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PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK
Silverton aims to create Parks, Rec
Measure to develop department could be on November election ballot
Bill Poehler Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
The idea of starting a Parks and Recreation depart-
ment in Silverton has been brought up many times,
but it’s never gained much momentum.
The goal of the current city council is to finally form
one.
The city’s current Parks and Recreation functions –
such as maintaining the city’s eight parks, operating
the Silverton Community Center Gym and maintain-
ing the Silverton Community Pool – are performed by
the Public Works department.
“Nobody in our city staff should be running a Parks
and Rec department or a pool,” Silverton mayor Kyle
Palmer said. “That’s not our specialty.”
A survey of Silverton residents a few years ago
showed the city’s parks were one of the most impor-
tant items to the town’s residents.
The Silverton City Council commissioned a study
by Portland State University’s Center for Public Ser-
vice on how to create a Parks and Recreation special
district and what to include in one.
The city of Silverton budgeted $20,000 for the
study for the 2017-2018 budget, and Portland State’s
Paul Manson made the first presentation at the city
council’s March 19 work session.
“The key would be to make sure it’s cost neutral or
very close to our current residents,” Palmer said. “I
think they might be willing to pay something extreme-
ly minor if they got something back, more out of it than
they have now.
“It’s really not fair when you think of all the people
that use our parks system and the pool and all of that
See PARKS, Page 2A
The city’s current Parks and Recreation functions –
such as maintaining the Silverton Community Pool –
are performed by the Public Works department.
ANNA REED/STATESMAN JOURNAL
Still standing
170 years later
GeerCrest Farm in Waldo Hills was a childhood home of Homer Davenport and Governor Theodor Thurston
Geer. SPECIAL TO THE STAYTON MAIL
GeerCrest Farm trees are honored for more than age
Ore. cougar
sightings
on the rise
Zach Urness Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
In the late afternoon daylight, Tamara Swanson
was walking through Silverton’s Oregon Garden
when she came across a cougar attacking a small ani-
mal.
At first, she was exhilarated. The Mid-Valley resi-
dent has long loved watching animals in the wild.
Then the moment turned tense.
“It wasn’t until the cougar had its prey down that it
noticed me — it stood up tall and looked directly in
my eyes,” Swanson said. “I got big, arms up in the air,
and shouted the loudest yell I could create. It disap-
peared down the ravine with its prey, and then quick-
ly stood up and looked back to see if I was still com-
ing.
“It was stunning.”
Four days later, the cougar Swanson saw — that
she affectionately dubbed “my cougar” — was
trapped and killed by wildlife officials. It was a young
cat, and because it had been seen multiple times
around Silverton, officials decided it was a “safety
risk” that had lost its natural fear of humans.
The story has become familiar.
Cougars are shy and solitary creatures, typically
going out of their way to avoid humans. But in recent
years, the number of big cats showing up in back-
yards and city parks has grown.
Complaints about cougars have tripled in the Wil-
lamette Valley since 2011. And the number of cougars
killed due to human or livestock conflicts reached a
record 70 animals last year in the Willamette Valley,
Coast and Northern Cascades region, according to
state records.
State officials say rising cougar numbers are push-
ing the animals into more populated areas, especially
towns near forested lands such as Silverton, Dallas
See COUGARS, Page 3A
Bill Poehler Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Over the past 170 years, there were many things
that could have killed the grove of trees at GeerCrest
Farm — disease, drought, weather.
When Ralph Geer arrived in the Willamette Valley
with his family in 1847 after his trip along the Oregon
Trail, he brought with him bushels of seeds for fruit
trees.
When he moved his family onto a property about 5
miles south of current Silverton – the second land
claim awarded in Oregon – in 1848, he set up an or-
chard to grow fruit like apples and pears and a nurs-
ery.
At that time, no one could have known the orchard
would still be standing so long after it was planted.
The grove of trees at GeerCrest Farm that has stood
for almost two centuries is being honored as Oregon
Heritage Trees by the Oregon Travel Experience.
It helped that the trees were planted along a creek,
but it isn’t the only factor in why they've lasted this
long.
“They had to have it in their genetics to do it,” said
Jim Toler, the fifth generation of the Geer family to
live on the farm.
The 2018 class of Oregon Heritage Trees, which in-
cludes the McCall Magnolia in Ashland and the Yang
Madrone in Corvallis, will be inducted at the 1 p.m.
April 6 ceremony at Ashland’s McCall House Bed and
Breakfast.
A dedication of the Oregon Heritage Tree status
See TREES, Page 2A
PHOTO COURTESY OF UNNAMED LANDOWNER
Mt. Angel creates youth council
Christena Brooks Special to Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
The political voice of America’s youth is louder
than ever in the ears of national leaders, as teen pro-
test and parlance on gun violence has abounded after
February’s mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida high
school.
Youth forces coalesced in Washington D.C. last
month at March for Our Lives, which attracted at least
1.2 million protesters advocating stronger gun control
laws and an awakened sense of urgency about school
shootings.
Far from the East Coast crowds, network studios,
and magazine coverage, adults in the sleepy Mid-Val-
ley town of Mt. Angel want to hear teens’ voices too –
not just now, but into the future as well.
For two years, the mayor and city council have been
working toward adding a Youth Advisory Council, a
group of high school students that will meet regularly
and advocate for their peers’ concerns and seek to
better the community.
In 2016, councilors appointed Kennedy High
School senior Noe Jinez as the first student councilor.
See COUNCIL, Page 2A
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A young cougar was caught on camera in a
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