The Chronicle : Creswell & Cottage Grove., September 26, 2019, Page 19, Image 19

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2019
COMMUNITY
THE CHRONICLE — 19
COAST continued from 17
COUGAR continued from 13
tive to people.” Burgwin said he is “Trying to
create access for the public to (produce) that’s
grown organically or locally, as well as
creating more of a market for people who
are growing this stuff to have a place to
sell it.”
That community support is also seen
on an individual basis. Burgwin said he
always gets a lot of appreciation from
customers as they’re leaving and that has
been the most rewarding aspect.
Samantha Duncan, of Cottage Grove,
said she is thankful to have a resource for
fresh and local produce, as well as bulk
ingredients, in the community.
“I can load up on fruits, veggies,
nuts, beans, coffee, milk and just about
ment specialist for Willamalane Park and
Recreation said.
Yee said the number of sightings is hard
to quantify because there is no record
kept of cougar sightings unless the cat is
deemed aggressive, has caused damage to
livestock or killed pets.
“We do have this damage database
where when something actually happens
like someone’s livestock or pet gets killed
or a cougar is actively following someone
or showing aggressive behaviors, those
will get logged into that database,” he
said. “But we get all kinds of other calls,
of people seeing animals, like this one at
Dorris Ranch. We don’t even enter that
into the database.”
The reason for not logging the encoun-
ter into a database is because “we know
there are cougars there,” he said. “They
live there. They are there year-round. And
people see them quite frequently. And the
majority of the time, it is just like seeing
a deer or an elk.”
He said that while the number of sight-
ings does not appear to be on the rise,
Oregon “has probably been at carrying
capacity for cougars for quite some time.”
Oregon is divided into six zones, one
of which bisects the Willamette Valley.
Springfield is in the Southwest Cascade
region, which has an estimated cougar
population of 1,475. Eugene is in the
Coast/North Cascade region with an esti-
mated population of 987 cougars – and
that number has been steadily increasing.
“The model has indicated grow-
ing cougar populations across Oregon
for many years,” according to the 2017
Oregon Cougar Management Plan. Charts
on page 52 show steady growth charts for
all zones from 2000-15.
Yee said that the minimum number of
cougars they would ever want statewide
is 3,000. He estimates the current total
population of cougars in the state to be
anything else I want or need for the week
without paying much, if any, more than
I would anywhere else,” she said. “The
quality is excellent, the staff is friendly
and the customer appreciation discount
day is a great way to save. I appreciate
Scott’s investment into our community
and the environment; a big congratula-
tions to the farm stand!”
Burgwin hopes that the farm stand
will be successful enough to keep going.
“I’m getting better at it now, but this is
my life,” he said. “If the appreciation
wasn’t there, there would be a few times
when someone would have come by and
said, ‘Oh, guess he decided not to do it
anymore.’”
PICKLE continued from 17
after I said it reminded me
of the Pickle Boat in crew
where oarsmen were chosen
from the leftovers of other
boats,” according to USAPA.
“Somehow the idea the name
came from our dog Pickles
was attached to the naming of
the game, but Pickles wasn’t
on the scene for two more
years. The dog was named
for the game, but the stories
about the name’s origin were
funnier thinking the game
was named for the dog.”
There is some unique
terminology connected
to pickleball: Dink, Erne,
Kitchen and Poach all convey
meanings to someone who is
initiated in the game. I had the
opportunity to try out a few
of these words when I joined
a group of pickleball play-
ers on Thursday at the tennis
courts at Coiner Park on Main
Street.
There are five courts,
outlined in blue, being smaller
than a tennis court (44’ x 20’),
with portable nets available
when the Cottage Grove pick-
leball players are in session.
When I dropped in to meet
the local players I was imme-
diately aware of two sounds –
one being the unique tone of
pickleballs being struck; the
other was laughter, cheering
and exclamations.
One of the aspects of the
game that was evident both
from my experience at the
courts and from those I talked
with is that pickleball players
are a very gregarious and
friendly lot. They were very
welcoming and told me how
when they traveled they often
use an app to find out where
to play, and out of town they
were always warmly greeted,
welcomed in and occasion-
ally invited to lunch.
The hotbed of Oregon
pickleball is Bend. The city
has 16 dedicated (only for
pickleball) public courts
and just opened eight
indoor private courts. It
is the hope to have dedi-
cated pickleball courts
here in Cottage Grove, and
the local group is actively
pursuing avenues towards
this goal.
“That will bring more
players to the area and
raise the quality of play,”
Chris Payne, one of the
local promoters of the
sport, said.
Soon the group had a
paddle in my hands and had
taught me the rudiments of
the game. My old college
tennis class came in handy
but the game was delightfully
easy to pick up. The scoring
was much easier to keep track
of than tennis, but still I had to
concentrate on it. But I played
a complete game and had a
great time. After the conclud-
ing point, all four of us met
midcourt and touched our
B O N N E V I L L E
P O W E R
paddles together and congrat-
ulated ourselves on a “good
game” – a pickleball tradition.
One of the players told me
that there is a movement to
add pickleball to the Summer
Olympics. It won’t happen for
this one, but hopefully by the
next one. If enthusiasm is all
it takes to make that happen I
would say it is a shoo-in.
If you are thinking you
would like to get a little more
active, meet a new group of
friends, lose a few pounds
and have some fun doing
all of that, I recommend
that you try out pickleball.
The Cottage Grove group
especially wants to invite
Creswellians and Pleasant
Hillers to head to the Grove
for some pickleball.
Payne said the group
is dealing with seasonal
changes. She said they
typically meet Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Saturdays
at 9 a.m. at Coiner, but it
is rain-dependent. Indoor
season play this winter will
be at Riverside Community
Church, 1255 S. River Road.
Payne said to call first to
make sure of days and times
at 541-914-5937.More info:
evpbc.com.
“Stay out of the kitchen
unless it’s a dink!”
— — — — —
Dana Merryday can be
reached at 541-942-7037 and
dana_merryday@yahoo.com
A D M I N I S T R A T I O N
Native Oaks Ridge land
acquisition to protect Oregon
fi sh and wildlife habitat
The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) intends to fund the purchase of a conservation
easement on approximately 326 acres of oak dominated habitats located close to Cottage
Grove in Lane County, Oregon. When the purchase is complete, the McKenzie River Trust will
manage the property for wildlife conservation purposes. The United States will hold third party
rights of enforcement to ensure that the habitat values on the property are always protected.
The funding will be provided as part of BPA’s ongoing eff orts to protect, restore and enhance
prairie and oak woodland habitat in the Willamette Valley. Funding this conservation easement
partially fulfi lls commitments made by BPA in the 2010 “Willamette River Basin Memorandum
of Agreement Regarding Wildlife Habitat Protection and Enhancement between the State of
Oregon and Bonneville Power Administration” as part of ongoing eff orts to mitigate for the
impacts to fi sh and wildlife from the construction and operation of federal fl ood control and
hydroelectric facilities. The protection of this property will provide long-lasting fi sh and wildlife
benefi t s and will become part of a growing network of conservation lands in Lane County.
The McKenzie River Trust has developed a management plan to guide the protection and
enhancement of habitat on the property. BPA reviewed the plan for consistency with the
conservation purposes of the acquisition. A letter describing the proposed purchase, a map and
information describing environmental review requirements under the National Environmental
Policy Act are available at https://www.bpa.gov/efw/Analysis/CategoricalExclusions/
Pages/2019.aspx.
For more information, contact BPA project manager Sandra Fife at 503-230-3678 or safi fe@
bpa.gov. You can also call 800-622-4519 toll free. Please refer to the Native Oaks Ridge
conservation easement.
about 6,600. They have no top limit.
“We have a cougar management
plan,” he said.“Every cougar that dies is
supposed to be logged at our office.”
If a cougar is growling, has its ears back,
is showing its teeth or stalking a person,
ODFW would take action. “Anything
that would be a prelude to an attack on
a person, that is taken very seriously and
we take immediate action,” he said. “Just
seeing an animal walking around out
where they live, the animal hasn’t done
anything; they are a part of our ecosystem.
But when they cross that line and exhibit
aggressive behaviors toward people, then
we intervene and take immediate action.”
Since they are territorial, it would be
a “very inhumane demise” to relocate
cougars into the territory of other animals,
Yee said.“From a biological standpoint
they are not a good animal to relocate.”
For that reason, aggressive cougars are
subject to lethal removal. “We do not
relocate cougars,” he said. From a policy
standpoint as well, “there is no wiggle
room on that policy.”
Willamalane alerts the public of cougar
sightings through all of their media chan-
nels such as Facebook and Twitter as well
as their website. Weigandt said that they
have an alert that pops up on their website
that they also use for park closings due
to weather and other emergency events.
“It is a tool we use only when we need to
raise awareness,” he said. “What we have
found is that awareness is the most import-
ant thing.”
Yee said that ODFW tries to work with
landowners to get them to put permanent
signs at their trailheads to alert the public
that there are cougars in the area, as well
as bears. “They do live there in the park
and in that ranch and they have been there
for a very long time,” he said.
OLIVER! continued from 17
Mr. Bumble / John Wilson
Widow Corney / Trinity Riddell
Mr. Sowerberry/Mr. Brownlow/Second
Man/Ensemble / Phil Dempsey
Mrs. Sowerberry/Old Sally/2nd
Woman/Man/Ensemble / Nikki
Pagniano
Noah/First
Runner/Maid/
Butler/Ensemble
/ Timothy
Bouwhuis
Bet / Ashlee
Winkler
Mrs. Bedwin/
Ensemble /
Cydney King
Charlotte/
Milkmaid/Second
Runner/Ensemble
/ Maia Wilhour
Charlie Bates /
Jayling Goolsby
Orphan/Fagin
Boys / Mariah Bailey
Orphan/Fagin Boys / Elizabeth Blakely
Orphan/Fagin Boys / Quinn Branstetter
Orphan/Fagin Boys / Zoe Goings
Orphan/Fagin Boys / Jayshing Goolsby
Orphan/Fagin Boys / Pearl Powell
Orphan / Benjamin Blakely
Orphan / Genevieve Blakely
Orphan/Boy / William Blakely
First Woman/Matron/Ensemble / Keri
Davis
Governor/First Man/Hussar/Ensemble /
Blake Nelson
Chairman/Governor/First Man #2/
Ensemble/Dr.
Grimwig / Tom
Perkins
Rose Seller/Girl/
Ensemble / Darcy
Rust
Strawberry Seller/
First Woman #2/
Ensemble / Elise
Smith
Knife Grinder/
Governor/
Lamplighter/
Ensemble /
Cameron Tunnell
The production crew includes:
Director / Janet Rust
Music Director / Mark VanBeever
Stage Manager / Bil Morrill
Assistant Stage Manager / Ashlee Winkler
Set Design / Tony Rust
Light Design / Amanda Ferguson