The Applegater

10 Spring 2019 Applegater BY JANIS MOHR-TIPTON Exciting time at the park This is a busy and exciting time at Cantrall Buckley Park as we finish the restoration of three footbridges in the lower area, add the last touches to new exhibits, and begin planting. T h e Pa r k E n h a n c e m e n t Committee wants to acknowledge and thank the volunteers in our community who offered their time, commitment, skills, and expert advice in planning, designing, and implementing various projects. We could not have accomplished so much without their help. • Footbridges restoration: Jerry Trottmann, Jeff Martin, and Karin Barclay. • S u n d i a l : B e r t B o u l e r f o r designing and laying the rotunda and Audrey Eldridge for hours spent on all the mathematical calculations. • Park maps: Annette Parsons for updating our maps. Large new maps will be installed this spring and posted on the websites of Jackson County Parks (jacksoncountyor.org/ parks) and A Greater Applegate (agreaterapplegate.org). • G o o d s d o n a t e d o r g e n e r o u s l y discounted: Blue Mountain Rock, Shooting Star Nursery, and Applegate School Milkweed Gardens. Opportunities to help In the coming months, individuals and groups will have opportunities to assist with additional plantings of native, drought-tolerant, and pollinator plants and shrubs in several areas of the park. Our dry season lasted a long time, and now, with rainfall enough to soften the ground, we can begin preparing and planting. Contact me at janis.agapark@ gmail.com if you are interested in volunteering. The schedule is flexible. Volunteer days at the park • Saturday, April 27, from 9 - 11:30 am, is Earth Day Cleanup. After the work is done, we'll have refreshments and some fun activities. Register on SOLVE (Stop Oregon Litter and Vandalism) at solveoregon.org or RSVP to me. Too close for comfort: Stream buffers and the ODF BY BARBARA SUMMERHAWK A p p l e g a t e P a r t n e r s h i p a n d Watershed Council ( A P W C ) b o a r d m e m b e r G e o f f Be c k e r t r a ve l e d t o Salem for the Oregon D e p a r t m e n t o f Forestry (ODF) board meeting on January 9. His purpose was to present comments on ODF's exclusion of the Siskiyou region from their stricter riparian setback requirements in the western region of the state concerning logging on private land. Many Applegate valley streams and creeks have improved water quality thanks to the efforts of the APWC riparian buffer work. Planting trees provides the shade necessary to keep streams at a safe, cool temperature for fish. But because ODF has excluded the Siskiyou region, which includes the Applegate, from its more stringent requirements for setbacks along streams in the western region of the state, logging on private land here can extend to within 20 feet of a stream. This threatens water quality and temperature, which are vital to the survival of fish and extremely contradictory to local planning requirements for riparian setbacks on private lands. As Geoff noted in his presentation, the vast majority of studies document that streamside shade has a significant effect on water temperatures. Although the APWC has planted tens of thousands of native trees and shrubs in an attempt to replicate natural conditions of shade- protected streams in the area, much of this beneficial work has been undermined by clear-cuts on private timberland that leave a mere 20-foot buffer on either side of the streams. (See photo of fish-bearing tributary of West Fork Evans Creek.) ODF recently established riparian setbacks of 60 to 80 feet in the western region of Oregon on private commercial logging operations. The key issue is the inadequate setback requirements related to the exclusion of the Siskiyou region, a warmer region than most of western Oregon, from the protection provided in rules for the western region. The Siskiyou region was set apart in 2015, ostensibly because "it was incorrect to extrapolate data from other state regions with different environmental realities onto Southwestern Oregon." However, according to Chris Frissell, PhD (fisheries Logging operation on a tributary on the West Fork Evans Creek watershed. Jeff Martin helps lead volunteer, Jerry Trottmann, with the restoration of three footbridges originally built in the late 1960s. Photo: Janis Mohr-Tipton. Artist Jeremy Criswell, left, and lead volunteer, Burt Bouler, analyze the correct settings for the hour plates. Photo: Janis Mohr-Tipton. Hands-on chair, Janis Mohr-Tipton, scrapes footbridge pickets after power washing. Photo: Karin Barclay. science, Oregon State University), "The relationship between shade and stream warming is a fundamental physical reality. Within temperate forests in the latitudinal range of Oregon, this relationship has never been shown to vary in any consistent way between regions. Hence the premise that the Siskiyou region is inexplicably 'different' is at worst a convenient fiction, at best an unexamined hypothesis that should not govern policymaking." Geoff made clear to ODF that they need to rethink their exclusion of the Siskiyou region from the rule changes made for the Western Oregon region and protect the streams here with a substantial buffer in order to ensure the survival of threatened salmonid species, in particular, the Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast Coho. He also pointed out that both the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management have established setbacks that are well over 100 feet for fish-bearing streams in the Siskiyou region and that even the counties have a 50-foot setback requirement for private lands. It should also be noted that over a million dollars annually in federal grants and funds for riparian restoration has been withheld from the State of Oregon because of the state's continued failure to meet federal coastal zone requirements and water quality standards, including those related to stream temperatures. T h e O D F o n c e a g a i n w i l l b e reconsidering the exclusion of the Siskiyou region from the rest of western Oregon some time in the first half of 2019. The Siskiyou region needs stricter standards for stream buffers so the water quality of the streams can be maintained and improved and, consequently, fish species protected. ODF, are you listening? Barbara Summerhawk APWC Board Member barbara@ic.daito.ac.jp ■ CANTRALL BUCKLEY PARK Continued from page 1 Mohr-Tipton, AGA's Park Enhancement Committee chair. The park is also adorned with multiple new benches where park visitors can sit, relax, watch the children play, or just enjoy the river flowing by. Three of the benches were made by students in the Grants Pass High School metal fabrication class, and several benches recognized some very generous community members who have passionately given of their time and expertise over the years. Art enthusiasts are delighted to see the first sculpture in the "Art in the Park" series, installed near the river. Cheryl Garcia, our very talented Jacksonville artist, completed the first awe-inspiring metal rendition, "The Mock Orange." This spectacular 12-foot sculpture depicts the large and beautiful white blossom of this tender but tough native species. Calling it a "mock orange" might seem strange, as there is nothing orange on this plant whatsoever, but its soft, slightly sweet scent with a hint of orange blossom gave it its name. Eventually, Cheryl will install a total of 11 sculptures of native plants and birds. Each art piece will be accompanied by an educational sign and pedestal to inform park visitors about the characteristics of these important native species— which can be enjoyed both through the artistic displays and, for the patient and discerning park visitor, in actual sightings in the park. Cantrall Buckley County Park, at 154 Cantrall Road in Jacksonville, offers our community a wonderful s p o t t o p i c n i c , p l a y, hike trails, or just relax. This 88-acre park has 1.75 miles of Applegate River frontage and is open year-round from dawn to dusk. Parking/day-use permits are $4. • Saturday, June 1, from 9 am to 1 pm, is National Trails Day. Join the Applegate Trails Association in Cantrall Buckley Park to help clean trails and areas around them. Lunch will be provided. If you are a park volunteer, please RSVP to me. Janis Mohr-Tipton 541-846-7501 janis.agapark@gmail.com We hope you will come out and enjoy the park and celebrate all that has changed, while enjoying and reminiscing about all that remains the same. Cathy Rodgers cathyrodgers55@gmail.com

• Cover