4
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Whychus Creek Trail system suffering user abuse
By Craig F. Eisenbeis
Correspondent
I was disheartened to learn
from Gary Guttormsen that
various portions of the rela-
tively new Whychus Creek
Trail system are already
suffering from user abuse.
Guttormsen is the trails coor-
dinator for the Sisters Trails
Alliance (STA) and spends a
great deal of his time volun-
teering to help keep the local
trail systems in top shape.
Foremost among his concerns
were horrendous amounts of
trailside dog poop and out-
right vandalism.
So, in order to assess the
situation first-hand, I agreed
to meet with him at the park-
ing lot for the Whychus
Creek Overlook. The first
thing I noticed was that, even
in the middle of the week,
both this parking area and the
one at the north end of the
Whychus Creek Trail system
were completely full.
Getting out of our vehi-
cles, Guttormsen immediately
began to explain. “This trail
has become real popular with
the dog-walkers,” he said, as
we approached the trail kiosk.
Then, he suddenly exclaimed,
“Look! There you go ... right
there!” Sure enough, there it
was, an enormous pile of dog
poop right in the middle of
the immaculately maintained
fine gravel trail, a trail fre-
quented by handicapped and
blind trail-users.
“They even leave poop
bags on the trail,” he said,
“and apparently expect the
trail-poop fairies to pick it
up.” He looked a little farther
down the trail, shook his head
in exasperation and said, “It
never fails, there’s one right
up there.” Sure enough, there
it was, neatly bagged but dis-
carded along the trail.
He even recounted how he
encountered a woman tying a
poop bag to a tree branch. He
commented to her, “I hope
you’re just putting it there
so you can pick it up on your
way back...”
“Oh, no,” she responded.
“It’s biodegradable.”
As we continued on down
the trail, he muttered some-
thing about how stupid peo-
ple can be, then added, “It’s
getting to be a major, major
problem.”
In addition to failing to
take responsibility for their
animals, dog-owners fail
to realize that — in this cli-
mate — dog excrement can
become almost mummi-
fied and persist for months.
With the overlook taking on
the unplanned role of a dog-
walking park, the stuff is pil-
ing up at an alarming rate.
The result is both unsightly
and unsanitary.
This was my fifth visit
to some portion of this trail
system in just the last two
months. It is common to see a
few other people; but on this
occasion — and we only cov-
ered a couple of miles — we
saw a total of 21 trail users...
and 11 dogs.
One of the people we
encountered on the trail
was the now-retired Forest
Service ecologist, Maret
Pajutee, who was largely
responsible for the develop-
ment of this unique trail sys-
tem at the outskirts of Sisters.
She and her husband, Rod
Bonacker, were enjoying the
sunny day with a walk along
Whychus Creek. Not sur-
prisingly, the conversation
quickly turned to the reason
for our outing that day.
Pajutee acknowledged that
the Whychus Trail system
was experiencing heavy use,
and she expressed her appre-
ciation for the volunteer work
performed by Guttormsen
and the STA. “We’re so lucky
we have the Sisters Trails
Alliance here,” she said.
“We knew the Forest Service
didn’t have the resources and
would have to rely on com-
munity help.”
The bottom line, though, is
that the STA can’t do it alone;
and the public must share the
responsibility. “If it doesn’t
improve,” Guttormsen reluc-
tantly said, “I suppose that
the Forest Service might have
to prohibit dogs altogether.
We’re starting to get lots of
complaints.”
But dog poop wasn’t the
only thing on his mind. We
bade Pajutee and Bonacker
farewell and continued
upstream for something else
Guttormsen wanted to show
me. “Here’s one,” he said,
“...and another.” Within the
space of just a few hundred
yards he pointed out doz-
ens of hack marks on the
trailside trees.
PHOTO BY CRAIG F. EISENBEIS
Gary Guttormsen, Trails Coordinator for the Sisters Trails Alliance,
documents the growing accumulation of dog excrement at the Whychus
Overlook Trail.
It appeared that someone
had walked along the trail
swinging a machete at the
trees as they passed. “This
is so senseless,” he said.
“People don’t realize that
the bark of a tree is like our
skin; it keeps diseases and
insects out.”
In another instance that
defies reason, STA volunteers
had spent considerable effort
trying to restore and rehabili-
tate an eroded and damaged
slope at the creek’s edge.
Logs, rocks, and vegeta-
tion were carefully placed to
mitigate damage and promote
regeneration. After the proj-
ect was completed, someone
came along and threw and
rolled the rocks and logs into
PHOTO BY CRAIG F. EISENBEIS
Dozens of trees were vandalized along the Whychus Creek Trail.
The look and feel of true
hand-forged ironwork is different...
“Your Local Welding Shop”
CCB# 87640
...than mass-produced,
powder-coated or
painted cast iron
or fabricated steel.
All our products are
finished with a natural
patina – age-old
wax and oil finishes.
541-549-9280 | 207 W. Sisters Park Dr. | PonderosaForge.com
541-549-9631
506 N. Pine St., Sisters
Mon-Fri: 7 am-5:30 pm
Sat: 8 am-5 pm
chainsawsatsistersrental.com
the stream. STA’s hard work
had been destroyed in a few
moments of foolishness.
Vandalism in National
Forests is a federal crime.
Anyone who witnesses such
vandalism to forest sites or
trees, or has any information
about it, is urged to contact
the Forest Service or the STA.
This trail system is a
unique and special asset
to Sisters Country, but it
requires that everyone help
take responsibility for the
preservation of resources and
sites like these. Guttormsen
and his fellow volunteers
should not have their work go
for naught or be relegated to
having to take on the role of
trail-poop fairies.