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About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2020)
2 Winter 2020 Applegater OBITUARIES David Calahan October 23, 1948 – September 8, 2020 David Calahan, 71, died of cancer on September 8 in the home that he built in the Applegate. Born October 23, 1948, in Lebanon, Oregon, David loved Barbara, his wife of 24 years, and their family they joined together. He loved the outdoors and working on his property. David was a retired Medford Fire Fighter, an Army veteran, and the founding chairman of the Applegate Trails Association. He enjoyed adventure, travel, deep-sea diving, white-water rafting, and ultralight aircraft. Da v i d b e l i e ve d t h a t l i v i n g i n the Applegate was paradise. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to Applegate Trails Association (applegatetrails.org) and Save Wellington Wildlands (savewildlands.org). David Calahan showing a piece of moss. ~ In Memoriam ~ The Applegate Valley has lost a leader The Applegate Valley has lost a community leader. David Calahan was known for his creation of the Applegate Trails Association (ATA) and his decades-long fight to save the Wellington Wildlands. He was known for his balanced, reasonable approach to the issues and his ability to organize people. But I write this not in awe of David’s leadership, true though that may be. I write in praise of my friend of fifty years, Dave Calahan. We met in the early ’70s, shortly after I took up residence on my family land after serving in Vietnam. As fellow veterans of a similar age, we soon became fast friends. Our friendship survived my years-long sojourn in Seattle for a career. Right after I came home, he showed up and gifted me with a brand-new pair of high-quality gloves. Together we both lent shovels and muscles to the fire at Logtown and the one on Old Blue. Together we explored the Applegate valley, from the lake to Grants Pass. We stood together at Jackson County hearings to implement land-use planning as passed in Senate Bill 100. Many of the meetings in the Applegate, at both Ruch and Applegate schools, pitted the “old-timers” against the “newcomers.” While many people new to the Applegate were from far away, Dave was a native Oregonian. He had better luck talking to the old-timers than most of the rest of us. At one point in the ’70s a miner on Forest Creek Road sought a Conditional Use Permit to operate a gravel operation that would have resulted in 20 double- dump belly trucks coming up and down the narrow, windy road. The County issued the permit, and residents appealed. We mainly argued against the traffic and impacts to Forest Creek, many of us aware that the true goal was to excavate gravel down to bedrock, hoping to find gold. Dave, living on Bishop Creek at the time, was working for Ramsay Realty. Old man Ramsay testified at the hearing that the gravel was critically needed for building in the Applegate. Dave testified next, citing facts and figures about how many gravel pits with how many yards of rock were already in operation and sufficient to serve the Applegate’s needs. He stood up against his employer for people not of his neighborhood. He was a brave man. The issue eventually went to court and the Forest Creek residents prevailed. One of the things we shared was our great love of the beautiful Applegate Valley. The first time I accompanied Dave to the ridge behind Mount Is a b e l l e a n d l o o k e d down on the Wellington Wildlands, I understood his desire to keep this rare jewel from disappearing under the saws that had already decimated all the legacy lands in the Middle Applegate. The son of a logger, Dave was never opposed to logging and logged his own land on Long Gulch more than once. He was, however, a native who opposed the plans of federal government to treat public lands as only a source of timber, not as the forest environments we all appreciate. Dave liked to travel and often returned with a gift for me. I now have three heavy- duty long brush knives that would have served me well in the jungles of Vietnam. Dave understood what I’d been through in ‘Nam and gave me shelter more than once when things got bad. His care as a friend continued when I returned from Seattle, more than once being a good listener when I explored my own emotional state(s). One time, after being in town for a few hours, I came home to a note on the door telling me Dave had helped himself to one of my five-gallon gas cans. I can no longer recall the circumstances, but the trust we shared was unique and everlasting. His body may have left us, but I believe his Spirit still lingers in the Wellington Wildlands and will come visit you every time you think of him. Rest well, my friend. Jack Duggan shanachie@hughes.net A tribute to David Calahan, an Applegate idealist and visionary Karen Giese and Audrey Eldridge had system that is a true Applegate gem. In their first contact with David Calahan his last few years, he extended his vision in 2014, answering one of the many to preserve the Wellington Wildlands. calls to action that come across one’s Many of you readers are likely among the inbox. This one was a request to plan and more than 1000 area residents who saw implement a fundraiser for Applegate the movie Saving Wellington (filmed by Trails Association (ATA). This appeal residents Greeley Wells and Ed Keller), was so beautifully written, explaining perhaps at a community meeting hosted the mission of ATA and why this event by David as chair of the Wellington was needed, that it compelled them to Wildlands Council. He would talk volunteer to help. Little did they know about the challenges for Wellington at the work they were in for! However, length during those meetings, to the total the fundraiser ended well, bringing in engagement of the audience. At the end needed funds and raising awareness of of the event David would still be in deep ATA’s work. This is just one example of how David Calahan was able to share his vision and find willing partners to help with the missions he organized. D a v i d ’s enthusiastic willingness to share his love and knowledge of Applegate Valley’s wilderness, his passion for the incredible David Calahan on the trail. trail systems Photo: Jes Burns/Oregon Public Broadcasting. both in place and planned for the community, and conversation with those who were not especially his zeal for the work of ready to stop learning about Wellington protecting Wellington Wildlands was Wildlands, even as the venues were closing. infectious. He connected hundreds of His commitment for preserving this area people to these lands and trails with was shared by many, as can be evidenced by education and fervor. He helped them the Save Wellington Wildlands lawn signs understand the complicated dance throughout the valley. David, we are thankful for all you between federal land management and the need to protect the valuable gave, for your passion to preserve the recreational resources of our valley and wildlands of our area, and for being such mountains. And he walked his talk, a charismatic and synergistic force of leading many guided hikes through the nature. You have blazed many trails, both Applegate, including his last one, during physical and metaphorical, that will be late fall 2019, when he took a few brave used for generations. We are profoundly souls racing through an unmarked trail grateful for all you have done for us, for originating at Wellington Butte and the environment, for the earth. Jeanette LeTourneux, Audrey Eldridge, ending at his house. Stuart Heaslet, Karen Giese, David’s vision, combined with that Barbara Chasteen and the rest of the of the board members of the Applegate Wellington Wildlands Council Trails Association, made possible the plans, savewildlands.org installation, and maintenance of a trail Tribute to David Calahan Editor’s note: David Calahan and Tom Carstens met as firefighters, when David was retired and Tom a volunteer. Years later, Tom helped David found the Applegate Trails Association. David died Sept. 8, the day of the Almeda Fire. Tom remembers his friend with this poem (his first, he says). David Calahan on the East Applegate Ridge Trail. My Firebrand Friend A fire in your forest . . . We doused it. A friendship struck. Boy, could we talk! Yak . . . yak . . . yak. We learned a lot. (Or did we?) We bushwhacked and sweated and cursed and laughed. And then there were trails. I helped you calm. (Or did I?) You helped us all, frenzied idea man. Big heart! Big ideas! Patience? There isn’t any. Another fire . . . It couldn’t be doused. Then you left us. Rest in peace, David Calahan. Forest leaves fall on your grave Like tears. —Tom Carstens