Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, July 6, 2005
Page 5
National Wild Turkey Federation dinner
July 30 to gauge community interest
(Reunion Photos by Dale Sandberg)
KUHS MEMORIAL - A
plaque at Kerby Union
High School Memorial
Park was dedicated Sat-
urday, July 2, as part of
Reunionmania 2005. Be-
sides reminiscing, a brief
history of KUHS was out-
lined by Jack Owen,
whose wife, Marcheta,
was chairman of the
event. Jack noted that
the first KUHS graduat-
ing class consisted of
one girl.
The National Wild Tur-
key Federation (NWTF) is
planning its first banquet in
Illinois Valley on July 30 at
Art’s Red Garter Steak-
house in Cave Junction.
NWTF said that it is a
half-million member non-
profit organization support-
ing scientific wildlife man-
agement on public, private
and corporate land; wild
turkey conservation, and
wild turkey hunting as a
traditional American sport.
According to Cave
Junction resident and ban-
quet Chairman Dan
McCarty, “This is an excel-
lent opportunity to gauge the
support for a new chapter
for residents of the valley.”
The Grants Pass Longspurs
Chapter is sponsoring the
banquet to get the new chap-
ter started.
Phone McCarty at 592-
3975 for tickets or further
information.
Support from busi-
nesses by donating an auc-
tion item or raffle prize will
be appreciated, he said.
“Money is raised during
a banquet through ticket
sales, silent auctions, live
auctions and a variety of
high-energy prize raffles,”
said McCarty. “Anyone
wanting to have a good time
in the name of conservation
can attend our Wild Turkey
Super Fund Banquet.”
When NWTF was es-
tablished in 1973 there were
only 1.3 million turkeys
throughout North America.
Since then, the number of
wild turkeys has increased
fourfold and now stands at
more than 6.4 million birds
thanks to the NWTF, its
members, partners, and state
federal and provincial wild-
life agencies, the group said.
“Jakes, Juniors Acquir-
ing Ethics and Sportsman-
ship” is NWTF’s program
dedicated to informing, edu-
cation and involving youth
in the wildlife conservation
and the wise stewardship of
our natural resources for
members 17 and younger.
WITO, Women In The
Outdoors, dedicated to pro-
viding interactive educa-
tional opportunities for
women, has 41,000 mem-
bers nationwide. Wheelin’
Sportsmen NWTF is dedi-
cated to providing all dis-
abled people the opportunity
to enjoy the outdoors
through chapter events.
OSU tree book rooted in state botany
Since its release in
black and white more than
50 years ago, “Trees to
Know in Oregon” has be-
come the Oregon State Uni-
versity (OSU) Extension
Service’s most-requested
publication.
A new revised edition is
now available in full color.
The expanded, 152-
page “Trees to Know in
Oregon” provides a genera-
tion of youth, hikers, gar-
deners and foresters text that
combines identification and
anecdotes with maps and
color photos.
Edward C. Jensen, an
OSU forestry professor, is
the primary author and prin-
cipal photographer of the
new edition of the book. But
he is quick to recognize the
contributions of others, es-
pecially the book’s original
author, retired OSU Exten-
sion forestry specialist
Charles R. Ross.
The edition has updated
sections on ornamental
trees, Oregon’s forests and
record-breaking big trees.
According to the book,
Oregon is home to more
than 50 national champion
trees listed in the American
Forestry Association’s Na-
tional Register of Big Trees.
They include the nation’s
largest black cottonwood
(370 feet), black walnut
(278 feet), and garden plum
(a 47-foot giant more than
10 feet around).
Of the truly giant Doug-
las firs, the authors describe
a tree in Coos County that is
taller than a 28-story build-
ing with a circumference
“larger than two compact
cars parked side by side. Its
canopy, at high noon, casts a
shadow the size of a swim-
ming pool.”
The soft-cover book is
full of tidbits to help you get
to know Oregon trees. For
example, the authors point
out that lodge pole pine was
first named by Lewis and
Clark. They describe how
white bark pine and birds
called Clark’s nutcrackers
are highly dependent on
each other for survival.
And they note that, al-
though more than 1,000 va-
rieties of pears have been
named, only a half-dozen
varieties are grown commer-
cially.
Far more than just a
field guide, “Trees to Know
in Oregon” will be a good
companion on the trail or on
the nightstand, Jensen said.
The book costs $12 per
copy and is available from
many county offices of
OSU Extension Service.
Or copies may be or-
dered for an additional $4
shipping and handling fee.
To order, send your request
for EC 1450 with a check or
money order for $16 to:
Publication Orders, Exten-
sion and Experiment Station
Communications, Oregon
State University, 422 Kerr
Administration, Corvallis
OR 97331-2119.
County works to deter wildfire threats
Following the Biscuit
Fire in 2002, Josephine
County officials launched
a multi-pronged effort to
reduce wildland/urban in-
terface fuels and educate
landowners about making
their properties less vulner-
able to wildfire.
“The county put its
money where its mouth
is,” said Rick Dryer, the
Oregon Dept. of Forestry’s
(ODF) Grants Pass Unit
forester. “It has put more
than $1 million toward
keeping crews working on
fuel reduction projects on
county-owned land.”
Most of the money has
been distributed through
Title II & III grants, much
of which has funded ODF
fire protection staff to con-
duct fuel reduction work in
the fall, winter and spring.
Crews thin trees and
brush, and remove low-
hanging branches --
dubbed ladder fuels be-
cause they transfer fire into
tree crowns in the fuel-
reduction project areas.
Most of the debris is
burned as weather and
smoke management condi-
tions allow.
Fuel-reduction projects
on county lands include an
80-acre parcel in the
Sunny Valley area, and a
150-foot-wide fuel break
adjacent to Cathedral Hills
subdivision south of
Grants Pass -- an area
where hundreds of homes
are to be built within the
next few years.
Another 140 acres of
county land are being
treated or are scheduled for
treatment soon. The lands
been treated are either
county forest lands or
county parks and recrea-
tion lands.
The crews also have
completed a 4-acre fuel
reduction project around a
county elementary school
and a 5-acre fuel reduction
project at an historical
cemetery. ODF crews also
are working on fuel-
reduction projects on BLM
land adjacent to wildland/
urban interface areas.
Besides these projects,
ODF personnel at the
Grants Pass Unit have
made cost-share assistance
grants available to Jose-
phine County wildland/
urban interface residential
property owners.
The grants help prop-
erty owners establish de-
fensible-sp ace zones
around their homes and
along driveways.
ODF forest officers
develop a fuel reduction
plan for property, and after
work is completed, the
property owner is paid.
The cost-share monies
come from National Fire
Plan grants for fuel-
reduction in the county’s
wildland/urban interface
areas.
“There’s more to the
story than just fuel-
reduction treatments,” said
Dryer. “Following inspec-
tions on residential proper-
ties, many property owners
took the advice of our
folks and did the fuel-
reduction work on their
own.”
Since November 2001,
the Grants Pass Unit con-
ducted 3,165 residential
property fuel-reduction
inspections. Of these, 775
properties already had ade-
quate fuel breaks, and
2,390 property owners
elected to establish fuel
breaks.
To further assist prop-
erty owners with fuel re-
duction projects, ODF has
been a key player in the
Josephine County Inte-
grated Fire Plan, which has
sponsored public meetings
to educate people about
defensible space, and as-
sisted property owners
with getting rid of woody
debris.
Community meetings
were held this spring
throughout the county.
Several hundred atten-
dees learned about defensi-
ble space guidelines,
ODF’s cost-share assis-
tance grant program, and
the county’s Integrated
Fire Plan, the Josephine
County Planning Dept.,
ODF’s Grants Pass Unit,
Rural/Metro Fire Dept., the
Bureau of Land Manage-
ment and the U.S. Forest
Service.
A woody debris dis-
posal day was held at sev-
eral locations in Jackson
and Josephine counties on
April 16.
Wildland/urban inter-
face residents were able to
bring pickup and trailer
loads of tree cuttings,
brush, needles and leaves
to designated sites for free
disposal.
ODF’s Grants Pass
Unit has also assisted with
community fire plans in
the Sunny Valley-Wolf
Creek areas and Illinois
Valley, and has provided
advice and support on the
county effort to revise Ar-
ticle 76, its wildfire and
safety standards code for
new and rebuilt structures.