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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 30, 2015)
8A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL December 30, 2015 By the numbers: Measuring the 2015 fi re season COMMUNITY BRIEFS Gamesquall Gamesquall, an annual board, card, miniature and roleplaying game con- vention, returns to downtown Cottage Grove’s Odd Fellows building this Thursday, Dec. 31 beginning at noon. Organizer Jake Boone, who dou- bles as a City Councilor, describes Gamesquall as a “’poor man’s’ version of Portland’s Gamestorm convention” that runs from noon Thursday until 2 a.m. the next morning. Guests can play games from the extensive library that will be available or bring their own. The Odd Fellows Building is located at 317 E. Main St. From a news release provided by the Oregon Department of Forestry S o, just how severe was Oregon’s wildfi re season this summer? About 838,000 gallons’ worth, ac- cording to Neal Laugle, the Department of Forestry’s (ODF) aviation unit manag- er. That’s how much liquid retardant the department’s air tankers dumped on fi res in 2015. And that fi gure doesn’t include the thou- sands of gallons of straight water dropped by ODF con- tracted helicopters in close support of ground fi refi ght- ing forces. The window of opportu- nity in which to stop a new blaze from growing large has shrunk from days to hours, due to the extreme sum- mer weather and forest fuel conditions. Fire managers with ODF and the fi re asso- ciations increasingly rely on air power to even the odds, launching air and ground resources simultaneously, which often shaves response time to minutes. ODF’s contracted large air tanker can reach a fi re quickly and deliver 3,000 gallons of retardant in a single load. This slows fi re growth and buys time for fi re engines and hand crews to arrive on scene and begin direct attack. Single-engine air tankers (SEATs) use their speed and maneuverability to box in a fi re with multi- ple, smaller retardant drops. All told, air tankers logged more than 700 fl ight hours this summer. The agency’s helicopters put in 834 hours slinging water to hot spots with their cable-suspended buckets. FIRE AVIATION SNAPSHOT Statistics currently avail- able are for ODF- and fi re association-protected lands west of the Cascades. This summer, most of the aerial fi refi ghting took place east of the Cascades (86 per- cent), followed by southern Oregon (14 percent), and northwestern Oregon (less than one percent). In 2015, the Douglas For- est Protective Association in Douglas County fl ew 60 helicopter missions and also assisted ODF’s Southwest Oregon District and the Wil- lamette National Forest. A small plane fl ew 55 missions that included fi re detection, monitoring of existing fi res and guiding air operations (air tankers and helicopters) over fi res. The department’s South- west Oregon District (Jack- son and Josephine counties) conducted 150 missions, including air tanker and he- licopter fl ights. Helicopters performed air attack, helit- ack (insertion of fi refi ghters at fi res, along with making water drops) and transport of personnel and cargo. Coos Forest Protective Association logged 55 fl ight hours on 19 different fi res in Coos and Douglas counties to quench the fl ames with water drops. In addition, CFPA aircraft fl ew recon- naissance during lightning events to detect new fi res. ODF’s aggressive fi re- fi ghting tactics can create an “airshow” of multiple tank- ers and helicopters over an active fi re. When the meter is running on all these air- Tree pickup The Kiwanis Club in Cottage Grove will be picking up Christmas trees starting Dec. 26 through Jan. 9. Dona- tions are appreciated. Those interested can call 541-556-2642 to schedule a pickup. 912 Project Lane County Commissioner Faye Stewart will discuss the state of the county and his bid for the U.S. Sen- ate at the next meeting of the Cottage Grove 912 Project on Monday, Jan. 4 at 6:30 p.m. at Stacy’s Covered Bridge Restaurant, 401 E. Main St. The meet- ing is open to the public. ‘Cowspiracy’ showing Sentinel fi le photo Helicopters were called in to fi ght the Cable Cross- ing Fire near Glide this summer. craft, costs mount quickly. But stopping even one high- potential blaze from spread- ing to thousands of acres can save millions of dollars in the long term. As an example, the 26,000-acre Stouts Creek Fire in Douglas County cost $37 million to extinguish. And that is just for suppres- sion. Damage to the forest resource, which includes timber as well as fi sh and wildlife habitats, typically totals at least three times the fi refi ghting expense. No one can accurately pre- dict the intensity of future fi re seasons. But the current trend has the department, its partner resource agencies, and private forest landown- ers scrambling to meet the challenge. Aviation will un- doubtedly continue to play a major role in Oregon’s fi re protection system in the years to come. Sustainable Cottage Grove will be showing the documentary environ- mental video “Cowspiracy” at the Healing Matrix at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 7. The event will be followed by a question-and-answer discussion ses- sion and is free and open to the general public. This presentation is part of a series entitled Transition Talks: Films that Inspire Discussion and Community in Cottage Grove. Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Se- cret is a groundbreaking feature-length environmental documentary following an intrepid fi lmmaker as he uncovers the most destructive industry facing the planet today – and investigates why the world’s leading environmental organi- zations are too afraid to talk about it. The Healing Matrix is located at 632 E. Main Street in Cottage Grove. More information may be obtained by e- mailing AhimsaAcres@gmail.com or calling/texting Rob at 541-543-5735. Free privacy discussion How do our principles about privacy hold up in the world of corporate in- formation gathering and government surveillance? What are the costs and benefi ts to living in a society where almost everything about us is discover- able and discussed? This is the focus of “A World with- out Secrets: Privacy and Expectations in the Unites States,” a free conversa- tion with Wendy Willis on Thursday, Jan. 7 at 6 p.m. at Hard Knocks Brew- ery. This program is hosted by the Opal Center with Hard Knocks Brewery and sponsored by Oregon Humanities. Wendy Willis is a poet, essayist, and national leader in civic engagement and collaborative governance. She serves as executive director of Kitchen Table Democracy, a national nonprofi t organization housed at Portland State University and devoted to improving democratic governance. Through the Conversation Project, Oregon Humanities offers free pro- grams that engage community mem- bers in thoughtful, challenging con- versations about ideas critical to our daily lives and our state’s future. For more information about this free com- munity discussion, please contact Leah Murray at 541-946-7252 or OCAE@ opalcentercg.org. Winter gardening presentation The Cottage Grove Garden Club’s Tuesday, Jan. 5 presentation will fi nd participants making garden art. Fused glass sun catchers and other “dangling pretties” for our patios and gardens are one option. Cottage Grove’s Kit Por- ter, a fused glass artist and instructor, will be leading the group in the making of glass ornaments. President Peggy Severns will also lead in decorating terra cotta garden pots using an assort- ment of mixed media in painting and gluing. For guests who wish to take home their artwork, there will be a ma- terials fee. Members and non-members are wel- come on Tuesday, Jan. 5 at 7 p.m. at The First Presbyterian Church (corner of Adams and Third Streets).
