and connectivity,” North Coast Land Conservancy Ex- ecutive Director Katie Voelke said. “It’s one of those spots in the world where a small purchase makes a huge differ- ence.” Katie Voelke By linking 3,500 acres of conserved areas, Boneyard Ridge — which encompasses an entire watershed — creates a habitat corridor, connecting wildlife populations separat- ed by human activities. “The way we will manage it, the trees will get bigger and older and there will be a great- er diversity within the forest understory,” Voelke said. After decades of commer- cial logging, the property’s current forest has trees from 10 to 60 years old, Voelke said. The land conservancy plans to take “stewardship ac- tions that lead to an old, com- plex rainforest” where native plants and animals can thrive. Boneyard Ridge is home to 2 miles of salmon-bearing streams, amphibians such as red-legged frogs and Colum- bia torrent salamanders, and mammals that include black bears and elk. About 90 bird species — including pileated woodpeckers, olive-sided ly- catchers, bald eagles and ru- fous hummingbirds — live or make a migration stopover at Boneyard Ridge. Wildlife species at Ecola State Park, including black bears and lying squirrels, could use the Boneyard Ridge habitat as well. The purchase was funded with a $524,000 grant from the Oregon Watershed En- hancement Board, $500,000 from an anonymous donor, and contributions from more than 120 additional donors. North Coast Land Conser- vancy has worked to conserve Boneyard Ridge in partner- ship with Lewis and Clark Timberlands since 2011. In March, North Coast Land Conservancy signed a purchase and sales agree- ment with GreenWood Re- sources and had raised $1.1 million. Since then, they have raised the last $200,000 need- ed to make the purchase. Voelke emphasized the land’s accessibility — one can see it driving on Highway 101. Within the next few years, the land conservancy will work to create a system of trails. “We’re really excited about being able provide trails and recreation so close to town for residents,” Voelke said. “We feel like this can be a new, super special place for people who call it home … This is something we all get to have now forever.” Laundry Love: Contributing ‘in some small way’ Laundry from Page 1A Every second Saturday of the month, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Laundromat on South Roosevelt Drive, the group will fund two loads of laundry per household. “This is an honor for us to contribute in some small way to those needing help,” Smith- Yates said. Each monthly event also features snacks, like hotdogs and cocoa; children’s activi- ties; books and magazines for people to take for free; and information on employment opportunities and community programs. Usually 18 to 22 families – a mixture of return- ing attendees and new faces – come to Laundry Love each month, Smith-Yates said. In October last year, the group collected donations of winter clothes for a clothing drive in November, which was attended by about 30 families. Leftover clothes were donated to the South Clatsop County Food Bank. In the future, Smith-Yates hopes to see the program continue growing and mor- phing to serve more of peo- ple’s needs. For instance, she would like to start distributing small bags of toothpaste, soap and other hygiene items each month. Simply paying for the laundry is an expensive endeavor, though, and the outreach is entirely funded from donations and sustained through volunteer work. “We get inancial support just from different people who give toward it, and they’re from all over the country,” she said. A place for people to come When the couple started Seaside’s Laundry Love chap- ter, they knew it was important in terms of addressing people’s health and hygiene concerns and lessening at least one i- nancial burden. What Smith- Yates didn’t expect is what else would blossom from the program. She and other volun- teers have built relationships with the people who come in and learned their stories. “We ind out people’s names, where they’re from and make ourselves available to them,” she said. “It’s just one of the best parts of doing Laundry Love. … I wasn’t prepared for nor did I think that would be something that was beneicial.” People’s reasons for need- ing the service vary. One wom- an came in with garbage bags full of her recently deceased Christopher Breitmeyer stood on the second loor of Fort George Brewery recent- ly, sometimes a pint in hand, and talked with the elected oficials, business leaders, educators and other luminar- ies who had come to meet the new president of Clatsop Community College. Breitmeyer, after less than a month since moving from St. Louis, said he is still learn- ing the college and communi- ty, but already enamored. “That’s one of the things that attracted me, is that I can get to be a part of the commu- nity and make a difference,” he said. Breitmeyer, 49, was hired by the college’s board unan- imously in April. Shortly before the Fourth of July, he arrived from St. Charles Community College north- west of St. Louis, where he was vice president of aca- demic and student affairs since 2012, and the college’s dean of math, science and health since 2008. A native of Illinois, Bre- itmeyer earned a bachelor’s in biology education. While both his parents attended community college, his irst introduction was after grad- uate school at Arizona State University, where he earned a master’s in zoology. After graduation, he spent a de- cade as a science teacher at Yavapai College in central Arizona. His wife, Alana, who helps teach other instructors to work online at St. Charles, is staying until next spring to earn a better retirement pack- age, along with his daugh- ter, Sophie, a junior in high school hoping to graduate early before moving to Asto- ria and enrolling in college in the Paciic Northwest. He de- scribed himself as a scientist, his wife as a mathematician and his daughter as an artist. Breitmeyer, who can sometimes be seen around town walking his rescue dog Maize, said he is settling into town, exploring, house-hunt- DANNY MILLER / EO MEDIA GROUP Christopher Breitmeyer, the new president of Clatsop Community College, chats with community members during a public meet-and- greet in July. ing and learning the state of the college. Getting to work “I think the irst thing we need to do is make a plan to start a strategic plan, and I can’t do that without know- ing what’s going on … so we can chart the next ive years of the institution,” he said. “Like anything else, you’ve got to know where you’re going, or else you’re just go- ing to wander around, and we don’t have the luxury of resources that allow us to not be focused and know what we’re doing.” Breitmeyer said he is por- ing over past budgets, plan- ning documents and other information to learn the state of the college. His top long-term priority is increasing enrollment at the college, which recorded less than a 1 percent drop in full-time equivalent students from the last academic year. At his irst college board meeting earlier this month, Breitmeyer said the college is already doing better than the national average, which is seeing 5 to 6 percent drops in enrollment. As he learns about the college, Breitmeyer is trying to ind a new second-in-com- mand. Donna Larson, the former vice president of ac- ademic and student affairs, left for a dean’s position at Clackamas Community Col- lege shortly before he arrived. He said the college al- ready has about 30 applicants for the position, open through the end of the month. Caught in an odd season for hiring, Breitmeyer said the college will likely offer a candidate the job in October. FEMA to discuss revised lood hazard zones SUBMITTED PHOTO The Laundry Love program puts on events each month at the Laundromat on South Roosevelt Drive. People can attend and have a couple loads of laundry done for free. husband’s clothes. She want- ed to get them washed so she could donate them to Good- will as part of her grieving and healing process. At other times, transients have brought in their clothing or bedding after it got dirty from being stored out- doors. No one is turned away. Christy Bozarth, who moved to Seaside nine months ago and has volunteered with Laundry Love a couple times, said there is more to caring for people than just utter- ing the words. Saying “God bless you” to a person who is hungry or has been wearing the same set of clothes for a month does not help them or meet their physical needs. In- stead of just professing gen- uine empathy, Bozarth said, Laundry Love “is one way of showing it.” The next Laundry Love will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 13. To learn more about the organization, visit laundrylove.org or the Face- book page for At the Water’s Gate. The City of Seaside is host- ing an open house Aug. 15, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Seaside Convention Center so FEMA representatives can provide information and answer ques- tions about revisions to lood insurance rate maps. FEMA has revised lood hazard zones within Clatsop County along Clatsop County coastlines. These revisions relect up- dated information and recent engineering studies. Revised maps for these areas are available for public review and comment. These maps will help community oficials and local residents identify lood risks and, once adopted, will be used for lood insurance, land use and devel- opment decisions. Property owners are en- couraged to review the re- vised lood maps. They are available at City Ofices. If you would like a custom lood map for your property, you are encouraged to contact your city planner. Maps will be available for pickup at the open house. The process for providing comments or requesting a map change will be discussed at the August 15th open house. More information is avail- able by calling the FEMA Map Information Exchange 877- 336-2627 or atmsc.fema.gov. Seaside Art Walk kicks off Aug. 6 The Seaside First Saturday Art Walk on Aug. 6 is all about visual arts. From 5-7 p.m. visitors can meet artists, sip wine or snag the better appetizers by fa- vorite restaurants or personal chefs, view an artist demon- stration, listen to an art lecture or enjoy live performances in music. The Art Walk, in its 14th year, is a walk in the histor- ic Gilbert District located be- tween Holladay and Broadway. Dedicated parking is to be found on the corner of Ocean- way and Holladay. Bonamici, Cannon Beach oficials meet to discuss tsunami early warning systems Visit from Page 1A hot-button issues, including educa- tion, housing, seniors, jobs and health- care, improving emergency warning systems on the north Oregon coast was the primary focus of her visit. Bonamici and Cannon Beach public oficials met to discuss tsuna- mi early warning systems and how to best communicate emergencies to residents. “Cannon Beach is a great exam- ple,” Bonamici said. “I really like the creative solution of having peo- ple store their things out of the tsu- nami zone. I appreciate the partner- ships and the local, state and federal folks working together because we want people to be prepared and we don’t want to discourage people from coming over to the coast.” Leland O’Driscoll, University of Oregon earthquake project manag- er and seismic ield technician, ex- plained the early warning system used to detect earthquakes’ size and magnitude through a network of seis- mic sensors. This system would be more avail- able by 2018, O’Driscoll said. The group also listened to the “mooing cows” emergency test warn- ing system, spearheaded by former Cannon Beach ire board president Al Aya. “It’s really fun to go down- town on a day like today,” ire board director Garry Smith said. “We turned it into a marketing tool rather than fear,” Public Works Director Dan Grassick said. “Our next phase is to take a serious look at survival and where we will put people post-tsunami.” Bonamici said she is still work- ing to get the Tsunami Warning, Ed- ucation and Research Act “over the inish line.” Currently, Cannon Beach has eight sirens, but the ire board even- tually hopes to install more alarms in the southern end of Cannon Beach and Arch Cape. “It took us a long time to con- vince people, don’t be scared,” said Cannon Beach Mayor Sam Steidel. “Be educated.” LYRA FONTAINE/EO MEDIA GROUP U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici was in Cannon Beach Tuesday to learn about that communi- ty’s tsunami early warning system.