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About Columbia Gorge news. (The Dalles, OR) 2020-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 2021)
Columbia Gorge News www.columbiagorgenews.com Wednesday, April 21, 2021 B1 In Trout Lake, orient yourself at the “Bearing Tree” Kirby Neumann-Rea ■ By Columbia Gorge News Outside Trout Lake Store, a long-standing ursine punster stands along the road. Perhaps you’ve driven by the smiling bru- in, carved from a fir tree. What you may not have seen is the plaque on his chest. It reads “Bearing Tree.” The bear is a good place to get oriented in this Klickitat County community 15 miles north of White Salmon, with several stores, restaurants, churches and parks, a K-12 school, a U.S. Forest Service office, and near- by trails leading up to and around Mount Adams. And “Bearing Tree.” The title has an official forest survey significance, but in the case of the gray, lichen-covered bear on Highway 141, it’s the act of a prankster. Store owner Bev Meyer said the bear was carved probably in the early 1980s — and said the Bearing Tree plaque was added later on by person or persons unknown who removed it from another location. The late George Bradley, a Hood River carver, created the bear for Bev and her late husband, Greg. “He carved a lot of animals for people but I’m not sure how many of them are left,” Meyer said. A Bradley-carved bird adorned the top of what is now called The Station Cafe up the road and even had a “Vulture Burger” named in its honor. The six-inch metal plaque is an example The Trout Lake Bearing Tree, located on Highway 141, just south of Trout Lake Store. The plaque was of a standard surveying procedure used in added years after the bear was carved in the 1980s. forests, according to Keith Harding of Mt. Hood, a trained forester. Harding said “a bearing tree or other” object is a reference point to a survey corner marker — a way of finding the boundary of a distinct property. Under the words, “Corner Is Approximately,” the plaque has spaces to etch in Direction, Distance, Section and Track, along with Posted By and Date. “When you start reading deeds you will find all sorts of bearing markers,” Harding said. “A hole full of broken glass or an old horse shoes, a mark on an outcropping, a steel pipe driven into the ground.” Harding, who grew up in New Hampshire, said, “It’s really interesting east of the Mississippi River.” He has two degrees in forestry and worked in Alaska as a surveyor for Bureau of Land Management. Harding explained that bearing markers are employed by Bureau of Land Management, earlier called the General Land Office after its founding in the 1880s as general land survey agency. “The USFS later surveyed its lands, and the U.S. Geological Survey marked topography elevations on mountains and other features.” What markings might have been made on the Trout Lake Bearing Tree plaque have faded, except one: Date: “4-74.” “It doesn’t get much notice anymore,” Meyer said. “It’s turned brown and blends in now. People just drive by,” she said. “I think it’s lasted this long because it’s from an actual tree,” still rooted in the ground, Meyer said. Kirby Neumann-Rea photo Happy Kids, Healthy Smiles for a Lifetime Pediatric Dental Clinic Designed for Your Children Now offering dental laser technology anesthesia & pain free dentistry 1935 E. 19th St. Suite 200 The Dalles, OR 541-296-8901 © 2021 by Vicki Whiting, Editor Jeff Schinkel, Graphics Vol. 37, No. 21 419 State Street Suite 4 Hood River, OR 541-387-8688 Draw the thing that should come next to continue the pattern in each row. Food webs show how different food chains are connected. For example, a mouse and a rabbit both eat plants and seeds. Like a spider web, a food web can be very complicated since there are so many different creatures. decomposers sun food chain links plants and animals to each other for survival. For example, a plant gets eaten by a small animal. That animal is also food for another, larger animal. Ultimately, when plants and animals die, decomposers cause them to turn back into soil that will grow more plants and the circle of life continues. The diagram at right illustrates a basic food chain. grasses Complete the Food Chains Below are three unfinished food chains. Complete each chain by drawing, naming or pasting a picture of one of the choices of plants or animals who lives in that plant community. Think about which animals are herbivores, omnivores and carnivores. Food chains all start with the sun. The sun gives energy to all living things because the energy from the sun goes into the plants. When primary consumers eat plants, they get energy. That animal will give energy to the animal that eats it. rabbit Evergreen Forest Community snake The forest community has many different kinds of trees. Ferns and mosses can also be found. PRODUCER bay nuts • leaves madrone berries PRIMARY CONSUMER quail • squirrel deer eagle SECONDARY CONSUMER fox • bobcat FINAL CONSUMER mountain lion coyote DECOMPOSER worm • fungi bacteria Creekside Community The area along the banks of a creek is mostly moist and shady. PRODUCER Underwater plants algae PRIMARY CONSUMER aquatic insects fish SECONDARY CONSUMER newt frog FINAL CONSUMER raccoon scrub jay DECOMPOSER worm • fungi mushroom Grassland Community This can be a dry and hot area. Mostly low, dense bushes and a few wildflowers can be found there. PRODUCER PRIMARY CONSUMER SECONDARY CONSUMER FINAL CONSUMER DECOMPOSER CONSUMER CHAIN BACTERIA CIRCLE BOBCAT AQUATIC LIZARD ALGAE FUNGI FINAL FROG FISH MICE WORM WEB A C R B U E A I T R Q U E R R A L G A E U W E C V C F N D M A O T F I S H U R U T R A R V M O F A S I M C H A I N S Z N C L B O L D W E I O E G O R F I N A L C B S B A C T E R I A Standards Link: Letter sequencing. Recognize identical words. Skim and scan reading. Recall spelling patterns. Advertising Math Find an ad in today’s paper that is especially interesting to you. Using the subject of the ad, write a two-step word problem. Then, have a classmate try to solve your problem. Standards Link: Language Arts: Understanding meanings from context clues. flowers • seeds berries rat • mouse insect snake • bobcat lizard owl hawk worm • fungi mushroom Community Connections Look through the newspaper for five or more people or places that are connected to your life. (Example: A grocery store where your family shops. What other connections can you find? Plan a Picnic Where would you go on a family picnic? What would you bring? Let’s Talk! What would happen if all of the plants and animals in one of the links in a food chain disappeared? Talk it over with a parent or family member. What would happen if one animal in a food web became extinct? Children are born curious. From their earliest days, sensory exploration brings delight and wonder. New discoveries expand their minds. When they unlock the joy of reading, their world widens further. Magic happens. Kid Scoop opens the doors of discovery for elementary school children by providing interactive, engaging and relevant age-appropriate materials designed to awaken the magic of reading at school, at home, and throughout their lives. For more information about our literacy non-profit, visit kidscoopnews.org Standards Link: Research: Use the newspaper to locate information. SUBSCRIBE for less than a fancy cup of coffee per month. subscribe@gorgenews.com 541-296-2141 ext. 112 HOOD RIVER | THE DALLES | WHITE SALMON Columbia Gorge News ColumbiaGorgeNews.com
