Page 10C
OUTSIDE
East Oregonian
BLOOMIN’ BLUES
Vintage-trailer enthusiasts
camp in retro style
Photo by Bruce Barnes
Lomatium dissectum
Large lomatium can
be fatal if ingested
By BRUCE BARNES
For the East Oregonian
Name: Fernleaf Biscuit-
root
Scientiic Name: Loma-
tium dissectum
This is the ifth species of
Lomatium I’ve written about
over the last several years.
Since there are 29 Loma-
tiums in northeast Oregon,
these ive species are a fair
representation of them. This
one is found from British
Columbia to Saskatchewan,
and south to California to
New Mexico.
The common name
fernleaf and the species
name dissectum both refer
to the inely divided leaves.
Biscuitroot is often applied
to Lomatium species as some
of them have edible roots.
Lomatium is from the Greek
“loma” for border, referring
to the edges of the seeds.
No one should attempt
to eat any part of any of the
Lomatium species and their
cousins; some of the plants
are deadly toxic, and that
includes poison hemlock,
which looks very much like
this plant. Some years ago
in southwest Oregon two
people died from taking a
bite of a very similar plant’s
root declared safe by an
“expert.”
Last weekend on a trip
up Yellowjacket Road, I
was surprised by this plant
growing on the left bank at
eye level.
The surprising part was its
size. I’ve seen it there before
but never so large. The books
say it can get to over 6 feet
high, and many of these were
over 5 feet and some over
six.
The leaves are quite large
in outline, dark green, usually
shiny, and inely divided into
tiny segments that are 1 to 4
millimeters wide. The tiny
yellow lowers (or some-
times red-purple elsewhere)
are in compound umbels as
much as 10 inches across at
the top of bare stems.
This particular species
of Lomatium has been
used by Indian tribes from
throughout the West. Roots
were prepared and eaten,
but were also used to poison
ish. Shoots were considered
poison by some tribes.
Medicinal uses have
been numerous, including
treatment of sores, sore eyes,
sinus problems, tuberculosis,
rheumatism, arthritis, cuts,
boils, bruises, dandruff,
colds, venereal disease,
sprains,
stomach
pain,
congestion and smallpox. It
was also used to treat horses
for sores and wounds.
Where to ind: Drive
south on Yellowjacket Road
just east of Pilot Rock. You
will see it easily on the left
after a couple miles or so.
Montana releases draft
grizzly hunting guidelines
BOZEMAN,
Mont.
(AP) — Montana wildlife
oficials have released draft
regulations for grizzly bear
hunting in anticipation of the
bears’ possible removal from
the endangered species list.
Montana Fish, Wildlife
and Parks is proposing spring
and fall hunting seasons in
seven districts near the border
of Yellowstone National
Park. Each district would
have a quota on the number
of bears that can be killed,
reported The Bozeman Daily
Chronicle.
The U.S. Fish and Wild-
life Service released a draft
proposal for removing the
grizzly bear’s Endangered
Species Act protections in
March. It includes caps on
how many bears can be killed
within a 19,279-square-mile
area that includes Yellow-
stone National Park and
parts of Idaho, Wyoming
and Montana. The caps will
depend on population.
The draft plan would give
Wyoming 58 percent of the
total number of bears that can
be killed, Montana 34 percent
and Idaho 8 percent.
The federal plan also
requires that the states
have management plans in
place, according to Montana
Fish, Wildlife and Parks
spokesman Ron Aasheim.
“I think the
industry has
put in a lot of
safeguards.”
— Nick Gevock,
Montana Wildlife
Federation
“This is a irst attempt
at hopefully a management
option that we’re going to
have here down the road,”
Aasheim said.
The Montana Fish and
Wildlife Commission will
consider the proposal at its
next meeting and take an
initial vote. If approved, it will
be open for public comment.
Grizzly bears have been
listed as a threatened species
since 1975, although they
were briely delisted in 2007
before a lawsuit reinstated the
protections.
“I think the agency has
put in a lot of safeguards to
ensure we don’t have an over-
harvest,” said Nick Gevock,
conservation director for the
pro-delisting
organization
Montana Wildlife Federation.
But the Sierra Club’s
Bonnie Rice said the grizzly
population is still vulnerable.
She opposes delisting.
High Desert Museum to
reopen Autzen Otter Exhibit
BEND (AP) — The High
Desert Museum in Bend says
it’s reopening the Autzen
Otter Exhibit later this month.
The exhibit that irst
opened more than 30 years
ago has been closed for
renovations since last fall.
The Bulletin newspaper
of Bend reports that the
outdoor space available for
the museum’s two otters will
remain roughly the same
size. The concrete walls
Saturday, May 7, 2016
surrounding their enclosure
have been replaced with
glass, improving the viewing
experience for children and
visitors in wheelchairs.
In another improvement,
wood paneling on the back
wall of the underground
area has been removed and
replaced with a mural and
a 750-gallon aquarium for
native ish.
The exhibit reopens
Saturday, May 21.
THREE ISLAND CROSSING
STATE PARK, Idaho (AP) — The
vintage camp trailers that were gath-
ered for a rally last month at this park
bordering the Snake River in Glenns
Ferry “all tell their own story,” Les
Blair said.
“And if they don’t,” Watt “Orbie”
Mungall countered, “they’re in the
wrong place.”
Blair and Mungall participated in
the rally hosted by Idaho’s segment
of the Rollin’ Oldies Vintage Trailers,
a “loosely organized group” of folks
who own camp trailers produced
before 1980 or newer models made to
look like the classics.
ROVT was founded in Dallas,
Oregon, in 2007. Idaho is the irst
state to form its own sub-group, with
Marilyn and Bret Peoples of Caldwell
serving as Idaho Wagon Masters. They
have three rallies planned this year
with a fourth likely to be added.
About 40 trailers and motorhomes
participated in the Three Island
Crossing event, which featured a blue-
ribbon country fair theme.
The irst Idaho event, in September
2014, included 12 trailers.
“It’s mostly nostalgia,” said Jerry
Kwiatkowski, who founded the ROVT
group with his wife Linda. “It’s like
the old cars. They hit their peak and
waned down because of a lack of them
available. Well, trailers haven’t hit
their peak yet. They’re gaining more
and more popularity.”
Kwiatkowski, who visited the Idaho
group for the irst time at last month’s
event, bought his irst vintage trailer
after enduring multiple problems with
his newer ifth-wheel trailer. He bought
that vintage trailer — a 1964 Kencraft
— for $400.
“It looked like a dumpy thing,”
he said. “I spent two years restoring
it because I didn’t know what I was
doing. I’m a mechanic, not a wood-
worker.”
At the irst ROVT rally, he put a
for-sale sign on the trailer with a price
of $2,600. It sold.
Two years later, the buyers re-sold
the trailer for $5,000.
Kwiatkowski is two and a half years
into his ifth trailer rehab. He also is
working on a 1955 Chevy Nomad
wagon.
“Now the big thing is people are
buying the old cars to go with the old
trailers,” Kwiatkowski said. “I keep
telling these people: ‘Watch for these
old cars. Watch for these old trucks.
Get them married. That’s money in the
Chadd Cripe/Idaho Statesman via AP
This April 1 photo shows a 1952 Silver Streak Clipper shows during a
gathering of vintage camp trailers in Glenns Ferry, Idaho. The vintage
camp trailers that were gathered for a rally at this park bordering the
Snake River all tell their own story.
bank when you get ready to sell.’ “
The Peopleses have a motorhome
and two trailers. Blair, of Fruitland, has
three trailers and a pickup camper.
“It’s like a car habit,” Marilyn
Peoples said. “You get one and then
you want another one. But it’s whether
you have enough room to park them
all.”
She sold her 1954 Rainbow to
neighbor Susan Villanueva, who
adores her tiny trailer.
“I got super lucky,” Villanueva said.
“I would always see the little trailers
and I thought they were so cool. There
are people who like more modern
things. I’m not one of them. The rustier
the better. I like things to look their
age.”
And to many, that age looks much
better than the shiny, new models
coming out of today’s factories.
“They have style to them,” Marilyn
said. “The big boxes are very functional.
That’s what we call (new trailers). But
these have history to them. There’s a
lot of unique stuff in them. They are all
designed a little different.”
Mungall, who lives in Willard,
Utah, and is the Northwest rep for
the national Tin Can Tourists group,
enjoys the “camaraderie of people who
know quality.”
“Most of these are just real mate-
rials,” he said.
Mungall brought one of the
most beautiful trailers to the rally: a
1952 Silver Streak Clipper with an
aluminum shell.
He purchased the trailer in the early
2000s for $1,200. It had been sitting
alongside a highway for sale for 12
years.
“Back in the early ‘90s, these things
were considered ugly,” Mungall said.
Now they’re treasured collectibles.
The market for vintage trailers
hasn’t overheated in Idaho yet, but in
some states they are dificult to ind
and the prices can get prohibitive, the
vintage-trailer enthusiasts say.
A restored trailer in the 12- to
15-foot range likely will cost more
than $5,000 in Idaho.
Even the trailers in need of an over-
haul aren’t cheap anymore.
“You used to be able to buy one for
a hundred bucks,” Kwiatkowski said.
“Now you’re lucky if you can ind
them for right around $2,000 or $3,000
— for a project.”
Some restored trailers go for as
much as $40,000-plus, Linda Kwiat-
kowski said.
“The ‘50s and ‘60s are getting hard
to ind,” Marilyn Peoples said. “So
people are coming up into the ‘70s
now because they’re a little easier to
ind but they are cool, too.”
Idaho’s ROVT group grows some-
what through trailer envy. Others see
trailers in the neighborhood or attend
the open houses at the rallies and
decide they want one, too.
One of the ROVT traditions is
open/closed signs in the windows of
the RVs. If they’re open, that means
they’re available to be toured.