4
Wednesday, August 12, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Tales from a
Sisters
Naturalist
by Jim Anderson
A legacy
of caring
The news that the
Rimrock Ranch is going to
remain what it is today and
forever more, because it is
now under the ownership of
the Deschutes Land Trust,
(DLT), is like hearing that
apple pie is for breakfast and
will help you live to 120.
Ever since Bob and Gayle
Baker came into my life,
I was hoping they9d head
down that preservation road.
In times to come, that land
4 with Whychus Creek run-
ning through it, plus support-
ing active bald and golden
eagle nests and other natural
resources 4 will be a trea-
sure house of the biota of
Central Oregon.
When they purchased the
place in 1988, Bob, being a
lawyer, was up to his armpits
in legal issues in Alaska. He
had his eye on retiring in the
near future and coming to
live in the Sisters Country,
but there was just no way he
could live in both places.
In that light, he hired Roy
Runco of Sisters to watch
over the place. Roy was
charged with, as he puts it
today, <Keeping things pretty
much the way they were, and
above all, leaving the rattle-
snakes alone.= I came into the
picture because I was look-
ing for a place to put my bee
hives, and when I met Roy
who asked Bob, they both
agreed that I might do so.
I didn9t know it at the
time, but that became my
introduction to one of Bob9s
passions in life 4 to be a
keeper of bees.
The first thing that I did
when Bob hit the ranch in
2001 was start him into keep-
ing bees. He purchased a few
hives and, if I remember cor-
rectly, he got started with a
swarm I gave him.
But first came the cows,
or as Gayle called, them,
<My Girls.= Talk about hav-
ing your hands full! That
dear woman chased cows
and calves all over the ranch
with the aid of her <Puppies,=
as she called her Norwegian
short hair Wrango and her
border collie <Ocho= (after
the Ochoco9s where he came
from). Wrango is still with
her, but Ocho moved out into
that big range in the sky in
June.
In the years to come, Bob
got more and more hives,
expanded his bee yard,
planted a bushel of fruit trees,
and in short-order became a
bee rancher.
Providing habitat for wild-
life was always a priority.
Don McCartney, who
has placed kestrel nesting
boxes across Sisters Country,
recalls, <About 20 years ago,
I noticed that the Rim Rock
Ranch has great kestrel habi-
tat. After much searching I
obtained their phone num-
ber and called them. Gayle
answered and I made my
request to put kestrel boxes
on their property. Her reply
was a question: 8How soon
can you be out here?9 That
started a long friendship, as
whenever I went out there
to check the boxes, I would
always look forward to see
their smiling faces.=
All through those golden
days, Bob and Gayle held
an annual get-together at the
ranch picnic grounds. Oh,
those barbecues! Oh those
wonderful times of chin-wag-
gin9 with old pals, new pals
and Bob9s extended family.
As usual, Gayle was the
Chief-Cook-and-Bottle-
Washer of those wonder-
ful events, often not getting
into bed until way after mid-
night after saying goodnight
to guests, washing dishes,
washing more dishes, and
making sure all the fires were
out.
At that time, I was presi-
dent of the Friends of the
Sisters Library (FOSL), and
we were going full-bore rais-
ing money to help keep the
Deschutes Public Library in
the green and books on the
shelves. Bob and I became
even closer with his love of
books, and Gayle got busier
and busier with her <Girls=
and calving.
That was when Bob took
a very active part in Gayle9s
cattle ranching times. When
a bummer calf appeared and
needed milk Gayle found
herself handicapped; she
didn9t know how to milk a
cow. But Bob, having grown
up like I did with his grand-
father on a dairy farm, knew
what to do.
He was able to step in to
obtain the necessary milk for
the bummer calf and at the
same time, teach Gayle how
to milk and from then on she
took care of the cow opera-
tions by herself.
In the spring of 2010
when Sue and I embarked on
the field work necessary to
fulfill our role in a state-wide
eagle survey, it became obvi-
ous I had to make some time-
use changes in my life and
being president of FOSL, as
much as I loved it, had to go.
Well, why not give it to
Bob, I thought? I had asked
him to join the FOSL board
when he came home to
Rimrock Ranch, to which
he agreed. I thought he9d
make a wonderful president;
he had plenty of executive
PHOTO BY JIM ANDERSON
Bob and Gayle Baker are happy that there’s enough barbecued pork to
go around at their picnic.
experience as an attorney in
Alaska. When I asked him,
he immediately said yes.
One of the people he
worked with one-on-one, was
board-member Zeta Seiple,
who was the spark plug of all
the art shows FOSL put on,
as well as the used bookstore
manager. She had this to say:
<Bob was very well liked
as president of the FOSL
board. He was serious when
needed, but always had a
good joke ready. He was
a warm, kind person, very
knowledgeable, and a good
listener. He liked to end each
board meeting with book
reviews, where board mem-
bers would share the books
they9d read since the pre-
vious meeting. He always
had the most books to share
W e’re
OPEN!
because he was a voracious
reader. We all missed him
after he left the board, and
were deeply saddened when
he passed.=
On December 17, 2013,
after a prolonged battle with
kidney issues. Bob went out
among the stars. I miss him
along with everyone else who
worked with him on library
and Rimrock Ranch issues.
But Gayle carries on and
she continued the talks with
DLT to see that her and Bob9s
wishes to safeguard their land
from any development would
be carried out. She persisted
and succeeded (see story
page 1).
Another precious stretch
of Whychus protected
because of foresight and car-
ing about the land.
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152 E. Main Ave. • 541-549-8771
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Sisters burglary under investigation
Sisters deputies with the
Deschutes County Sheriff9s
Office are investigating a
burglary that occurred over
the weekend in a neigh-
borhood off East Cascade
Avenue just east of Sisters
Elementary School.
Lt. William Bailey told
The Nugget, <We are investi-
gating a burglary on Cottage
Lane that was believed to
have occurred overnight on
August 7.=
Lt. Bailey said that the
burglary was believed to
have occurred while the
residents were asleep in the
residence.
<They contacted us later
that morning after they real-
ized it had occurred,= Bailey
said.
The residents realized
the burglary had occurred
because they discovered that
something was missing from
the house, Bailey told The
Nugget.
The lieutenant told The
Nugget that it is too early in
the investigation to deter-
mine the exact circumstances
of this particular incident,
but he urged residents to be
mindful of security as a mat-
ter of routine.
He said that residents
should always lock their
house and secure vehicles
overnight and close garage
doors to prevent easy access.
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