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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (July 19, 2006)
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, June 19, 2006 Page 13 Group views food labeling ILLINOIS VALLEY CHAMBER of Commerce held a mixer, hosted by Rick’s Copy Express in Cave Junc- tion Friday, July 14. River Valley Restaurant with its 1949 Mercury barbecue, provided refreshments. O’Brien musician Dale Hopper entertained the crowd with his brand of Country Western music. He will also perform Thursday, July 27 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the chamber’s Concert in the Park series in Jubilee Park. (Photos by ‘Illinois Valley News’) What does it mean when food is certified as sustainable, organic or salmon-safe? To help sort out the an- swer, a new clearinghouse of information and technical support is being established in cooperation with Oregon State University at Corvallis to help farmers and ranchers understand and consider the increasingly stringent and detailed requirements of certification as they look to new ways to market their products. The Oregon Sustainable Agriculture Resource Center (OSARC) is the result of more than 27 participating organizations, including farming, food processing, environmental, and govern- mental agencies. The group, convened by Thayne Dutson, dean of OSU's College of Agricul- tural Sciences, worked with the governor’s Oregon Solu- tions Project to help connect growers with the information they need. The new center will consolidate information through a $50,000 grant from the newly established Oregon Governor’s Fund for the Environment, to be matched by $109,000. Addi- tional funds have come from CoBank, a cooperative bank that finances agricultural businesses. THEY’VE ROCKED OUT at Illinois Valley Fire District administrative headquarters on Caves Hwy. to protect the building. The boulders were ordered by Chief Harry Rich (on the rocks with Deputy Chief Jeff Gavlik) following a May 24 incident in which a full-size pickup truck crashed through the wall and into the vacant conference room. Rocks also were placed in front of part of the adjacent Cave Junction Fire Station to protect the exercise room. The huge stones were placed by Bill Hart at what Rich called a terrific bargain. The district paid $2,100 for 14 boulders, which included de- livery and placement. (Photo by ‘Illinois Valley News’) Josephine County Stewardship Group organized As the 2006 wildfire season heats up around Southwestern Oregon, Josephine County Integrated Fire Plan (JCIFP) partners announce formation of the Josephine County Steward- ship Group. It’s described as a col- laborative forum to address stewardship contracting op- portunities on public and private land throughout the county. Community and agency leaders have identified stew- ardship contracting as a unique mechanism to im- prove community fire safety, increase forest restoration, and meet other priorities specified in the plan. The group first con- vened in October 2005. Since then, its diverse partnership has grown to include forest contractors, environmental groups, local government officials, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Old munitions search object The former Central Ore- gon Air to Air Gunnery Range Military Reservation (COGR) in Lake County, near Lakeview will be evaluated for left over muni- tions by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps will conduct this evaluation by conduct- ing a Military Munitions Response Program site in- vestigation. It will be con- ducted during the next few months by a Corps contrac- tor, Shaw Environmental. The work will include ac- cess to and a visual inspec- tion of property that was part of the COGR. The in- spection may also include soil or water sampling. Corps project manager Mike Nelson said, “The in- vestigation will be used to determine what future work the Corps may do to clean- up possible munitions re- lated components and chemical constituents used during training.” The Corps of Engineers investigates and evaluates sites contaminated with haz- ardous waste, radioactive waste, or ordnance. Land Management, Oregon Dept. of Forestry, and other community members within Josephine County. The group aims to re- duce hazardous fuels build- up, and restore ecosystems. Additionally, it wants to create jobs by assisting in the design of stewardship contracting projects and by encouraging the use of ex- cess woody biomass result- ing from those projects. Furthermore, the group believes that these projects will avoid conflict by col- laboratively addressing po- tentially contentious issues in the design phase. Congress granted stew- ardship contracting authori- ties to federal land manage- ment agencies in 2003, but they have been used only sparingly in Josephine County. These authorities give agencies greater ability to complete hazardous fuels reduction and other work, as the agencies can offset the cost of those services with the value of small-diameter timber or biomass removed. Stewardship contracts are awarded to contractors on a “best-value” basis, which may increase success- ful bid opportunities for lo- cal contractors and workers. Contracts may also be up to 10 years, thus provid- ing greater incentive for investment in biomass utili- zation infrastructure. And, if a stewardship contract were to retain re- ceipts, those receipts could be reinvested in additional local stewardship contract- ing projects. To date, stewardship group partners have worked with BLM to provide input on the “Rich and Rocky” stewardship con- tract recently advertised by the agency, as well as other proposed projects. The group also is in the process of collaborating on an ap- proximately 250-acre stew- ardship contracting project on the Rogue River- Siskiyou National Forest that is anticipated to begin sometime during 2007. Soon, the group also will conduct a workforce assessment to better under- stand the capacity of Josephine County forest contractors to handle stew- ardship contracts of varying sizes and activities. Resource Innovations, based at the University of Oregon at Eugene, which facilitated the development of JCIFP, has been con- tracted to guide the group’s activities. For more information, or to get involved, contact Mark Sorensen, Josephine County General Service di- rector, 474-5426; or Marcus Kauffman with Resource Innovations, (541) 346-0661. A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools. - Douglas Adams - ‘Illinois Valley News’ is an organic publication. It’s tasty and has no calories, but contains lots of fiber. Rachel Goodman, L.M.T. Pain - Stress - Injuries - Deep Massage Gentle CranioSacral Therapy Mon. - Fri. by appt. - Senior Discounts I.V. Medical Center 315A Caves Hwy., right on the highway. 592-6947 Fine Dining Steaks - Chicken - Fish - Large Hamburgers Restaurant separate from lounge Friday Special - Prime Rib Sunday & Monday - Filet Mignon Bring in this ad for a 10% discount Open 4 to 9 p.m. 7 days 592-2892 or 592-4222 The Kerby Transfer Station is open to help you... Hours: Mondays - Saturdays 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. For more information phone (800) 922-1025
