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Wednesday, March 21, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Look out for barbed wire!
By Jim Anderson
Correspondent
There is a forgotten agri-
cultural product all over the
West that’s causing thousands
of wild birds and mammals to
suffer: barbed wire.
A long way back in the
history of the “Taming of the
West,” steel companies began
manufacturing a new com-
bination of steel wire with
sharp barbs attached, capable
of causing serious injuries to
any human or farm animal
who came into contact with
it. It is still used today, and
very effectively, to keep live-
stock from wandering into
prohibited countryside.
The first patent in the
United States for this product
was named “barbed wire,”
and was issued in 1867 to
Lucien B. Smith, regarded as
the inventor. Another inven-
tor by the name of Joseph
Glidden got his finger into the
pie, and in 1874 received a
patent for the modern inven-
tion of today’s barbed wire
after he made modifications
to previous versions.
Since that time, millions
of miles of barbed wire have
been attached to posts and
stretched all across the West.
A lot of it is still where it
once was used to keep live-
stock where it belonged. But
now it’s invisible; it’s no
longer standing, it’s lying on
the ground next to the rotted
posts that once helped it stay
vertical to the surface and
visible.
That fallen wire has since
been catching animals of
every description. It was
the wildlife rehabilitation
community that brought
the barbed wire dilemma to
light. Eagles, hawks and owls
started coming in to the rehab
facilities for treatment, along
with crippled deer, elk, wild
horses and other wildlife.
Hunters, hikers, photog-
raphers, wildlife research-
ers and people recreating
where the fences once stood
started finding injured and
maimed animals caught in
its barbs, and in a very short
time these casualties brought
forth an official effort to do
something.
Enter the Dechutes
County Juvenile Corrections
Department, and wildlife
rehabbers Gary and Kellie
Landers of Sisters. That com-
bination of forces has been
making the Central Oregon
landscape safe for everyone
by removing tons —literally
tons — of that forgotten rusty,
barbed wire.
As of this moment, over
40 tons has been taken to
recycling facilities, removed
from our landscape by young
men and women who have
run afoul of the law.
Kellie has this to say
about the dangerous barbed
wire those hard-working,
dedicated young people have
removed from underfoot:
“That’s a drop in the
bucket compared to what is
still out there. I am amazed
at the reluctance of people
to have it removed. It’s not
keeping anything in and cer-
tainly not keeping anyone out
of their property. It’s a free
service for those in Deschutes
County, and it gives their
property a facelift. It looks
cleaner and more open with-
out the nasty stuff, and every-
one’s a lot safer with it gone!”
The main thrust of the
juvenile work program is to
prevent offenders from hav-
ing to go to court for their
crime. If a juvenile offender
will sign a work agreement
and stick to the contract,
PHOTO BY JIM SMITH
An adult great horned owl, just one of the (known) thousands of wild
mammals and birds caught up accidentally in abandoned barbed wire.
not only is the costly court
appearance eliminated, but
the offender has the opportu-
nity to see first-hand the posi-
tive parts of the project he or
she is involved in.
Not only does commu-
nity service serve as a vital
and effective tool in hold-
ing youth accountable for
their offenses, it supplies a
restorative philosophy and
approach to the community
service program by view-
ing a youth’s service as more
than just punishment for their
offenses — but as an oppor-
tunity and obligation for the
offender to repair the harm
they have caused to their
victim(s) and the community.
The next time you’re
out walking and trip over
a strand of barbed wire on
your land, call the County
Juvenile Welfare system and
ask them to send someone
out to remove it. If it’s BLM
land, call the Bureau of Land
Management in Prineville;
USFS land call the Bend
office; State land, call the
Bend office.
You might also call Kellie
Landers at 541-213-4411.
Not only can the wire be
removed and recycled, but
the effort to get it done will
help a lot of young people to
recycle their lives, too.
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