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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 2019)
Appeal Tribune ❚ WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2019 ❚ 1B Outdoors Trimming the cost of your tree Young children enjoy the snow while looking for a good Christmas tree to cut from Oregon’s Willamette National Forest. PHOTOS BY ZACH URNESS/STATESMAN JOURNAL Here’s how to cut your own for $5 Zach Urness Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK The first time I saw the number I nearly choked on my lunch. U.S. consumers paid an average of $78 for a Christmas tree in 2018, accord- ing to a study by Oregon State Univer- sity. No, that doesn’t come with gold-plat- ed ornaments. Prices on trees are more reasonable here in Oregon — $20 to $25 for shorter tree, $40 to $60 for a nice six- to seven- footer, and up to $125 for top of the line, according to my survey of local tree sell- ers around Salem. Even at U-cut tree farms, prices on classic noble firs can reach $14 per foot, as my buddy Zach Gilbert found after visiting a tree farm. “We went out on a hayride, and it was fun for the family, and we had our little handsaw, but I was a little suspicious because we didn’t see the prices any- where,” said Gilbert, who lives in Jeffer- son and got his tree at a farm outside Al- bany. “We found a nice tree and cut it, brought it back to pay for it ... and it was $55!” he said. “It’s not like you can just walk away at that point, but man, I’m not sure I would have done it if I knew the price.” Prices are high enough that more people are considering a program that allows cutting your own tree from Ore- gon’s national forests — for a permit of just $5. Willamette National Forest sold per- mits worth $3,000 in 2016, but that rose to $5,000 last year and they’re expect- ing even more this year with permits available online. “There is definitely a trend of in- creasing Christmas tree sales for us, which is great because more people are enjoying the Willamette National For- est,” said Chiara Cipriano, spokeswom- an for the U.S. Forest Service. See TREES, Page 3B Two Christmas trees from Willamette Forest placed at the Urness home. The uncomfortable truth of who’s really the good boy Fishing Henry Miller Guest columnist Any time you get a little full of your- self, you should think about this insight- ful anecdote from the late Oscar-win- ning actor Sir Alec Guinness. As he told it, as a rising young actor he checked his hat and coat at a restau- rant and asked for a claim ticket. The woman said that it wouldn’t be needed because she knew who he was. Guiness was pleased that he had achieved some degree of recognition. Upon retrieving his garments and still brimming with thoughts of his suc- cess, Guiness said that he discovered a slip of paper in the coat pocket. On it was written, “bald with glass- es.” Been there, done that. Admittedly, I’ve been a little puffed up lately after being recognized and complimented several times by long- time readers in such venues as movie theater lobbies and grocery stores. The figurative scrap of paper in my coat pocket came this morning as I was tapping out this column and Kay re- turned from walking Harry the dog around the neighborhood. Harry, the Miller family dog. HENRY MILLER / SPECIAL TO THE STATESMAN JOURNAL A woman accosted the strolling duo, and they stopped to chat, although ad- mittedly Harry was excited because he mistook the woman for the “cookie la- dy” with whom we cross paths fre- quently on our walking routes. The cookie lady gets Harry’s undivid- ed attention because she always carries a baggie of dog treats, which she dis- penses liberally. According to Kay, the woman asked what kind of dog Harry was, and she laid out the usual spiel about how he was a “mostly Jack Russell terrier that we got at the Willamette Humane Soci- ety. To paraphrase, the woman said, “you know, he looks just like that dog, Harry, that’s in those articles in the newspa- per.” “That’s him,” Kay responded. The woman was very excited to meet the four-legged media star, she added. My inflated ego collapsed like a soggy soufflé. I felt one-upped in the recognition category by Harry the neighborhood ce- lebrity. Make that one for the dog. Zero for “balding with glasses,” who apparently is making a post-retirement career out of serving as a publicist for said canine. For his part, Harry seems unmoved by his elevated status. He’s sleeping snuggled up in his fleece blanket on his dog bed behind my office chair while I peck this out. Probably dreaming about running into the cookie lady next time. Go big (again) Trucks from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Roaring River Hatchery near Scio rolled out early this week. More than 120 rainbow trout, each weighing between 8 and 12 pounds, were stocked at three Willamette Valley sites early this week. Walter Wirth Lake in Cascades Gate- way Park in Salem, Timber Linn Lake in Albany and Junction City Pond south of its namesake town each got about 45 of the bonus babies. To get to Wirth, take Turner Road south off Mission Street and watch for the Cascades Gateway Park turn on the left just past the Walmart parking lot. Timber Linn Lake is in Timber Linn Memorial Park, 900 Price Road SE, across Price from the parking lot at the Linn County Fair and Expo Center. Junction City Pond is about 3 miles south of Junction City on the right side of Highway 99 coming from the north. The 3-year-old rainbow trout have aged-out of the peak of their reproduc- tive lives at Roaring River. The “brooders,” as the fish are affec- tionately known by avid anglers who pursue them, generally are planted on Mondays out of Roaring River if enough of them are available from the previous week’s spawning. For the latest information about the truck stops, call the hatchery’s recorded brood-stocking Hotline at (503) 394- 3155, then press “2.” The information is updated after the trout have been delivered.