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<p class=MsoNormal>Oregon Department of Forestry<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>NEWS RELEASE<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Forestry Department works
to maintain public safety following landslide in Tillamook State Forest<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>October 7, 2010<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Contact: Dan Goody (503)
815-7001 or Kevin Weeks (503) 945-7427<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Officials from the Oregon Department
of Forestry (ODF), Oregon Department of Transportation, and Oregon Emergency
Management are working to maintain public safety on Oregon Highway 6 and
minimize public impacts in the Tillamook State Forest from a landslide that was
discovered earlier this summer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>During June 2010, ODF staff
detected cracks in portions of Hoskins Creek Road, a forest access road within
the Tillamook State Forest, located about 20 miles east of Tillamook. The
department’s geotechnical and engineering specialists began reviewing the
area and determined the road cracks were part of a larger hillside failure in
an a landscape where slide activity is part of the natural process. The
landslide has continued to move at variable rates over the last four months,
moving anywhere from a few inches per day to sometimes over ten feet in one
day, depositing large amounts of soil, rock and trees into a tributary stream
of Luebke Creek.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Preliminary investigation by
the department’s geotechnical and engineering specialists indicates that
the current slide is a reactivation of an ancient landslide, and likely caused
by a weak layer of sedimentary rock beneath the hillslope. Road
construction work performed in 2008 may have caused an acceleration of these
natural geologic processes. The slide is occurring in an area that has a
historic pattern of changing geology, and the June 2010 event is likely a
continuation of an older, established pattern of land movement common to higher
elevations throughout northwest Oregon. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>During the coming rainy
winter months, the potential exists for the slide material to enter the main
stem of Luebke Creek and continue downstream to Oregon Highway 6. The
Luebke Creek crossing beneath Oregon Highway 6 is located at approximately
milepost 21, about one mile west of the Tillamook Forest Center. Luebke Creek
has experienced debris flows in the past, most notably in 1996, when a debris
flow impacted Highway 6 in this location.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>“ODF recognizes the
potential risk to Oregon’s motoring public on Highway 6 that could result
from a debris flow,” says Dan Goody, Tillamook District Forester for ODF.
“We are working closely with the Oregon Department of Transportation
(ODOT), Oregon State Police (OSP), Oregon Emergency Management and the
Tillamook County departments of Public Works and Emergency Management to
develop an interagency response plan designed to protect public safety.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>To protect public safety, ODF
has taken several steps to date:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<ul style='margin-top:0in' type=disc>
<li class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:10.0pt;line-height:115%;mso-list:
l0 level1 lfo3'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%'>Public
access to Hoskins Creek Road has been blocked to protect public safety in
the landslide area.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:10.0pt;line-height:115%;mso-list:
l0 level1 lfo3'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%'>ODF is
working with transportation and emergency management agencies to clearly
define roles and responsibilities for monitoring the site, keep the public
informed, and maintain an action plan regarding the landslide area. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:10.0pt;line-height:115%;mso-list:
l0 level1 lfo3'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%'>ODOT and
ODF are working together to develop a system to warn motorists on Highway
6 and maintain public safety. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:10.0pt;line-height:115%;mso-list:
l0 level1 lfo3'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%'>ODF is
monitoring the landslide area to be sure the action plan is matched to the
conditions. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Engineering staff from
several state agencies are currently assessing the ability to install a
motion-sensing early warning system for the slide area. In the event of a
debris flow, a detection system would warn ODOT, OSP and Tillamook County that
a debris flow situation is imminent, providing crucial advance warning to close
Highway 6. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>“If at any time ODF or
ODOT feels there is imminent danger to the motoring public on Highway 6,
actions will take place to close the highway," says Goody.<i><span
style='background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'> </span></i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The Oregon Department of
Forestry manages the 364,000-acre Tillamook State Forest. Additional
information about forest management in Oregon is available on ODF’s web
site, <a href="http://www.oregon.gov/ODF">www.oregon.gov/ODF</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Additional information and resources
for the news media and the public regarding the Hoskins Creek Road slide are
available on the ODF web site at: <a
href="http://www.oregon.gov/ODF/newsroom/newsreleases/2010/hoskinscreekslide.shtml">www.oregon.gov/ODF/newsroom/newsreleases/2010/hoskinscreekslide.shtml</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>###<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Kevin Weeks<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Public Information Officer<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Oregon Department of Forestry <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>(503) 945-7427<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><a href="mailto:kweeks@odf.state.or.us">kweeks@odf.state.or.us</a>
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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