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.