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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 2008)
I6;justput AUGUST 15, 2008 northwest Doggio Day camp C Portland's Largest Indoor Doggie Daycare Cabin Sleepovers seif serve and Fuii service Dog wash With SYNLawn Synthetic Grass In Play Areas Camp Store For All Your Dog’s Needs '-------------------------------------------------------------------- 503-327-8837 » 931 SE 6th Avenue • Corner of 6th & Yamhill Easy-to-find location across the Morrison Bridge from Downtown Portland PROVIDING SOCIAL WORK AND NURSING MEDICAL CASE MANAGEMENT TO PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS SINCE 1995 PARTNERSHIP PROJECT Serving 1200 individuals a year in the Portland 4-county area. Working to keep you insured, in medical care and in contact with the services you need! SERVICIOS DISPONIBLES EN ESPANOL For intake scheduling, information and referral, call our intake team at 503-517-3590 www.ohsu.edu/partnership OREGON HEALTH &SCIENCE UNIVERSITY Dentistry In The Pearl That’s Something To Smile About! $74 New Patient Exam and X-Rays $49 New Patient Basic Cleaning (exam required) Dr. Visen Sundberg $59 Feeding the Farm Interest renewed in saving Oregon Women's Land by Teresa Coate* Women’s Land Trust, is dedicated to preserving or the past 33 years, the Oregon Women’s the OWL Farm and is reaching out to the broader Land (OWL) Farm has provided space community for support. It’s a “sanctuary, not only for women who want to live on, and off, the land. Over time, the number of for women,” she explains, “but for all the wildlife women utilizing the land 15 miles east of that are being displaced by the clear-cutting” in the area around the farm. Canyonville, near Coos Bay, has risen and fallen and risen again, but now the land is being threatened. Once bustling with an undocumented number of women living off the land, the OWL Farm now sits empty much of the year. The com munal kitchens, sleeping cab ins, even a treehouse—built by women for women—are deteriorating from lack of attention. In the mid-1970s, from all over the country, people came to use the property as a home and meeting center for festivals. “No trespassing“ signs and overgrown brush lead up to the once- thriving Oregon Women's Land Farm. Women came to stay without any reservation for a few nights or a few weeks, and some stayed for years. Many young feminists have no knowledge Through the decades, hundreds of women of this wilderness that has been set aside just for have come and gone, but a small, devoted them, and the area has seen less and less use as group has continued reminding past residents women have moved to urban centers. The farm of the importance of the OWL Farm. First, the requires rustic living—it has no electricity nor Oregon Women’s Land Trust board fought the potable water—which makes it a perfect site for clear-cutting of the forest around them, then the camping. Brandt encourages this younger gen liquid natural gas line that’s been proposed to run eration, in addition to older women, to take ad right through the property. The backlash against vantage of the farm’s stunning setting of forested the pipeline by OWL Farm enthusiasts, as well as lands and open meadows. “The wildlife there is others who live and relax on Southern Oregon unbelievable,” she says. land, has stalled the destruction of forests and A core group of women remain devoted to car meadows, but the threat continues. ing for the land, but help is needed to keep the Kristin Brandt, a member of the Oregon land usable for another 30-plus years. They are asking Oregon women to help by mowing the grassy field, planting gardens, repairing build ings and improving the water system. Just as important is remembering what the land is for—women. To fulfill the purpose, the farm has to be used and those caring for the property hope more women will get involved, heading down for a week or two to enjoy the splendor of the OWL Farm, hut also to donate that time to the land and the other women who will come to use it. As a communal land, it belongs to the women of Oregon. The OWL board wants women to take advantage of the availability of such natural beauty. “We just feel like, if women could just come and see how wonderful it is, they’d know why it has to be saved for the next generation,” says Brandt. © Children’s Exam and Cleaning (new patients 12 & under) $99 Professional Home Whitening (exam required) pò » Orwwrrr (503) 546-9079 222 NW 10th Avenue www.sundbergdentistry.com $299 In Office 1 Hour “Zoom” Tooth Whitening (exam required) The Oregon Women’s Land Farm is largely abandoned, yet remnants of its past, such as original art, remain. If you are interested in using the O regon W omen ’ s L and F arm for camping, would like to make a financial contribution or can spend some time cleaning and refurbishing buildings, contact Kristin Brandt at 541 -580-339 1 or lovesowlfarm@hotmail. com. T eresa G ia tes is a Portland freelance writer.