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SERVING CURRY COUNTY SINCE 1946 www.currypilot.com

FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2023

Brookings, Oregon

Science, people drive new approach to restoration THE PILOT On the South Coast, science and people are driving restoration work – supported by science, but led by local stakeholders, including Tribes. The approach has led the Curry Watersheds Partnership to include not just salmon in their restoration work, but many other species needing attention – and to consider how climate change may be affecting everything. “This is one of the most comprehensive assessments on the South Coast of what is needed to restore a watershed,” said Miranda Gray, who led the project for the Curry Watersheds Partnership. “And yes, it’s driven by science, but it’s led by stakeholders more than ever before. That’s new.” It’s one of the ﬁrst watershed assessments on the South Coast to: • Look at everything impacting a watershed – including climate change. • Involve a wide array of stakeholders. • Focus on restoring multiple species, including lamprey, instead of just salmon. • Incorporate indigenous knowlPlease see WATERSHED Page A2

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Following completion of the South Coast ATLAS, Curry Watersheds Partnership is pursuing high-priority restoration projects in the Sixes River watershed

Oregon spent $75 million on hotels for shelters. How are they doing? BY ZACK DEMARS Oregon Capital Insider

A handful of hotels across Oregon work a lot differently now than they did three years ago. In 2020, state legislators committed nearly $75 million to a novel housing strategy aimed at stemming the worst impacts of both the pandemic’s first year and a destructive fire season. Two years later, recipients of that funding are looking to long-term operations while the statewide outcomes of the new services aren’t exactly clear. The premise of the program was a simple one: The state would give local governments and nonprofits funds to purchase old hotels and motels. They could then use those buildings as emergency shelter to house people more safely than in large congregate shelters, where disease can spread more quickly. “In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we really had to think about shelter, and sheltering people experiencing homelessness in a very different way,” said Mike Savara, who coordinates the state housing agency’s work with Project Turnkey. “We saw shelters really trying to distance, spread out, and think about all the different ways they could limit the spread of COVID-19.” To fund the properties, legislators enlisted the Oregon Community Foundation to dole out the funding to 19 different sites — moving the money through the private nonprofit instead of

With new gas-powered cars banned in Oregon by 2035, the state has a lot of questions to answer in the coming years.

Oregon bans sales of new gas-powered cars by 2035 BY PETER WONG

Oregon Capital Bureau

Oregon and Washington have joined California in requiring automakers to sell only new electric or hybrid cars and passenger trucks beginning with the 2035 model year. The rules were adopted Monday by the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission on a 4-1 vote and by the Washington Department of Ecology. Oregon and Washington are among the 17 states that follow California’s stricter emissions requirements for vehicles as allowed under the federal Clean Air Act. California’s Air Resources Board, which has authority over vehicle emissions, voted for the stricter standards on Aug. 25. The actions do not ban the sale or use of gasoline- or diesel-powered cars and light trucks in those

Please see TURNKEY Page A3

INDEX Calendar of Events

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states after 2035. But they will require manufacturers to offer for sale increasing shares of their future vehicles to be carbon-free, until the 100% mark is reached in the 2035 model year. Under federal law, states can choose to go with California’s stricter emissions standards for vehicles or the more lenient federal standards – but states cannot devise their own standards. Some other states have indicated they do not plan to follow California’s zero-emission vehicle standards. “I think there is a large part of this state that thinks we are crazy to follow California on anything,” said Greg Addington of Klamath Falls, the only dissenter on the Environmental Quality Commission vote. Addington was hired a couple of months ago to lead the Oregon Farm Bureau, where he once worked.

“If we don’t adopt this rule here today, I think the transportation system will still electrify. We just won’t have the same number of options. We will not be providing the regulatory certainty to utilities and auto manufacturers. We won’t be upgrading the (power) grid in a strategic and cohesive way that is proactive, rather than reactive.” Amy Schlusser Member of Oregon Environmental Quality Commission and staff lawyer with the Green Energy Institute at Lewis & Clark College law school

But Amy Schlusser, another commission member, said the realities of climate change are forcing change. “If we don’t adopt this rule here today, I think the transportation system will still electrify,” said Schlusser, a staff lawyer with the

Green Energy Institute at Lewis & Clark College law school. “We just won’t have the same number of options. We will not be providing the regulatory certainty to utilities and auto manufacturers. We won’t be upgrading the (power) grid in a Please see CARS Page A2

Phone Number: 541-813-1717 • Address: 519 Chetco Ave, Ste 7, Brookings, 97415 • Email: Circulation@CountryMedia.net A2

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