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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 3, 2016)
FRIDAYEXTRA ! The Daily Astorian Friday, June 3, 2016 Weekend Edition TRIAGE ON TILLAMOOK HEAD Maintaining Ecola State Park a group exercise By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian P ark ranger Bo Ensign’s day started off with a broken fee machine, followed by a drive up a deeply rutted forest service road into the heart of Ecola State Park. He was greeted near a hiker’s camp by a snarling, wayward pit bull loose from its owner. After checking the camp, Ensign was off down the Oregon Coast Trail, carrying a chainsaw, ax and wedges. Several hundred feet in, he ran into the fi rst of many uprooted trees laying partially smashed across the trail. He looked over the mess, and started work- ing his way from the smallest branches to the main tree trunk. A half an hour later, he was through his fi rst tree trunk of the day. “It’s kind of fun to have days like this,” he said on a Saturday in May. “It kind of makes some of the other days worth it.” As the only full-time ranger in a lush temper- ate rainforest stretching along 1,000 acres and 9 miles of rugged, slide-prone ridges and dense foliage, Ensign and the state park’s seasonal employees and others keep the trails functional. South Fork Photos by Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian TOP: A member of a South Fork Forest Camp work crew helps clear the trail over Tillamook Head of downed tree trunks. ABOVE: Park Ranger Bo Ensign uses a wedge to loose his chainsaw from a log crossing the Clatsop Loop trail in Ecola State Park. BOTTOM: A work crew from South Fork Forest Camp spent two days clearing fallen trees and brush from the Tillamook Head trail in Ecola State Park between Seaside and Cannon Beach. Last week, offi cer Sean Love showed up with a 10-man crew from South Fork Work Camp, a 200-bed, minimum-security facility in Tillamook County that provides inmates to clear trails and fi ght fi res on state forestlands. The inmates, chosen for their good behav- ior, wore T -shirts, jeans and hardhats. They fanned out into three teams, the fi rst sawing their way through downed trees, followed by the second with hedge trimmers and a third to rake up afterward. Following them is Love. “We’re just a wealth of resources that’s waiting to be called upon,” said Love, follow- ing the cleanup crew as they work their way along the trails. Over two days, the workers cut their way through several miles of rugged trails over Til- lamook Head littered with blown-over trees and dense spring foliage. The crews have also helped construct a foot bridge between Ecola Point and Indian Beach, along with other trail improvements. Love and Ensign said some workers talk about bringing their families back some day to see the work they’ve done. “I think they can relax a bit and feel like a human being again,” Love said. “We’re also teaching them new work skills.” Ensign estimates the partnership with South Fork has been going for more than 20 years. Tasked with taking care of daily operations and helping the more than 550,000 annual visitors to the p ark, Ensign said the South Fork work- ers complete in two days what it could take he and another ranger a month or more to do. Park triage Last winter’s rain and windstorms left Ecola State Park battered and partially closed to the public. The park had to remove a popular viewing deck overlooking Cannon Beach and Hay- stack Rock, because of a deteriorating hill- side, and use temporary lines to reestablish water to the park. Only last month were drivers even able to reach Indian Beach, after slides sunk multiple portions of Ecola Park Road. Near Seaside, See TRIAGE, Page 3C