The Oregonian: Oregon LNG(Warrenton) Now Wants To Import LNG To Pipe It To Coos Bay LNG To Profiteer By Export?

Saturday, July 16, 2011, 11:10 PM
By Ted Sickinger, The Oregonian The OregonianThe Oregonian/fileOregon LNG Chief Executive Officer Peter Hansen surveys the site of a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal at Warrenton. Oregon LNG is competing with Bradwood Landing to build a LNG terminal near Astoria.Two years ago, energy companies trying to build terminals to import liquefied natural gas to Oregon laughed at the notion of using their projects instead to export burgeoning supplies of U.S. and Canadian gas to lucrative markets in Asia. The idea, LNG backers said, was a conspiracy theory concocted by environmentalists and landowners who didn't want pipelines laid across public and private lands. ......

Read Ted Sickinger Report

From Oregon Department Of Justice: What To Do When Facing Foreclosure

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
July 19, 2011

Oregon's foreclosure rate spiked 236% in April.

Current trends in the real estate market are not likely to reverse course anytime soon. Please share this important information with your friends, family and neighbors - you may be able to help someone in danger of losing their home.Get help right away. If you receive a foreclosure notice or are having a hard time making your mortgage payments, seek help right away. You may be able to obtain forbearance or a loan modification. Call 1-888-995-HOPE or visit http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=pfqm4edab&et=1106637114682&s=11311&e=001f5cHfHhaQ1yKKXkXbV9AaE-OozwP95e_wmzhQllvYiQ1Z73f9PNb9osRWIvRHeZKS0cY4Gn4D3YAGpvJkpvGMlFnCSXh_v7aOEkgmlmepPEUF4Rvz6fbIA== to get connected with free counseling or assistance contacting your mortgage company. The FTC's mortgage website also provides lots of important information for homeowners facing foreclosure.Make sure your counselor is HUD-approved. If you decide to work with a foreclosure counselor, make sure they are HUD-approved. Scammers may contact you by mail, on the phone, online or in person, and sometimes try to appear associated with your lender or the government. Ask your counselor if their agency is HUD-approved, and then double check for yourself. Visit the HUD website or call 1-877-483-1515 to confirm that your counselor is HUD-approved.Never agree to pay up-front fees for foreclosure counseling. Up-front fees are illegal under Oregon law. Charging excessive up-front fees is one of the most common foreclosure relief scams.Keep a record of everything you do. When working with your mortgage company, keep excellent records. Note the times and days that you call and the name of the representative who you speak with. Make copies of every document you sign or provide to your lender during the loan modification process. Write down the confirmation number and dates of every transaction. If problems develop, your notes and records will help you reach a resolution faster.Don't get scammed. Those who are facing foreclosure are particularly vulnerable to scams. That is why DOJ aggressively pursues mortgage and foreclosure fraud. Mortgage-related scams can include phony offers of counseling or help, cons where homeowners unknowingly sign away their home, and lease-to-own schemes where a scammer purports to sell a house and pockets all the payments. Learn to spot the signs of a scam .If you think you have been victimized, or want to notify DOJ about an individual, company or agency that may be engaging in mortgage or foreclosure rescue scams, complete a Consumer Complaint Form or call the Attorney General's Consumer Hotline at 1-877-877-9392.

Oregon Department Of Forestry Releases New Management Plan For Tillamook And Clatsop State Forests

Forestry Dept releases plans to implement new mgmt direction in Tillamook, Clatsop State Forests
Dan Postrel 503-945-7420

The Oregon Department of Forestry on Tuesday announced new implementation plans for management of 250,000 acres of state-owned forestland in Clatsop and Tillamook counties, carrying out revised direction from the state Board of Forestry.The board’s direction is contained in the 2010 Northwest Oregon State Forest Management Plan.ODF’s implementation of the board’s direction raises the annual harvest goal about five percent above recent averages, while continuing to protect streams and wildlife, and to create a more natural mosaic of forest conditions in what is now a largely uniform, younger forest landscape.The implementation plans use a phased approach for increasing harvest, deferring some harvest projects for up to two years. This provides an opportunity to re-evaluate how the deferred harvests may contribute to complex forest structure, and to wildlife and aquatic habitats, in the future. It also creates a window of opportunity as the board re-examines its performance measures and management strategies for state forests in northwestern Oregon. “This represents another step as we continually refine our management in response to evolving scientific knowledge and changing public needs and interests,” State Forester Doug Decker said.The board sets overarching goals for managing Oregon’s state forests, providing the foundation for detailed implementation plans, such as those released Tuesday.The lands covered by the plans, in the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests, came into state ownership primarily in the 1950s, after significant fires and logging activity. They were extensively replanted during the early years of public ownership, and are managed today to provide a mix of social, economic and environmental benefits.Two-thirds of the revenue generated from timber sales goes to local counties; the rest funds forest management and fire protection on the lands.“Oregonians find much to value in their state forests – wildlife, clean water, recreation, economic benefits and more,” Decker said. “Understandably, there’s a high level of interest in how these forests are managed. These implementation plans move us in the near-term toward some new goals, while leaving options open for the mid- and long-term to shape the best management strategies for the future.”Last year, the forestry board revised the management plan it had adopted for northwestern Oregon’s state forests in 2001. The changes arose from updated scientific and technical information, and from concerns about the original plan’s ability to achieve economic expectations. In addition, the board adopted performance measures for state forests, including specific performance targets for the Clatsop and Tillamook forests.The board’s action in 2010 included raising timber sale revenue goals by 5 percent to 15 percent over the next decade, and reducing a long-term goal for creating older stands with features of more complex forest habitats, such as multi-layered canopies.The new goal, addressed in the implementation plans released Tuesday, is to create such stands across 17 percent to 20 percent of the landscape in 20 years, potentially increasing to 30 percent to 50 percent in the long term.Foresters add habitat diversity by using clearcuts to create forest openings and to establish new stands, and by thinning other stands to develop understory vegetation (layering) and to allow the remaining trees to grow larger more quickly.The plans build in integrated wildlife protection strategies, such as leaving downed wood, green trees and stream buffers, with more specific measures for sensitive fish and wildlife species.The plans announced Tuesday cover about half of the 518,000 acres in the Clatsop and Tillamook state forests. A new implementation plan for the remaining acreage is still being developed.These forestlands are among Oregon’s most productive, growing more wood each year than is harvested. Managing them to provide a sustainable flow of multiple benefits, as required by Oregon law, is a matter of continuous learning and adjustment, Decker said.The phase-in announced Tuesday provides an opportunity for the forestry board to take stock of current management approaches and of its performance measures, which describe the desired mix of forest benefits.“Change and uncertainty are our constant, natural companions in management of these forests,” Decker said. “We’re working hard to find the best path forward today, while keeping options open for the future.”

Clatsop County Strategic Plan Lays Out Long-Range Goals

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

STRATEGIC PLAN LAYS OUT COUNTY’S LONG-RANGE GOALS

Comprehensive plan update. Levee certification. Highway 101 flooding. New or remodeled county jail.
The number and scope of projects on the to-do list for Clatsop County appears daunting. But County Manager Duane Cole is launching an effort to organize those tasks in a single Strategic Plan that enables the county to prioritize the projects and best allocate its resources to tackle them.
Cole presented a draft of the plan at a joint work session of the county board of commissioners and planning commission July 13. The county commissioners made the creation of a strategic plan one of their goals for the current year.
A tentative schedule calls for the draft plan to go to the planning commission for its review in August or September, followed by a series of community meetings around the county to gather citizen input. Cole hopes to have the plan go to the board of commissioners for its review and adoption in early 2012.
The draft plan contains 46 different projects. Most have been on the county’s radar for some time – replacement of the aging county jail, for example. Organizing them all in one comprehensive plan, Cole said, complete with estimated price tags and potential funding sources, will better allow staff, policy makers and the public to decide which project to assign higher priority, so that finite resources – staff time and funding – can be allocated to each in the most efficient manner.
“A strategic plan can lead to long-term results if the plan is a focal point for the board and staff priorities during the coming years,” Cole said in a staff report to the board. “It can also educate the community regarding important projects and provide the county with an overall sense of leadership and direction.”
The plan will focus on major, one-time capital and planning projects – not ongoing work such as road maintenance, Cole said.
Capital projects on the draft list include, in addition to the county jail, emergency communications improvements; a joint public works facility; household hazardous waste collection center; flood control on U.S. Highway 101 south of Seaside; and park and pedestrian improvements in Westport.
Proposed planning projects include an update of the county’s comprehensive land-use plan; Clatsop Plains water and sewer issues; ocean planning policy; transportation system plan update; certification of dikes and levees; and a housing quality plan.
Prioritization will take into account not only how much a particular project may be desired, but also what chances it has of being completed, Cole said.
“For example, a by-pass may be a high priority, but based on funding, the environmental impacts, and lack of agreement on a specific solution it may be years before the project is ready to proceed,” his staff report states.

Released by:
Tom Bennett
Community Relations Coordinator
(503) 325-1000

Is It The Clatsop County Republican Party Central Committee or The Clatsop County "Tea Party" Faction Asking Me For Financial Support?

(Nast Political Cartoon From Harpers Weekly)

A few weeks ago, I got a form letter from "The Clatsop County Republican Central Committee", signed by Larry Sparks, Chairman, soliciting for financial support and continued support for inserting Republicans in local elected and appointed non-partisan positions. Nothing new here as the local Democratic counterpart does and has been doing the same thing actively for years and apparently very successfully.

Included with Spark's/CCRCC letter was another insert invitation to a social function being hosted at Bob and Christine Bridgens home.

"So what" you ask?

Well, here's the rub......Larry Sparks and the Bridgens are active and outspoken "Activist/Adherents" to the "Tea Party Movement" in Clatsop County and the Lower Columbia Region and I find it questionable that these people are actively involved in the leadership of the Republican Party without concern by the other local members of the party as to a serious conflict of interest in that leadership and heading towards 2012, is this the policy/platform of the Oregon and National GOP to embrace what some call an attempted usurpation of and inurgency against it by the "Tea Party"?

On May 6, 2011, I sent an e-mail tp Mr. Sparks with a request for a position statement from The Clatsop County Republican Party regarding its alignment with the Tea Party movement and the answer is below, along with some of Mr. Sparks, CCRPCC Chair's musings to other publications, giving some insight to his think ethic.

Bottom line? Is the Republican Party so disfunctional that it would condone this conduct in its own leadership? In Oregon, specifically and looking for significant victories in 2012 there clearly is one strategy that will make them a reality..........Look to Tom McCall.

"Excellent article; We need to purge all the RINO's out of the party! If Republicans want to act and vote like Democrats, then they need to change party affiiation to Democrats or Socialist. The problem is that they RINO's understand they would not get elected if they changed party so we must challenge them in the next election"........Larry Sparks Comment To An Article In Oregon Catalyst(Larry Sparks is the current chair of the Clatsop County Republican Party Central Committee)

Larry Sparks's Page - Patriot Action Network
Larry Sparks's Page on Patriot Action Network. ... http://oregonteaparty.com/post/84534840/call-for-county-coordinators ...www.patriotactionnetwork.com/profile/LarrySparks?xg_source... - Cached

One Question, One Answer: This is an email exchange with Clatsop County Republican Party Central Committee Chair, Larry Sparks.
Patrick, I don't have a record of your May 9, 2011 e-mail. Per your question, there is no formal alignment with the Tea Party, it is an individual choice.

Also per your question on Grassroots if we are asking you for financial support, if you want to financially contribute to the Clatsop County Republican Party,
please e-mail me your address and I will send you some information.

Regards,Larry Sparks
Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2011 11:34:56 -0400From: kc2patrick@q.comTo: pnwls@msn.comSubject: Fwd: Party Alignment
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Would you please respond to this query, originally sent May 9, 2011?Thank you,Patrick McGee
From: kc2patrick@q.comTo: pnwls@msn.comSent: Monday, May 9, 2011 9:34:32 AMSubject: Party Alignment
.ExternalClass p
{;}
Larry; I am interested in a position statement, specifically towards the upcoming 2011 Clatsop County Special Elections and 2012 General Elections, regarding Clatsop County Republican Party's alignment with the National Tea Party movement and affiliated, like, groups. Can you share that information with us? Thank you, Patrick McGeeAstoria, Oregon

Youth ATV Endorsement Program Offered At County Fair

Monday, July 18, 2011

YOUTH ATV ENDORSEMENT PROGRAM OFFERED AT COUNTY FAIR

The Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office is pleased to announce it is adding the Oregon 4H Youth ATV Rider Endorsement Program to its ATV Safety Training Classes at this year’s Clatsop County Fair.
The 4H endorsement program satisfies the upcoming requirement that youth under age 16 demonstrate hands-on skills to operate an ATV on lands open to public ATV riding in Oregon.
The youth rider endorsement evaluation session lasts approximately two hours. These sessions will be offered on Aug. 3 and 5, beginning at 10 a.m., at the fair.
These sessions are geared toward youth with prior riding experience. Each participant is provided the required skills information in advance of the session and must demonstrate proficiency in seven key areas. Each key skill must be successfully demonstrated to obtain the endorsement.
A limited number of loaner ATV’s will be available for youth unable to bring their own to the session.
Prompt enrollment is important so the study materials can be sent to the enrolled youth prior to the session. Please enroll through the following website: http://www.oregonatvsafety.com/.
Youth with little or no experience are encouraged to enroll in our ATV Safety Institute Ridercourse classes being offered on Aug. 2, 4 and 6 at the fair. Register for the Ridercourse classes by calling 800-887-2887. Be sure to request the Oregon Tuition Subsidy when registering, and if a loaner ATV is needed, reserve it when enrolling.
Contact Deputy Michael Nelson at (503) 791-4978 for questions and further information.

Released by:
Tom Bennett
Community Relations Coordinator
(503) 325-1000

Two Oregon River Ports Considered For Coal Export

Posted: Thursday, June 16, 2011 11:13 am
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Two Columbia River ports in Oregon are being considered as sites for shipping coal to Asia as demand increases in China, The Oregonian reported.
Legal documents filed by environmentalists indicate the Port of St. Helens is talking with a coal export developer. The Port of Morrow near Boardman recently signed a lease option with Australian coal giant Ambre Energy to shift Montana and Wyoming coal from trains to river barges, a move that could open more Northwest ports for coal export.

Read Full East Oregonian Report

From Clatsop County: Consultant Report Offers Solution To South Seaside Highway Flooding

Friday, July 15, 2011

Consultants hired to research possible remedies to the chronic flooding problem on U.S. Highway 101 south of Seaside have presented a potential fix.
Northwest Hydraulic Consultants of Seattle last week presented a plan that recommends the removal of some berms and construction of others along an approximately one-mile stretch of the highway near Beerman Creek.
The study was spearheaded by Clatsop County with support from local cities, the Port of Astoria and Oregon Department of Transportation. The project aims to find a solution to annual wintertime flooding from the nearby Necanicum River, when heavy rainfall combines with high tides to send water over portions of the highway, resulting in traffic restrictions on low-profile cars and occasional complete closures.
As part of the study the consultants held meetings with affected landowners and other stakeholders, and installed gauges at several points around the highway and river to gather flow data during high-water periods.
The study’s recommended first step is the removal of a berm on the west bank of the Necanicum. The berm, built in the 1960s, confines the river during high water and prevents excess flow from spilling out onto lower ground to the west. Removing the structure could reduce floodwater levels on the highway up to seven inches, according to the study’s modeling, and would result in fewer occurrences of flooding.
The Phase 1 project alone may be sufficient to eliminate most of the flooding problem, the consultants say. In addition, the adjacent land is owned by the North Coast Land Conservancy, and removal of the berm would fit in with the organization’s restoration strategy, the study notes.
In the event flooding remains a problem after the berm’s removal, the study offers as a second step the construction of a one- to two-foot berm around the Circle Creek Campground, located on the west side of Highway 101. Much of the water that overtops the roadway comes from overflow from the Necanicum that washes through the campground, according to the consultants.
Additional remedies offered by the study include the construction of three new berms or floodwalls along the highway itself. But the consultants warn that additional data on water flows must be collected before embarking on those projects, due to the uncertainty over whether these protective barriers might increase the risk of flooding farther north.
The study states that the options with the most certain results involve elevating the roadway at the two most flood-prone locations and replacing the Dooley bridge and Beerman Creek culvert with larger structures, but notes these are the most costly alternatives. Removal of the existing Necanicum River berm is estimated to cost $500,000, and construction of the four new berms $520,000. Elevating the roadway and installing new bridges has a projected price tag of $5 million.
The consultants recommend continued monitoring, including another winter season’s worth of data, with additional gauges installed at key points.
The county will convene a meeting of the stakeholders in the next few weeks to review the recommendations and seek consensus on a solution, according to Ed Wegner, Clatsop County Transportation and Development Services Director. The next step will be to seek funding opportunities, he said.
Clatsop County contributed $31,437 from its video lottery and road department funds to the study’s $126,151 total cost – ODOT, the port, and the cities of Cannon Beach, Gearhart, Seaside and Warrenton covered the rest.

Where Have All The Salmon Gone? Did We Listen To Our History?

A Lament by: Evelyn Leahy Hankel

The recent popular song lamenting the disappearance of nature's treasures could very well have added to the demise of our King Salmon and all his relatives thus:

"Where have al the Salmon gone?

Long time passing,

Gone to canneries every one

Long time passing,

Nature cannot yet return.

When will we ever learn?

When will we ever learn?

How very difficult it is for us Astorians to bid farewell to Astoria's great source of wealth without shedding a tear for our own "Deaf Ear" policy toward those who tried to warn us of impending tragedy down through the years from the beginning of the industry.

The first cannery on the Columbia was located at Eagle Cliff in the year 1866(145 years ago). That year 4000 cases of Salmon were packed. At the end of a seemingly successful year, why did the owners sell out? They felt that the river was already fished out but, graduallt the pack increased till 1895(116 years ago) when some 634,000 cases were packed.

Again the warning came in 1920-21(91 years ago) when the runs were badly depleted due, the experts cautioned, to use of purse seines which destroyed the young fish. Though this method was outlawed, a short run again appeared in 1925-26(86 years ago). This time the poor run was attributed "to certain disturbances of a political nature which partially disrupted the hatchery program and to certain climatic conditions which caused the heavy spring run to enter the river in advance of the fishing season." This according to reports in the Morning Astorian of July 22, 1926.

Also that year a full page of the same paper was given to dire warnings from Hugh C. Mitchell of the Salomon Protective Association claiming the chief enemies of the fishing industry were irrigation, hydro-electric development and pollution of the streams. Fifty-four years ago(1926) our eyes and breathshould have been caught by this flamboyant page. Did we listen and learn?

Mr. Mitchell considered the firts two enemies, irrigation and hydro-electric, to be serious as they had already cut-off the great spawning area for the Salmon, yet he believed that pollution was the major cause of the depletion and the most deadly to fish life. The filth from the cities, chemicals from paper, woolen and other mills and factories are all into the streams in utter disregard of the law, ultimately destroying every vestige of fish life.

Hugh Mitchell urged that scientific methods be employed to determine steps necessary to correct existing evils and to effect remeidies. He begged thoughtful citizens to lend their every effort to the protection of this, Oregon's third greates source of wealth. He lamented that a great resource was being permitted to peter-out. It is undervalued because it runs along each year and is utilized and enjoyed with the feeling that nature will function and will supply us with yearly returns and renewals while our own indifference causes us to supplement and in many cases supplant nature.

We were told that the future of the Salmon industry is in the hands of the men and women of this section of the country and particulary those who rside in territory bordering on the tributary to the Columbia River. That future may either be one or greater in value and may see increased industry or it may be a future in which the Salmon industry will be but a memory.

However serious the situation may have appeared by 1930(81 years ago), it was then, by no means, a lost cause. It was, however, a steadily losing cause though many adequate remedies were begun. The fine work of the Oregon hatcheries and the protective organizations was not to be overlooked but, the speedy extinction of the fish supply surprised even the alert The junking of the fish industry in the nation's great fishing grounds came in on a rip tide of events in the 1980's(31 years ago).

Fifty years late, your words penetrate our loss Mr. Mitchell and we weep. How we will miss the great fishing industry begun by our ancestors in this city by the sea. How we will long to see once more the bosom of that great river at night dotted with the twinkling lights of gillnetters drifting with the tide, or those of us who can remember the magnificent site of the immense fleet come sweeping in with full sail to rest beside our miles of docks. Where have they gone? - the troller with the silver spoon, the purse seiner or "Black Feet" as condemned by legislature, the seining grounds seen from shore as a fascinating sight as horses drag the nets loaded with Chinook, Steelhead, Blueback, Silverside.

Like the herds of Buffalo that once roamed the plains of the middle west or the vast pgeon flight that darkened the skys, the King Salmon has become a memory in our mighty river, in our canneries, on our table.

Will nature replenish if we allow this respite?

CUMTUX - Summer 1982

The Clatsop County Historical Society Quarterly

KBOO-FM: A Conversation On The Yellowstone Oil Spill & Keystone XL Pipeline

LOCUS FOCUS
Monday, July 18 10:15 - 11 AM
KBOO-FM 90.7, 91.9 (H
ood River), 100.7 (Corvallis)
streaming live at http://kboo.fm/
A CATASTROPHIC CONVERGENCE: THE OIL SPILL IN THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER & THE PROPOSED KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE
On July 1 an ExxonMobil oil pipeline running under the Yellowstone River near Billings, MT ruptured, dumping massive amounts of oil into river. Critics of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline—that would carry oil from the Tar Sands pits of Alberta to refineries along the Gulf Coast—point to this accident as one more reason why the Keystone XL Pipeline should be stopped. This Monday morning on Locus Focus our guests are Zack Porter with All Against the Haul in Missoula and Dena Hoff, a farmer who lives near the proposed XL Pipeline route in Montana. We'll talk about the catastrophic convergence (to borrow a phrase from last week's guest Christian Parenti) bearing down on the Rocky Mountain states as the oil industry gears up its agenda to industrialize the pristine mountains and rivers of the region.
Zack Porter is the campaign coordinator for All Against the Haul, a homegrown, four-state effort working to stop the construction of a permanent industrial corridor for massively oversized loads to the Alberta Tar Sands through Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana.
Dena Hoff and her husband Alvin have farmed for 31 years on the Yellowstone River six miles west of Glendive, Mt. She is the past chair of the Northern Plains Resource Council, current Vice-President of the National Family Farm Coalition, and co-coordinator of the North American Region of La Via Campesina.
Tune into Locus Focus, Monday, July 18, from 10:15 - 11:00 AM, on KBOO-FM 90.7 Portland; 91.9 Hood River; 100.7 Corvallis. And if you can't listen then, or if you live outside of KBOO's broadcast area, you can catch a podcast of the show anytime at http://kboo.fm/LocusFocus. You can also listen on your computer anywhere in the world to our live stream at http://kboo.fm/LocusFocus

The conversation doesn't end when the program does. You can join in discussion of each week's issue on our webpage at http://kboo.fm/LocusFocus (click on the "comments" tab). You'll find additional information, important links, comments from other listeners and Barbara's response.