10 Spring 2017 Applegater
Dangerous tree felled
in the playground
Cantrall Buckley Park news
BY TOM CARSTENS
Campground upgrade begins
Restroom renovation delayed
We’re starting Phase 3 of our
In January, Jackson County Parks
decided to delay renovation of the park’s campground renovation project. In
day-use restroom. This is disappointing Phase 1, we put in a new state-of-the-
for all of us; in its current state the art environmentally friendly wastewater
treatment
restroom is
s y s t e m ,
difficult to
including new
maintain and
just not very
pumps and
welcoming.
tanks. Phase
As you may
2 was the new
know, this facility
campground
has not seen any
restroom and
improvements
shower facility.
for over 40 years.
A d d i t i o n a l l y,
In 2015, Jackson
we have put in
County Parks
new water lines
won a grant
and paved the
from Oregon
entrance road.
State Parks and
All in all,
Recreation to
w e’v e s p e n t
finally address
almost $600,000
this sad facility.
over the past
Plans were put in
t e n ye a r s f o r
Steve Lambert (left), Jackson County Parks
program manager, and Laird Funk, t h e s e n e e d e d
place to tear down
GACDC board member, improvements.
the surrounding
discuss
the
restroom renovation. We can thank
deteriorating
Photo: Tom Carstens.
w o o d e n
our local
structure, put on
contractors, the
a new roof, and replace all the fixtures. US Forest Service, Oregon State Parks
Your volunteer Park Committee and Recreation, Oregon Housing and
has plans to landscape the area around Community Services, Jackson County
the restroom to make it a lovely place Roads and Parks Department, and the
for family. We also have a beautiful art Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for
mosaic mural ready to be placed on the their generous support.
exterior walls facing the playground.
Now we aim to finally
This mural was designed by Applegate complete this project. We will
Valley kids, who also made the tiles with bring our campground up to current
their parents with support of lead artist recreational vehicle (RV) standards with
Jeremy Criswell from Upper Applegate. full electrical, water, and sewer hookups, a
Our community donated $20,000 for new restroom for the group campground,
this colorful piece of art that honors reconditioned campsites, and a new loop
all donors to the mural and to our new road that can accommodate all classes
playground. All of these plans, too, will of RVs. These improvements will cost
have to be delayed.
another $400,000. We’d like to thank
In explaining the delayed BLM who got us started on Phase 3
renovation, Jackson County Parks with a $5,000 grant. With this money
program manager, Steve Lambert, we have added two RV sites to the group
wrote that “the restroom rehabilitation campground and brought electricity
project at Cantrall Buckley Park will to our camp host site. We have also
be completed in the fall of 2017. The begun receiving individual and group
project was originally scheduled to donations. Jackson County Parks plans
take place this winter, but due to our on helping us with a matching grant
current project load and the active winter from State Parks in August of 2018.
weather patterns that have kept our crews
This means we have a year
busy the past month or so, we think it and a half to raise $200,000. We
is best to start the project in September will be calling on many of you to help
when weather is more suitable and time us with this terrific project, which
allows. The rehabilitation of the facility will bring more tourism dollars to our
is of utmost importance to the Park valley. For those who’d like to get a
Program, and we are committed to seeing jump on things, you can send a check to
the project through to completion as GACDC Campground Fund, PO Box
it will be a great addition to the recent 335, Jacksonville, OR 97530. You can
playground renovation. Thanks for also donate directly to the campground
working with us on this project.”
fund using the contribution link on the
So, Jackson County Parks told us GACDC website at gacdc.org.
that they’ll start work in September and
Donations of $1,000 or larger
finish by the end of December because will be permanently honored at the
that’s when the state grant expires. The campground. Thank you!
Park Committee is heartbroken to have
Tom Carstens, Chair
to ask everyone to undergo yet another
Cantrall Buckley Park Committee
season with this facility in such disrepair.
541-846-1025
Last year we asked the US Forest
Service at Star Ranger Station to take a
look at the trees in the park and identify
any safety hazards. The dendrology
folks did find some problem trees. One
in particular caught our attention: a
huge old ponderosa pine with a scary
lean right over the playground. The tree
was over a hundred feet tall and could
have caused some real excitement down
the road.
On a cold Friday in January,
Chuck Dahl, owner of Pacific Slope
Tree Company in Williams, strapped
on his tree-climbing
equipment and shinnied
to the top of that old
pine. Several volunteers
below held their breath
as massive trunk chunks
thudded to the ground
with thunderous quakes.
Thunk…thunk…
thunk! Chuck worked
for hours to bring down
this granddaddy. We
Top photo: Chuck Dahl on his way to the top of a huge
are milling some of the
ponderosa pine. Bottom photo: Wood from the pine tree
downed wood to make
is being milled to make new picnic tables.
new picnic tables.
Photos: Tom Carstens.
Free passes for
park cleanup
on March 11
We would like to invite all of you to
a community park cleanup on Saturday,
March 11, at 9 am. This was a tough
winter for trees, and we have a lot of
downed wood to pick up. To sweeten
the pot, we’re offering free season passes
to everyone who gives us a hand. Bring
work gloves. We’ll provide coffee, water,
snacks, and bags. If you have a pickup,
wheelbarrow, scoop shovel, rake, or chain
saw, you can bring those too.
See you there!
• • • • •
Park fees to rise
Fees at Cantrall Buckley Park
have not been increased in many years,
while operating costs have continued
to rise, creating a deficit. Therefore,
after much discussion, the board of
the Greater Applegate Community
Development Center (GACDC) has
decided to increase the day-use entrance
fees to Cantrall Buckley Park effective
May 1. These new fees, outlined below,
are consistent with state parks fees and
those for Applegate Lake.
• Day-use vehicle fee increases from $4
to $5.
• Season Pass increases from $20 to
$25. Season passes can be purchased at
Applegate Store, Ruch Country Store,
and Tiff’s Trading Post.
• Senior Season Pass increases from $10
to $15.
Campground fees are unchanged.
Thank you for supporting our park!
GACDC Board
• • • • •
To the “civic-minded,
community-oriented
individuals”
who recently removed our large
600-pound barbecue grill
from Cantrall Buckley Park
Most people would assume that the
barbecue was stolen, but we can only
hope that you have taken it out to be
repaired and refurbished and will return
it in better shape than you found it.
Because Cantrall Buckley Park
operates on a shoestring budget, the
generosity of the community is essential
to its support. So it would be in keeping
with this tradition of this community
spirit for you to repair and refurbish our
barbecue. As an example, last year we
received donations from local citizens to
replace 12 pedestal barbecues.
We look forward to the return of
our refurbished barbecue or a $1,000 tax-
deductible donation to replace it before
the May 1 season opening.
We thank you in advance for your
concern for the welfare of the park. If
you would like, when you return our
barbecue, we will be happy to place your
name on a donor plaque, as we have done
with many other citizens who have made
the park dream real.
Sincerely,
Rick Barclay, Park Manager
