Groups continue efforts to save Yacolt parakeets

Despite the efforts of two bird rescue organizations, only two poles for parakeet nests have been constructed in Yacolt. More such poles are in the planning stages.
Christopher Driggins of N.W. Bird Rescue and Adoption Orphanage said last week that he obtained permits Feb. 14 from town officials to erect nine poles and platforms, delayed due to a paperwork mix-up. While he had hoped to have as many as 18 poles and nesting platforms in place by now, none has yet been erected so far.
Nick Peck of the Yacolt Parrot Preservation Association said two poles are in place and his group has permits for five more.
The Association announced an agreement Feb. 15 with officials of the town of Yacolt and Clark Public Utilities that could lead to the long-term preservation of wild parakeets in the community.
The issue arose in November when Clark Public Utilities removed parakeet nests from power poles and transformers, stating that the nests posed a safety and reliability hazard for the power system.
Since then the utility has continued to remove nests or partial nests as they have been reconstructed by birds on utility poles.
Utility spokesman Mick Shutt said no further efforts have been taken to kill the birds since November other than the continuing removal of nests.
Pursuant to the new agreement with the Association, Clark Public Utilities will acquire plastic orange sleeves and install them on 15 utility poles in Yacolt to discourage nesting. This will be done at the utility’s expense.
The utility also agreed to turn over twig nesting materials removed from poles to the Association, and to not disturb inhabited nests.
How many parakeets remain on the loose in Yacolt remains uncertain.
Driggins said the parakeet population in Yacolt has declined from about 20 in November to 5 or 6 today.
But Peck said volunteers have spotted as many as 20 at one time between Feb. 10 and 15, on the “outskirts” of Yacolt. “One possibility,” said Peck, “is that the birds have chosen a place to congregate away from harassment that they have been under at the hands of people outside the town of Yacolt.” He declined to identify what people or groups were harassing the parakeets or whether he includes Clark Public Utilities in that category.
Driggins said one dead parakeet was found by neighbors Feb. 11 on a Yacolt sidewalk. Driggins said he asked an area veterinarian to determine a cause of death. Alison Evans-Fragale, founder of Edgewater Parrots in New Jersey, who is working with Driggins and paid for the autopsy, said the bird died as a direct result of the removal of a nest. She declined to specify the exact cause of death or name the veterinarian.
Peck said his Association wants to disassociate itself from anyone outside Yacolt who wants to deal with the problem, “regardless of how well-intentioned.”
Joy Tindall, president of the new Association, could not be reached for comment.
Driggins said the poles his group plans to install will be plastic and 30 feet tall. They will be removable, he said. Each pole will be equipped with nesting platforms in a configuration that encourages further nest building. He estimated the cost to construct each pole at about $160 “to build them correctly”. He said he has received a donation of a concrete mixer, auger and other equipment, but a donation of pole-building supplies is pending.
Peck said the cost for each pole is about $125. He said his group plans to install polls that are 18-20 feet tall.
Peck’s group met Feb. 16 to organize for a work party.
Fragale alleged that officials of Clark Public Utilities had attended a training program offered by the federal Department of Agriculture on how to deal with parakeets. She said the language used by the utility is the same used by other utilities in explaining the need for traps and carbon monoxide. She said that some of the utility’s claims are identical to those made elsewhere and are untrue--that the population doubles every two years, that a nest could weigh 2,400 pounds, and that nests have caused pole fires.
Utility spokesman Mick Shutt said no utility employees have attended a Department of Agriculture training program on dealing with monk parrots.
Utilities conduct the planned eradication program in November, said Fragale, to deplete the population during winter weather. They anticipate public outcry, she said.
Both Fragale and the Preservation Association said they asked Clark Public Utilities to suspend nest removal until the alternate nesting platforms are in place but officials have refused. Shutt confirmed that the utility has not changed its plan to remove nesting materials as they appear on power poles and transformers.
“Because of outside groups,” said Peck, “it has been difficult to focus the attention of the community on the need to get these alternate nesting poles constructed. We have been working quietly behind the scenes to create a viable plan for the preservation of the quaker parrots.”

Flag disposal ceremony nears
Used and worn out United States flags will be properly disposed of Sat., March 1, in a ceremony conducted by the Battle Ground Elks Lodge.
Project coordinator Dennis Martindale said the Elks will collect used flags from all sources, then conduct the public ceremony at the corner of W Main St. and 20th Ave. near Albertson’s and The Reflector. Each flag will be observed and then properly burned, said Martindale, following established protocol.
Anyone with a used or worn out U.S. flag is invited to drop them off at The Reflector, 20 NW 20th Ave., Battle Ground, prior to March 1. The Reflector is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays. Used flags may also be dropped off at Clark County Fire & Rescue, 21609 NE 72nd Ave., Battle Ground, 505 SW 1st St., Battle Ground, and 911 N 65th Ave., Ridgefield.
The disposal program is free. Police and fire officials will be on hand to assist during the March 1 disposal ceremony, said Martindale.
More information is available by calling Martindale, 687-3880.

County, fair agree on alcohol plan at fair
Despite objections expressed by the Clark County commissioners to the serving of beer and wine at the Clark County fair last year, the commissioners have agreed to the alcohol plan for 2008.
In a verbal agreement reached Feb. 13, the commissioners approved a proposal for a beer and wine garden with food, couches, carpet, and entertainment.
Justin Kobluk, executive director of the of the Clark County Event Center, said about 3,000 square feet of space will be partitioned off in the east end of the Exhibition Hall at the fairgrounds during the 2008 county fair. The space will be used for the serving of beer and wine, along with food and entertainment.
Wines would not be limited to those produced in Clark County, said Kobluk, but rather would include wines from around the northwest and possibly elsewhere. Similarly, area microbrews would be included with other varieties, he said.
Kobluk said gourmet foods available in the beer garden could include cooking demonstrations, possibly conducted by area culinary arts programs.
Overstuffed chairs, couches, and a tranquil garden decor might be used as well, he said.
Kobluk told the commissioners that Washington state ranks second in the nation in wine production, and third in the nation in beer production.
Kobluk said the planned “Bistro” would cater to people with a more affluent lifestyle who have “sophisticated tastes and a higher level of expectation in entertainment.”
Items available in the Bistro might include Rogue Valley Creamery cheese, Moonstruck chocolates, artisan breads, fresh fruits, fondues and specialty coffees and teas. Live music could be provided by area musicians.
Kobluk said last year’s beer garden had gross revenues of about $62,000, of which the fair organization gained about $6,100.
Sponsorships, which have yet to be identified for the 2008 fair, made up about 20 percent of gross revenues in 2007, said Kobluk.

Teacher hopes new school will solve crowding problems
Alice Perry Linker
staff reporter
Twenty-seven freshman students stand shoulder to shoulder, preparing an experiment that will illustrate how the universe is expanding.
Sometimes one student will accidentally bump into another.
“I tell them, they’ve known each other since first grade, they just have to be friendly,” said teacher Jennifer Cullison, who teaches general science, biology, and advanced placement biology at Woodland High School.
Cullison jokes with her students, but she and the students say the crowding is no laughing matter. The science teachers must plan and modify the curriculum because they have almost no laboratory space.
The Woodland School District hopes to correct the overcrowding in the high school classrooms by building a new school on Dike Access Road.
Before the new school can be built, the voters in the Woodland district must approve a bond issue of $49.4 million to be paid over 21 years. The mail ballots that are due Tues., March 11, will be mailed out Fri., Feb. 22.
Cullison and the four other science teachers must plan carefully to get adequate lab time for their students, especially advanced placement students and those who are college bound. Principal John Shoup said the school has three science rooms with labs, but only two are functional.
“We’re crowded, cramped,” Cullison said. “We can’t teach and have them do something at a lab station while we’re teaching. There isn’t room.”
Cullison, who teaches at the opposite end of the school from the other science teachers, cannot have gas in her room.
“We just use a hot plate when we need to heat water,” she said.
With only one locked storeroom, Cullison uses a cart to take her supplies to her classroom.
“It’s frustrating,” she said. “I have to spend so much time planning and modifying how I teach. I could use that time for instruction to enrich the curriculum. I feel I waste quality time on more planning.”
The high school’s five science teachers must scramble to get adequate lab time for their students, but they’re not the only ones affected by the ever increasing number of students, Shoup said.
Students even have a hard time finding a place to eat at lunch, because the lunchroom isn’t large enough. Students often sit on the floor in the hall to eat their lunch, he said.
“You should see the halls when we’re changing classes,” Shoup said. “They are packed.”
The performance arts and music also suffer from crowded conditions, he said. One music class takes place in a nearby church. The drama classes must share the stage area with the choir.
“Some kids need the performing arts more than science and math,” he said. “We don’t have enough space for the programs.”
The high school does not require students to audition for either drama or music classes.
“We don’t turn kids down, especially because we don’t have enough space,” he said.
Physical education classes require careful planning because the school has only one gym. Two years of physical education must be completed for graduation.
“We can put three PE classes in the gym (at one time), but they have to be the right three,” Shoup said.
The athletic teams at Woodland High School also must share practice space. The boys and girls basketball teams alternate practice times so they can both use the gym. The new school will have a large gym and an auxiliary gym.
“We have to move people around,” Shoup said. “The kids understand; they feel crowded, but they understand.”
The building is so crowded that the students “don’t have a place to hang out,” he said. “We don’t have a place for students to wait for their parents.”
The commons is shared by the middle and high schools. Former middle school rooms adjacent to the commons have become high school classrooms.
Ten high school teachers work in portable classrooms, compared to four teachers when Shoup arrived in Woodland in 1998. A social studies teacher floats from classroom to classroom, using three classrooms each day without a place to put belongings, Shoup said.
Although Shoup did not predict the outcome of the March 11 election, he said, “This is a supportive community. Folks understand that the schools are crowded, but they feel good about their schools.”
As proposed by the school board, the new high school would have classrooms for 1,000 students. The design would allow for expansion to an enrollment of 1,200.
The cost of the bond is expected to be $1.40 per $1,000 of value, or $350 per year for the owner of a home valued at $250,000.

Heavy call load leads to ambulance talks
Alice Perry Linker
staff reporter
The number of emergency calls for ambulance service in the Woodland area is growing as the population grows, but the number of ambulances and emergency medical technicians may not be keeping pace, according to a report to the Woodland City Council
“We are continuing to experience a reduced availability of ambulance service in Woodland,” Fire Chief Tony Brentin wrote in a staff report.
The council received the report but made no decision during a Feb. 11 work session.
The Woodland department has been meeting with Cowlitz Fire District 5 of Kalama and District 1 that serves the rural areas east of Woodland since last summer to discuss ways to improve the level of ambulance service to south Cowlitz County. District 5 owns and operates an ambulance.
How each community would fit into any regional plan has not been determined, but Brentin said the three departments have more in common with each other than with the rest of the county.
Representatives from the two fire districts and from the City of Woodland met Feb. 13 to discuss the issue. Woodland Mayor Chuck Blum said more information is needed before the city council can consider any alternatives.
“It’s an issue,” he said. “We need much more information. We do have a problem with the availability of private ambulances.”
During the short term, a vehicle owned by the Woodland Fire Department has been outfitted to be a basic life support ambulance and will be registered as an ambulance with the state in a matter of weeks, he said.
Brentin said that Woodland people are not in danger now, but the city’s first responders and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) are finding that they sometimes wait longer for an ambulance than they would like.
“If we do nothing, we probably will have continuing delays,” he said.
An ambulance owned by American Medical Response (AMR) is based in Woodland but also serves an area as far north as Longview. About nine ambulances, operated by AMR and fire districts, operate countywide.
“Woodland is not a permanent (ambulance) base, About 50 percent of the time, they’re not here,” Brentin said. “The ambulance is pulled when they get busy up north, or they have to transport patients to Clark County.”
Brentin discussed the possibility for improving ambulance service during the work session.
The private ambulance company AMR has proposed that the company partner with the city to place a permanent ambulance and paramedic in Woodland. Under the proposal, the company would provide the ambulance and the paramedics and the city would provide the drivers.
The cost of providing full-time drivers would range from $50,000-$200,000 annually, depending on the plan, Brentin said.
“Could we come up with a plan to compensate volunteer drivers for the ambulance or would we hire full-time drivers?” Brentin said.
AMR would handle billing and keep the income to cover the costs of operations. The fire department would be responsible for all costs associated with the drivers, he said.
Woodland and the two nearby fire districts have discussed a tiered service response system that would include two types of ambulances--one, advanced life support or medic staffed with paramedics, and a second, basic life support staffed with EMTs.
If a tiered response system were chosen, the city would not necessarily negotiate a full-time ambulance with AMR.
Brentin said his “scientific guess” is that a tiered system would cost the city a minimum of $50,000, because the volunteers would be more involved in transporting patients to hospitals.
“We don’t expect our volunteers to do transport for free,” he said. “We need a way to compensate our volunteers.”
By far the most expensive alternative would be for the city to buy and operate a full medic ambulance. The city would need seven new full-time employees, including three firefighter-paramedics, three firefighter-EMTs, and a medical service supervisor.
The cost of implementing a full ambulance service could reach $400,000 annually, the council was told.
“That system provides additional full-time firefighters,” Brentin said. “They would do double duty. It is a significant cost.”
The city council has not discussed the option of adding ambulance service to the fire department, and at present, the budget would not allow for such an expansion. Brentin said it would be difficult for the city to pay for separate ambulance service.
Blum agreed.
“Unfortunately, the City of Woodland is not in a financial position to do what he would like in a perfect world,” said Blum.
The council probably will discuss the issue during a regular meeting some time in March or April, the mayor said.

Raiter predicts good economic times for county
Alice Perry Linker
staff reporter
Cowlitz County is opening the door to good economic times, according to county commission chair George Raiter.
In his state of the county address Feb. 12, Raiter acknowledged that in recent years, Cowlitz County has not had a booming economy and has lost manufacturing jobs, including the jobs at Fleetwood in Woodland.
Better times are coming and coming soon, he said.
“I think, from what I’ve been reading, the country is headed for a mild recession,” Raiter said. “This time Cowlitz County will miss that recession–we used to be a (recession) leader.”
He noted that the ports of Woodland, Kalama and Longview are attracting industries and Weyerhauser, although closing the plant at Green Mountain, is opening a sawmill in Longview.
“We’ve diversified; we’ve gotten away from two or three industries,” he said.
He said he is optimistic that a proposed coal-fired energy plant at Kalama eventually will provide many jobs. Under current state regulations, the plant, as proposed, would emit a higher level of carbon dioxide than the state approves, but Raiter said he is confident that the carbon dioxide issue will be resolved.
County government, however, faces challenges, as expenditures are exceeding revenues, he said, and county taxpayers do not support tax increases.
“We’re in a crisis mode now,” Raiter said in an interview after the speech.
The county budgets for this year and next will tap into the cash reserves, something that cannot continue, he said.
“We’re spending down our cash reserves,” he said.
The commissioners must learn ways to provide services more efficiently, he said.
“We’ve got to learn it in two years,” he said.
On another topic, Raiter said that crime, drug addiction and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) appear to be declining.
“In two years we’ve seen a 39 percent drop in STD’s,” he said. “We seen a significant drop in crime.”