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The INDEPENDENT, October 16, 2003
Just a couple more adjustments...
Surprise in study of Rock Creek temps
By Bill Langmaid
A preliminary study of tem
peratures in Rock Creek seems
counterintuitive at first glance.
This summer the Upper Ne
halem
Watershed
Council
placed continuously recording
temperature gauges at various
places in Rock Creek. This was
done to find out what areas of
the creek suffer from abnormal
increases in temperature that
could harm young salmon fry.
Briefly, the temperatures
were colder as the gauges
were farther upstream from
Vernonia. That was expected,
as overhanging trees and other
vegetation shield the river from
the warming effects of the sun.
Air temperature also is warmer
in Vernonia, so it seemed logi-
Watershed Council
meeting October 23
Okay, it took more than that, nevertheless, a new ATM has
been installed at Wauna Federal Credit Union in Vernonia and
is now in operation at 622 Bridge Street.
Loan funds available for qualified
family farm purchase, operations
The W ashington/Colum bia
County Farm Service Agency
(FSA) has loan funds available
to help qualified, socially disad
vantaged persons buy and op
erate family-sized farms.
For purposes of FSA’s loan
programs, socially disadvan
taged groups are women,
African Americans, American
Indians, Alaskan Natives, His
panics, Asian Americans and
Pacific Islanders.
Loans are available to indi
viduals and entities that are pri
marily and directly engaged in
farming and ranching on family
sized operations. Farm owner
ship loan funds are available to
help purchase a farm or ranch.
To qualify, the applicant must
have participated in the busi
ness operation of a farm or
ranch for at least three years.
Applicants with at least one
year of experience in managing
or operating a farm or ranch,
may be eligible for funds to help
with the purchase of livestock,
machinery and equipment, as
well as annual production ex
penses.
With these loan programs,
FSA hopes to help reverse the
declining num ber of socially
disadvantaged farmers and
ranchers across the United
States. FSA wants to encour
age and assist socially disad
vantaged farmers and ranchers
to own and operate their own
farms and ranches, participate
in agricultural programs, and
become integral parts of the
agricultural community.
Loans guaranteed by FSA
may be made by any lending
institution subject to Federal or
State supervision (banks, sav
ings and loans, credit unions,
and units of the Farm Credit
System including the Bank for
Cooperatives).
Typically, FSA guarantees
9 0 -95 percent of a loan. Oper
ating loans depend on the col
lateral securing the loan and
usually run from one to seven
years. Repayment terms on
ownership loans can be as long
as 40 years.
Applications are available
from the FSA office at 1080 SW
Baseline, Suite B-3, Hillsboro,
OR 97123. The telephone
number for applications and
other program information is
503-648-3174 Ext. 2, or e-mail
at <gail.stinnett@or.usda.gov>.
The Watershed Council is a
non-profit corporation that pro
vides assistance to landowners
seeking advice and help pro
tecting and conserving our net
work of streams in the Ne
halem Valley. The next meeting
will be October 23 at 7.00 p.m.
at the Mist-Birkenfeld Fire Hall.
cal to guess that the tempera
ture would be warmest at the
mouth of the creek.
The surprise discovery was
that the temperature actually
declines between the Vernonia
water plant and the mouth of
the creek. An in-depth study
planned for next summer will
provide more details but, at
least for now, it can be said that
various factors between the
mouth and the water plant
serve to cool the water.
These factors include shade,
since more than half of the ri
parian area in the lower mile of
the creek is well shaded. An
other factor could be the swim
ming pool formed above Bridge
Street by damming the creek
every summer. The pool is fair
ly well shaded and, since the
water spends extra time in the
shade, it may be cooled more
than it would be without the
dam.
The study planned for next
year will be more thorough, and
will seek to answer if it is the
pool itself that cools the water,
rather than the extra shading.
But for now, we know that the
pool may be helping cool the
water, and certainly isn’t warm
ing it to dangerous levels. The
highest seven day average
temperature was right around
72 degrees at the mouth, 5 de
grees cooler than at the water
plant.
Over the coming month, the
watershed council will spend
more time analyzing the data,
which will be available for inter
ested people to view at the next
council meeting. This study
was conducted under a grant
from the Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality.
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