Applegater Summer
2014 1
U.S. Postage
Applegate Valley Community Newspaper, Inc.
P.O. Box 14
Jacksonville, OR 97530
Paid
Non-Profit
Permit No. 91
Grants Pass,
OR 97526
Photo by Teya Jacobi
Log on to our website: www.applegater.org
Applegate Valley Community Newspaper
SUMMER 2014
Volume 7, No. 2
Postal Patron
Serving Jackson and Josephine Counties — Circulation: 10,400
Please join us for the big birthday party!
Get your advance tickets now.
Celebrate the
Applegater Newspaper’s
20 th Year at our
Summer
Birthday Bash
Sponsored by
Applegate Valley Realty
Cowhorn Vineyard • Fields Home Center
Hidden Valley Market • Lithia Toyota
Quady North • Red Lily Vineyards
Silent Auction
Bid on special items and services
from local businesses!
Wine • Dinner
1 Glass included
Elements Tapas Bar
Live Music
Swing State
Sunday, June 29 • 6 - 9 PM
Red Lily Vineyards
11777 Highway 238, Jacksonville, OR
$50 per person
Advance tickets available at Ruch Country Store · Applegate Store
Williams General Store · Store Ray’s Food Place, Jacksonville
Hidden Valley Market, Murphy
A l l p r o c e e d s s u p p o r t t h e A p p l e g a t e r.
Info: 541-973-9184 or debbie.avrealty@gmail.com
Must be 21 years of age or older. No refunds, all sales final.
TICKETS WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR.
Recreation in the Applegate
by dIANA cOOglE
Are you looking for outdoor
recreation in the Applegate this summer?
There’s plenty to enjoy!
Trail opportunities
• Hiking. Superb! Easy to difficult trails,
in woods or up mountains, with views,
trees, wildflowers, streams, meadows,
and Pacific Crest Trail access. Go to the
US Forest Service (USFS) website (www.
fs.usda.gov/rogue-siskiyou) and click on
“hiking” or ask at the Star Ranger Station
(541-899-3800). Good hiking books
specific to the area include Luke Ruediger’s
The Siskiyou Crest: Hikes, History and
Ecology; Evelyn Roether’s Williams Area
Trail Guide; Diana Coogle and Janeen
Sathre’s Favorite Hikes of the Applegate:
A Trail Guide with Stories and Histories;
and several books by Art Bernstein, most
specifically 76 Day-Hikes within 100 Miles
of the Rogue Valley. Also check the websites
of Applegate Trails Association (www.
applegatetrails.org), Siskiyou Uplands
Trail Association (www.sutaoregon.org),
Bureau of Land Management (www.blm.
gov/or/resources/recreation/tablerock/
index.php) and The Nature Conservancy
(http://nature.org/trhikes).
• Mountain biking. Many trails are
open to mountain bikers. Check with
Rogue Valley Mountain Bike Association
(www.rvmba.org) or with the Applegate
Ranger District of the USFS (541-899-
3800), or look on the USFS website
at www.fs.usda.gov/mrecmain/rogue-
siskiyou/recreation.
• Horseback riding. Excellent riding
on lots of old logging roads and trails.
Check with Grayback Brushriders in
Williams (find them on Facebook), the
Rogue Valley Equestrian Trails Association
(www.rveta.org), and other horse people.
Look out for fire season 2014!
by STEVE ZIEl
It seems like every fire season is
different. The following may provide a
sense of how this fire season may develop
in southwest Oregon.
Currently southwest Oregon is
entering a second year of drought,
which is expected to continue or intensify
between now and what we call “fire season.”
The length and severity of a fire season is
determined by conditions preceding the
summer months; this “lead-up time”
provides some insight to consider over
the course of the next several months. But
don’t feel alone—as we transition into the
upcoming fire season, much of the West is
also experiencing similar conditions.
Prime indicator
A prime indicator of our current
situation and the season to come has been
the lack of normal rainfall since November
2013. The conspicuous lack of snow at
higher elevations provides strong evidence
that things are different this year—the
Rogue and Umpqua basins currently have
less than 25 percent of their median snow-
water equivalent, with large areas already
bare of snow! Worth noting is that we
ended 2013 with less than 50 percent of
average precipitation (2013 turned out to
be the driest year on record for Medford,
Roseburg, Klamath Falls and the city of
Mt. Shasta). In 2012 Medford recorded
just 8.99 inches of rain, shattering previous
record lows (average rainfall for Medford
is 18.25 inches).
Much of our precipitation since last
fall was in the
form of short-
duration events
rather than
the long-term
“soaking rains”
from frequent
winter/spring
storms. Fall-to-
spring moisture
serves to penetrate and saturate our fuels
and soil. It is this stored moisture that
governs the onset and moderates the
severity and duration of a fire season.
This year seems different: the fall and
winter seasons were dry, and most of
our spring moisture came in March.
A recent three-month outlook by the
National Weather Service forecasts “above-
average temperatures, and below-average
precipitation” for southwest Oregon. By
all indications it may be warmer and drier
than usual through June before it gets the
hottest and driest in July and August.
Effects of drought
on fire season
So, we are in the second year of
drought, the forecast is for warmer and
drier conditions, and we don’t have much
snow in the mountains with summer just
around the corner. How might this affect
our fire season?
Southwest Oregon is densely forested
by conifer, hardwood, and brush species
that serve as “fuel” during fire season. Our
• Running. A few years ago Rogue
Valley Runners staged a nationally
highlighted cross-country run through
the Applegate—from Williams to Ashland,
up mountains and down. You can run
anywhere in the Applegate, but be careful
on the roads. Shoulders are very narrow
and gravelly.
• Off-Highway Vehicles (OHV).
Many opportunities, including Stein
Butte at Applegate Lake and Summit
Lake trail at Squaw Lakes. For ideas, check
with the Bureau of Land Management
(541-618-2200), the USFS (http://
www.fs.usda.gov/activity/rogue-siskiyou/
See FIRE SEASON, page 14
See REcREATION, page 12
Voters support
Southern Oregon
Research and
Extension!
•
Jack Duggan voices
his appreciation
on page 5.
Enjoy mountain biking in southern Oregon.
Photo: southernoregonmtb.blogspot.com.
INSIDE THE GATER
Award-winning maple syrup..........................................page 2
Little Applegate’s Neds Bar Timber Sale..................page 5
A stranger in a strange land..........................................page 12
Legal marijuana in southern Oregon..........................page 20
