Friday, April 2, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A3
Fire protection options under debate for forest reserve
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
CANNON BEACH —
The arrow on a fi re danger
sign in Ecola Creek For-
est Reserve rests dead cen-
ter on a green wedge labeled
“low.” But a debate is sim-
mering about how best to
protect the forested acres
that shelter the city’s pri-
mary water source as the
threat of catastrophic wild-
fi res in Oregon seems to
grow each year.
City emergency manage-
ment staff and the rural fi re
protection district are push-
ing for improvements to
roads in the reserve. Right
now, they say, the roads are
in need of repair and options
are limited if they have
to respond to a fi re. How-
ever, in a draft update of the
reserve’s management plan,
the city’s Parks and Com-
munity Services Commit-
tee recommends minimal to
no road enhancement. They,
along with some city coun-
cilors, worry that improved
access will only invite more
people to the reserve and
increase the risk of someone
sparking an accidental fi re.
They point to data col-
lected from the Oregon
Department of Forestry that
shows fi res on the coast have
tended to be accidental and
human-caused, often asso-
ciated with logging-related
activities like burning slash
piles but also campfi res and
smoking.
They also examined data
from the National Park Ser-
vice for the agency’s Fort
Clatsop unit that concluded
the risk of wildfi re on the
North Coast was gener-
ally low given annual rain-
fall, cooler temperatures and
humidity levels.
But Rick Hudson, the
emergency manager for
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
The entrance to Ecola Creek Forest Reserve in Cannon Beach.
Cannon Beach, points to
power lines that cut through
the reserve — a potential fi re
hazard — and the fact that
people already wander on
roads and trails.
He respects the parks
committee’s work and agrees
that “people are responsible
for being irresponsible.”
To him, that means plans
and infrastructure like roads
are even more necessary,
especially as the climate
shifts and the state contin-
ues to see fi res like the ones
that burned across Oregon
last year.
“It’s impossible to keep
human beings out of that
environment,” he told The
Astorian. “It’s already
open.”
Damp places
Though the coast has
burned before — the infa-
mous Tillamook Burn fi res
of 1933, which destroyed
more than 300,000 acres of
timber in what is now the
Tillamook State Forest, are
the oftcited examples —
wildfi re is not something
many residents worry about
from year to year. North
Coast forests are notoriously
damp places and some spots
on hiking trails will stay
muddy almost year-round.
But last year, 1.1 million
acres burned across Oregon,
fueled by warm and dry con-
ditions associated with cli-
mate change and unusu-
ally strong winds. In August
and September, much of the
West was burning.
On the North Coast, evi-
dence of the massive fi res
raging elsewhere arrived
in the form of thick smoke
that blotted out the sun and
caused temperatures to drop.
Timber managers shut down
recreational access to for-
estlands then watched and
waited over the Labor Day
weekend, wondering if
the winds would drive fi re
toward the Coast Range.
Two fi res that burned
near Arch Cape in 2018
generated the same kinds
of concerns Cannon Beach
leaders face now. Those fi res
had a human root, sparked
by timber slash fi res, and
were fanned by east winds.
The fi res — how fast they
moved, how fi ercely they
burned — unnerved many in
emergency response roles.
And last year’s fi res carry
a warning for the North
Coast. Farther south, in
Lincoln County, the Echo
Mountain fi re aff ected some
2,500 acres, a tiny amount
compared to what was burn-
ing elsewhere.
Still, it’s a fi re that stands
out, and one other coastal
communities should con-
sider as they think about
wildfi re risk and the steps
they can take to mitigate that
risk, saidAaron Groth, an
Astoria-based regional fi re
specialist with Oregon State
University’s forestry and
natural resources extension
fi re program.
New to the job, he plans
to begin reaching out to both
small and large timber own-
ers and managers to better
understand some of the gaps
that exist on the coast when
it comes to fi re protection.
“I think that (the Echo
Mountain fi re) is something
that should be on people’s
minds,” he said. “It’s some-
thing that had great impact
on Lincoln County.”
The Ecola Creek Forest
Reserve is bounded on three
sides by commercial tim-
berland owned by Green-
Wood Resources. A net-
work of roads maintained
by the timber company pro-
vides access across this land
to the reserve. GreenWood
requires any recreational
users on its timberland to
register for a free pass to
get beyond entrance gates.
Access to the city lands is
not monitored in this way.
The rest of the reserve
faces U.S. Highway 101 and
the city.
Mark Morgans, of Green-
Wood Resources, is in the
early stages of discussing a
possible memorandum of
understanding between the
timber company and the
city. The agreement could
formalize things the two
entities already collaborate
on, such as closing down
public access to the forest
during wildfi re scares.
Morgans noted that Can-
non Beach has already
planned extensively for
other natural disasters, such
as earthquakes and tsuna-
mis, and hopes they will
plan for wildfi res, too.
“As a neighbor, I do want
to encourage them so that
our forest doesn’t burn up
if they haven’t developed a
response to theirs,” he said.
‘Secret forest’
Fire danger and a wildfi re
strategy were not empha-
sized in the original man-
agement plan for the Ecola
Creek Forest Reserve. Now,
this potential danger has
been included in the recent
update, though city staff
wish to go one step fur-
ther and open up the pos-
sibility of future access
improvements.
The purchase of the land,
a process that spanned years
and involved complicated
acquisitions and land swaps,
did not have unanimous sup-
port in the community. A
bond to help the city acquire
the 800-acre state-owned
tract that now forms the bulk
of the reserve passed by a
mere 12 votes in 2009.
The reserve has since
become an important part
of the community — it’s a
“secret forest,” City Coun-
cilor Nancy McCarthy said.
In it grow cedar trees esti-
mated at 500 years and
older, and the creek and
streams provide key habi-
tat for salmon. Importantly
for residents, the reserve
also helps shelter the city’s
primary source of drinking
water.
Given the public involve-
ment and support in creat-
ing the reserve and the need
to protect both the forest
and municipal water sup-
ply while also giving peo-
ple a place to wander, the
city must maintain a tricky
balance.
Hudson plans to conduct
more meetings with parks
committee members and
other stakeholders and fi re
experts. The management
plan and the question of road
improvements were to come
in front of the City Council
again in March.
Ultimately, the City
Council will decide on how
protection of the reserve will
be addressed.
But it will be hard to
serve both sides, City Man-
ager Bruce St. Denis cau-
tioned city councilors in
early February. In fact, he
said, “I don’t see a way to
resolve it by meeting in the
middle.”
He said it comes down
to diff erent ideas of protec-
tion: Is it limited access to
the public or is it the ability
to bring emergency vehicles
into the reserve?
Cannon Beach mulls food, beverage tax to help fund fi re district
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
CANNON BEACH —
For years, the Cannon Beach
Rural Fire Protection Dis-
trict has looked at ways to
get tourists to pay their share
for emergency services.
Now city leaders say they
may go to voters in Novem-
ber with a tax on food and
beverages as a way to tar-
get spending by tourists and
direct that money back to
the fi re district. Increasingly,
emergency calls from visi-
tors make up the bulk of the
fi re district’s call load while
residents continue to foot the
bill.
Fire Chief Marc Reck-
mann fl oated the idea of a
2% food and beverage tax
for the next three years,
with most of the revenue
going to pay for fi re dis-
trict personnel. The district
has only three paid employ-
ees. Another position, a staff
member tasked with volun-
teer recruitment and reten-
tion who also serves as a
fi refi ghter herself, is funded
through a grant set to run
out in December.
The fi re district relies on
volunteer fi refi ghters who,
because of work or other
issues, may not always be
available when a call comes
in. The district lacks daily
staffi ng, as well as a dedi-
cated fi re marshal, someone
who is able to review devel-
opment plans and consis-
tently provide fi re inspec-
tions for hotels and other
businesses that need this
documentation for insur-
ance purposes.
Funded
primarily
through property tax rev-
enue, the fi re district was
not interested in pursu-
ing another bond measure
that would only continue
to draw money from locals,
while the city says it is not
able to take on the cost and
logistics of running its own
fi re department.
But there is a discon-
nect between what people
assume the fi re district can
provide and what it can con-
sistently off er, Reckmann
said.
“I believe it is the expec-
tation of visitors that we
have a surf and a rope
team,” he told city coun-
cilors. “When they come
and they hike the trails and
they’re in the water, I don’t
think anyone gives it a sec-
ond thought: Do we have
those services if they get in
trouble? Or, who is going to
come pull them out of the
water?”
Meanwhile, the city,
local businesses and res-
idents have their own
expectations.
Going forward, if the fi re
district is not able to boost
revenue streams and fund
personnel, “the only other
thing we can start doing is
looking at services we pro-
vide,” said Garry Smith, the
president of the fi re district
board.
“All that we’re really
required legally to supply
is structural fi refi ghting,”
he reminded the City Coun-
cil at a recent work session.
“We don’t have to do wild-
land fi refi ghting. We don’t
have to do (emergency med-
ical care). We don’t have to
do surf rescue.”
The fi re district doesn’t
want to give up providing
these services, Reckmann
said, but there could be dif-
fi cult choices ahead.
Last year, the district
responded to 466 calls for
County hires lobbying fi rm to help in Salem
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
Clatsop County has
hired a lobbying fi rm to
help protect and advance
policy interests in Salem.
The county Board of
Commissioners approved a
$45,000 contract with Pac/
West Communications in
October to provide legisla-
tive consulting services in
2021 and 2022.
The board endorsed a
legislative agenda guide
earlier this year to give Pac/
West a reference for goals,
strategies and priorities.
Among the goals, the
county prioritized coro-
navirus-related expenses,
the county jail and juve-
nile corrections, workforce
development,
aff ordable
housing, homeless services,
rural broadband initiatives,
child care, public health
and mental health.
Lobbyists from Pac/West
have been attending county
commission work sessions
to discuss bills, answer
questions and strategize.
“While the county’s
membership with AOC
(Association of Oregon
Counties) allows the county
to benefi t from the reputa-
ble and eff ective work they
do at the legislative level,
it is with the understand-
ing that this is being done
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important and relevant
legislation.
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service, an increase over
prior years. Of those, 77%
— 344 calls — came from
nonresidents.
The fi re district saw a dip
in calls when Cannon Beach
largely shut down to tour-
ism in the spring and sum-
mer as coronavirus cases
spiked across Oregon. Call
levels shot up in September
when visitors returned and
remained high through the
end of the year. Already this
year, for January and Feb-
ruary, the number of calls is
higher than what the district
saw in prior years.
When
Reckmann
recently reached out to busi-
nesses through the Cannon
Beach Chamber of Com-
merce, he was told by some
not to put the question of a
food and beverage tax on
the ballot. But city leaders
believe it is the best way to
facilitate a fully public and
transparent process.
City and fi re district lead-
ers have some work to do
before anything goes for-
ward, however. It isn’t clear
how much money the tax
would raise or exactly how
revenue generated should be
split between the district and
the city.
Still, Mayor Sam Steidel
believes visitors need to help
pay their part. Besides, he
said, many are already vis-
iting from areas that have a
sales tax. He expects a small
tax like the one proposed
would barely register.