The Applegater

2 Fall 2017 Applegater OBITUARY Chuck Eckles March 4, 1932 - December 27, 2016 C h a r l e s ( C h u c k ) Kenyon Eckels Jr. of Jacksonville, Oregon, passed away on December 27, 2016. He was born on March 4, 1932, in Spokane, Washington, to Charles K. Eckels Sr. and Kathleen (Kelley) Eckels. Chuck grew up in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, and graduated second in his class at Wauwatosa High School in 1950. C h u c k g r a d u a t e d with honors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) with a bachelor of science degree in agriculture (animal science) in June 1954. While in college, Chuck was in Phi Eta Sigma, Alpha Zeta, and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies and was a member of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity, serving as president of the chapter. He was also president of the Country Magazine Board of Control, vice president of the Saddle and Sirloin Club, a reporter for Sickle and Sheaf, and a member of agriculture student council. In the fall of 1952, during his junior year, he was on the UW meat-judging team, which participated in several competitions held at livestock shows around the country. His team won first place in Baltimore in November of that year. In December, the team entered a competition at the International Livestock Exposition in Chicago, and the three-man team not only won the contest (out of 20 college teams entered), but for the first time in the history of the competition, the three team members were also awarded the top three places in individual ratings. Chuck married Jeanne Hamm in January 1954, then served in the US Army from 1955-1957, stationed at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. Following his service, Chuck began a l o n g c a r e e r w i t h Wilson & Co., working in Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, and Oklahoma. He later worked in both food and financial industry positions. In 1985, Chuck moved to the Medford area where he enjoyed many outdoor activities and a gorgeous view from his home near the Siskiyou National Forest. He enjoyed spending time with his shooting group and serving on the board and volunteering for the Rogue Book Exchange. He was a lifelong Green Bay Packers fan and an avid reader and photographer. Chuck is survived by his children and grandchildren Judi, Mark, Kevin, and Chris Stillwell; Linda, Brent, Trevor, and Catherine Gee; Steve, Glennis, Riley (Alison), Tucker, and Tatum Eckels; and Elizabeth and Mary Elizabeth Eckels; sisters-in-law Patricia Hamm Biever and Karen Hamm Rahn (Bradner); and numerous nieces and nephews. He is predeceased by his parents, former wife, and son, Daniel Eckels. Chuck's family and friends gathered for a celebration of his life on July 14 in Jacksonville. Donations in Chuck's memory may be made to the Nature Conservancy, Salvation Army, or UW Animal Sciences Department. APWC celebrates 25 years of participation and collaboration BY LAURA CRANE e year was 1992. The band U2 was playing on the radio. Bill Clinton had just replaced George Bush as president. A n d t h e "o w l s versus logs" debate was raging in the Pacific Northwest. This was also the ye a r th e App l e ga t e Partnership was born. To J a c k S h i p l e y, founder and current board member of the Applegate Partnership & Watershed Council (APWC), the sides in the owl controversy were too polarized to be constructive. e debate sounded like a sword fight without swords: a jab here, a swing there, lots of undercutting, and zero productivity. I n O c t o b e r 1 9 9 2 , Ja c k i n v i t e d people on all sides of the controversy to a meeting at his house in the Applegate Valley. Representatives from the timber industry, federal and state agencies, and environmental groups attended, and an eight-member board that encompassed every perspective was chosen that day. Despite widely varying viewpoints, the board operated from its very beginnings on the principle of complete consensus— if a proposed action did not meet with total approval by all board members, it simply did not move forward. What has made the group successful over the last 25 years is a calculated, long-term effort to focus on commonalities among members instead of differences and on areas of agreement rather than disagreement. In the beginning of the partnership, all agreed that conflict could and should be handled more reasonably, that discussions needed to remain at a local level, and that natural resource management and environmental quality are not mutually exclusive. e extraordinary spirit of collaboration and participation of the original Applegate Partnership continues today. Collaboration has had good results. This year, the APWC will complete several p rojects that will benefit people and wildlife in the Applegate Watershed. One of those projects is to pull out the Butcherknife C reek Road culvert, which, in the early 1990s, easily allowed passage of migrating juvenile and adult salmonids, according to an evaluation by natural resource experts and road crews at that time. But 25 years later, the culvert had deteriorated and became a major safety hazard for local residents and drivers along Butcherknife Creek Road, as well as a barrier to fish. A new bridge is scheduled to be installed in late August 2017 thanks to private donations and state grants. e APWC will also be working on instream habitat restoration through large wood placements and partial removal of an unused concrete dam on Powell Creek at the request of the landowner. e dam currently impedes fish passage by creating a velocity barrier: the water flows so fast through the dam that fish cannot physically swim through it. We are grateful to have our partnerships with local landowners for these projects. The APWC is a nonregulatory and nongovernmental agency. During our long history, our organization and members have been instrumental in some of the Applegate Valley's most important ventures: the Applegater Newspaper, the Applegate Fire Plan, and the preservation of Cantrall Buckley Park as a joint project between the citizens and the county. e APWC staff and board members c o n t i n u e t o s t r i ve f o r c o m m u n i t y involvement and public outreach through participation in local meetings and gatherings and through our committees and board meetings, lectures, and other events, all of which are open to the public—we believe that people have a right to actively participate in the management of their lands, waters, and community. We want to work with landowners to improve these lands and waters for people and wildlife. We work to provide funding to cover the cost of projects. Potential projects include increasing the efficiency of irrigation systems; ditch piping or sealing; installation of pumps; riparian fencing; removal of old and unused dams; improving fish passage at dams or culverts; and riparian restoration, including blackberry removal and planting of native plants so that people and wildlife can once again have access to streams. If you have ideas for a project on your property, contact the energetic APWC team at contact@apwc.info. We can acquire funding for projects and provide technical assistance. Laura Crane, APWC Intern contact@apwc.info Now unused, this Powell Creek dam was historically used to create a pool for the landowner's tigers. Photo: APWC staff. Southern Oregon Smoked Salmon Festival On Saturday, September 23, competitors will again have the chance to find out if their smoked salmon is truly the best in southern Oregon, and event-goers will be able to taste the entries and place their vote for the People's Choice Award. e upcoming Smoked Salmon Festival is the fourth annual fundraising event for the Maslow Project folks, who do important work supporting homeless youth in Jackson and Josephine counties. Check out their website at maslowproject.com, and go to southernoregonsalmonfest.org to purchase tickets for the event or to enter the competition. For the past two years the bragging rights have been won by Applegate locals, so come on out and give it a try or a taste or both! e Smoked Salmon Festival takes place from 1 to 5 pm at Pear Blossom Park in downtown Medford. For more information, visit southernoregonsmokedsalmonfest.com. Paul Tipton ptipton@frontier.com is summer, as in summers past, with the heat and humidity came the lightning strikes and the fires. Many fires are still raging all over southern Oregon as this paper goes to press. To all our firefighters, thank you! anks to those on the front lines and those behind them who plan and strategize and map. anks to those in command of vehicles of all sorts—from helicopters and airplanes to trucks and busses. anks to those who provide various needed unknowns in support of firefighting operations. We concur with Chamise Kramer, acting public affairs officer at Rogue River- Siskiyou National Forest, who said, "We're so proud of all of our personnel, our partners, and the people coming to assist us with these fires!" Please accept this note of deep thanks and appreciation. A heartfelt thanks to all our firefighters! Firefighters on the lightning-caused Blanket Creek Fire, now part of the High Cascades Complex, that has been burning since July 26, 2017. Photo courtesy of Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.

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