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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 2020)
Wednesday, February 5, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Metolius photographer overcomes obstacles TREE CUTTING: Project is to mitigate power line fire risk Continued from page 1 By Conrad Weiler Correspondent Landscape photographer Gary Albertson continues his photographic work even though he has faced years of challenges with deteriorating sight. Albertson has pigment dispersion glaucoma, which occurs when pigment cells in the eye slough off from the back of the iris and float around in the aqueous humor. Gary ran his Sisters Gallery and Frame shop in Sisters for eight years. He has lived in Camp Sherman for 20 years and photographs the Metolius River and sev- eral of the local creeks. You may see some of his work at Sisters Gallery and Frame, on Facebook (search: Gary Albertson), or online at GaryAlbertson.com. Albertson says his eye condition has made him depend more on other senses like hearing, smelling, touch- ing and also remembering what came to him during composing and before tak- ing a shot. Gary uses a Nikon D750 digital camera for most of his photo work. To Albertson, the Metolius PHOTO BY CONRAD WEILER Gary Albertson continues to work along his beloved Metolius River. River sounds like soft, enjoy- able music. <It also is much like a reli- gious experience when work- ing near the river,= he says. Gary9s career as a corpo- rate graphic designer gave him opportunity to see how photographers worked. He decided to go into photogra- phy and became a very suc- cessful landscape photo artist. He also enjoyed writing and created an outstanding book, <Fire Mountain,= the story of Mt. St. Helens eruptions. As we all age, it9s good to remember to keep moving and do the things we enjoy, regardless of obstacles. Gary Albertson, at age 70, is certainly an outstanding example. which in turn sparked what would become the deadliest and most costly wildfire in California history. <This proposal came to us last year, so that was post- Paradise and we wanted to be mindful of that,= said Sisters District Ranger Ian Reid. CEC Director of Member & Public Relations Brent ten Pas confirmed that mitigation of fire danger is a primary focus of the $1.2-million project. The project will replace poles that were originally installed in 1940. the cur- rent poles are 35 feet tall with a four-foot crossbeam; the replacement poles will stand at 45 feet with an eight-foot crossbeam. ten Pas said that the added height, which offers greater ground clearance, and the broader crossbeam allow poles to be set farther apart, which will improve safety. Burying the power lines in the area is not a practical alternative, according to Reid. <First of all, it would be very expensive,= he said. <And there would be a lot of ground disturbance to bury them.= According to ten Pas, <To bury the lines, the general rule of thumb is that costs are gen- erally 2 to 1 more expensive. Each project is unique and expenses can vary signifi- cantly due to location, terrain, soil, digging, and unforeseen issues.= Reid said that the trees have been GPS located, tal- lied and marked. He said that the number of 500 trees is <a pretty tight num- ber,= though <there9s a little bit of wiggle room just in case there9s some ancillary lines going to come off to the tract homes out there in Camp Sherman.= The trees are categorized as small, medium and large, with the <large= category starting at 20 inches in diam- eter. Reid estimated that the largest tree marked for felling is 52 inches. <The bulk of the trees are in the small-to-medium cat- egory,= Reid said, but <there are definitely some large trees in that corridor that are going to be felled.= The trees that will be cut are those within 10 feet of the center line of the corridor that pose a danger of falling into power lines. Most of the felled trees will be sold as forest product, with about 40 to be used for in-stream habitat enhance- ment projects. A decision on the project is set for March, because the Forest Service is <trying to get CEC authorized to get out there and do that work this spring,= Reid said. SHOP LOCAL The Nugget is brought to you weekly because of our advertisers’ support. So we ask you to support the local businesses which help make your community, hometown newspaper possible. PHOTO BY GARY MILLER 24