Section
SANDY. OREGON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1981
The Srfndy Post
A rea News
People
Home & Garden
Features
Tire dumping a problem in National Forest
b> MICHAEL H JONES
Man is creating a new mountains in
the Mt. Hood National Forest
Unlike nature's ingredients of
rock, sand and soil, these mountains
are made of rubber Specifically,
rubber tires, off everything from the
family automobile to huge truck tires
off diesels
It is difficult to estimate how many
tires are dumped each year in the
National Forest, but some estimates
from Forest Service personnel and
private timber companies claim as
many as a thousand Unfortunately,
due to the lack of money and man
power to dispose of tires properly,
the years of discards just seem to
grow, creating mountains
One dump site up Lolo Pass off a
Forest Service road sports a stack of
over 200 tires. Behind it is the
beautiful backdrop of Mt Hood Just
down the road there is another moun
tain of tires
At another site up Wildcat Moun
tain, just beyond the National Forest
boundaries, a dump site just recently
discovered extends 20 by 30 feet and
is 10 feet high Behind the pile is a
“ No Trespassing" sign
Last year Carla Jones, a Forest
Service employee in charge of
firewood permits and cutting patrols,
discovered 140 tires thrown out along
a road, also on Wildcat Mountain It
was done by someone in a four-wheel
drive vehicle
Jones said that the tires had been
dumped on a weekend while it was
snowing Some were so large that it
took two people to roll them over to
check for identification One tire
turned out to be a Government Ser
vice Administration tire.
John McCormick, a special agent
working with the Forest Service out
of the supervisor's office of the Mt.
Hood National Forest, said that the
number of dumps are increasing
each year He said that mounds of
discarded tires can be found in every
ranger district as well as on Bureau
of Ixind Management property and
on land owned by private timber
companies
Chuck Luthy, a mechanic with the
Publisher's Paper Estacada office,
said that he has often been dispatch
ed to deal with the problem of
discarded tires on their land He said
that a recent dump contained 300 to
400 tire s
Luthy said that it is literally im
possible to halt the tire dumps on
Publisher's land He said that they
tried putting up gates in the more
popular dumping areas, only to have
them either pulled down by four
wheel drives, or cut-up with a
blowtorch.
To avoid future problems in one
area, Luthy took a backhoe and dug a
trench across the road in order to
create an effective barrier
“ If we ever want to get back up
there, we'll have to fill the holes back
in," said Luthy “ This area has just
been replanted so we won't be getting
back in there for at least 20 years.”
At another dump site, located near
Eagle Fern Park, Luthy said that
tires are the least of their worries
“ We’ve got everything at this
site," said Luthy "You name it, it's
there Car bodies, old appliances,
dead animals and food garbage."
Luthy said that since this site is on
a large sidehill, that the discarded
items have been left there until the
company decides what to do with
them. He said that “ most likely the
mess will be just left there because it
is too expensive (to move), and laws
do not permit burning the tires
“ The Department of Environmen
tal Quality doesn't allow burning
tires because it puts out a real bad
stink," said Luthy “ It not only looks
bad. but it puts a lot of pollutants into
the a ir.”
Luthy, however, claimed that
blocking the roads is the most effec
tive way to stop the illegal dumpings
despite the complaints of a few
fishermen
“ Ever since we blocked off those
roads,“ said Luthy, “ we haven't seen
too many trucks loaded down with
tires go up the mountain."
McCormick said that most illegal
dumpers operate at night He said
that when Forest Service personnel
observe a truck loaded with tires,
they follow it Barely, however, do
they catch them dumping "Tailing is
just a way to prevent them from
dumping," said McCormick “ As
long as we stay with them, they’ll
just return to town."
McCormick said that three extra
people are needed to work on this
problem if the tire dumpings are to
be stopped He said that the problem
is magnified even more because of
the vast road system in the forest.
When one area is being watched, they
find another area to dump at
McCormick said that the situation
has worsened over recent years due
to the increased dumping fees for
tires at the landfills He said that
passenger tires are disposed of at
prices starting around $1 and that
large truck tires can cost as much as
130 per tire.
McCormick said that tire dealers,
re-cappers, and gas stations, will
often sell to haulers, who w ill charge
them as little as 50 to 75 cents each
for hauling away their tires.
“ In one situation," said McCor
Hoodland Chamber speaker
to discuss new legislation
“ Unity Yields Profits," or what
happens when the business com
munity unites to deal with govern
ment, is the subject of the presenta
tion to be made by Thomas C. < Tom)
D onaca, g e n e ra l counsel fo r
Associated Oregon Indqptries, before
the Hoodland Chamber of Commerce
Nov 17 at 11:30 at the Bed Lion at
Bowman's
Donaca w ill review activities of the
record long regular session of the
61st Oregon Legislative Assembly as
they affect business, citing specific
examples in a number of subject
areas affecting the state's economic
vitality
He also outlines an action program
for future relations between business
and government, stressing the roles
of individuals and groups in the pro
cess that creates laws and regula
tions.
Tom Itonaca
mick, "we had a couple of enterpris
ing young fellows who went to a re
cap factory and picked up a load
They charged them $3 a tire and
dumped it in the National Forest in
stead of disposing it in a landfill "
McCormick said that local re
cappers have been cooperative in his
office's investigation, “ bacause they
don’t need this type of publicity."
He said that the Forest Service
“ already have identified a number of
people who are dumping but haven't
moved against them because of the
current problems with firewood
thieves," which has taken priority
McCormick said that the Forest
Service would proceed actively with
prosecution but added that the cost of
prosecuting and the priority that the
U S Attorney gives these cases w ill
be the determining factor as to what
w ill happen
It is estimated that the Mt Hood
National Forest Service w ill spend
about $8,000 to clean up the tire
dumps that it currently is aware of If
the dumps are not cleaned up. future
logging operations in the area could
be affected, especially with the steel
belted tires.
“ The tire s may e v e n tu a lly
breakdown, but the steel radials w ill
be there forever," said McCormick
" I t will become a tangle-some mess
If you hold a timber sale in the area,
it will get caught up in the logging
equipment and shut the operation
down "
Rhododendron veteran has no regrets about army career
by SCOTT NEWTON
Jack Baker of Bhododendron
remembers Armistice Day in 1944
The IV Armored Corps was cross
ing the Moselle Biver in eastern
France, and had been eating hard ra
tions since the Normandy Invasion,
or for about five months, when a ship
ment of green onions arrived
“ We had bakeries with us." Baker
said. “ So we sat down and had onion
sandwiches, with artillary shells go
ing over our heads
“ That’s one Armistice Day I won’t
forget ’’
He also remembers the first A r
mistice Day, having been eight when
World War I was over The announce
ment was made a few days early,
with the church bells ringing and
whistles blowing
“ The word got out early, and it was
a mistake," Baker pointed out “ Peo
ple got all excited But, I guess when
you get that close a day or two
doesn’t make too much difference
“ Then they came along on the 11th
of November and announced that the
firing would stop at 11 o'clock in the
morning and so forth So, everybody
celebrated again.”
The celebrating was pretty sub
dued, though, as a flu epidemic had
closed schools, among other things
Baker remembers the lists of the
dead from the epidemic being
published in the newspapers right
along with the lists of the dead from
the war.
Veterans Day is not a particularly
special day for Baker and his wife,
Beth, although his 30 years in the a r
my have been far from uneventful
Thirty-four mov«*« from the time
they were married they finally land
ed in Bhododendron, in a comfor
table house by a stream, where
they've lived since 1968
All in all, it added up," Baker said
about all their moving "In the army
they say three moves equals one fire
(as far as losing possessions)."
Baker, who worked at the U S.
Bank of Portland in 1931, was a
reserve commissioned officer in the
calvary He served in this capacity
r
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7 « «
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because he felt it was his civic duty
In 1941, before the bombing of
Pearl Harbor, he was placed on ac
tive duty, where he served in the IV
Armored Division, and was later
transfered to the IV Armored Corps,
which was changed to the XX Corps
in 1941
It was there, as a staff officer (he
retired a colonel), that he met
General George Patton
“ I wasn't one of his buddies,”
Baker said "He was in and out of our
headquarters I was in and out of his
“ I ’d see him often, when we were
going to and from the front we'd pass
each other, and naturally, salute But
we never engaged in any long, deep
conversations or anything like that
“ I ’ll never forget the first time I
saw him It was in England We had
just arrived and were getting our
headquarters established, and I got
called to go into the war room I went
in, they had the section chiefs in
there, and I signed in, and I turned
around and here's th is ta ll,
m agnificently dressed man, built
like this.”
He made a " V " with his hands
He had broad shoulders, narrow
hips, wore riding boots that glisten
ed, and wore a short jacket
" I knew right away who he was,"
Baker said He was introduced, and
noticed diamonds on his fingers
He was quite flamboyant, Mrs
Baker pointed out.
“ Anybody can be as flamboyant as
he wants as long as he can back it
up," Mr Baker said, laughing
"Then, he started to talk in a high,
squeaky voice He didn't have a com
manding voice,” Baker continued
"But he hadn't uttered but about
three sentences and he had the atten
tion of everybody. We forgot what his
voice sounded like
"The first thing he said was. All
right now. you gentlemen, I'm com
manding the Third Army and you are
part of that arm y.’
"And he says, That's the damn
secret Let the first ones to find out
about it be the God damn Germans,
and they’ll rise up in their foxholes
and say,’ There’s that son-of a-bitch
Patton and his God damn Third Ar
my again.'
“ When he took off like that he had
everybody's attention from that point
on
“ His speeches were quite colorful,
and he didn't care who was there,
nurses or anybody else, he just let er
go "
Jack and Beth Raker
Baker felt the movie about Patton
was fairly accurate “ He felt so
strongly about the m ilitary profes
sion, and he read so extensively, that
he might have read himself right into
the act," Baker said about the Nor
mandy invasion
Someone on Patton's staff told
Raker that Patton carried a book
with him to Normandy about early
British and French battles there
“ He said. Well, those roads are
still there The terrain hasn't chang
ed.’ So he was studying that, even
though it was ancient history ’’
Baker's acquaintance with Patton
wasn't his only brush with history
He was also in St Martin. Austria,
where World War II ended, and
w here the A m e ric a n s found
themselves guardians of the lipizzan
horses, which had been trained at the
Biding School in Vienna for 225
years The Spanish Riding School is
the oldest equestrian school in the
world The lipizzans are the lone sur
viving descendants of a proud race of
Spanish horses
"The Spanish Biding School was
concentrated right there, right in our
headquarters
" I didn't realize we’d hit the
Spanish Biding School We moved in
there, I think it was in the afternoon,
in St Martin, and the next day I was
coming out of the mess hall, which in
cidentally was a beer hall that we
converted to a mess, and I went
around the corner and looked up and
here was this magnificent white
horse
“ On his back was sitting this
figure, very erect, shiny jack boots,
emaculate white trousers, a dark
jacket and this side-wise hat.
“ I couldn't believe my eyes "
Both Baker and his wife marveled
at what beautiful animals the horses
are,
"They put out instructions that
those horses, and the men taking
care of them and so forth, were not to
be fooled with in any way, shape or
form They were to be left strictly
alone "
In letters home, Baker was not
allowed to let on to where he was at,
but he did get one clue by the censors
They had both read “ Imperial
Tw ilight," a book by Bertita Parting
about the fall of the Hapsburg regime
in Austria, and the Spanish Biding
School So when Baker wrote back
from St. Martin he told Beth that her
“ favorite horses are grazing on the
hillside outside of headquarters "
Baker’s responsibility as a staff of
ficer was to keep in contact with the
troops, making sure they were doing
what they were supposed to be doing,
as well as finding out what they need
ed and getting it for them Personal
contact was necessary as radio
messages could be intercepted
“ It was a good job in that I could go
just as far forward as I wanted at any
time, and could turn around and
come back at any time.
“ That was very nice, and I was
always lucky I arrived just after
something happened or left just
before it happened Not meaning too,
but it just worked out that way
“ I was able to see quite a bit, and
get a much broader view than most
people do, because they were way out
front We usually had about three
divisions abreast, and I was moving
back and forth. One day checking one
unit, one day another
“ And of course we had situation
maps back at headquarters We
could see exactly what was happen
ing It got a little harry sometimes "
After the war Baker was one of
1,000 senior officers designated as
logisticians.
Mrs Baker likens that to “ being a
walking computer ”
Logisticians were responsible for
c o m p u tin g a ll re q u ire m e n ts
necessary to complete any certain
m ilita ry action That included
troops, food, gasoline and medical
supplies.
“ If you were short something,
you'd never hear the end of It,"
Baker said, admitting it was a
“ tremendous responsibility ’’
Baker had left the service in
January of 1946. but was offered a
commission in the regular army as
an officer, and took it.
“ We handled about $2 billion a
year Two billion dollars was quite a
bit of money in those days," he said
“ That was interesting We had to
appear before congressional commit-
tes, and had to formulate and defend
the budget Once the budget was ap
proved it was our responsibility to
allocate the funds for the functions
for which they were appropriated.
“ Very exacting duty," he said " I
had a lot of lost weekends, believe
me
“ Some people liked it," Baker said
about Washington, “ but most of us
considered it,the least desirable duty
we could have."
Mrs Baker found it “a fascinating
citv ”
"The women all liked it,” he said
“ The women think it ’s great."
Mrs Bakei pointed out that there
are a lot of things to see, such as
museums
The Bakers left Washington for
Hawaii, where Baker was group
commander The National Cemetery
opened during the time he was in
command It was located in the
Punch Bowl, an extinct volcanic
crater overlooking the city of
Honolulu There was some controver
sy about building the cemetery there,
as pagen rights allegedly had once
been practiced in the Punch Bowl
Easters and Memorials Days were
quite hectic for Baker because of the
activities held at the cemetery He
reports that the school children
would make leis on Memorial Days,
and that there would be two or three
of them on each of the 12,000 to 13,000
graves “ It made it very colorful, and
fragrant," he said.
“ It was a very pleasant tour over
there, naturally. You feel a little
rock happy though, because it ’s con
fining
“ You go out for a drive, and you go
125 miles, and you’re on your second
lap
“ Fortunately, we were over there
before the great building boom took
place "
After the tour in Hawaii Baker
went to the War College in Carlisle,
Penn. The Carlisle Barracks date
back to before the Revolutionary
War The War College lists among its
graduates people like General John
P e rs h in g , P re s id e n t D w ig h t
Eisenhower and General Omar
Bradley.
“ I didn’t do quite as well as they
did," Baker joked
The War College was once an In
dian School, and Jim Thorpe is the
Carlisle town hero.
Baker said that he feels very fo r
tunate to have been selected to go,
and added. “ It was about the most
pleasant year I had in the army, to
teil the truth.”
After War College it was back to
Washington, D C. This time Baker
served as deputy chief of the army
foreign aid division
He points out that it is the state
department that decides which coun
try gets what. It was their job to
make sure that each country got
what it had coming
By turning over equipment to other
countries, the United States Army
received compensation, and thus was
able to update its equipment.
Still, Baker viewed the job with
mixed emotions "W e gave a lot of
equipment to countries that were not
capable of handling it They didn't
know what a magneto, or a ca r
He went to Washington D C., where
he was deputy budget and fiscal of
fleer for the quarterm aster general
4
buretor, was They didn’t even
understand batteries very well. They
knew about putting gasoline in the
tank If the battery ran down they’d
wonder hy They didn’t know enough
to put water in them ”
He said that, being that many of
the countries that received equip
ment didn’t have manpower with the
experience to even do basic repairs,
one can imagine how poorly main
tained much of that equipment was.
After four years in Washington,
Baker was transfered to Fort
Richardson, which is about eight
miles outside of Anchorage, Alaska.
His duties called for him to travel
over much of the state A petroleum
pipeline which has since been sold
by the General Services Administra
tion, was considered essential to the
defense of Alaska
“ I learned more about pipelines
than I thought I ’d ever have to
know," Baker said
“We liked the winters quite w ell,"
Baker said “ The summers were
something else." The mosquitos, the
rainy early summer weather, and the
fact that it was hard to sleep when
the sun shone all day, were a few of
the drawbacks to living in Alaska
“ In the wintertime, unless is was
actually snowing, the weather was
very good. The days were a little
short It might not get light until
10:30, and it started to get dark about
1:30, but other than that it was all
rig h t
“ But you could see Especially if
the moon was shining If it was clear,
you could see for miles at nigh, "
The Bakers have one son, Dwight,
who now manages three stores that
sell fireplaces and accessories He
lives in Olympia
He took flight training his senior
year, through BOTC, at the Universi
ty of Arizona
In the service he was eventually
promoted to captain, and was made a
flight instructor, “ but he had no
desire to stay in ," Baker said
“ He said it'd changed too much.
And, he was quite disgusted with a lot
of the things that happened in Korea,
“ He was up on the DMZ
(demilitarized zone), and was sup
posed to be in direct support of the
DMZ, and they had an alert It's
estimated it'd take the enemy 20
minutes to get there, and he said they
weren’t ready to go for two hours.
“ He was fed up He didn’t go for
that at a ll," Baker said
Baker feels the drug problem has
affected the different branches of the
service, and added, “ The intelligence
level of the troops is nothing like it
has been in the past. I don't think
that’ll be corrected till we once more
go to the draft.”
He feels a good cross section is
needed, and said that that had much
to do with the success the United
States had in World War II.
“ Eventually the best troops (in the
German a r m y ) got all chewed up and
H itler didn't have much left Along
towards the end of the w ar we were
picking up old men and 14-year-old
boys They were very happy to quit I
don't blame them "
Times have changed the arm y in
the past 30 to 40 years, but Baker
doesn't seem to have any regrets
About his decision to make the arm y
a career, Baker said, " I ’ve never
been too sorry about It. We had a
pretty good life ”
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