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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (May 8, 2019)
The Nugget Vol. XLII No. 19 P OSTAL CUSTOMER News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon www.NuggetNews.com Wednesday, May 8, 2019 Sisters shines es in annual SALI tournament By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief Sisters put on its most color- ful spring clothes last weekend for the Sisters Annual Lacrosse Invitational (SALI) Tournament. The weather was perfect 4 temperatures in the low 70s with little wind, and the skies were completely clear thanks to a Forest Service pause in their annual spring prescribed burning program (see related story, page 1). ed by The tournament, sponsored istrict Sisters Park & Recreation District (SPRD), and held on every avail- ed 83 able field in Sisters, hosted teams 4 20 more than last year. SPRD9s Chad Rush, who he took the lead in organizing the event, attributed the increase to a couple of factors. <We had more girls teams this year (nine),= he said. <This is the second year offering games for girls.= And, he noted, <We have new clubs that haven9t been here before.= PHOTOS BY JERRY BALDOCK T Teams from all across the Pacific Northwest come to Sisters for this year’s SALI. Lacrosse is a sport for a wide range of ages, and many young players competed in Sisters. See LACROSSE on page 30 Inside... Crews worked quickly to stop the spread of fire through the surrounding veg- etation and then turned their attention to extinguishing what was left of the cabin. The cabin was a complete loss estimated at $160,000 in total value. The cabin was not occupied and there were no reported injuries. Help from partners from Black Butte Ranch and Cloverdale fire departments prevented this incident from becoming much worse, the Sisters dis- trict noted. Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District responded with seven firefighters and four emergency vehi- cles. Additional units from Cloverdale and Black Butte Ranch fire departments brought an additional six firefighters. The Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal is investigating the cause. Police searching for fuel theft suspect Police are still searching for a suspect who allegedly stole fuel from the Cloverdale Fire Station in the early hours of May 5. The sheriff9s office reports that at about 5:41 a.m., law enforcement responded to a theft in progress report at the Cloverdale Fire Station on George Cyrus Road. It was reported that a green and sil- ver Chevrolet pickup was stealing fuel from an onsite commercial fuel tank. The fuel was being put into large black barrels in the truck bed. A patrol deputy located the vehicle at the intersection of See FUEL THEFT on page 36 Why the forest must burn Fire destroys gorge cabin in Camp Sherman A cabin along the Metolius River was destroyed by a fire late Wednesday night, May 1. Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District was dispatched to a reported vegetation/wild- land fire in Camp Sherman after a concerned citizen reported seeing fire in the dis- tance, believing it was on the House on Metolius land. Initial size-up by arriv- ing personnel several hun- dred feet away reported a very active quarter-acre fire with two- to four-foot flame lengths in some areas, climb- ing into nearby trees and threatening a nearby struc- ture. A closer look revealed the most active section of the fire was the remnants of a structure that had burned to the ground and was continu- ing to actively burn. The structure was located at 10300 National Forest Development Road 1419. PRE-SORTED STANDARD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sisters, OR Permit No. 15 PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS Prescribed fire is ignited with torches in an effort to restore forest health and create zones that are defensible. By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief After 15 years of massive and severe blazes that have blackened landscape and choked the community with smoke for weeks at a time, severely disrupting people9s lives and the local economy, Sisters lives in dread of wild- fire each summer. To push back against those impacts, foresters must fight fire with fire: specifi- cally, prescribed fire. Fire is not the enemy of the forest 4 in fact, it9s essential to the forest9s health. Ponderosa pine for- ests like those of Sisters Country need fire to clear out underbrush and small trees and allow the big trees to become towering, resilient giants. <That9s two thirds of our landscape,= says Pete Caligiuri, a forest ecolo- gist with the Nature Conservancy. <We live next to these frequent-fire-adapted landscapes.= After decades of fire See FOREST FIRE on page 38 Letters/Weather ..................2 Obituaries ......................... 10 Entertainment ................... 13 Home & Garden ..............17-24 Classifieds ....................34-36 Meetings .............................3 Announcements ................. 12 Mother’s Day Gift Guide ..14-15 Crossword .........................33 Real Estate .................. 36-40