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
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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.
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