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About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2024)
Applegater Winter 2024 Art is important to individuals, to community, and to Pacifica BY PEG PRAG and reduce loneliness. As S. Woster said, “Making art and looking at art can improve the world by improving us. Art can save you by making it easier to do the brave, difficult work of staying hopeful and engaged with the world.” When we come together through art, our connection with community blossoms. Art and the holidays For 25 years, Pacifica has celebrated art, music, and community during the festive period between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year, Pacifica’s Art-Nature Trail (ANT) is a place where we can fill our senses and restore our emotional and spiritual balance, where local sculptors and poets can share their work, and where kids can have fun with activities relating to nature, sculpture, and art. Art, nature, and science are interwoven. Look at anything closely—a drop of water, a butterfly’s wing, a flower, or a shell—and you’ll find not only a work of art, but also a miracle of science and engineering. As the 19 th -century Irish poet Thomas Moore said, “To make local nature a concrete At the Winter Fest, there will be over 30 talented local artists, e l e m e n t i n d ai l y wonderful local musicians, food, kids’ activities, and, perhaps life is a necessary, most notable, a beautiful feeling of peace and unity. i n i t i a l s t e p i n Everyone needs art and nature in their lives, and Pacifica is working to make that possible. Kids need art and nature, but so do isolated seniors, new mothers, people leading busy lives, and many others. Whether it’s woodworking, painting, sewing, or sculpting teeny cupcakes out of bright purple clay, making art is good for your mind and body. As Professor G. Kaimal said, “The act of creation can reduce stress and anxiety, and improve mood.” Loneliness is a big factor in stress. Recognizing that this is a lonely world, Japan has created a Minister of Loneliness cabinet position, and last year the governor of New York appointed the nation’s first Ambassador to Loneliness. Pacifica believes that art helps to bring us together 21 the re-enchantment of our individual lives.” If you would like to submit a sculpture or poetry to add to the beauty of this trail, please call 541-660-4295. Poetry adds a new kind of beauty to Pacifica’s ANT Poetry is the oldest literary form, predating prose, theater, and the written word itself. As an art form, like sculpture, it will now be included along the trail. If you have poetry, your own or some that is special to you, please send it to peg@ pacificagarden.org. In addition to making this poetry available for everyone to enjoy, this trail will allow a wider range of artists to participate in this ever-expanding community project. Art in the madrones To encourage everyone to get involved and have fun with art, activities anyone can try are available outdoors in a madrone grove along the main drive. These activities include rocks and instructions to make a cairn, a community loom with instructions to try your hand at weaving, information on lichens and supplies for making rubbings, and soon there will be some outdoor musical instruments to make joyous music. Reading and drawing in a tree at Pacifica Tree-Bench Sculptures Benches shaded by a pretend tree branch contain laminated kids’ books to read, interesting information for adults, and possible drawing activities (see image, upper right). Arts Center Pacifica has a room dedicated to teaching weaving, sewing, and felting classes. There is also a ceramics lab and workshop. By next year, we hope to include additional arts and crafts. Current ceramics schedule • Hand Building Open Studio: 4-7 pm Thursdays, November 21 and 28, and December 5; and 10 am-1 pm on Mondays, November 25, and December 2 and 9. • Demonstrations and technique building: 10 am-1 pm Tuesdays, November 26, and December 3 and 10. • Glazing days: 4-7 pm Thursday, December 12; 10 am-1 pm Monday, December 15; and 10 am-1 pm Tuesday, December 17. • Art show: 3 pm Thursday, December 19. Come make presents for the holidays! For more information, contact us at 541- 420-6345 or bcanvas@me.com. If you would like to teach or take a class, please call 541-660-4295. Peg Prag peg@pacificagarden.org Tabitha Olson, the new recreation management specialist. Dave Clayton, forest wildlife biologist, is retiring after 34 years. overdue Steamboat “Cemetary” interpretive sign that acknowledges the miners who used to inhabit the area. (See article, page 22.) 2024 wildfire season As of October 31, we have had 14 wildfires in the ranger district: nine lightning-caused, one human-caused, and four with undetermined causes. The largest fire was the Bigelow Fire, estimated at 64 acres. Our engines and personnel aided suppression efforts throughout the west, including fires in western and eastern Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and California. Throughout the summer, crews worked to reduce hazardous trees near Star Ranger Station, Star Gulch, and Flumet Flat Campground (see photo). In addition, 1,450 acres were prepped for fall or spring prescribed burning, should personnel and weather conditions allow. We hope each of you has a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year! Where can you find information? GovDelivery. A primary method of communication, GovDelivery is a web-based email subscription system that sends information to subscribers on specific topics and projects of interest to them. After subscribing and noting your areas of interest, you will receive an email whenever USFS or the ranger district has information on that topic. You may customize and manage your subscription profile to receive exactly the types of information you want, and you may cancel your subscriptions at any time. To subscribe, visit public.govdelivery.com/ accounts/USDAFS/subscriber/new. If you need help signing up for GovDelivery, please contact Amanda Merz at amanda. merz@usda.gov. Constant Contact. Another web-based email service, Constant Contact, allows a member of the public to subscribe to our news-release mailing list. To subscribe, visit our forest web page at fs.usda.gov/ rogue-siskiyou. RRSNF web page. To view current and recent projects across the Rogue River- Siskiyou National Forest (RRSNF), please visit fs.usda.gov/projects/roguesiskiyou/ landmanagement/projects. RRSNF Facebook page. Information shared here is of a general nature that highlights forest projects, events, announcements, and employees. Go to facebook.com/R6RRSNF. For more information, contact Jen Sanborn at jennifer.sanborn@usda.gov. Here’s a drawing activity for you to try. With a pencil, copy the picture on a blank piece of paper. Don’t look at the whole picture, but at each line, the way it looks, the place and angle and what the space around it looks like. Concentrate only on drawing each line, not the whole. Image: Etsy. Winter update from Star Ranger Station Many of you know Dave Clayton (see photo), a fellow Applegate community member and the forest wildlife biologist for the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. After 34 years of federal service, he’s retiring! There is not enough space here to list all the ways in which he has contributed to wildlife conservation. We are eternally grateful for his many years of knowledge, passion, and engagement. We will miss you, Dave! Maintenance projects Summer and fall were busy! In August, staff worked with the Lomakatsi Youth Crew to complete four miles of trail maintenance along the Seven Mile Ridge Trail. The Youth Crew also worked in the Ashland Forest Resiliency footprint on madrone reproduction mitigation, completed half a mile of rehabilitation along the White Rabbit Trail in Ashland, and performed maintenance work along Forest Service (FS) Road 2060, above Ashland Creek. In September, the Rogue River-Siskiyou and Klamath National Forests, in partnership with KS Wild, hosted a cleanup day near the Meridian Overlook along the Siskiyou Crest, on FS Road 20. The volunteers removed and replaced the old buck-and-pole fence, installed new road and trail markers, and removed numerous rolls of barbed- wire fencing. In October, fire and recreation crews dismantled the “changing ro o m s” a t H a r t - Ti s h c a m p g ro u n d , l o c a t e d outside each entrance to the bathrooms, due to safety concerns. Lastly, staff and Hazard tree mitigation and fuels Medford Scouting America reduction near Star Ranger Station. Troop 7 installed the long Happy Holidays, Applegate Community and Partners! As the winter season begins, many of our projects highlighted in past Applegaters do not have significant updates. So, instead of repeating information, we would like to highlight some personnel changes and accomplishments here. Yellowjacket Project The one project we will mention is Yellowjacket. Throughout the winter, we will continue to analyze and discuss project goals. We plan to engage interested members of the public in spring 2025. In the meantime, contact the Siskiyou Mountains Ranger District at 541-899- 3800 to arrange one-on-one opportunities to discuss proposed treatments in the field. Personnel updates Tabitha Olson (see photo) is our new recreation management specialist. Originally from northern California, she started working seasonally for the Medford Bureau of Land Management in 2017, then transitioned to the US Forest Service (USFS) in 2022. We are thrilled to have her as our new recreation leader and know she will continue to successfully oversee all the amazing opportunities across the ranger district.
