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Wednesday, October 28, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Burning season opens
in Sisters Country
KZSO loses its frequency
Fire Chiefs with the Black
Butte Ranch Fire District,
Cloverdale Fire District and
Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire
District announced that open
burning was allowed as of
Saturday, October 24, at 7
a.m. Residents are encour-
aged to contact their local fire
department for current regu-
lations prior to burning.
Oregon Department of
Forestry’s (ODF) Central
Oregon District also ter-
minated fire season as of
Saturday.
Widespread rain across
the district last weekend
combined with forecasted
cool, moist weather patterns
has brought an end to another
long, difficult fire season.
Oregon and the Pacific
Northwest experienced the
third historic fire season in a
row, with drought conditions
across much of the landscape.
Burn permits are required
for all open burning. Permits
can be obtained from your
local fire department or from
the Department of Forestry.
Follow all instructions on the
burn permit prior to ignition.
Ben Duda, wildland fire
suppression specialist in
Sisters, emphasizes the need
to call the local burn infor-
mation line before you burn,
explaining, “Debris burning
may be closed on days with
forecasted high winds or poor
smoke management condi-
tions, such as poor mixing or
wind blowing smoke toward
populated areas. Since condi-
tions change you really need
to call daily.”
Contact your local ODF
office at 541-549-2731 if
Outlaw radio is off the air.
The local low-power commu-
nity radio station KZSO 94.9
lost its frequency to a com-
mercial radio station based
out of Sunriver.
Michael Richards, general
manager of KZSO, housed at
Sisters Art Works, explained:
“The bottom line is that com-
mercial stations trump the
low-power FM license.”
Richards said that he
would have expected that
the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) would
have provided notice that a
commercial user was taking
94.9, but for some reason that
did not occur.
Richards noted that KZSO
originally had to switch from
106.5 to 94.9 when a com-
mercial operation out of
Terrebonne took the 106.5
frequency. However, the
radio station was never inau-
gurated. The rights were
sold to a commercial user
operating out of Sunriver.
But the 106.5 frequency
interfered with communica-
tions for air traffic into the
Redmond airport, Richards
said.
“The FCC said the only
frequency that’s available is
94.9,” Richards said.
The first Richards heard
of the change was when the
Sunriver operator called to
let him know he was firing
up and that it might interfere
with KZSO’s broadcast. With
you have questions regarding
burn restrictions.
The termination of fire
season doesn’t mean there is
no risk of fire or threat of fire
spread. Central Oregon has
not experienced a widespread
season-ending rain event;
however, fire managers for
the district believe the risk
of large fire growth is low.
Managers encourage land-
owners to hold off burning
until a significant rain event.
Practice fire safety and use
caution in activities which
could ignite a fire. Never
leave a campfire or warming
fire unattended, and be cer-
tain it is dead out before you
leave. To fully extinguish a
fire, douse the flames, stir,
and douse again.
Regulations differ
between land managers
and landowners. Determine
any additional restrictions
imposed by landowners prior
to traveling into the woods.
Contact your local U.S.
Forest Service or Bureau of
Land Management office for
current restrictions on federal
forest and rangeland.
Now is the time to begin
preparations for next year’s
fire season. Technical advice
for creating defensible space
around your home and reduc-
ing hazardous fuels is avail-
able from local ODF offices.
ODF Stewardship Foresters
can also provide guidance for
landowners who have been
affected by fire, including
suggestions for reforesting
and planting native plants to
provide improved soil stabil-
ity and water quality.
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News Editor
significantly more power,
the commercial signal over-
whelmed the low-power
Sisters signal and KZSO was
forced to shut down earlier
this month.
A Facebook message on
October 14 notes, “We will
continue streaming online
through the www.kzsoradio.
org website or you can get us
on the Tune-in app.”
KZSO has featured local
talk programming and music,
as well as serving as an emer-
gency information resource
for the Sisters community.
Richards said that the ratings
outfit Nielsen projects that a
low-power community radio
station like KZSO should
draw about 400 listeners.
There’s no real way to track
that, but anecdotal evidence
and Facebook “likes” indi-
cate that KZSO probably has
in the neighborhood of 1,200
listeners, Richards said.
“We’re providing at least
what Nielsen would project,”
Richards said.
Richards believes that it
would be relatively easy to
regain the 106.5 frequency
and return the station to the
air. However, it has taken
a lot of effort and expense
to keep KZSO up and run-
ning, in a variety of differ-
ent homes, over the years.
Richards is uncertain whether
the station should continue.
“I’m reluctant to go out
and ask people to support
the radio station if there’s
not a bona fide need, quite
frankly,” he said.
Program director Rick
Olson said that the Sisters
School District contributes
about $10,000 per year to
the program, but expenses
are expected to run to three
or four times that amount,
including reconfiguration
of equipment, licensing and
paying employees to operate
the station.
I’m reluctant to go
out and ask people to
support the radio station
if there’s not a bona fide
need, quite frankly.
— michael Richards
“Me and Nick (Newport)
have kind of been doing it for
a song,” Olson said.
He also noted that the
school district will have to
assess the station’s value in
allocating always-tight funds.
“We’re at a crossroads
here,” he said.
Richards will gauge
the value of the station to
emergency services provid-
ers like the Forest Service
and the local fire and police
departments. He’s also
seeking community input.
Contact him to weigh in
on the station’s value at
petersonridge@gmail.com
or search KZSO Radio on
Facebook.
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