The Nugget
T
Vol. XLIII No. 37
P OSTAL CUSTOMER
News and
Opinion from
Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
PRE-SORTED STANDARD
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Sisters, OR
Permit No. 15
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
Sisters Folk Festival
A TRIBUTE TO
KEEPSAKE PULLþOUT SECTION PAGES 11þ22
Lionshead Fire shuts down
Mt. Jefferson Wilderness
The Lionshead Fire on the Warm Springs reservation reared up and roared last week, growing to 18,615 acres on Monday.
PHOTO BY KRIS KRISTOVICH
By Jim Cornelius
Editor in Chief
As firefighters gained 100
percent containment on the
Green Ridge Fire just north
of Sisters, the Lionshead Fire
blew up.
Fueled by hot tempera-
tures, low-humidity, and
gusty winds, the fire on the
Warm Springs Reservation
to the northwest grew last
week until it hit 18,615 acres
by Monday. Over the Labor
Day weekend, the smoke
from Lionshead and dozens
of fires in California created
a thick haze across Sisters
Country. Air quality in Sisters
was deemed “unhealthy” on
Sunday night.
Camp Sherman residents
were placed on Level 1
evacuation notice, urging
them to be aware of poten-
tial danger from the big blaze
10 or 12 miles to the north.
Given the fire¾s rapid
growth and a forecast that
called for unusual and heavy
winds through the first part
of the week, authorities
essentially shut down the
Mt. Jefferson Wilderness,
closing trails and camp-
grounds in and beyond the
Metolius Basin — including
a section of the Pacific Crest
Trail.
Willamette National Forest
officials were concerned that
the fire could spill over the
Cascade Crest and enacted
an extensive closure in the
Mt. Jefferson Wilderness on
the west side.
On Monday, September
7, Sisters-Camp Sherman
and Cloverdale fire dis-
tricts announced a ban on all
recreational burning effec-
tive immediately. The ban
included all areas within the
fire districts.
Recreational fires include
those used for pleasure, reli-
gious, ceremonial, cooking,
warmth or similar purposes.
Barbecues and propane fires
Outdoor education on two wheels
are not included in the ban.
Residents are strongly
encouraged to contact their
local fire protection agen-
cies for additional burning
information and regulations.
Sisters-Camp Sherman and
Cloverdale fire departments
will continue to monitor
weather and fuel moisture
conditions in their districts
and may make modifications
on a day-to-day basis. Call
your fire agency for informa-
tion. In Sisters, call 541-549-
0771. In the Cloverdale dis-
trict call 541-548-4815 (burn-
ing information) or 541-389-
2345 (office). At Black Butte
Ranch call 541-595-2288.
New art graces
Sisters spaces
By Jim Anderson
By Helen Schmidling
Correspondent
This was the 4th season
for Heather Walden to take
her Sisters Country kids out
on what she calls “One part
biking, one part nature watch-
ing and one part art creating”
— exploration from Camp
Sherman to Suttle Lake and
back.
She had a thousand ideas
swimming around in her head
for new and exciting ways
to present opportunities to
her bikers for exploring their
beautiful surroundings. One
way was to help out in a sur-
vey of local bumblebees. This
w
would be a wonderful way to
b bring kids closer to the nature
o of their land and obtain a good
id
idea of how our local bumble-
b bees were doing.
Then came March and
C
COVID-19. Walden was
a about to throw in the towel
See ECO BIKING on page 7
Inside...
Inside
Correspondent
Late on a Friday after-
noon, artist Katie Daisy
sat on the lawn between
SoulShine & Co. and the
soon-to-open food cart called
Nourish. She watched her
See PUBLIC ART on page 9
Zone change a
major step for
development
By Jim Cornelius
Editor in Chief
The first major steps in
a development that could
bring 250 to 300 new
homes to Sisters in the next
PHOTO COURTESY BLACK BUTTE ECO BIKERS
Cyclists launched their functional art in Link Creek.
See DEVELOPMENT on page 25
Letters/Weather ...............2 Announcements ............... 8 Crossword ..................... 26 Sudoku .......................... 28
Meetings ......................... 3 Events ............................. 9 Classifieds .................27-29 Real Estate ............... 29-32