Page 8C
OUTSIDE
East Oregonian
BLOOMIN’ BLUES
Saturday, May 13, 2017
Philippi Park reopens for
second year under nonprofit
Island adds new
amenities, trails
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Photo by Bruce Barnes
Balsamorhiza sagittata, Arrowleaf Balsamroot
Arrowleaf balsamroot
a common spring sight
By BRUCE BARNES
For The East Oregonian
Name:
Arrowleaf
Balsamroot
Scientific
name:
Balsamorhiza sagittata
This isn’t the first time
I’ve written about this plant,
but it has been 12 years
since the last time, and it’s a
very showy common plant.
The Arrowleaf Balsamroot
grows in British Columbia
and Alberta, and the western
U.S. to the Rockies. Each
plant produces a broad
clump from a large taproot,
and take several years to
become large enough to
flower and produce seed.
It is found throughout the
Blue Mountains from low
to moderate elevations or
somewhat higher.
The
genus
name
Balsamorhiza
literally
means balsam root. Balsam
is an aromatic fluid found
in a number of different
plants. Sagittata refers to
the arrowhead shape of the
leaf. This particular shape
is referred to in botany as
sagittate.
Arrowleaf Balsamroot
is about 2-3 feet tall and
wide. The flowering heads
are seldom more than one
per stem. As is typical for
the sunflower family, the
heads have a central disk
with many tiny flowers, and
an outer ring of 8-25 flowers
that each have a single
large yellow petal. Small
bracts underneath the head
are often densely covered
with white woolly hair.
The leaves are quite large,
each one arising from the
root on a long stem about
as long as the leaf blade.
Leaf blades are shaped
like an arrowhead, usually
8-10 inches long, with two
large lobes flaring to the
side or pointing backward
at the base, and the leaf tip
tapering to a point.
Many Indian tribes in
the Pacific Northwest made
extensive use of this plant.
Food uses included dry seed
cakes, peeled young stems,
roasted seeds ground for
flour, cooked roots, baked
young shoots, and seeds
mixed with deer grease,
pine nuts and berries. Roots
and seeds were considered
a principal food. The leaves
were used in roasting camas
roots.
Other uses for the plant
included using roots in
the preparation of incense
for ceremonies, and using
leaves to lay salmon on after
the salmon was cleaned.
Where to find: Watch
for the plant on open grassy
slopes and in meadows.
When in bloom, it is easy to
spot from 100 feet or more.
Philippi Park has reopened for the
second year in a row following several
years of closure due to budget cuts at
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The park, located about a mile
upstream from where the John Day
River enters the Columbia River, offers
family-friendly camping, fishing,
swimming, boating and hiking. It
is accessible only by boat, with the
closest launch point at LePage Park,
exit 114 off Interstate 84.
Established by the Army Corps in
1973, Philippi Park quickly became a
hit with boaters and anglers, drawing
13,000-plus visitors annually and
hosting large bass fishing tournaments.
But the agency decided to close the
park in 2013 amid cutbacks and high
maintenance costs.
Darrell McSmith, who owns All
Points Media in Beaverton, remembers
family trips to Philippi Park as a kid
and decided to step in, forming his
own nonprofit organization to help
restore and reopen the park. Volunteers
spent months sprucing up the 24-acre
campsite last year, and it was ready to
go by Memorial Day Weekend.
The first year was a success,
McSmith said, with about 7,300
visitors over the summer. He expects
double that number for year two.
“We’re really looking forward
to everyone coming out this year,”
McSmith said. “The more people who
come out, the more the longevity of
this project becomes real.”
Philippi Park will officially open for
the season on Sunday, May 21. A soft
Photo contributed by the OPAL Foundation.
Philippi Park opened May 5 for the second consecutive year under the
nonprofit OPAL Foundation.
opening was held May 5. McSmith said
the park has a little bit of something for
everyone, including open camping,
volleyball, horseshoes and a sandy
beach area for swimming and fishing
in the John Day River.
Workers are also building eight
miles worth of hiking trails around the
property, and installing interpretive
signs.
“It’s just a gem,” McSmith said.
“It’s one of those unique places that
has everything for the family.”
McSmith took up Philippi Park
in memory of his parents, Paul and
Oppie, who both loved the outdoors.
He named his nonprofit the OPAL
Foundation, which combines their two
names.
The OPAL Foundation once again
recruited volunteers to prep the
park for opening, mowing grass and
clearing brush and branches following
this year’s especially harsh winter.
“They had more ice and snow
out there than they can remember,”
McSmith said.
The foundation has partnered
with the Army Corps on maintaining
Philippi Park through a combination
of fundraising and donations. Though
they cannot charge a campground fee,
McSmith said guests will be required
this year to register on site and are
encouraged to make a donation to keep
the park open into the future.
“We’ve had some great support,” he
said.
For more information about
Philippi Park, or to donate, visit www.
opal-foundation.org.
———
Contact George Plaven at gplaven@
eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0825.
Photo contributed by Barbara Morehead
Humdinger of a hummingbird
A rufous hummingbird spotted in the photographer’s back yard on McKay Creek in Pilot Rock.
Photo contributed by U.S. Forest Service
Morel mushrooms are beginning to sprout in the
Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman national forests.
Spring mushrooms sprout
in Blue Mountains
East Oregonian
Springtime
means
mushroom hunting season
is underway across the Blue
Mountains, and regulations
are in place for commercial
mushroom hunters on
Forest Service land.
A commercial permit
is required for mushroom
hunters
who
harvest,
possess
or
transport
more than one gallon of
mushrooms in Oregon, or
more than five gallons in
Washington. Any amount
less than one gallon in
Oregon or five gallons in
Washington are considered
“free-use” mushrooms, but
are for personal use only
and cannot be sold, bartered
or given away.
An industrial camping
permit is required for
mushroom hunters camping
overnight
in
national
forests, though they are not
allowed to camp in devel-
oped campgrounds. Permits
are available only at the
local ranger district office,
and cost $2 per day with a
minimum purchase of 10
consecutive days. Annual
permits are available for
$100.
Commercial mushroom
hunting is prohibited in
wilderness areas.
All mushroom hunters
on the Umatilla and
Wallowa-Whitman national
forests must display a recre-
ation pass in the windshield
of their vehicle when using
a designated fee trailhead.
Northwest Forest Passes
cost $5 per day or $30
for the year, and can be
purchased at www.discov-
ernw.org. The Malheur
National Forest does not
require a recreation pass.
It is up to individual
growers to determine if
the mushrooms they pick
are edible. Many varieties
in the forest are poisonous,
though guide books may
help with identification.
State legislature debates footbridge ban
By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press
SALEM — A bill in the
Oregon Legislature that
would ban a long-planned
footbridge over a pristine
river for hikers and bikers in
the town of Bend is causing
an uproar in the mountain
town.
Some backers of the
House bill, which was
considered Wednesday at
a public hearing before
the Senate Committee On
Environment and Natural
Resources, say they want to
protect wildlife. Opponents
say many supporters are rich,
have property along the river
and don’t want their views
spoiled by hikers, bikers and
leashed dogs.
Rob and Karon Kutz,
among hundreds of people
who wrote to the committee,
said a multi-millionaire
“doesn’t want riffraff near his
property.”
But
David
Dobkin,
who described himself as a
research scientist, told the
committee in an email that a
bridge “will adversely impact
critical ecological and wild-
life values.”
The Deschutes River
near Bend cuts through lava
flows, ponderosa forests and
meadows in the shadow of
the Cascade Range. Hiking
and biking along it is a hugely
popular activity for residents
and visitors.
The bill in its current
form looks nothing like the
original. It originally was
about financing water storage
and water distribution. But,
in a practice known as gut
and stuff, an amendment
revamped it, calling for the
bridge ban and removing all
references to water storage
and distribution. The House
passed the redone bill on a
floor vote, sending it to the
Senate.
The Bend Parks and
Recreation District, which
had been planning the foot-
bridge for years to connect
trail systems in Bend and
nearby communities for
residents and visitors, was
shocked when Rep. Gene
Whisnant, a Republican
from the resort community
of Sunriver 20 miles south of
Bend, introduced the amend-
ment.
“The swift introduction
and passage in the House
was a surprise and should not
preempt a public process in
Bend,” said Ted Schoenborn,
chair of the Bend Park and
Recreation District Board of
Directors.
In a May 4 column, editor
Erik Lukens of the Bulletin
newspaper of Bend wrote:
“Here’s hoping this turkey
gets carved up in the Senate.”
Lukens said the situation
shows “the capacity of
politicians and influential
supporters to work the
system at the expense of
the less wealthy and less
well-connected.”
Schoenborn said the
“The swift
introduction
and passage
was a surprise.”
— Ted Schoenborn,
Bend Park and Recreation
Board of Directors
amended bill “would mean
the end of the Deschutes
River Trail” that had been
planned connecting Sunriver
and a state park on Bend’s
north side.
He and other opponents
of the bill said this was not a
matter for the Legislature to
decide.
For his part, Whisnant
issued a statement on his
Legislature web link on May
2, urging residents to voice
their opinions.
“I have received a number
of phone calls and emails
from Oregonians on both
sides of this issue,” he said.
Have a successful bear hunt this year? Land that giant salmon?
Find a great new trek around Eastern Oregon?
Call outside editor Tim Trainor at 541-955-0835 or email ttrainor@eastoregonian.com