Section
SANDY OREGON
THURSDAY OCTOBER 29
The Sàndy Post
1981
Area News
People
Home & Garden
Features
Firewood bill aimed at reducing illegal cutting
b> M IC H A E L P. JONES
Post Correspondent
Persons cu ttin g firew ood a fte r Nov 1
can look fo rw a rd to m ore red tape and
scru tin y, due to a b ill passed this ses
sion by the Oregon Le gislature Reason
fo r its passage is tim b e r thievery
House B ill 3022 requires the hauler of
firew ood to possess a signed p e rm it
docum enting where a person's firew ood
was cut if transported over Oregon
roads
P ublic wood cu ttin g p e rm its, which
are already rq u ire d for public land, w ill
suffice if the wood is cut on N ational
Forest land However, if the wood
comes from p riv a te land, the p e rm it
m ust include the follow ing in fo rm a tio n
to be valid the date of the p e rm it, the
name, address and telephone num ber
of the landowner gra n tin g the p e rm it,
and the s ignature of both the landow ner
and the hauler
The p e rm it must also specify the type
of wood to be cut and a de scrip tion < the
tax lot id e n tifica tio n number» of die
land the firew ood was taken from
A ccording to John M cC o rm ick, a
special agent w ith the U S Forest Ser
v ic e , w h o is s t a tio n e d a t th e
sup ervisor's o ffice at the M t Hood N.i
tion al F orest, ille g a l firew ood cuttin g
has run ram p an t, tioth on public and
p riv a te land
James Forney, of the C rim in a l D iv i
sion of the Oregon State Police, agrees,
but is o p tim is tic that the new b ill w ill
allow his office to a, least begin to deal
w ith the problem s caused by the thefts
" A t least you have som ething now
that gives you som eplace to go ," said
F orney "Y o u m ay no, stop it. but it
(the b ill* gives you a s ta rtin g point
Forney said that in recent years his
o ffice has been handling m ore and
m ore com plains from tim b e r com
panic's. as w ell as from p riv a te Ian
downers, who have had trees cut down
and sold fo r firewo<xf
Beginning Nov I. if haulers are stop
ped. they w ill have to produce a pe rm it
If not. they could f>e lined up to 2500. im
prisoner! up to six m onths, or both
M cC orm ick said tha, the Fores, Ser
vice is now a ctive ly persuing prosecu
tior. of tim b e r theives He said that on
N ational Fores, land they have become
"s o overw helm ed by the ille g a l cu ttin g
of firew ood for co m m e ricia l use that
th e y a re li t e r a lly fo rc e d to do
som ething "
M cC orm ick said that this ye a r there
are four to five tim es as m any people il
le ga lly cu ttin g firew ood, and that the
U S Attorney's office is cooperating
fu lly He said that citatio ns and felony
convictions are being handed out. w ith
hope's of c u rta ilin g the problem
M cC orm ick said that the tim b e r
thieves are getting sm a rte r and q u icke r
in th e ir cu ttin g a c tiv itie s He said that
this has posed a problem , especially
when coupled w ith the la c tth a t the
Fores, Service has had to cut back on
m anpower He said that it has affected
th e ir a b ility to cover , he isolated areas
that the thieves w ork ou, of
M cC orm ick did say that the m an
power problem is slow ly being equaliz
ed by the Fores, S ervice’s aggressive
a ttitu d e tow ards the vio lato rs, as w ell
as th e ir stepped up weekend pa tro ls
"L e g a lly you only have to prove a
theft of over $1<M> to get a felony c o n vic
tion for cu ttin g ille g a lly in the N ational
F o re s t." said M cC orm ick, "b u t usually
we wan, to go higher to ge, a g(xxl pro
secution ”
He said tha t it usually takes .300 board
fee, to m ake up a cord of wood Ille g a lly
cut. this cord of u ix x f could cos,
violators up to 1100 per thousand board
fee,
Bu, if the w ixxl is cut ille g a lly in a
tim b e r sale area, they can be charged
as m uch as $1.7,Ml to S I.800 per thousand
board fee,
"N a tu ra lly , if you cu, a cord of w ixxl
out of an expensive tim b e r sale.” said
M cC orm ick, " it doesn't take much to
d riv e the cost up "
M cC orm ick said the Forest Service is
eva lu ating each case separately, and is
looking a, " w illfu l trespass" com pared
w ith "innocent trespass” in m aking a
decision about how to proceed against
the cu tte r
He said that if the cu tte r has a sm all
pickup, a sm a ll chain saw and sim ple
tools, and it is th e ir firs , offense and
they are not a com m e rcial cu tte r, they
w ill only be charged "d ou ble the stum -
page "
Photo* by Scoli Newton
Above, J im H a th a w a y c a rr ie s a p u m p k in in fro m the fie ld at I'o n ey's F a r m M a r k e t. \ t r ig h t. S haw n B e rry is shown c a r r y in g
th e p u m p k in he se lected
Both a re firs t g ra d e rs at K elso School.
"However, if it's a two ton truck with
cables and a winch, and a five man
crew." said McCormick, "they will be
charged triple stumpage
"A g(xxl organized crew of five or six
can take out six to eight cords of wood
in two hours If you've go, some good
cutter working, and people splitting,
loading and stacking it doesn’t take
much time to get in and get out of the
woods.**
He said tha, the timber thieves are
well organized, and tha, before they
head out into the forests with their crew
and equipment, that they usually send
ou, a sedan "to scout locations '* He
said tha, log decks and down timber are
the primary targets
"Commercial cutters illegally cut
ting in the National Forests are remov
ing the volume of wood make available
to the public." said McCormick "Too
many people are coming back empty
handed after spending money for gas to
drive all the way into the mountains,
only to find the area has been picked
over by illegal cutters "
McCormick said that the Forest Ser
vice is soliciting cooperation from the
public to "remove these illegal cutters
from the forests.’* He said tha,
something must be done soon because
the number of illegal cutters is steadily
increasing
"There are over 280 telephone
numbers in the Portland metropolitan
area that are advertising firewood for
sale." McCormick said "A good por
tion of these are selling illegal wood
With the supply being siphoned off by
these cutters, it's going to hurt
everyone in the end.”
McCormick praised the various
timber companies and loggers for their
cooperation He said that by them being
in the w ( mx ! s as much as they are. tha,
they are the best source of leads. He
said that they have been assisting his
office in identifying illegal cutters
Robin Wiley, the fores, coordinator
with the Estacada Ranger District, said
that there is no way of knowing how
many people are illegally cutting, nor
how much wood was being cut illegally
But he did say that if they did it long
enough, the Forest Service would sure
ly find out
Wiley said that this past fall over
10,000 new free use firewood permits
were issued by his district In one
weekend, over 2,500 were issued
He said that although the patrols and
added security measures should help to
eliminate some of the illegal cutters,
that the problem would not be reduced
until the firs, snow falls
Until that time, he said that illegal
cutting would most likely continue,
along with other problems associated
with firewood cutting, such as traffic
jams, fist fights and personal injury ac
cidents.
"The traffic jams start around five
o’clock in the morning." Wiley said. " I,
stays bumper to bumper until around
two in the afternoon The next weekend
it starts all over again The rainshine
doesn’t stop them either, just slows
them up It isn’t until the snow flies that
they stop cutting '*
Mountain Players plan to show the community a good time
by SCOTT NEWTON
It's the people, both on the mountain
and in the Mountain Players, that
makes theater worthwhile for Dave
Ligatich. who directs, and plays one of
the leading male roles, in the upcoming
Neil Simon comedy "Barefoot in the
Park”
"T here’s no cliquishness here,"
Ligatich said "Everybody’s just here
to have fun. and that's what they do
They have fun
" If somebody misses a line, it's part
of the show They love it They eat tha,
up because everybody’s just here to
have fun Nobody's here to critique a
show
"When people walk ou, the door they
have a smile on their face They have
something to talk about ”
Marge Brown, who plays the widow
ed mother, goes so far as to say it was
through the Mountain Players tha, she
gained acceptance in the community
She said, "You know, th ere’s
something funny about this mountain
I'm one of the oldest members here
I've been here for almost 18 years, and
it’s only been in the last five years that,
'they accept you. finally *
"Once they accept you, look out, you
know, if anyone bothers a mountain
person
"They’re supportive, but it's a closed
group, and neat people, very unusual
Staff phot<■
C o n n ie l.ig a lir h . M a rg e B ro u n and D a t e l.ig a lir h
I
But you have to put out an effort to ge,
to know them.
"And I really didn't until about six
years ago, when I got into this And
now, I know a lot of people on the moun
tain I mean, they're so supportive ’’
And though everyone understands
when someone blows a line, members
of the Mountain Players interviewed
last week said tha, they are interested
in producing more professional shows
They spent $500 on new make up
recently, and would like to do as much
as they can toward updating the Lions
Club building in Wemme as they can
I^ex Secomb, president of the Moun
tain Players, said, "The Mountain
Players built this ” She raised a hand,
indicating the Lions Club building She
pointed out that the Lions Club, the
Lions Auxiliary, the Women's Club and
the Mountain Players all overlap, to a
degree
"We'd come and work on this place
till 12. 1 o'clock at night." she said
We want to keep things here going,
Ligatich added
And how did the Mountain Players
get started?
"At Zigzag Inn. we were all sitting at
the bar, as usual," Secomb said,
laughing "This was just years ago
"And. we got to talking about theater,
and all of a sudden lx>is (Boget) says.
Well, let's start us something like that ’
"She was actually an instigator and
an organizer She instigated, she
organized, and you did all the work
That's how she did things "
Boget, also the founder of the
Women's Club, died four years ago in
September
"She was a fantastic person,'*
Secomb said.
Secomb, who is the head waitress at
the Zigzag Inn and has worked there for
18 years, said that it is the diversity of
the people involved that makes the
group what it is.
"This is what makes the mountain
players," she said " It ’s all fun It's a
community thing.
"We have great response, really.’’
Ligatich plays the part of Paul, a
somewhat stuffy lawyer that hasn’t got
the knack of living that his wife, Corie,
does Corie is played by Connie
Ligatich. Dave's wife.
Brown plays Corie s mother, Mrs
Banks, who eventually falls for Victor
Velasco, one of a number of eccentrics
living in Paul and Corie Bratter's New
York City apartment building
Velasco is played by Darrell Eblen,
which is not a name unfamiliar to San
dy people.
He's played Tevye in "Fiddler on the
Roof,” and Judd in "Oklahoma *’
"He's the best to come out of the San
dy area that I've ever seen," Ligatich
said "He's excellent He can play any
part and bring it off.’’
Hank Dalpaz, who has been involved
with the Mountain Players for some
time, will play the part of the delivery
man Craig Duro, who has had some
professional experience, will play the
part of the telephone repairman
Ligatich feels that Brown is a
natural
"(It's» just a certain smile, the way
she says a line She always has the in
sight to see how a line should be said
"It's something like a quick smile, or
a little laugh at the end of a line, that
just takes the audience and cracks
them up It isn't that the line that
cracks them up, it's the expression, or
the way she delivers the line
"The audience, the entire audience,
just falls in love with her It's perfect.’*
"Every minute he's lying,’’ jokes
Brown about Ligatich's praise.
"The doctor sketch I was proud of,
and "God's Favorite.*’ Just say
numerous other horrible things," she
instructed this reporter. " I prefer to
forget I've totally forgotten them ’’
She later adds. "I'm on stage on time,
let's put it that way
"Dave is a good director," she con
tinued. "and these people I'm working
with now are very excited They really
are
" I ’m most proud of this one."
Asked if she gets nervous perform
ing, she said, "No, not anymore I used
to get so nervous, but I was telling
Dave, now I ’ve got direction.
" I am nervous about doing my part,
keeping up with these guys, because
they’re good They are
"Yeah, I'm nervous about holding up
my end ’’
Ligatich said that the nervousness
that goes with putting on a play should
be minimized somewhat because
"Barefoot in the Park" is a play they’re
comfortable with
" I t ’s so lifelike and believable Every
one of the characters fit. The
camaraderie is excellent. People end
up coming out of the show calling each
other their stage names You can get in
to it that much "
It's fairly obvious that Ligatich. who
is recreation director at Red Lion, just
gets into theater
He was involved with the Mountain
Players before high school At Sandy
Union High School he participated in
drama, and worked as a drama aide for
almost two years after graduating
Many of the college classes he’s taken
have been drama related, and he also
tries to attend as many workshops as he
can.
There are M Mountain Players
members, but Ligatich would like even
more to become involved, and pointed
out that they could utilize any number
of different skills.
"There's always room for somebody
to do something Always."
"Barefoot in the Park" will be per
formed Nov. 20 and 21, and Dec 12, at
the Lions Club building in Wemme
Tickets, which will be on sale soon, will
be 22 75 for adults. 22 for youngsters 14
and up. and free to those under 14
Nov 20 will be family night Nov 21
and Dec 12 will be cabaret nights, with
drinks being served
For additional information, contact
Ligatich at home at 822 M i l between 5
and 7 p m