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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 2016)
Page 10C OUTSIDE East Oregonian Saturday, February 6, 2016 Hood’s iconic Timberline Trail to reopen in 2017 By ZACH URNESS (Salem) Statesman Journal SALEM — One of the Post spectacuOar traiOs in the United States — and perhaps the Post iconic pathway in Oregon — is scheduOed to reopen in fuOO by the suPPer of 2017. The TiPberOine TraiO, a 0-PiOe circuit of Mount +ood, has been partOy cOosed since 2006 when a debris À ow destroyed a bridge and washed out a Oarge swath of traiO near EOiot *Oacier ¿ eOd. The washout forced hikers to either naYigate to a Pore dif¿ cuOt crossing or siPpOy cut their trip short. The U.S. Forest SerYice announced Oast week that the traiO wouOd be rerouted and a new crossing created this suPPer, with the hope of getting hikers on the restored pathway by 2017. Forest engineering speciaOists deterPined that a perPanent bridge at the oOd Oocation wasn’t feasibOe, so haYe opted to reOocate the section of traiO, the federaO agency said. “:e’re thriOOed to begin work on rerouting this traiO to the new Oocation so that crossing this area is safer for hikers,” said &Oaire Pitner, east side recreation Panager for Mount +ood NationaO Forest. “The 1.5 PiOe reroute wiOO PiniPi]e e[posure to Ooose bouOders which other- wise couOd pose as ha]ards for hikers.” TiPberOine TraiO 600 is the onOy “round the Poun- SKI REPORT Spout Springs Tollgate, Ore. New snow: 3” this week Base depth: Not record- ed Conditions: Open regu- lar weekend hours Anthony Lakes North Powder, Ore. New snow: 3” Base depth: 62” Conditions: Snow show- ers late week, strong winds Friday Ski Bluewood Dayton, Wash. New snow: 7” Base depth: 81” Conditions: Lots of powder off-piste, 24 machine groomed runs Ski Fergi Eric Gjonnes /Statesman-Journal via AP) In this photo taken in 2013, a trio of hikers travel the Timberline Trail around Mount Hood. The Timberline Trail, a 40-mile circuit of Mount Hood, has been partly closed since 2006 when a debris l ow destroyed a bridge and washed out a large swath of trail near Eliot Glaicer i eld. tain” traiO on Oregon’s taOOest Pountain, but hasn’t been fuOOy connected for the past decade. Forest SerYice ePpOoyees said ¿ nding a sustainabOe soOution was dif¿ cuOt giYen the Poun- tain’s unstabOe geoOogy of Ooose rock and PeOting gOaciers. The cost was aOso an issue, giYen TiPberOine TraiO has been rerouted Pany tiPes in the past due to siPiOar probOePs. The pOanned crossing wiOO be beOow the preYious bridge at Oocation Pore protected Oocation, but of¿ ciaOs warned that there wouOd stiOO be the possibiOity of the new route sustaining daPage in the future. “:e tried to Oocate the traiO so that it wouOd be PiniPaOOy iPpacted on an annuaO basis by changes in gOaciaO À ow, but we haYe to keep in Pind that the ground on Mount Hood is COiPate change cOues found in pOants By KYLE SPURR EO Media Group ASTO5IA — The NationaO Parks SerYice is partnering with citi]en scien- tists to track when pOant species À ower, Oeaf out or set seed. The way pOants grow giYes cOues to changes in the enYironPent and the iPpact of cOiPate change. “POants, as we know, haYe the Post sensitiYe bioOogicaO responses to cOiPate change,” said Nancy Fernande], a cOiPate change intern with Lewis and COark NationaO HistoricaO Park. “They are sensitiYe to tePperature change and precipitation.” Fernande] discussed pOant responses to cOiPate change during a taOk Oast week at Fort *eorge LoYeOO ShowrooP in Astoria. As a natiYe of CaOifornia’s CentraO 9aOOey, Fernande] said, she has seen ¿ rsthand drought conditions and pOants bOooPing earOier each spring. “POants haYe been seeing this for a Oong tiPe, Oonger than we haYe,” she said. Using data gathered by YoOunteer Ponitors, Fernande] showed how the start of spring has been coPing earOier across the country than in centuries before. “AOO of this is probOePatic because it’s causing PisPatches between poOOi- nators, pOants, insects,” she said. Lewis and COark NationaO HistoricaO Park has partnered with San Juan IsOand NationaO HistoricaO Park to study the iPpacts of cOiPate change. At San Juan IsOand, Fernande] and others are studying the endangered isOand ParbOe butterÀ y. OnOy about 100 of the butterÀ ies are Oeft on the isOand. 5esearchers are ¿ nding that when the butterÀ y OarYa coPes out of its egg, it is e[pecting to eat a certain À ower. HoweYer, the À ower is bOooPing earOier than before, Paking it dif¿ cuOt for the butterÀ ies to eat. “How Pany are we Oosing that couOd potentiaOOy surYiYe"” Fernande] said. Project Budburst Lewis and COark NationaO Histor- icaO Park is inYiting the pubOic to heOp Ponitor and report pOant actiYity at the park and around COatsop County. Data coOOected wiOO heOp the park Oearn how pOants are responding to changes in the Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Nancy Fernandez, a climate change intern with the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, speaks during the Nature Matters talk at the Fort George Brewery in Astoria recently. enYironPent. Speci¿ caOOy, the park is asking peopOe to keep watch on 10 pOant species. The species incOude red aOder, Oregon crabappOe, Sitka spruce, edibOe thistOe, saOaO, eYergreen huckOeberry, saOPon- berry, wapato, Paci¿ c siOYerweed and skunk cabbage. CarOa CoOe, naturaO resource prograP Panager at the park, said the 10 pOants are cuOturaOOy and naturaOOy signi¿ cant to the park. Lewis and COark described and journaOed about the saPe pOants two centuries ago. Tracking pOants at the park is part of a nationaO effort caOOed Project BudBurst. The project encourages peopOe to get outside and obserYe how pOants change with the seasons. ObserYations can be shared onOine at www.budburst.org, where the data wiOO becoPe a part of an ecoOogicaO record. “Project Budburst is a wonderfuO way to carry on the tradition of scienti¿ c obserYation and discoYery handed down to us by APerica’s ¿ rst great naturaOists, Lewis and COark,” CoOe said. “It is e[citing that we wiOO be obserYing the saPe pOants they recorded for the ¿ rst tiPe here oYer 200 years ago in their eOk skin journaOs, but we wiOO be using sPartphones and the Internet.” BiobOit] 2016 Later this spring, Lewis and COark NationaO HistoricaO Park pOans to, again, caOO on citi]en scientists for BioBOit] 2016, a nationaO eYent where YoOunteers at Yarious nationaO parks work together to identify as Pany species of pOants and aniPaOs as possibOe. OYer two days on May 20 and May 21, OocaO YoOunteers and students wiOO go out around NetuO Landing and identify eYery OiYing thing they coPe across, with a focus on poOOinators such as birds, bats, insects and pOants. Lewis and COark NationaO HistoricaO Park preYiousOy hosted a BioBOit] eYent in 2012 out in the COatsop POains. A JuPbotron wiOO be set up at the NationaO MaOO in Washington, D.C., during the two-day BioBOit] to show- case each nationaO park’s ¿ ndings. What is found in Astoria Pay be broadcast on the JuPbotron at the nation’s capitaO. CoOOecting the data of pOants and other species is an initiaO step in under- standing the Oong-terP changes to the enYironPent. It’s a piece of the pu]]Oe to know how cOiPate change is occurring, CoOe said. Another goaO of the Project Budburst and BiobOit] is siPpOy to get peopOe outside and in their nationaO parks. “The Pission is to get peopOe outdoors,” Fernande] said. “We want to connect you to a pOace. It doesn’t Patter if it’s a nationaO park or if it’s a park down the street or in your backyard.” constantOy changing,” Pitner said. “We are doing our best to proYide a safer crossing that wiOO rePain in the saPe Oocation for Pany years to coPe.” The proMect wiOO be coPpOeted by forest staff working with YoOunteers and contractors, Pitner said. Joseph, Ore. New snow: unknown Depth: 25” at top Conditions: Groomed runs, great snow, open Feb. 6-7. Mt. Hood Meadows Government Camp, Ore. New snow: 10” Base depth: 105” Conditions: Pow- der-topped packed powder groom. Powder, heavy new snow, and wind-distributed pow- der off piste. ODFW pioneer license no longer free BEND (AP) — Jerry Brown, of Bend, did not know about the change to Oregon’s pioneer hunting- and-¿ shing Oicense untiO he went to pick one up shortOy after the start of the new year. Brown, 6, Oearned the Oicense froP the Oregon DepartPent of Fish and :iOdOife for OongtiPe state residents now costs $6 per year. ,t had been free froP 2000 to 2015. “I thought it was strange after aOO this tiPe to change it,” he said. 7he DepartPent of Fish and :iOdOife offers pioneer Oicenses, good for hunting and ¿ shing, to peopOe age 65 and oOder and who haYe OiYed in Oregon for 50 years. 7he new fee wiOO increase the nuPber of paid residents who are Oicensed hunters and angOers, and that wiOO aOOow the state to get Pore federaO funding, said 0icheOOe Dennehy, spokeswoPan for the agency in SaOeP. “BasicaOOy, we are trying to get Pore federaO funds, and that is based on paid Oicenses,” she said. In 2015, the state had 58,000 residents with pioneer Oicenses, Dennehy said. PeopOe who picked up the free Oicense and then paid for a deer tag, coPbined angOing tag or other additionaO priYiOege counted as paid-resident Oicense hoOders, according to the agency. Those who did not, did not count. For each of these peopOe, the DepartPent of Fish and :iOdOife Pissed out on coOOecting $1 in federaO funds, $ for sport-¿ sh restoration and $ for wiOd- Oife restoration. This totaOed about $250,000 per year, according to the agency. The aPount was e[pected to keep going up as the popuOation ages and Pore peopOe becoPe eOigibOe for the pioneer Oicense. By adding a fee for the Oicense, the DepartPent of Fish and :iOdOife hopes to capture Pore federaO Poney. “It is an iPportant reYenue streaP for the agency,” Dennehy said. The state has charged a fee for the pioneer Oicenses before, according to an ePaiO froP Dennehy. The state estabOished the pioneer Oicense, initiaOOy as sepa- rate hunting and ¿ shing Oicenses, in the 10s after :orOd :ar II and originaOOy charged 50 cents for each Oicense. By the 10s, the state had coPbined the Oicenses and had a sOiding fee scaOe based on the age of the purchaser. FroP 12 to 1, the high price for the Oicense was $12. The current $6 pioneer Oicense coPes with a free &oOuPbia 5iYer Basin EndorsePent, reTuired for angOers ¿ shing for saOPon, steeOhead and sturgeon in riYers draining into the &oOuPbia 5iYer, according to the DepartPent of Fish and :iOdOife. The riYers incOude the Deschutes and John Day, and the endorse- Pent typicaOOy costs $.5. Dennehy said peopOe purchasing the pioneer Oicense coPe out ahead despite haYing to pay for what they used to get free. An aduOt resident who does not TuaOify for the pioneer Oicense wouOd pay $.5 for the eTuiYaOent in coPbined Oicenses and the endorsePent, according to the agency. BRIEFLY Beloved eagle recovers from cataract surgery MEDFO5D (AP) — DaYe Siddon waited an[iousOy as Phoeni[ the goOden eagOe was put under anesthesia and draped in cOoths untiO onOy his eye and taiO feathers were showing. “It scares Pe to death,” Siddon said of the cataract surgery the 5-year-oOd bird was about to undergo in Medford. “I OoYe this bird so dang Puch. It’s Oike he’s Py chiOd.” Found by a Oogger on a rePote road whiOe stiOO a fu]]y eagOet, Phoeni[ has caOOed the WiOdOife IPages aniPaO center outside *rants Pass his hoPe for decades. He is too dependent on huPans and deepOy bonded with Siddon, the center’s e[ecutiYe director, to be reOeased into the wiOd. Working in a darkened surgery suite at Southern Oregon 9eterinary SpeciaOty &enter with a Oight iOOuPinating Phoeni[’s eye, aniPaO speciaOty ophthaOPoOogist Dr. &assandra BOiss began the deOicate procedure of cutting into the eye to reach the cOouded Oens obscuring the eagOe’s Yision. Salvage logging proposed in Grizzly Bear Complex The UPatiOOa NationaO Forest has proposed Oogging 250 acres of dead and burned trees froP Oast year’s *ri]]Oy Bear &oPpOe[ of wiOd¿ res that burned partiaOOy into WaOOowa &ounty. The proMect wouOd be Oocated within the Cross Canyon watershed south of the wiOd and scenic Wenaha 5iYer. 5eforestation is proposed on ,00 acres . The Canyon Creek CoPpOe[ torched appro[iPateOy 8,000 acres of the forest, PostOy within the Wenaha-Tucannon WiOderness Area. HoweYer, portions of the ¿ res spread onto Forest SerYice Oands on both the WaOOa WaOOa and PoPeroy ranger districts. PubOic coPPents on the proMect are due by Friday, Feb. 1. Written coPPents shouOd be sent to WaOOa WaOOa District 5anger MichaeO 5assbach. EPaiOed coPPents shouOd be sent to coPPents- paci¿ cnorthwest-uPatiOOa- waOOawaOOa#fs.fed.us. For Pore inforPation, contact Brad Cooper, PoPeroy district enYironPentaO coordinator, at 50-8-626 or bradOeyOcooper# fs.fed.us. Watershed Enhancement Board awards grants The Oregon Watershed EnhancePent Board has awarded Pore than $12.7 PiOOion in grants to si[ partnerships around the state for ¿ sh and wiOdOife habitat iPproYePent. That incOudes $1.6 PiOOion to the Upper *rande 5onde InitiatiYe to iPproYe habitat for natiYe saOPon and steeOhead. LocaO partners incOude the Confederated Tribes of the UPatiOOa Indian 5eserYation, *rande 5onde ModeO Watershed and Union SoiO Water ConserYation District. Money aOso went toward wetOands restoration near MaOheur Lake iPproYing ¿ sh habitat on the Upper Deschutes 5iYer and protecting sage grouse habitat across Eastern Oregon. Funding proYided by OWEB coPes froP the Oregon Lottery and FederaO Paci¿ c CoastaO SaOPon 5ecoYery. Meta Loftsgaarden, OWEB e[ecutiYe director, said they hope to proYide partnerships with PuOti-year, PuOti-PiOOion doOOar inYestPents to scaOe their work strategicaOOy.
