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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Wellen Named a Charles O. Thompson Scholar
WORCESTER, MA (05/15/2014)(read-
Media)-- Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)
has announced that Natalie Wellen of Cave
Junction, Ore., a first-year student majoring
in mathematical sciences, has been named a
Charles O. Thompson Scholar for the 2013-14
academic year.
Named in honor of the first president of
WPI, this honor recognizes outstanding perfor-
mance by first-year students. To be eligible for
membership, students must achieve all A’s and
B’s (with a minimum of six A’s) in their aca-
demic subjects during their first three terms at
WPI.
About Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Founded in 1865 in Worcester, Mass.,
WPI is one of the nation’s first engineering
and technology universities. Its 14 academic
departments offer more than 50 undergradu-
ate and graduate degree programs in science,
engineering, technology, business, the social
sciences, and the humanities and arts, leading
to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.
WPI’s talented faculty work with students on
interdisciplinary research that seeks solutions
to important and socially relevant problems in
fields as diverse as the life sciences and bioen-
gineering, energy, information security, materi-
als processing, and robotics
Rep. DeFazio Applauds House Passage of Water Resources Bill
Washington, DC- Ore-
gon’s small ports are a step
closer to millions of dollars
in new dredging funds, after
House lawmakers overwhelm-
ingly approved the conference
report for the Water Resources
Reform & Development Act
of 2014. The final vote was
412 to 4.
The bill, which autho-
rizes funding for Army Corps
of Engineers navigation, flood
control and environmental
restoration projects, now ad-
vances to the Senate for final
passage before it is signed into
law.
Rep. Peter DeFazio suc-
cessfully fought for a provi-
sion that guarantees the na-
tion’s small ports, including
those in Southwest Oregon,
will receive annual funding
for dredging for the next eight
years. In recent years, the bud-
get for small ports was zeroed
out due to a lack of funding.
Rep. DeFazio expects his set-
aside will generate at least
$90 million each year for the
nation’s small ports.
“This bill is a shot in the
arm for coastal economies.
By restoring funds to dredge
Oregon’s ports, we will cre-
ate jobs and make it safer for
commercial and recreational
fishermen to operate. As I’ve
long argued, infrastructure
investment is the single best
thing the federal government
can do to put Americans back
to work, something Congress
should be doing more of.”
Winding Trails: by Al Hobart
This originally ran Thursday, May 21, 1964
– Illinois Valley News,
Our Four Phlox Species and Indian
Paintbrushes
The phloxes, four species of which are
found in jour area, are among the prettiest of
our native wildflowers. They belong to the gil-
ia, or phlox, family. Showy phlox, as its name
implies, is the showiest of these, with large usu-
ally rose-pink flowers up to an inch across. The
flowers are quite variable in shape, size, and
color. They grow in a few-flowered cluster at
the end of each stem and have calyxes that are
somewhat glandular, or sticky. The flat-topped
blossoms have five rather deeply-notched petals
and five stamens within the flowering tube. The
calyx has five pointed lobes. The plant is up to
a foot high with usually several upright stems.
The opposite-growing leaves are narrow and
one or two inches long.
Douglas phlox forms a low, beautiful mat
a few inches high and a foot or more across. It
is a mass of intermingling stems with numerous
short, narrow leaves that grow in little opposite
tufts along the stem. The plant “cushion” may
be thickly clothed with half-inch flat-topped
flowers that may be pink, lavender or white.
The petals are not notched as in showy phlox.
The plant’s foliage is a whitish green. These
two species, showy phlox and Douglas phlox,
both grow in Rough and Ready, Douglas phlox
usually coming into bloom in April and the oth-
er somewhat later.
Woodland phlox, while not so glaringly
attractive as the preceding two species, is the
prettiest of all, and is my favorite of the phlox-
es. It is a shade lover and is found in the edge of
woods usually at somewhat higher elevations.
The plant stem isn’t entirely erect but turns up a
few inches at the end, the erect position bearing
several pairs of broad, short leaves and usually
two or three flowers at the stem end. The lower
is nearly an inch broad and is very attractive,
the un-notched petals being a bright pink and
usually blotched with red.
Slender phlox is the dainty little poor rela-
tion of the group. Its cluster of small and in-
conspicuous pink flowers make it seem shy and
almost insignificant in the presence of its more
glamorous cousins.
The Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde of Rough and
Ready, and one of the most attractive flowering
plants of the Flat, is the Indian paintbrush, two
or three species of which are thinly scattered
about the Park. This plant, with a cluster of
leafy stems and showy spikes of scarlet and yel-
low flowers, is sometimes a model or respect-
ability in its community, as was Dr. Jekyll, the
respectable half of that fictional dual-personal-
ity, whose other half was a stinker called Mr.
Hyde. At such times Indian paintbrush derives
its nourishment from the soil and air as do other
self-respecting plants. But at other times it as-
sumes the Mr. Hyde personality, attaches itself
to the roots of some other plant and exists as a
robber parasite.
The flowers of Indian paintbrush are ac-
tually the least colorful of the many parts that
make up the spike-like flowering cluster, the
showiest parts being the calyxes and bracts that
surround the flowers. The flowers themselves
are two-lipped and very irregular, the upper lip
being an inch-long slender, tubular, usually yel-
lowish part that encloses the four stamens; the
lower lip with three greenish lobes that are usu-
ally so small as to be barely noticeable, even
when the flower is pulled apart.
The various paintbrushes are from eight
inches to two feet high, with narrow alternate
leaves two or three inches long, the upper ones
shorter and usually with a pair of narrow lobes.
Frosted Indian paintbrush is a beauty of Rough
and Ready with dark reddish-brown stems and
rich red spikes.
Where Indian paintbrush grows in close
proximity with other plant species it is impossi-
ble to tell, without examining the roots, whether
one is a Dr. Jekyll or a Mr. Hyde. And I always
try to remember – no digging in the Park.
House looks to move on Caves expansion
Washington, D.C. – Today, the
House Natural Resources Commit-
tee held a hearing on legislation from
Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-
Springfield) that would protect and
expand the Oregon Caves National
Monument. DeFazio’s legislation,
The Oregon Caves Revitalization Act
(HR 2489), would expand the monu-
ment by 4,070 acres and designate the
River Styx –the underground stream
running through Oregon Caves- as
the first subterranean Wild and Sce-
nic River in the nation.
More than 80,000 tourists visit
Oregon Caves each year, supporting
jobs and local businesses in Josephine
County and Cave Junction and pump-
ing money in the local economy. An
expansion is expected to bring a
much-needed economic boost to Jo-
sephine County and the surrounding
area.
“The Oregon Caves National
Monument is a special place and very
deserving of expansion. From the in-
credible caves system, to the rustic and
charming 1930s Chateau, to the miles
of trails with unforgettable views
of the Siskiyou Mountains, Oregon
Caves is a place worth visiting and
revisiting. Unfortunately, when the
monument was first designated over
100 years ago by President Taft the
480 acre designation wasn’t enough
to protect the unique hydrology of the
caves and the water supply for future
visitors. Grazing and possible fires in
dry Southern Oregon have exposed
the Marbled Halls of Oregon to seri-
ous risk. This bill would expand the
monument to attract more visitors
and support local businesses, reduce
grazing in and near the monument,
direct the Park Service to complete
necessary hazardous fuel work, and
protect the first underground river un-
der the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act,”
said DeFazio.
Video of DeFazio’s statement of
support for the Oregon Caves expan-
sion can be found here.
The 4,070 acre expansion will
be managed as a National Preserve,
which will allow the National Park
Service (NPS) to preserve hunting
and fishing access for the public.. The
expansion includes key watershed
important to the unique hydrology of
the caves and the source of drinking
water for 80,000 annual visitors. The
legislation also provides for the vol-
untary donation of grazing permits
within and near the monument to be
permanently retired by the NPS. The
National Park Service has expressed
concerns about the impact of grazing
on the watershed, cave system, and
drinking water supply.
Oregon Caves is the longest
marble cave (3.5 miles) open to the
public west of the Continental Divide.
Oregon Caves National Monument
was established in 1909 by President
Howard Taft. At the time, the Secre-
tary of the Interior proposed a monu-
ment of 2,500 acres but President Taft
settled on 480 acres. Expansion has
been proposed by the NPS on mul-
tiple occasions, first in 1939, again in
1949, and most recently in 1999.
A companion bill was passed by
the Senate Energy and Natural Re-
sources Committee in 2013 and awaits
action in the full Senate. Nearly forty
stakeholder groups, many of which
are small, local businesses in Cave
Junction and Josephine County, have
publicly supported the legislation.
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