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
