H e & Garden
G
IN SISTERS COUNTRY
The Nugget
Vol. XLIV No. 16
P OSTAL CUSTOMER
PRE-SORTED STANDARD
ECRWSS
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Sisters, OR
Permit No. 15
News and Opinion
from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Burning to protect and restore forest
By Jim Cornelius
Editor In Chief
Sisters residents get jittery
when they see a big plume of
smoke on the horizon. Two
decades of wildfires that have
seriously disrupted life in
Sisters Country will do that.
But the smoke that bil-
lowed up to the south of
town last week bodes well
for Sisters, fuels specialists
and fire managers say. The
smoke came from a multi-
day prescribed fire in the
Sisters Area Fuels Reduction
(SAFR) project area, approx-
imately three miles southwest
of Sisters along the 1505
Road.
“It looked to me like a
beautiful, textbook burn,=
Rod Bonacker told The
Nugget.
Bonacker has years of fire-
fighting for the U.S. Forest
Service under his belt — and
first-hand experience with
the way in which prescribed
fire helps firefighters battle
wildfire. In 2012, Bonacker
was part of the team that was
trying to get ahead of the
Pole Creek Fire, building fire
breaks at night. The fire was
Pages 15-20
Local
golf pro
celebrates
at the
Masters
By Bill Bartlett
Correspondent
get containment lines around
it. Areas treated in SAFR pro-
vided an opportunity for fire
crews.
<That9s where we elected
Even nongolfers know the
importance and prestige of
the “Masters” held the first
week every April at the leg-
endary Augusta (Georgia)
National Golf Club. Augusta
is to golf as Wrigley Field
or Fenway Park is to base-
ball, as Churchill Downs is to
horse racing, as the Daytona
Speedway is to auto racing.
Even in non-COVID years,
admission to the Masters, one
of the four 8major9 world golf
tournaments, is one the most
sought-after tickets in all of
sports.
Attendance at the pan-
demic-restricted 2021 event
where players competed for
an $11.5 million purse was
See BURNING on page 4
See GOLF on page 31
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
Fire managers touched off a series of prescribed fires southwest of Sisters last week. The project treated about
600 acres, part of a buffer protecting Sisters from wildfire.
a real threat to Sisters.
L a s t s u m m e r, h e
recounted the fight to mem-
bers of a field trip out to the
SAFR project area.
“Strategically, we needed
to stop the fire spreading east
and southeast,” he told them.
When a moving wildfire
hits previously thinned and
treated areas, it tends to drop
to the ground and slow down,
giving firefighters an oppor-
tunity to fight it safely and
Sisters Ranger District Rodeo canceled for second year
unveils HQ plans
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
Initial plans for the pro-
posed new Sisters Ranger
District headquarters were
outlined at last week9s vir-
tual open house. (Video of
entire meeting available on
Deschutes National Forest
Facebook page.)
The current office was
built in the 1950s and has a
number of safety and acces-
sibility issues. According to
Sisters District Ranger Ian
Reid, “The new station is
necessary to keep us here (in
Sisters).”
By dividing the 80-acre
parcel of Forest Service
property into three pieces
and selling them separately,
Inside...
while retaining the south-
eastern part of Parcel 2
for the new headquarters,
money will be available to
construct the new buildings.
It was necessary to get spe-
cial authority from the U.S.
Forest Service to divide and
sell the property.
Parcel 3, on the north side
of Barclay, will be the site of
14 light industrial buildings.
The center portion, Parcel
2, between West Barclay,
North Pine, and Highway
20, has been sold for a multi-
use development. Parcel 1,
located south of Highway
20, is currently for sale with
negotiations for purchase
underway.
See PLANS on page 30
In the face of ris-
ing COVID-19 cases in
Deschutes County, and
restrictions limiting capacity
enforced by local and state
government agencies, the
Sisters Rodeo Association
(SRA) Board of Directors
announced a unanimous
decision on Tuesday, April
13, to cancel the 2021 Sisters
Rodeo.
This is the second year in
a row that the coronavirus
pandemic has forced cancel-
ation of the event.
The Association reported
that they have worked dili-
gently with State and County
officials for the past several
weeks and looked at the situ-
ation from all angles, includ-
ing feedback from commu-
nity businesses, fellow rodeo
associations, stock contrac-
tors, and sponsors. Sisters
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
Sisters Rodeo Association President Curt Kallberg delivered the news
that the Rodeo cannot go forward this year.
Rodeo Association thanked
the Deschutes County com-
missioners for their effort in
support of Sisters Rodeo dur-
ing this process. The Board
of County Commissioners
had requested that Oregon
Liquor Control Commission
(OLCC) issue a provisional
permit to Sisters Rodeo, a
key step if the event was to
move forward. OLCC report-
edly would not issue such
See RODEO on page 29
Letters/Weather ............... 2 Obituaries .................. 10, 11 Entertainment .................13 Classifieds ................. 26-28 Find more Outlaw Sports
Meetings .......................... 3 Announcements ...............12 Crossword ...................... 25 Real Estate ................ 29-32 articles at NuggetNews.com