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About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2019)
Applegater Summer 2019 Managing your land for biodiversity BY SUZIE SAVOIE Many of us are lucky to own property that borders publicly owned Bureau of Land Management or US Forest Service land. In many areas that land still has intact or healthy native-plant communities that support an abundance and diversity of native pollinators, birds, and wildlife. Many of our privately owned properties also benefit from having relatively intact habitat. However, around our homes, gardens, farms, and developments, in many cases that habitat has been degraded, altered, or eliminated. Through the use of native plants, landowners can restore or increase the biodiversity on their land to compensate for the habitat loss caused by homesite or farm development. The Applegate is rich in biodiversity, partly because it is located in the Siskiyou Mountains, one of the most botanically diverse regions of North America, but also because of the large amount of publicly owned land that has not been altered and developed in the same way that private land has. Eighty-six percent of the United States is privately owned, and 45 percent of Oregon is privately owned. As private landowners there is a lot we can do to manage for biodiversity to support intact native-plant communities and wildlife habitat. “Landscaping in this crowded world carries both moral and ecological ■ BRAD BARNES Continued from page 1 22 years of those years he was the logistics- maintenance officer! I would hazard a guess that most Applegate residents have not had the pleasure of meeting Brad, since most of his workdays are based around the maintenance and repair of the district’s 28 vehicles and engines and seven fire stations. However, because Brad also serves the district as an emergency medical technician (EMT), a National Fire Protection Association firefighter, and an engine boss at the rank of division chief, he does frequently go on emergency calls. Brad, along with his wife, Colleen, and their four children, moved to the Applegate Valley in the late 1980s. Shortly after, Brad happened to notice a “Volunteers Wanted” sign in front of the AVFD headquarters. A trained mechanic, Brad decided to volunteer his mechanical skills to help the district. Then-chief Ron Yarborough said he’d rather train Brad as a volunteer firefighter. Excited at the prospect of serving his community, Brad attended the very first Rogue Valley Firefighter Academy in 1988! Over the years Brad has seen a lot of changes in our fire district. A total of seven stations now dot the valley to meet constituents’ needs. (The closer the station and fire engines, the faster firefighters can get to our homes!) And the district now has seven paid staff members, along with dozens of volunteers, to respond to our emergencies across the valley. responsibilities that we can no longer ignore,” says entomologist Douglas Tallamy. The research of Dr. Tallamy, an entomology professor at the University of Delaware and author of Bringing Nature Home (Timber Press, 2009), has shown that nonnative ornamental plants support 29 times less biodiversity than native ornamental plants. Currently, however, 80 percent of the plants in our suburban landscapes in the US are nonnative. This is a problem because 90 percent of the insects that eat plants can develop and reproduce only on the plants with which they share an evolutionary history. Here are some examples: Monarch butterfly caterpillars eat and develop on native milkweed; Clodius parnassian butterfly caterpillars eat and develop on native bleeding hearts; buckwheat blue butterfly caterpillars eat and develop on native buckwheat; red admiral butterfly caterpillars eat and develop on stinging nettles; snowberry checkerspot butterfly caterpillars eat and develop on native snowberry plants—and the list goes on. Without the native plants that insects need to reproduce, the food web for native species is diminished or destroyed. Tallamy’s research demonstrates that native plants (annuals, perennials, and woody species) support, in general, three times as many species of butterflies and 21 were those with a plant composition of more than 70 percent native plants. Although this research was for chickadees on the East Coast, the same is probably true for many bird species in our region as well. T h e U S Na t u r a l Resources Conservation Service also advises a plant composition in yards that’s at least 75 percent Plant native plants on your land to increase biodiversity and native. By incorporating benefits of pollinators and wildlife. Photo: Suzie Savoie. native plants into your landscape you are moths as introduced plants. Native woody creating a sanctuary that benefits wildlife plants, specifically, used as ornamentals in and biodiversity. gardens support 14 times as many species Planting native plants in degraded as introduced ornamental plants. Plants habitat in undeveloped areas of your and animals that have evolved together land increases biodiversity and benefits depend upon each other for survival, pollinators and wildlife. Native potted whereas many cultivated and hybridized nursery plants grown from locally sourced plants sold in nurseries may lack essential native seeds can be planted in appropriate nutrients and provide inadequate access areas in the fall for the best establishment. to pollen and nectar, or they are not used Locally sourced native seeds can also as larval host plants. They are essentially be sown into burn pile areas, disturbed useless to native insects and wildlife. sites, and areas with sparse vegetation The use of native plants in landscaping in the fall and winter to increase species is essential to ensure breeding birds richness and diversity. have enough insect prey to eat. Because Native wildflowers and shrubs are caterpillars are so reliant on native plants beautiful! Reestablishing native plants in to reproduce, caterpillars tell us a lot about an area currently dominated by nonnative the health of an ecosystem. Researchers grasses or invasive species will beautify have found that a single breeding pair of your land and leave an ecologically Carolina chickadees must catch 7,500 beneficial legacy for the future. caterpillars to rear one clutch of young and Suzie Savoie that the only yards able to produce enough Klamath-Siskiyou Native Seeds chickadees to sustain a stable population klamathsiskiyou@gmail.com I usually have our scanner on at home to be aware of activities around the valley. I’ve noticed that Brad comes across as very calm, almost unflappable. He said he taught himself to do this because it’s important to be “calm and collected” for the patient. He also feels it indicates leadership and control of the situation. Fire engine renovated by Brad Barnes, former Chief Fillis, In retirement, Brad Barnes will spend more time I asked Brad about and Terry Riley in 2006. fishing and restoring old cars. his most frightening c a l l . He d e s c r i b e d fighting an interior structure fire, saying He described how the weather plays an Happier thoughts were needed, so I it’s an eerie feeling being inside a building integral part in any wildland fire; it can asked about retirement plans. What will with flames all around. It’s hard to differ from one part of a fire to another, Brad and Colleen be doing next year? breathe, the visibility is low, and you and it can change quickly. (I’m thinking Brad plans to find more time for hunting have to yell to communicate with your maybe there’s a bit of scientist here?!) and fishing, both fresh and saltwater. (I partner. He said the new SCBAs (self- Brad also noted that he feels our forgot to ask who does the cooking of contained breathing apparatuses) really constituents are super savvy and “dialed- said bounties.) Brad also spends a lot of help with communications as well as in” to their responsibilities as landowners his downtime restoring old cars. A 1955 safe breathing. He was quick to say that by providing safe driveways and bridges, Dodge Royal Lancer is his next project. saving a home or any structure from fire and, of course, by continuing to do their And, of course, there are the is extremely satisfying and rewarding, fuel-reduction chores each year. (So let’s grandchildren to visit! Brad’s extremely especially being able to help save a family’s keep it up—firefighters do notice and will proud of his grandson, who contracts as a valued possessions. wildland firefighter during the summers. go the extra mile for us!) Brad also shared how rewarding it feels Sandy Shaffer I asked Brad what his most unexpected to help an elderly person who has slipped surprise was as a firefighter—something sassyoneor@gmail.com and fallen in the bathroom, on the stairs, that he hadn’t expected to feel. His Note: Watch for my article in the etc. And delivering babies? I asked. Oddly response: having to perform CPR on a next issue (fall) of the Applegater. I will enough, he has not delivered a baby on a friend, realizing that the outcome might discuss the logistics-maintenance officer’s call in all of these 30 years! not be what he was hoping for. He said duties and tasks and include some cool Brad told me that he really likes the it’s still difficult for him, even after all pictures. You might be surprised...and challenges of fighting wildland forest fires. these years. possibly interested? Burn Reminder Before burning outdoors any time of year, check with your county to make sure that day is an official burn day and not a NO burn day. ••••• Jackson County • 541-776-7007 Josephine County • 541-476-9663