Thank you for your interest in reading The Astorian. Here are a few stories that you might have missed this week:

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The Oregon Board of Forestry has decided to stay the course on a draft habitat conservation plan amid growing pressure from counties and the timber industry.

The plan would designate no-logging areas across nearly 640,000 acres of state forests, mostly in Clatsop and Tillamook counties, to protect habitat.

Clatsop County and others have called for changes to the plan over concerns that reduced timber harvests will lead to a loss of revenue.

“Good public policy is founded on a broad consideration of interrelated and interdependent factors,” Mark Kujala, the chairman of the county Board of Commissioners, said in a letter to the state forestry board. “The (habitat conservation plan) must consider and balance this myriad of factors to produce a framework that protects and safeguards Clatsop State Forest and the broader community.”

Read the stories by Nicole Bales by clicking here and here.

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A temporary shelter for the homeless opened at the Astoria Armory.

The quick move by Clatsop Community Action was in response to a snap of cold weather and uncertainty over whether the Astoria Warming Center will reopen at First United Methodist Church after a violent incident earlier this month.

“We’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing. Our job is to help people in need,” said Viviana Matthews, the executive director of the social services group.

Take a look at Nicole Bales’ report by clicking here.

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Poachers are stealing mussels off Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach.

Advocates at the Haystack Rock Awareness Program say the harm is not only to the mussels, but to sea stars, which have been struggling to rebound from a wasting syndrome. 

“The wasting syndrome took out 95% of our population of sea stars and now we have to worry about (poaching)?” said Lisa Habecker, the education and volunteer coordinator for the awareness program.

The story is part of a collaboration between The Astorian and Coast Community Radio.

See the story by Katie Frankowicz of KMUN by clicking here.

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— Derrick DePledge