Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2017)
Applegater Summer 2017 17 OPINIONS Best practices for growing cannabis Serpentine geology makes the Applegate unique BY EVELYN ROETHER To support harmonious re l a t i o n s b e t w e e n t h e burgeoning cannabis i n d u s t r y, t h e b r o a d e r community, and our local environment, a group of local growers and residents recently produced a brochure titled Growing Cannabis: Best Practices for a Successful Grow, Happy Neighbors and a Healthy Environment. Originally produced for and sponsored by the Williams community, the brochure has expanded its reach into greater southern Oregon and is available at local businesses and several government agencies. He re a re s o m e s u g g e s t e d b e s t management practices for cannabis growers. Noise • Check the noise levels at your property line. If you can hear your equipment, so can your neighbors. • If you must produce loud noise, mitigate it, e.g., insulate structures, use low decibel fans, etc. Light • Make sure no light is leaving your property from sunset to sunrise. • Hooded lights and blackout tarps are the best practice for lighted greenhouses. Traffic • Educate yourself and your employees about school zones, speed limits, and the presence of children and wildlife on the roads. • If possible, hire local employees and organize carpools to reduce the number of trips associated with your operation. • If you share an access road with neighbors, talk to them early in your process about ways to reduce the impact of associated traffic and road maintenance. Visual impacts and setbacks • Before building a fence, consider whether you need one and allow a reasonable setback from roads and lot lines. • Try to build with materials that blend in with your environment or plant a hedgerow of fast-growing shrubs and trees instead. • Follow all legal setbacks from lot lines and keep grow activities a respectful distance from neighbors’ homes. Best practice is 100 feet from property lines for structures and 15 feet for fences. • Incorporate wildlife corridors so that deer and other critters have safe passage. Fire safety • Have fire safety rules and a fire plan and make sure everyone you work with is familiar with them. • Familiarize yourself with our local fire season and regulations. Water usage • Research your water rights and respect their limits. • Consider using rainwater catchment, drip irrigation, and mulch, and make a plan for water conservation. BY SUZIE SAVOIE • Don’t take water that is not legally yours to use. Erosion and pollution • Leave buffers of native vegetation around all waterways (best practice is 100 feet). • After conducting activities that expose bare soil, re-seed, mulch, and create sediment traps. • Pick up trash and limit sources of pollution. • Provide appropriate bathroom facilities so that human waste is not a source of pollution. Wildlife. Benefit the wildlife that share our beautiful valley through organic practices; fertilizer and trash containment; generous setbacks; corridors; water conservation; noise, light and pollution mitigation; erosion control; and traffic safety. Scale. Consider succeeding with a smaller grow before scaling up. Risks for neighbor conflicts, pest outbreaks, mold, labor shortages, and cost overruns all increase with the size of your grow. Indoor versus outdoor. Consider growing outdoors. Outdoor grows are less expensive to operate, easier to manage, use less energy, and have fewer impacts on the environment and neighbors. If you do choose the greenhouse approach, consider using renewable energy. Fertility and pest management. Consider growing your cannabis organically. Organic production is less expensive, better for the grower’s health, and increasingly mandated by state testing standards. Employees. Consider hiring local help and paying living wages. By hiring local, you support the local economy and help alleviate many of the negative impacts of transient laborers. Links to useful references • Oregon Sungrown Growers Guild (oregonsungrown.org) • Oregon Department of Agriculture (water quality, cannabis, pesticide resources) • oregon.gov/ODA/programs/ Na t u r a l R e s o u r c e s / A g W Q / Pa g e s / AgWQPlans.aspx • oregon.gov/ODA/agriculture/Pages/ Cannabis.aspx • oregon.gov/ODA/programs/Pesticides/ Pages/CannabisPesticides.aspx • Oregon Department of Forestry, fire regulations (swofire.com/p/fire-season- regulations.html) • Oregon Water Resources Department (oregon.gov/OWRD/pages/index.aspx) • Oregon Water Resources Department, Josephine County Watermaster (541-479- 2401) For more information or to order copies of the brochure, please email your request to goodneighborpractices@gmail.com. Evelyn Roether goodneighborpractices@gmail.com The lush, dense forests of our region sometimes give way to sparsely vegetated, rocky, and unique habitats called “serpentine barrens,” where the underlying serpentine soil influences vegetation in very obvious ways, making the casual observer ask: “What is going on here?” Many people are familiar with and have visited the largest area of serpentine in North America, the Josephine Ophiolite, roughly situated between The red, weathered serpentine rock of the Red the coast and Grants Pass where one Buttes gives rise to unique plant communities. can see California pitcher plants Photo: Luke Ruediger. (Darlingtonia californica) and hike the unique Kalmiopsis Wilderness. While the Applegate doesn’t have Darlingtonias, Watershed this summer! And don’t forget the biological diversity and unique flora of your plant identification manual! our watershed are also heavily influenced • Big Red Mountain. Use Forest Service Road 20 on the Siskiyou Crest to access the by the occurrence of serpentine. If, like me, you are not a geologist, Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) at either Siskiyou the following explanation sums it up in a Gap or Wrangle Gap. Plants to see: split- hair paintbrush (Castilleja schizotricha) tangible way: “Terrestrial life, perched on the Earth’s and Lee’s lewisia (Lewisia leeana). Threats: continental crust, has evolved on soils Off-highway vehicle (OHV) impacts. formed from relatively low-density rocks • Observation Peak. Use Forest such as granite that are rich in silica, Service Road 20 on the Siskiyou Crest calcium, potassium, and phosphorous. The to access the PCT at the signed PCT chemistry of these soils is usually amenable crossings west of Jackson Gap. Plants to plant growth almost by definition. to see: Henderson’s horkelia (Horkelia Deeper in the Earth, forming its mantle hendersonii) and Whitney’s milk vetch and most of its oceanic crust, are darker (Astragalus whitneyi). Threats: OHV and denser ultramafic (high iron and impacts and public land grazing. magnesium) rocks and minerals. Near the • White Mountain. Head east on surface they may become serpentinized— the PCT from Cook and Green Pass to altered in contact with water. These access this remote and interesting geologic submarine rocks are seldom seen on land area in the Condrey Mountain Roadless but occasionally become stranded on the Area. Plants to see: Siskiyou willow-herb edges of continents during the process (Epilobium siskiyouense) and Lemmon’s of subduction (the disappearance of sword fern (Polystichum lemmonii). Threats: one crustal plate beneath another). The Public land grazing impacts. resulting terrestrial islands of ultramafic • Red Butte. Head west on the PCT rock, or serpentine outcrops, are truly from Cook and Green Pass. Walk below ‘unearthly’ in their appearance. (Serpentine the serpentines of Cook and Green Butte is technically a mineral, but the same word on your way to the iconic Red Buttes is often used for ultramafic rocks, the soils themselves. Continue west along the PCT that form from them, and the unique in the Red Buttes Wilderness to see more ecosystems that form on them.) Serpentine serpentine at Kangaroo Mountain and soils are deficient in plant-essential Kangaroo Springs. Plants to see: Baker’s nutrients and often also in organic matter... cypress (Hesperocyparis bakeri), Siskiyou whereas they are enriched in magnesium fritillary (Fritillaria glauca), and Siskiyou and sometimes in nickel, chromium, and hastingsia (Hastingsia serpentinicola). cobalt. This unusual chemistry gives rise Threats: Chromium mining and US Forest to rocky, sparsely vegetated landscapes that Service proposal to reintroduce public land form striking boundaries with the lusher grazing in the Red Buttes Wilderness. vegetation on neighboring soils. In some • Sucker Gap. Located within the Red parts of the world, serpentine has given rise Buttes Wilderness along the Boundary to spectacular levels of plant endemism” Trail. Plants to see: Howell’s lousewort (Serpentine: The Evolution and Ecology of (Pedicularis howellii) and false turtlehead a Model System, edited by Susan Harrison (Nothochelone nemorosa). Threats: None. Thankfully, it’s protected wilderness. and Nishanta Rajakarua). In other words, serpentine comes from • Bolt Mountain. Unusual low- deep in the Earth and is very old. Although elevation serpentine between Wilderville serpentine occupies less than one percent and Murphy. Park at Fish Hatchery Park of the land surface of the earth, it has an and hike the Bolt Mountain Trail. Plants ecological importance that far outweighs its to see: Hall’s violet (Viola hallii), Indian extent, making it special where it occurs— dream fern (Aspidotis densa), and large like the Applegate! Everyone should also flowered star tulip (Calochortus uniflorus). be aware of the possible threats to the Threats: None currently. Suzie Savoie survival of its rare plants and ecosystems Conservation Chair, Siskiyou Chapter from ongoing land management activities. Native Plant Society of Oregon Get out and see some of the unique klamathsiskiyou@gmail.com serpentine habitat in the Applegate River
