Expanded Landslide Database Released

24 April 2014

Coast Radio News
Local News

Oregon Geologists Offer Expanded Landslide Database

A new, expanded statewide database of landslide locations was released this week by the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries.  The interactive, web-based map shows more than 46,000 known landslide locations in the state.

The department hopes the tool will help increase the public’s understanding of where future slides may occur.

The new database compiles all the landslides that have been identified on published maps. An interactive feature makes locating landslides as easy as entering an address.

Several of those are noted in Western Lane County, but nearly all of them, however, are well away from populated areas.  Several do ring Mapleton and there are a handful along Highway 126 between Florence and Mapleton.  None are identified in the Urban Growth Boundary or even close to it.

7th graders from Andy Marohl's Siuslaw Middle School class spent the day clearing noxious plants from a hillside this week on the Oregon Dunes.  (US Forest Service photo).
7th graders from Andy Marohl’s Siuslaw Middle School class spent the day clearing noxious plants from a hillside this week on the Oregon Dunes. (US Forest Service photo).

Engineering geologist Bill Burns says most of the nearly 20,000 landslides mapped since 2009 have come using lidar, a tool that provides accurate high-resolution images of the earth’s surface. A link to the interactive map can be found here.

Leaving a Legacy of Stewardship

A small army of middle schoolers converged this week on a hillside in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.  By the time their day was complete, they had nearly stripped it of vegetation.

Clearing the way for native vegetation, students from Siuslaw Middle School spent one day this week pulling invasive Scotch Broom. (US Forest Service photo).
Clearing the way for native vegetation, students from Siuslaw Middle School spent one day this week pulling invasive Scotch Broom. (US Forest Service photo).

What they removed was probably one of the worst invasive plants in Oregon… Scotch Broom.  Jim Grano says their effort will allow native vegetation a chance to become reestablished on the sandy hillside.

Grano is the leader of the Siuslaw Stream Team, a science curriculum for local students that focuses on understanding and restoring endangered salmon runs.  This week’s effort may not have been in a stream bed, but, says Grano, it’s a good way to help students make a difference and learn about the balance between life and elemental forces.

In the process of clearing the invasive plants, the seventh graders also learned about the geology and biology of the dunes from Forest Service Biologist Mike Northrop and their science teacher, Andy Marohl.

Story Time at Siuslaw Pioneer Museum

Several “gems” of information from the Florence area past could be dispensed tomorrow.

Local artist Carolyn Nordahl worked for many years in the composition department at the Siuslaw News.  Before that, she worked as a telephone operator on the Florence switchboard.

She and her husband Richard are from families with a long history in the Florence area, giving them a direct link to the history of the Siuslaw Valley.

Nordahl will talk about that tomorrow night during the regular Siuslaw Pioneer Museum Story Time at the museum in Old Town.  Story time begins at seven, there’s no admission charge.

School District Coffee Connection

How about a cup of “Joe” with Shawn?

Siuslaw School Superintendent Shawn Wiencek will host another of her “coffee connections” tomorrow afternoon at the school district office on Oak Street.

Wiencek says she hopes to hear from parents and community members about what they think the district is “doing right”.  She also wants to hear where they need improvement.  She says it’s all part of “connecting schools and community”.

The coffee will be on from two to three pm.