Natural tree
harvest demo
set in Selma
By ROGER BRANDT
Special to ‘I.V. News’
It may sound inconceiv-
able that a logging project
would be generally accepted
by environmental groups.
But this may be what is
unfolding as a small group
of residents in Selma work
with the Bureau of Land
Management on plans for
the community to manage a
7,000-acre plot of govern-
ment land called the South
Deer Project.
The proposal is compel-
ling and promises to pro-
duce a steady stream of tim-
ber, as well as a variety of
economic products, some of
which are entirely over-
looked by conventional for-
est management practices.
An open house will be
held Saturday, April 23 at 1
p.m. at Camp Forest, located
at 2100 Thompson Creek
Road. For more information
phone 597-4313.
The central concept of
the project is a “natural se-
lection” approach to timber
harvesting. In this scenario,
a forester goes through the
woods and looks for trees
not competing well with
others and which are likely
to die of natural causes.
These are cut and shipped,
and the competitive trees are
left to continue growing.
The amount of wood
retrieved with this approach
depends on the condition of
the forest when the program
(Continued on page 6)
Following are high and
low temperatures, rainfall and
snowfall recorded by Cheryl
& Harry Johnson in O’Brien.
*Mon., April 11: 57-39,
.08 inches rain, .5 inches snow
*Tues., April 12: 54-35,
.83, .5
*Wed., April 13: 44-32,
.55, 1.0
*Thurs., April 14: 62-30
*Fri., April 15: 67-31
*Sat., April 16: 58-44, .12
*Sun., April 17: 56-34,
.08
Cave Junction
$1.8 million grant to boost county law enforcement
Two grants totaling
$1.8 million will benefit
lawmen of Josephine
County Sheriff’s Office and
Grants Pass Dept. of Public
Safety with state-of-the-art
improvements.
The announcement was
made by Sara Nicholson,
emergency manager/search-
and-rescue coordinator for
the sheriff’s office.
Some $277,540 is from
the State Homeland Security
Grant Program for the two
law enforcement agencies.
In addition, Josephine
and Jackson counties have
been awarded a $1,540,000
regional grant for a two-
county microwave radio
system.
“This equipment,” said
Nicholson, “will replace our
outdated radio equipment
and allow for countrywide
interoperability.”
Regarding the other
grant, she said:
*$170,661 will be used
to purchase 25 mobile data
terminals for the sheriff’s
office.
“This will enable all
county law enforcement
personnel to communicate
with Dispatch and other
deputies on the road,” said
Nicholson.
“This system,” she said,
“will allow photos and data
to be sent directly to each
deputy’s vehicle, and allow
deputies to access the Inter-
net while in the field, if nec-
FIRE AT SELMA SELECT - Illinois Valley Fire District (IVFD) firefighters responded at
10:50 p.m. Monday, April 18 to an RV fire on the north side of Selma Select Market.
The unoccupied vehicle was completely destroyed. The fire was so hot that it melted
a mercury light fixture on the market. No injuries were reported. No other informa-
tion was available in time for this issue. (Photo by Dale & Elaine Sandberg/IVFD)
Job situation improvements continue
With 120 payroll jobs
added in Josephine County
during March, the unem-
ployment rate declined to
7.7 percent, said Oregon
Employment Dept. (OED).
The rate was 8.4 percent
for February this year; and
in March 2004 it was 9.3
percent.
OED said that since
March last year, the county
has gained nearly 800 pay-
roll jobs. During March this
year, 31,863 persons out of
a civilian labor force of
34,532 were working at pay-
roll jobs.
Employment changes in
most industries during
March were small, OED
said, with construction add-
ing 20 jobs. The industry
has increased by 140 jobs
since March ‘04.
The agency cited the
fact that residential building
permits show continued
strength in the county’s con-
struction sector. The Census
Bureau reports that permits
for 113 residential units
were issued during Febru-
ary, up from 89 in February
last year, OED said.
Nearly 800 payroll
jobs added during
past 12 months
Other industries adding
jobs during March this year
include manufacturing
(+40), leisure and hospitality
(+30), other services (+30),
and local education (+20).
Slight job declines oc-
curred in retail trade (-20),
educational and health ser-
vices (-20), and wholesale
trade (-10).
OED said that since
March ‘04, Josephine
County added jobs in the
majority of published indus-
try sectors. Those with nota-
ble employment growth
include:
Manufacturing (+180);
wholesale trade (+70); trans-
portation, warehousing and
utilities (+50); information
(+40); finance (+70); profes-
sional and business services
(+70); ambulatory health-
care services (+40); and lei-
sure and hospitality (+120).
Local government edu-
cation employment, includ-
ing kindergarten through
12th grade, fell by 50. State
government employment
dropped by 20 jobs during
the past 12 months, OED
reported.
The Oregon seasonally
adjusted unemployment rate
during March was 6.2 per-
cent, down from 6.5 percent
during February. It was 7.6
percent during March ‘04.
Thursday, April 21
Partly cloudy,
Mild evening
High--66, Low--40.
Friday, April 22
Variable sunshine,
Clouds increasing late
High--68, Low--43.
Saturday, April 23
Scattered showers,
Clouds decreasing late
High--66, Low--43.
An emergency notifica-
tion system that can auto-
matically contact residents
by telephone has been in-
stalled in the Josephine
County Emergency Opera-
tions Center in Grants Pass.
The system will be used
only for emergencies, said
Sara Nicholson, emergency
manager/search-and-rescue
coordinator for Josephine
County Sheriff’s Office.
She noted that a good
example of how the system
could have been used oc-
curred during the 2002 Bis-
cuit Fire that nearly caused
evacuation of Illinois Val-
ley’s approximately 17,000
residents.
“The county simply did
not have the manpower to
personally notify all 17,000
citizens of pending evacua-
tion,” said Nicholson.
“In addition,” she said,
“the system can direct resi-
dents to different evacuation
routes, thereby helping
minimize potential traffic
problems. Other examples
of activation could be a
flood, hostage situation or a
hazardous materials spill.”
She stressed that the
system will be used only for
emergency situations by
Emergency Management.
“This means that it will not
be used for solicitation, cen-
sus or other county-type
questions,” she said.
The system has the abil-
ity to ask for responses.
“For example,” said
Nicholson, “if the message
is that your home could be
in danger from a wildfire --
so get ready to leave -- and
you need assistance; you
might be prompted to ‘press
1’ if you need help due to a
medical problem; ‘press 2’
if do not have a vehicle; or
‘press 3’ if you understand
the message and will act.
“The system has the
ability to dial telephone
numbers in a certain area, or
any other means of sorting,
and relay up to 960 emer-
gency messages per hour.”
In addition, the system
can be programmed to
phone primary and secon-
dary telephone numbers;
leave messages on answer-
ing machines after so many
rings; and redial for a given
length of time.
Nicholson continued:
“A tiered degree-of-
urgency message format is
being looked at as a general
method of disseminating
information in the event of
an emergency.
“For example, if there
were a wildfire threatening
homes in Applegate, those
in the immediate area would
receive a call with a Tier 1
message to leave within 15
minutes on Hwy. 238 in
either direction.
“If the wind were push-
ing a wildfire south toward
Thompson Creek (the one
closest to Jackson County),
folks up the first mile or so
would receive a Tier 2 mes-
sage to immediately pack
and be prepared to leave
within 30 minutes. And so
forth, as a situation required.
“Anyone who has used
telephone trees for a
neighborhood situation,”
said Nicholson, “knows that
this call-down system does
not replace them. Emer-
gency fire personnel and
county leaders also know
this.
“Neighborhood phone
trees allow localized situa-
tions -- such as a lost child, a
loose horse or a cougar
sighting -- to be communi-
cated quickly to exactly
those residents who need to
know the information. So
we need both systems.
“Jackson County pur-
chased this same call-down
system several years ago.
Both counties will work
together, with similar types
of messages and terminol-
ogy whenever the system
needs to be activated, so that
all emergency personnel
know exactly what citizens
are being told,” Nicholson
concluded.
IVFD shows rise in responses
Sunday, April 24
Mild precipitation,
Continuing late
High--63, Low--42.
Tuesday, April 26
Partly sunny,
Overnight clearing
High--64, Low--42.
They are Citizen Corps
groups in the county; Com-
munity Emergency Re-
sponse Teams (CERT), in-
cluding the one in Illinois
Valley; and the Student
Emergency Response Team
at Grants Pass High School.
Nicholson said that the
money will “fund training
manuals, booth rentals at the
county fair, and some much-
needed equipment for the
teams.”
JoCo installs emergency
phone notifying system
Wednesday, April 20
Mostly sunny,
Evening cooling
High--65, Low--38.
Monday, April 25
Scattered showers,
Evening precipitation
High--63, Low--42.
essary.”
*$96,492 will be used
to upgrade Grants Pass
Dept. of Public Safety’s
current mobile data terminal
system. It consists of laptop
computers in each officer’s
vehicle that allow them to
communicate with Dispatch
and officers in the field,
Nicholson explained.
*$10,387, provided un-
der the Citizen Corps Pro-
gram of Homeland Security,
will be used in three areas.
ILLINOIS RIVER VALLEY ARTS COUNCIL sponsors and conducts the Learning
Through Arts program, which it instituted three years ago, at Lorna Byrne Middle
School (LBMS). The credit incorrectly was attributed in last week’s issue to South-
ern Oregon Guild. Kathy Kelley, (third from left, front) vice president of the Arts
Council, is working with LBMS eighth-graders on various after-school art projects
that expand their art experiences in many aspects. The efforts by the Arts Council
are included in the Lights On After School program at LBMS, and next week’s issue
will have additional information and photos about that program.
Emergency responses
are rising rapidly, with 435
from January through last
week, said Chief Harry Rich
of Illinois Valley Rural Fire
Protection District.
And there is a 28 per-
cent increase from January
through March, he told the
board of directors during a
regular meeting Thursday
night, April 14 at adminis-
trative headquarters.
The rise in responses is
resulting in higher personnel
and equipment costs, he
said. In a related matter, the
board OK’d transferring
$59,100 from the contin-
gency fund to the personal
services, and materials &
services areas.
In other matters, the
board:
*Heard from the chief
that the district is working
on an intergovernmental
(Continued on page 8)