Property is purchased for Scappoose-Vernonia trail
Columbia County has com
pleted the purchase of 17 miles
of the Crown Zellerbach Log
ging Road from Hancock Tim
ber Resource Group for use as
a hiking, biking and equestrian
trail.
“The acquisition of the
Crown Zellerbach Logging
Road is a major effort,” said
Columbia County Commission
er Tony Hyde. “We appreciate
Hancock Tim ber’s collaboration
and commitment on this proj
ect. The successful completion
of this purchase is the result of
a huge collaborative effort on
the part of many agencies and
individuals,” he concluded.
“At Hancock Timber, it’s a
cornerstone of our culture to be
Student shows how pennies can add up
Many eight year-olds spend
the time leading up to Christ
mas writing letters to Santa
Claus and trying to be good.
Molly Hammond, who had her
ninth birthday on December 7,
spent the weeks before Christ
mas raising money to provide
food baskets and gifts for those
New year for
Vernonia
City Council
The swearing in of a new
mayor, Sally Harrison, and a
new councilor, Shirley Good
man, was one of the first
pieces of business at the Janu
ary 3, 2005, Vernonia City
Council meeting. Outgoing
Mayor Cindy Ball and outgoing
Councilor Glen Purvee, each
received a plaque, and heart
felt expressions of thanks, for
their service to the city and
community.
Please see page 4
who needed a helping hand.
Molly, the daughter of John
and Jean Hammond of Banks,
got the idea for a penny drive
from OPB’s TV show, ZOOM.
She saw the program and said
to herself, “ I could do that.”
After decorating a big jar,
she asked the principal at her
school, Banks Elementary, if
she could put a collection jar
there and make an announce
ment to the student body. She
made the announcement and
the project was up and running.
She also put collection jars at
the checkout stands at Jim ’s
Thriftway.
Her penny drive started the
week before Thanksgiving and
she hoped to collect $200 to
help the United M ethodist
Church and Banks Food Bank
provide gifts and food baskets,
respectively, for Christmas.
“At the W inter Concert
alone. DeoDle aave $50 or $60
dollars.” Molly said, “Somebody
even gave a $5 bill.” The “fun
nest part” was counting the
money at recess with her
school friends and the hardest
part: Carrying all those heavy
coins was “even harder than
making the announcement at
school,” Molly said.
Molly’s penny drive raised
$400 in time to help with Christ
mas. The drive continues with
an additional $31.29 raised for
the Food Bank and Molly plans
to do it again next year, with a
goal of $500. She has a spin-off
now, with one of her class
mates holding a YuGo card
drive.
In return for her generous
and caring contribution, Molly
hopes to make the HighFlyers
Club at school, for those who
donate at least three hours of
community service, though she
has spent much, much more
than three hours on her project.
a good neighbor and try to
place lands with special recre
ational or environmental value
into public ownership,” said Bill
Marré,
Northwest General
Manager for Hancock Forest
Management, a subsidiary of
Hancock Tim ber Resource
Group that manages the com
pany’s timberland operations in
this region.
“W e’re pleased to help Co
lum bia County convert this
road to a trail and enable hik
ers, bicyclists and horseback
riders to enjoy working forests
from the Multnomah Channel to
Vernonia and along the Ver
nonia Linear Trail to the Hares
Canyon State Park,” Marré
added.
The agencies involved, in
addition to Columbia County
and Hancock Timber Resource
Group, include Oregon Parks &
Recreation Department (OPRD),
Oregon Dept. of Transportation
(ODOT), Bureau of Land Man
agement (BLM), both the Ne
halem and Scappoose Bay Wa
tershed Councils, City of Ver
nonia, City of Scappoose,
W ashington County and the
Port of St. Helens, which is do
nating Chapman Landing on
the Multnomah Channel.
The Crown Zellerbach Log
ging Road acquisition is a 17-
mile, 40-foot wide strip of prop
erty (173.6 acres) that was
used as a logging road by
Crown Zellerbach. After Crown
Zellerbach sold the property, it
was no longer used to transport
logs, but was maintained as a
fire and access road by Han
cock Timber Resource Group.
From Highway 30 in S cap
poose, it runs adjacent to Scap
poose-Vernonia Highway and
ends three miles short of a con
nection to the Vernonia-Banks
Linear Trail in Vernonia. The
last three miles of the Crown
Zellerbach Road are owned by
W eyerhaeuser
Development of the trail will
begin with a master plan to de
termine the scope of trail im
provements, mitigation of im
pacts to area residents, and re
placement of undersized cul
verts to facilitate fish passage.
The public will be notified when
the planning process begins.
The Columbia County Parks
Department is working with the
Scappoose Bay and Nehalem
Watershed Councils to obtain
funds for the master plan and to
replace the culverts. Both wa
tershed councils, plus local
equestrian and 4-H groups
Please see page 4
, new year on January 3. Policy setters ior the coming year are, fro
ghtry, Mayor Sally Harrison, Councilor Handy Parrow and Council!