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Wednesday, June 24, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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P
I N I O
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Surveyed majority at
BBr support paved trail
By cathy ellis
Guest Columnist
Letters to the Editor…
The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer’s name, address and phone number. Let-
ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor.
The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be
no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday.
Dear Editor,
I appreciate the interest, interview, and
commentary article published in The Nugget
by Diane Goble on “Perils of Pesticides” in the
June 3, 2015 edition. There are a few inciden-
tal facts I would like to clarify.
While Lowe’s has announced it will no
longer carry neonic-treated seeds, plants, and
products this will not happen until NEXT
year. That means that this year’s neonic-
treated products will be sold as usual and
will kill pollinator insects and birds who
ingest those insects as part of their normal
bird-fare.
The statement about deer grazing as an
analogy of chemical contamination or chemi-
cal trespass is from the an article about
Milestone® contamination in composting soils
sold as “natural.” This contamination resulted
in a ban on the sale and use of Milestone® in
the UK.
Some positive actions for the present:
Plant organic native perennials: pollenators
know instinctively to look for them (DNA),
they are more hardy and generally zenotropic
than exotic, foreign varieties. A list of organic
Oregon nurseries can be found at www.xerces.
org.
Planting neonic-treated plants and seeds,
no matter how lovely the blossoms appear, is
a death warrant to any bee or butterfly that eat
the nectar — and the bird that may eats that
invertebrate. The toxins become embedded
in the cell structure of vegetation. Every time
you walk across treated lawn/soil, humans and
animals are also dosed with unknown concen-
trations of poisons.
Plant a cluster of northern milkweed indig-
enous to Oregon for monarch butterfly cater-
pillars. The Monarch caterpillar feeds exclu-
sively on milkweed.
Avoid pesticides and herbicides. Use nat-
ural means to boost soil fertility and eradi-
cate any garden pest. Ladybugs and other
invertebrate predators are easily obtained
to assist with garden health. Red wig-
glers are a great way to make your own
amending soil “tea,” and will eat vegetable
waste.
Dispose of existing contaminated lawn-
cuttings and trimming correctly. This material
needs to be buried, not sent to the landfill for
See letterS on page 20
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As a family of walkers
and cyclists, the path from
Black Butte Ranch (BBR)
to Sisters will benefit my
family personally and BBR
families and guests alike. It
would be a wonderful ame-
nity to the Ranch, providing
a safe, scenic trail which
links BBR to the commer-
cial services of Sisters.
The majority of owners
support the path, despite
some having concerns over
increased public access. It
is no wonder the trail has
majority support when the
top two family activities on
the Ranch are No. 1 walk-
ing at 91 percent and No.
2 cycling at 84 percent.
When asked “How likely
are you and your family to
use a paved, multi-use trail
between BBR and Sisters if
one were built?” 63 percent
responded “likely.”
The facts listed are the
result of a second BBR
owner survey open to
respondents September
5-14, 2014. The opposi-
tion, who believed the first
survey results from a 2013
survey were not a true
reflection of the homeown-
ers’ position, requested
the second survey. In
response, the BBR Board
of Directors hired CFM
Strategic Communications,
Inc., located in Portland, to
create and administer the
second survey. A BBR com-
mittee worked with CFM
generating questions and
contributing to the survey’s
design. The committee’s
homeowner reps included
Isolde Hedemark, of the
opposition and Clark Brody
of the proponents.
Owners, spouses, and
partial owners, about 1,785
who had registered email
addresses with BBR, were
asked to participate in the
second survey. According to
BBR management about 93
percent of all homeowners
had one or more registered
email addresses.
Survey question put to
BBR owners: “The Sisters
Trails Alliance (STA) is
proposing to build a paved,
multi-use trail between
Sisters and BBR. Motorized
vehicles and horses will be
prohibited. The path would
be built on United States
Forest Service (USFS) land
and would end on USFS
property adjacent to the
BBR Welcome Center. The
STA is seeking grant money
to pay for construction of the
trail and maintenance of the
trail would be the respon-
sibility of STA and its vol-
unteers. The Ranch would
incur a small cost to tie the
trail in to the existing path
near the Welcome Center.
Based on this information,
do you favor or oppose the
construction of a paved,
multi-use trail between
Sisters and BBR?” Choices:
FOR — OPPOSED
— UNDECIDED.
The September 2014
BBR Homeowner Survey
Results:
1: The survey found 61
percent in favor, 25 per-
cent opposed and 14 per-
cent undecided regarding
the multi-use trail. The
CFM consultants indicated
that such a large response
rate, 813 of 1,785, is sta-
tistically significant. More
owner participation would
not significantly change the
percentages for, opposed, or
undecided.
2: Of the 813 BBR own-
ers who completed the sur-
vey, 218 respondents or 27
percent were concerned
about increase use of BBR
pools and fitness facilities
by the general public, unau-
thorized use of BBR paths
26 percent, risk to BBR’s
safety and security 22 per-
cent and impact on tranquil-
ity 21 percent.
3: On Sept. 26, 2014,
the BBR Association Board
of Directors passed, for a
second time, a unanimous
motion in support of the
proposed path. The motion
reads: “The Board main-
tains its philosophical sup-
port for the proposed path
from Sisters to Black Butte
Ranch, subject to resolution
of some issues of access
that have been raised.”
As evidenced by BBR’s
survey of September 2014,
the majority of BBR own-
ers support the proposed
multi-use trail entering the
Ranch in the public area
near the Welcome Center.
The majority has set con-
cerns aside in favor of what
the trail offers their family
and guests. It is time for
all parties at BBR to come
together with Commissioner
Alan Unger and discuss the
best way to mitigate con-
cerns and stand behind the
majority’s wish.
Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.