Relay for Life
St. Helens Elks
9th Annual Cruise-In Page A15
arrives in St. Helens Page A14
TODAY’S WEATHER Partly Cloudy Highs to 81 Page 11 Lows to 57
Classified Ads A9-10 • Legal Notices A10 • Obituaries A6 • Opinions A4 • Out & About A7 • Calendar A7 • TV Guide A8 • Sports A13-16 • Weather A11
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
The Chronicle
$1 Vol. 134, No. 31 16 Pages
www.thechronicleonline.com
Hard landing at Scappoose Airpark
Disaster nearly struck at the airpark when a plane was caught by a gust of wind mid-landing.
was on a solo flight, one of his first, with his instructor on the ground at the airpark facility. Engstrom said a gust of wind sent the plane off balance as it was landing. The left wingtip of the plane and the nose made contact with the runway. The propeller tore chunks out of the runway as the plane came to a stop, and the front landing gear was slightly bent by the impact. There was visible damage
BY CODY MANN cmann@countrymedia.net
A pilot suffered non-life threatening injuries after a rough landing damaged the plane he was flying. The incident occurred at around 5 p.m. on Aug. 1 at Scappoose Industrial Airpark. According to Cheryl Engstrom, public information officer for Scappoose Fire District, the pilot
Oregon timber harvest declines back to 4 bbf,” he said. “My inclination is to believe that we may have a low number for 2016, but then things will start to correct.” Kaetzel said he bases his reasoning on the US and Canada renewing the Softwood Lumber Agreement and the fire seasons ebb and flow. This year, he said, the fire season is shaping up so far to be less dramatic than last year. “If we have multiple bad years, however, we could see further losses of mills and employment problems in these timber dependent counties,” Kaetzel said. “So far this year (2016), we’ve lost approximately five mills. That could be exasperated if harvests continue to decline in these timber-dependent counties.” Kaetzel said the timber harvest crept back up after the recession initially hit in 2009. It bounced back from approximately 2.7 billion to 4 billion board feet harvest in 2013-14. The market picked back up due to a housing market that slowly recovered and a strong demand for our logs in countries such as China. Teevin Rainier General Manager Eric Oien said any decline in timber harvest and the resulting loss of revenue and harvest taxes negatively impacts schools, emergency services and other important community services “So it is very important that the industry remain healthy,” Oien said. “Any permanent loss of timber production will have a direct correlation with loss of funding for these
BY JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net
After two years at slightly above four billion board feet, Oregon’s timber harvest dropped below that in 2015 to a number on par with the 2012 harvest, according to the Oregon Department of Forestry’s (ODF) annual timber harvest report. From 2014 to 2015 there was an approximate decrease in harvest of eight percent for a 2015 total of 3.79 billion board feet harvested. Decreases occurred across all ownerships except for state-owned forestlands. ODF Principal Economist Brandon Kaetzel said the impact of the harvest decline in Columbia County won’t be great unless it’s a sustained decrease over a few years. Over the past 20 years, Oregon’s harvest rate has hovered around 4 billion board feet a year. Kaetzel said there have been down years and up years. “On average however, it balances
PHOTOS BY CODY MANN/The Chronicle
to the nose, propeller, left wing and landing gear. Scappoose Fire District and Scappoose Police Department responded to the scene, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was notified. Air traffic was not affected by the crash, but the plane was to remain on the runway until the FAA completes an investigation.
Old Yankton Church demolished BY CLAUDE AKINS
cakins@countrymedia.net
In the bright early morning this past Wednesday the Old Yankton Church was demolished, closing the book on an embattled struggle for preservation. The Old Yankton Church Historic Preservation Organization (OYCHPO) and the Yankton Community Fellowship – the group that operates Yankton Baptist Church – have been engaged in an ongoing legal battle surrounding the demolition of the church for several years. While OYCHPO wanted to preserve the church for what they saw as its historical and
cultural significance, the fellowship had cited mold and safety concerns as well as the impossibility of moving the structure as reasons for its demolition. Paul Krenz, a member of OYCHPO, and Peg Tarbell, who, in addition to being a member of the nonprofit group is also the great-greatgranddaughter of Charles Tarbell, the original founder of the church, believed the edifice was in relatively good condition. “It was 113 years old. And, basically, with a little TLC it could have maintained another 100 years,” Tarbell said. “The foundation is good.” “New timber and new cement [were] put underneath there twenty
Chronicle File Photo
years ago,” said Krenz, who has worked as a licensed contractor and personally made repairs to the roofing and siding of the church three years ago. “It was kind of overbuilt, what they did,” said Krenz, referring to the old church. Without the advantages of precise technology, frontier craftsman would simply build things bigger and bulkier to ensure the strength of the building. In addition, they used old-growth timber, a particularly strong building material that is more resistant to decay and damage and is now illegal to harvest. “The materials just can’t be duplicated nowadays,”
See YANKTON, Page A12
CLAUDE AKINS/The Chronicle
See TIMBER, Page A12
Over a dozen brewers at event. All beers being sampled will be on sale with HOT pricing. Vote for you favorite beer to enter to win a $100 gift card. Winning beer will be on sale all of August.
1st Annual
AUGUST 5th 3-7pm SAMPLES
THIS FRIDAY!
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