Patrick’s Day parade March 17th
St. Patrick’s Day will be
soon be here and, in Vernonia,
that means Parade Time.
Because St. Patrick’s Day,
March 17, is on a Saturday this
year, parade sponsor Pat
Knight has set a 2:00 p.m.
starting time.
There are no entry fees and
no written regulations. The pa
rade route is short and straight
and the parade rarely takes
more than 30 minutes from be
ginning to end. You don’t need
an invitation and you don’t
need to register.
Vernonia’s St. Patrick’s Day
Parade is for fun. Just bring
your entry and be ready at the
corner of State Avenue and
Bridge Street by 2:00 p.m. on
March 17.
Timely drill for
Red Cross
vols.......... pg. 9
Council
says no to
levy......... pg. 11
Banks
BULK RATE
U S. Postage Paid
Permit No. 37
Vernonia, OR 97064
Attn Leslie Larson
UO Library-OMP
16, No 5
Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley'
March 7, 2001
Tree planting helps
restore river health
Growing up...
Bynum Way, Project Planner for the Upper Nehalem Watershed Council, with a Douglas
fir tree, one of many planted in January by the Vernonia Youth Corps along the Nehalem
River adjacent to Vernonia Lake.
Council accepts Transportation meeting in Seaside
bid for
The Northwest Area Com Transportation Improvement
mission on Transportation and Program (STIP) for 2002-2005,
Anderson Park the
Oregon Department of plus information about many
The Vernonia City Council
awarded the contract for new
restrooms and a picnic shelter
at Anderson Park to MJD De
velopment.
At $221,075, MJD’s bid was
the lowest of five received. The
highest bid was $338,255. The
city is paying for the work with
a grant of nearly $250,000
from the state Department of
Parks and Recreation.
Kevin France, consulting
engineer for Vernonia, recom
mended MJD after thoroughly
checking the company’s refer
ences because the bid was so
much lower than others.
FREE
Transportation will hold an
open house March 14, 3-6:00
p.m., at the Seaside Conven
tion Center.
Topics will include a public
review of the draft Statewide
transportation projects.
For directions to the meeting
site or for more information,
call 503-986-2651, or check
the ODOT website <www.odot.
state.or.us/stip>
Vernonia clean-up day is April 21
Mark you calendar and start
making plans to participate in
this year’s Vernonia clean up
day on Saturday, April 21.
Planning is already underway
under the direction of Vernonia
Pride and SOLV.
To be a part of this commu
nity-wide activity, contact Ver-
nonia Pride at 503-429-5201. If
you would like to suggest sites
that need special attention or
that just need cleaning up,
please let Vernonia Pride
know.
More information will be
forthcoming, so continue to
watch The INDEPENDENT.
‘Think Globally and Act Lo
cally” is a phrase that often
raises the question, “What can
we do to make a difference?”
The Upper Nehalem River
Watershed Council has an an
swer:
We can plant trees
along streams!
For the past nine years,
volunteers have been working
in cooperation with private
landowners planting trees on
the banks of the Nehalem Riv
er. The purpose is to restore
conifers and other native
species to the riparian areas.
Historically, large evergreen
trees existed along a majority
of our stream reaches. They
provided shade to the river
system and habitat for both ter
restrial and aquatic life.
This is no longer the case.
These trees have been re
moved over time for various
reasons, by humans and by
other natural processes. Past
and present land use practices
and policies and the encroach
ment of noxious weeds has
suppressed the regrowth of our
riparian forests. Human power
is required to reforest these ar
eas. By reestablishing healthy
riparian areas, streamside and
aquatic conditions will be im
proved, both in the short and
long term. Once these trees
mature, they will provide ther
mal cover to the river system,
modify stream temperatures
year around, filter upland
runoff, reduce mass erosion
and provide large woody de
bris to the stream system
which, in turn, will increase
salmon habitat opportunities
and production.
The Nehalem River, as
beautiful as it is, has stream
temperature readings in the
summer months that exceed,
for extended periods of time,
lethal limits for the juvenile
salmon present in the system.
It has also been documented
that sediment loading during
the rainy season exceeds
lethal limits for migrating
salmon and settles into
spawning beds, smothering
salmon eggs. Dissolved oxy
gen levels are also dangerous
ly low in the late summer and
fall months, to the detriment of
aquatic life.
Many reaches of the Ne
halem system also are classi
fied as deficient in the habitat
complexity that is created by
large trees laying within the
stream channel. Short term ef
forts are being made by local
timber companies, Oregon De
partment of Fish and Wildlife
and Oregon Department of
Forestry to place large trees
back in the system to supple
ment habitat building process
es until young trees mature and
fall into the stream naturally.
The volunteer tree planting
project was initiated by the Ne
halem Valley Chapter of the
Izaac Walton League, in an ef
fort to keep the river healthy
and viable. Continuing efforts
have been under the direction
of Maggie Peyton, coordinator
of the Upper Nehalem Water
shed Council, who developed
a riparian restoration program
funded by the Oregon Water
shed Enhancement Board and
the DEQ 319 program. This
program builds cooperative
partnerships with landowners
and supplies planting/fencing
crews and materials needed to
implement large scale projects.
The annual volunteer tree
planting activity starts in Febru
ary and ends in April, weather
permitting. These efforts are
making a difference. A look
along the banks of the Ne
halem River shows young fir
trees growing.
In the past, volunteers from
Please see page 9