Wednesday, September 7, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
9
City forester gathering data on trees Tailgate parties set to
boost Outlaws spirit
By Jim Cornelius
News Editor
City contract forester Dan
Galecki and two assistants
have been out on the streets
of Sisters in recent days,
mapping and assessing all of
the city-owned trees in the
City of Sisters right-of-way.
They are building a database
that will help the City moni-
tor the health of trees more
efficiently in the coming
years.
“A lot of municipalities
do this all over the country,”
Galecki told The Nugget.
“It’s a money-saver and a
time-saver.”
The foresters are record-
ing the attributes of each tree
— its condition, GPS coordi-
nates, and address. Each tree
is evaluated for its percent-
age of compromise. With this
information in a database that
can readily be queried, forest-
ers can pinpoint which trees
need particular attention,
which trees are more likely to
suffer damage from storms,
etc. So, instead of having to
drive around looking for trou-
bled trees, foresters now have
the information about where
to go and what to look for at
ore. location
eliminated
in search for
geothermal
lab site
BEND (AP) — A site near
Oregon’s Newberry Volcano
is no longer in the running for
a federal enhanced geother-
mal research laboratory.
The Bulletin reports that
the decision by the U.S.
Department of Energy left
sites in Utah and Nevada
competing for the lab.
The department put $29
million into research by a
Sandia National Laboratories
team in Fallon, Nevada, and
the University of Utah’s team
in Milford, Utah. The invest-
ment is meant to help the orga-
nizations prepare for an under-
ground geothermal research
lab.
Developers and research-
ers in Central Oregon say they
are surprised and disappointed
that the Newberry Geothermal
Energy site didn’t make it to
the next round.
The location near the vol-
cano was leased by Seattle-
based AltaRock Energy Inc.
their fingertips.
Connor MacGeehan and
Rebecca Franklin are assist-
ing Galecki with the work.
“We’ll be walking around
the streets or driving,”
Galecki said. “We’ll walk
up to trees and we’ll take
measurements and a GPS
coordinate.”
The project, which was
approved by the City’s
forestry board, is expected to
run through fall and wrap up
in December. The database
will be active and dynamic
for years to come as trees
grow or decline.
Local folks who encoun-
ter the foresters out and about
on their rounds are encour-
aged to ask any questions
they may have about the
project.
Members of Westside
Church and Sisters High
School are injecting a little
extra Outlaws spirit into the
football season this fall.
At each home game, they
are inviting folks to come out
to the teachers’ parking lot at
the high school for a barbecue
and tailgate party.
Westside Church is provid-
ing a barbecue, but folks are
welcome to bring their own.
Jerry Kaping explained the
simple premise.
“What we want to do is
celebrate the Outlaws and
build community,” he said.