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FEBRUARY
28
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2015
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SOMETHING
North Florence
prepares for
herbicide spray
FISHY
Possible water contamination
a concern for residents
STEP INVOLVES LCC E NGLISH LANGUAGE FOREIGN
STUDENTS IN FISH HATCHERY PROGRAM
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
COURTESY PHOTOS
Lane Community College students contemplate the steelhead they are about to capture for live spawning with the help of
Salmon and Trout Enhancement Program members last Saturday at the Whittaker Creek steelhead trap near Mapleton.
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
C
ome to America and hug a live steel-
head. Maybe not the greatest market-
ing line of the 21st century, but there
were no complaints from Lane Community
College (LCC) instructor Kate Gessert’s
Advanced Reading and Writing for English
Language Learners (ELL) class.
On Saturday, Feb. 21, members of Gessert’s
class did exactly that when they drove from
Eugene to the Whittaker Creek steelhead trap,
outside of Mapleton. There they met with
Salmon and Trout Enhancement Program
(STEP) education liaison Jim Grano and other
STEP members to help catch steelhead for
live spawning.
Unlike salmon that die after spawning,
steelhead, which are sea run rainbow trout,
return to the ocean after spawning and often
repeat the cycle for several years.
Home countries represented by the ELL
students include Guatemala, Iran, Japan,
Madagascar, Mexico and Spain.
“This is a night school class,” Grano said.
“They are all adults and generally working jobs
or attending LCC or the University of Oregon.
One woman from Guatemala is an archeologist.”
Gessert has a unique teaching style. She has
her students read and write about Oregon’s natu-
ral resources such as salmon, steelhead and
forests. The optional field trip is part of her inno-
vative approach to teaching English.
“The environments in the places these stu-
dents have immigrated from are often very dif-
ferent from Oregon,” she said. “I think as they
learn more about this place, they’ll feel more at
home here, and they’ll take good care of the
environment. Reading and watching videos are
fine ways to learn, but best of all is being at
beautiful Whittaker Creek and holding a steel-
head. It brings what they’re learning alive.”
See
STEP 7A
Howard and Lisa Charnock own more than 70
acres on a hill above Collard Lake. They logged
the land in 2013 and soon after took measures to
ensure that invasive weed species do not propagate
on the cleared land. This involved spraying
salmonberry, blackberry and Scotch broom with
glyphosate salts.
Meanwhile, north Florence residents who live in
the neighborhood are concerned about pesticide
seepage into Collard Lake, part of the Clear Lake
watershed, which is part of Heceta Water People’s
Utility District (PUD).
Now, the Charnocks are preparing to spray again
as early as March 4.
“There is a wide range of herbicides to choose
from,” said Howard Charnock. “We really looked
at two things when we made our selection. First,
what happens after we apply it? Does it break
down? Secondly, where does it go? We were con-
cerned about transport. The two we’ve picked,
glyphosate in the past and triclopyr this time, have
extremely low toxicity. Triclopyr is not as bound to
the soil. It was recommended by … an agricultural
forensic expert.”
According to the National Pesticide Information
Center, triclopyr is a mildly toxic herbicide used to
control woody and herbaceous weeds. It has a rel-
atively short half-life in soil and water and breaks
down with exposure to light.
The company the Charnocks hired is On Track
Spray Services, based in Corvallis.
“We’re out there to kill Scotch broom,” said
operator Malon Grimes.
The sprayers will protect the 20-foot buffers of
two small streams on the property and avoid spray-
ing within 100 feet of Collard Lake.
Grimes said, “We use low-pressure backpacks
with larger drops to prevent overspray.”
They only spray on days with ideal weather con-
ditions, such as when winds are less than 10 mph.
They also spray facing away from streams to avoid
spray drift.
“We try to do everything by the rules that gov-
ern our business, area and state,” Grimes said. “We
understand that people have concerns and we do
our best to handle them.”
Charnock said, “We’ve tried to work with (area)
people and use the most benign stuff we can.”
Residents plan to discuss the herbicide spray
today, Feb. 28, from 3 to 4 p.m., at a community
meeting in the Bromley Room at the Siuslaw
Public Library, 1460 Ninth St. in Florence.
See
SPRAY 7A
OLD TOWN INN RANKED NO. 11 IN NATION
TripAdvisor’s 2015 Travelers’
Choice Survey praised Florence
hotel for quality service
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
National interest is focus-
ing on Old Town Inn in
Florence with the recent
reveal of TripAdvisor’s 2015
Travelers’ Choice Survey,
which named Old Town Inn
one of the top 25 bargain
hotels in the United States.
Old Town Inn ranked No. 11
nationally, but was ranked
No. 1 in guest satisfaction in
Florence.
INSIDE
S AT U R D AY
Ambulance
Angling
Classifieds
Community
In Brief
A2
B1
B7
A5
A9
Obituaries A2
Opinion
A4
SideShow B6
Sports
B
Word/Street A8
Loretta Hoagland, co-
owner
of
Hoagland
Properties and Old Town Inn,
said, “We got a review on
TripAdvisor that was one of
the best we’ve gotten on any
of our hotels. Someone who
really knew the hospitality
business just raved about
staying at Old Town Inn. The
Old Town Inn is just a little,
plain roadside hotel. It shows
you how much caring for
people means.”
Housekeepers are reward-
ed every time the word
“clean” appears on a guest
comment card. Management
will not release a room for
use until it has been thor-
oughly inspected, even to the
extent of staff getting down
on their hands and knees
with a flashlight to check
under beds and chairs, and
behind
dressers
and
armoires.
At a luncheon held for Old
Town Inn staff at Driftwood
Shores’ Surfside Restaurant,
Hoagland Properties’ chief
operating officer Craig
Sanders said, “TripAdvisor
doesn’t happen without the
customer service, clean
rooms, good attitude and
overall guest experience. You
guys have just pulled out all
the stops and done an amaz-
ing job. Our mission state-
ment is to exceed customer
expectations with a spotless,
reasonably priced, well-
appointed room and excep-
tional customer service. You
guys epitomize that.”
“TripAdvisor is sending a
photo crew out on Sunday. I
don’t know what they expect,
as we really are just a very
small hotel. We don’t have
swimming pools or fitness
centers. That’s what’s so
amazing. It’s just guest satis-
faction,” Loretta said.
See
HOTEL 7A
SPORTS — B
Your
Weather
T ODAY
S UNDAY
M ONDAY
T UESDAY
Sunny
Mostly
sunny
55
42
Cloudy
Partly
sunny
53
38
55
34
52
40
PHOTO BY CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS
Old Town Inn employees were honored Thursday with
a luncheon at the Surfside Restaurant for their work in
elevating the hotel to No. 11 in the nation.
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
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