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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 13, 2016)
Page 8C OUTSIDE East Oregonian BLOOMIN’ BLUES Saturday, August 13, 2016 Flying free — a family hobby By JENNIFER MOODY Albany Democrat-Herald Photo courtesy Bruce Barnes Big Pod Mariposa Lily One of the Blues’ most beautiful blooms By BRUCE BARNES For the East Oregonian Name: Big Pod Mariposa Lily SFLeQWL¿F Qame: Calo- chortus macrocarpus This is one of the most truly Eeautiful ÀoZers in the Blue Mountains. The bloom is about 23 inFhes Zide at the top, and this photo, Zith the sunlight coming through the petals shoZs off its color nicely. To really appreciate it, hoZeYer, you haYe to looN doZn from aboYe into the inside of it. The inside base of the ÀoZer has a large, fuzzy, golden nectar gland surrounded by a darN purple band. The plant is about a foot tall Zith a slender stem. ,ts leaYes are narroZ and linear, and dry up by the time the ÀoZer opens. The ÀoZer base has 3 long, narroZ, petalliNe sepals that are often longer than the petals, Zhile the 3 petals are broad and rounded. Both petals and sepals are laYender to deep purple, and haYe an outer greentinged stripe doZn the center. This plant is one of 5 species of Calochortus in northeast Oregon, and prob- ably the most spectacular. ,t groZs from southeast British Columbia to northern Cali- fornia, to Montana to 1eYada. The genus Calochortus comes from the *reeN ³Nalo´ for beautiful, and ³chortus´ for grass, referring to the narroZ linear leaYes. Macrocarpus is Latin for big pod, referring to its large seed pod. Though there is much Yariation in the 60 or so species of the mariposa lilies in Zestern 1orth America, no one Zould argue the fact that all are impressiYe. This particular species Zas used throughout its range, primarily for food, the bulbs either eaten raZ or cooNed. Some tribes used the plant for a poultice to treat blisters from poison iYy, and also used mashed bulbs to treat sore eyes. Unfortunately, the plant is far less common noZ, and , only get to see it about once in four years. +arYesting the plants is strongly discour- aged, as their numbers are so diminished, and they Zill not surYiYe attempts to transplant them. :KeUe WR ¿QG: LooN for the plant in dry open meadoZs, at middle eleYa- tions in the mountains. Courtesy of Oregon Department of Agriculture Close-up image of the “Asian jumping worm.” ODA confirmed that the worm, Amynthas agresitis, was found in Clackamas and Josephine counties in 2016. ‘Crazy snake worm’ XnearWKeG Ln Oregon ,nYasiYe species could impact forest Zater retention By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI EO Media Group A neZ inYasiYe species, NnoZn as the “crazy snaNe Zorm´ or “Asian jumping Zorm,´ has been unearthed for the ¿rst time in Oregon. The Oregon Department of Agriculture has con¿rmed that the Zorm, Amynthas agresitis, Zas found in ClacNamas and Josephine counties in 2016. The signi¿cant distance betZeen the tZo discoYeries liNely indicates the species is probably found elseZhere in Oregon as Zell, said Clint Bur¿tt, manager of ODA’s insect pest preYention and management program. Residential landoZners turned the Zorms oYer to of¿cials from ODA and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife after noticing its Yigorous Àipping. “The behaYior is Yery distinctiYe,´ Bur¿tt said. “EarthZorms aren’t NnoZn for their energetic behaYior, but this one is.´ The Zorm’s detrimental effects on forest health haYe also been causing groZing concern in the Great LaNes region and the East Coast, said Jim Labonte, an ODA entomologist. “There’s beginning to be a lot of attention to be paid to this there,´ he said. SeYeral pathZays may be responsible for the Zorm’s moYement, including earth- moYing eTuipment, compost and ¿shermen, he said. The species reproduces ase[ually, so not many indiYiduals are necessary for an established population. By rapidly consuming the detritus along the forest Àoor, the Zorms remoYe the protec- tiYe layer that plant seeds need to sprout and outcompete other animals that depend on this habitat. Bare soil isn’t as effectiYe as retaining Zater, alloZing it to run off more TuicNly — potentially haYing an impact on agriculture, said LaBonte. The change in soil struc- ture also disrupts nutrient cycling, harming the forest’s health oYer time, he said. At this point, though, it’s unNnoZn Zhether these impacts Zill be e[perienced in Oregon as they haYe else- Zhere in the U.S., since the forest type and climate here are different, LaBonte said. ALBANY — Bob StalicN can still remember hunching oYer his mother’s breadboard, model airplane parts spread out, getting glue on the dressmaNing pins she’d loaned him to hold the Nit’s pieces together. Those planes neYer ÀeZ, the north Albany man recalled. But then an attacN of polio as a high school freshman left him Zith plenty of time at home recuperating. He used that time to put together a neZ airplane model he’d receiYed from his classmates as a Christmas gift, one poZered by a tiny gas engine from his parents, reported the Albany Democrat-Herald. :hen the plane Zas ¿nished and StalicN Zas Zell enough, he tooN the plane out to the bacN ¿eld of his family’s Oregon City farm, started the motor and Zatched the aircraft rise into the sNy. ³EYentually it hit a fence post and broNe,´ he said, ³but that Zas the most amazing day of my life — to see that airplane that , had built out of pieces of Zood actually Ày.´ Emotionally, the former superintendent for Greater Albany Public Schools neYer really came doZn from that ¿rst Àight. At 78 and long retired from a 39-year career in education, he continues to build and Ày free-Àight model airplanes year-round. StalicN shared his hobby Zith his son, Ted, a 1982 graduate of West Albany High School. Ted, noZ liYing in Southern California, shared it in turn Zith his younger son, Ale[, noZ 16. And thanNs to Ale[, the three generations are traYeling to Macedonia, Zhere Ale[ Zill compete in the 2016 Junior World Championships for Free Flight Model Aircraft. Ted StalicN Zill be part of the support creZ for the U.S. team. StalicN himself has been tapped to be the team photographer and journalist. The three are e[pected to be bacN in Oregon by Aug. 9. Ale[ Zill be competing against teens from 21 other countries for the champion- ship trophy. Free-Àying model planes don’t depend on remote controls for naYigation. A competitor Zins or loses based on hoZ long the craft, on its oZn, is able to stay in the air. The U.S. team has seYen youths in three different free-Àight diYisions glider, rubber-poZered and gas-poZered. Glider planes are toZed into the air by a person running on the ground, StalicN e[plained. The plane must Ày at least three minutes after the toZ line is disconnected. After ¿Ye successful three-minute Àights, the time is e[tended by a minute for each of the David Patton/Albany Democrat-Herald via AP In a July 28 photo, Bob Stalick of Albany explains how his free-flight model airplane works. The former Albany superintendent will trav- el to Macedonia this week to document his grandson’s entry in the 2016 Junior World Championships. David Patton/Albany Democrat-Herald via AP In a July 28 photo, Bob Stalick of Albany has model airplanes hanging from the ceiling of his workshop from friends who have died as a way to remember them. ne[t rounds until a Zinner is determined. 5ubber-poZered planes use propellers poZered by special rubber bands. Gas-poZered models run on timers that cut the fuel after a prescribed number of seconds. Timers also control the dethermalizers, Zhich Àips up the tail of the plane, stalling it out and sending it earthZard. Ale[ already Zas competing in the glider diYision, but the team asNed him to join the gas diYision as Zell after an une[pected Yacancy, his grandfather said. Fans Zill be inYited to folloZ the competition Yia a FacebooN page, Free Flight 'igest, Zhich StalicN Zill help ¿ll Zith photos and copy. StalicN said he’s going to enjoy chronicling the team’s adYentures, but said he’s mostly going just to spend time Zith his family. ³,t’s three generations of the same family doing this thing all of us haYe done some Zay in our liYes,´ he said. As a little boy in Oregon City, StalicN remembers running outside, eyes glued to the sNy, as the combat planes of World War ,, roared oYer his family’s home, on their Zay to prep for battle in the Paci¿c Theater. “They made the Zhole ground shaNe,´ he recalled. He built model planes up through high school, then put the hobby aside for a Zhile as girls, cars, jobs and college tooN precedence. But a broadcasting class at the UniYersity of Oregon brought it all bacN the day he Zas asNed to ¿gure out hoZ to maNe a model of the solar system spin. For that project, StalicN said he’d go get a spool of rubber band material at the hobby shop. One looN at the plane Nits there and he Zas bacN to buy one and get started again. StalicN’s ¿rst teaching job Zas English, speech and drama for Albany Union High School in 1960. ,t Zas the bacN-to-school inserYice day and he didn’t NnoZ anyone, but he oYerheard a conYersation betZeen tZo shop teachers Zho Zere discussing forming a model airplane club. That club became the Willamette Modelers Club. StalicN has been its editor eYer since and currently serYes as its treasurer. The club competes outdoors in the summer — the ne[t eYent is set for Aug. 19, 20 and 21 in a ryegrass ¿eld off SeYen Mile Lane near ParNer 5oad Zatch for signs — and in the gym of South Albany High School in the Zinter. Spectators are encouraged. “The good thing about this hobby, in my opinion, Zhen the Zeather isn’t Yery nice, you can be inside maNing them,´ he said. “When the Zeather is nice, you can go out and Ày them and crash them.´ Remote control planes are all Yery Zell, but they neYer held the same fasci- nation for StalicN as the free-Àight planes. For 25 years, Zhen he Zasn’t Àying the planes, he Zas often found Zriting about them. He Zas a correspondent for Model Builder Magazine for 25 years, Zhich helped lead to the inYitation to be the U.S. team Zriter and photographer for this year’s championships. He has traYeled since 2005 to Zatch the national competition sponsored by the Academy of Model Aeronautics, but Zill miss it this year to traYel to Mace- donia. That’s all right, hoZeYer, he said. “This is Nind of a once-in-a-lifetime thing, as far as ,’m concerned.´ BRIEFLY DNR issues burn ban for Washington state OLYMP,A, Wash. AP — The state Department of Natural Resources has issued a burn ban on DNR-protected lands throughout the entire state. DNR of¿cials said in a neZs release that due to Zarm temperatures and beloZ normal precipitation in Zestern Washington, the burn ban issued preYiously for eastern Washington Zill apply to the entire state starting Friday. The ban Zill be in effect through Sept. 30. The ban applies to all outdoor burning on state forests, state parNs and forestlands under DNR ¿re protection. ,t does not include federally oZned lands. The last tZo Zild¿re seasons haYe been the state’s Zorst. More than a million acres burned across the state last year, the single Zorst Zild¿re year in Washington history. So far this year, DNR has had 408 Zild¿re starts throughout the state. SkyGiYer beFomes ¿rst Serson to MumS anG OanG without chute LOS ANGELES AP — After leaping from an airplane, LuNe AiNins rocNeted toZard earth for tZo minutes, and then calmly Àipped onto his bacN at the last second and landed in a 100-by-100-foot net in southern California. Cheers rose from those Zho gathered at the Big SNy moYie ranch on the outsNirts of Simi 9alley to Zatch the stunt, including his family. The 42-year-old sNydiYer Zith more than 18,000 jumps made history as the ¿rst person to surYiYe a leap Zithout a parachute and land safely in a net. As the audience erupted, AiNins TuicNly climbed out, ZalNed oYer and hugged his Zife, Monica, Zho had been Zatching from the ground Zith their 4-year-old son, Logan, and other family members. “,’m almost leYitating. ,t’s incredible,´ the jubilant sNydiYer said, raising his hands oYer his head as his Zife held their son, Zho dozed in her arms. “This thing just happened , can’t eYen get the Zords out of my mouth,´ he added as he thanNed the dozens of creZ members Zho spent tZo years helping him prepare for the jump, including those Zho assembled the ¿shing traZler-liNe net and made sure it really ZorNed. The jump — from the death- defying altitude of 25,000 feet — maNes AiNins the only sNydiYer eYer to go from plane to planet Earth Zithout a parachute. Wyoming highway e[ceeGs grizzOy Geath caS JAC.SON, Wyo. AP — The number of grizzly bears Nilled by Yehicle collisions on a stretch of highZay in northZest Wyoming e[ceeds the estimate of¿cials e[pected Zhen a redesign of the thoroughfare Zas approYed more than a decade ago. At least tZo federally protected, threatened grizzlies haYe been run oYer on a 38-mile stretch of U.S. 26287 oYer TogZotee Pass in the past tZo years. That is double the permitted unintentional Nilling of a single grizzly along the road that underZent a seYen-year reconstruction at a cost of more than 100 million. The ZorN Zas completed in 2012 and resulted in a Zider and straighter road that Zas supposed to be safer. When so-called “incidental taNe´ estimates are surpassed, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife SerYice customarily produces neZ documents that permit a higher number of the affected threatened or endangered species to be Nilled. The Fish and Wildlife SerYice, Zhich is in charge of the Greater YelloZstone Ecosystem’s grizzlies, has not yet receiYed instruction to reYise a 2003 document that assessed the effect of the redesign on grizzlies, according USFWS.
