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.