Make the McKenzie Connection!
Make the McKenzie Connection!
Sorted by date Results 651 - 675 of 1812
AUFERHEIDE DRIVE: Last Friday Forest Service Road 19 (Aufderheide Drive) has been closed from Milepost 20 (just east of Kiahanie Campground) to Milepost 35 (south of the Roaring River Campground) due to the growth of the Cedar Creek Fire. The closure area includes the Box Canyon Campground, Box Canyon Staging Area/Horse Camp, and Skookum Creek Campground, as well as all the surrounding dispersed camping areas. Under the Level 3 closure, people are told to not take time to gather things because of immediate and imminent danger. On Tuesday, offic...
HWY. 20: A total closure of U.S. Route 20 - from Milepost 54 to 57 - is scheduled for September 9th to 22nd. The $4.96 million Oregon Dept. of Transportation project is designed to make the area safer by building a retaining wall, realigning part of the road, and repairing damage from a landslide. ODOT investigated a portion of U.S. 20 east of Sweet Home and along the South Santiam River to decide the best solution to mitigate the slide movement. The recommended repair for the Double Gate and...
A federal program that provides up to a year of free access to National Forests, National Parks, and other public lands for fourth-grade students and their families. As of September 1st, fourth graders, parents, and educators could visit the Every Kid Outdoors website at www.everykidoutdoors.gov and learn more about how to obtain free entry to all federal lands, for fourth graders and their accompanying family members. Students can obtain passes individually by completing a brief online...
Crime rates among young people have dropped dramatically in recent decades - despite media coverage pointing toward a supposed "crime wave" led by youth. That's the finding in a recent report from The Sentencing Project, which shows the share of overall arrests of people younger than 18 was cut in half between 2000 and 2019. Deena Corso is the juvenile services division director for Multnomah County. "The trend very much for juvenile crime nationally - and then it's mirrored here locally - has b...
BLUE RIVER: A new clinic to replace the one lost to the Holiday Farm Fire might range in size from 2,050 to 2,827 square feet. Those sizes were among the alternatives Katie Hall with Pivot Architecture of Eugene presented to the McKenzie Valley Wellness (MVW) board last Monday. Specific costs - as well as design details - are still in flux and no decision on the proposals was reached. The size of the building had been reduced from what was first envisioned as a 4,000-square-foot replacement....
VIDA: Oregon State Police Troopers and emergency personnel responded to a two-vehicle crash on Hwy 126 last Friday. According to OSP reports, the accident involved a passenger car hitting a building contractor’s trailer at 7:40 p.m. on August 26th. Police said 37-year-old Juan Carbajal Rodrigues was driving a black Chevrolet and backing a flatbed trailer loaded with construction material into a driveway. While using the eastbound lane to back up, a construction worker was flagging traffic when an eastbound Acura TSX, operated by 40-year-old S...
WALTERVILLE: The Oregon State University Extension Service will hold a free well water nitrate screening at Herrick Farms this Friday. The testing is related to the wildfires of 2020 and the possibility many domestic wells and septic systems may have been damaged in different ways. Damage to water systems could compromise their ability to work properly in addition to testing for contaminants that may cause harm in the future. Nitrate in groundwater can cause health issues. It is not naturally...
McKenzie River Trust's Restoration Projects Manager, Christer LaBrecque, has received the Riparian Challenge Award on behalf of the Finn Rock Reach restoration projects team. The Riparian Challenge Award, from the Western Division of the American Fisheries Society, encourages the conservation and sound management of riparian habitats in the western United States. Each year, the WDAFS recognizes outstanding achievements in riparian management by bestowing "Excellence in Riparian Management"...
MCKENZIE BRIDGE: A reported house fire around 6:30 last Sunday afternoon was luckily limited to about 1/10 acre of vegetation between 2 residences. "No structures were involved, but damage to a cedar fence between the houses was noted," according to Dirk Rogers, Assistant Chief of the Upper McKenzie Rural Fire District. Besides forest vegetation, some piled branches and stacked logs cut to firewood length caught fire. The Upper McKenzie RFPD and the Oregon Department of Forestry were the initial...
The Forest Service's mission focus is sustainability, and timber is a result of sustainable forest management. Timber sales are a tool of sustainable forest management, serving as a means to restore overgrown forests prone to devastating wildfires into healthy fire-adapted woodlands. Additionally, timber sales create jobs and economic opportunities in rural communities where other sources of income might be few. An internal regional review of the Flat Country project file is currently underway that includes evaluating changed conditions. We...
MCKENZIE BRIDGE: Last Tuesday, Flat Country timber sale opponents took to the trees to hang a 30-foot-wide banner across Highway 126. Organizers of the protest, including the Cascadia Forest Defenders (CFD), are calling on the Willamette National Forest and the Biden Administration to cancel the proposed sale, saying it would have significant impacts on the climate, drinking water, and community safety. In a letter last year the McKenzie River Ranger District said the project was designed to...
FINN ROCK: One of the most popular boat landings on the upper McKenzie River will be getting some upgrades. Over 200 people a day have been using the Finn Rock Landing during the peak summer season. The McKenzie River Trust (MRT), which owns the landing, is working to raise grants and private donations to make infrastructure improvements to the highly used minimal boat landing. In 2015, Realty Marketing Northwest of Portland auctioned off three Finn Rock area properties owned by Rosboro Forest...
The Willamette and Mt. Hood National Forests are seeking volunteers to serve as members of the Hood-Willamette Resource Advisory Committee (RAC). Applications are accepted year-round, but to be considered for next year, applications must be submitted by September 1st. Officials say RAC members can have a direct impact on where and how millions of federal dollars are spent over the next three years. The funds are meant for improvements to local infrastructure, creating local jobs, enhancing tourism opportunities, and restoring ecosystems - both...
WALTERVILLE: A small school proponent has been picked as principal of the Walterville Elementary School. Andy Price, who attended Mohawk Elementary while growing up, says his own experiences while going to a small school, "means a lot to me." Parts of his recollections include events that drew students and community members to a rural campus - like school carnivals or sock hops. But it was the close interactions inside classrooms he values most. "I was a struggling learner and my teachers cared...
BLUE RIVER: Bob Keefer had some good news when he met with the Blue River Park Board this month - Lane County is willing to chip in and help kickstart rebuilding efforts at the fire-damaged recreational resource. “It was devastating what happened with the fire but there are opportunities there,” he said. Keefer has spent his life managing a wide range of public resources. He’s the former director of Lane County Parks and later was the supervisor of the Willamalane Parks and Recreation District in Springfield. Now a member of the Special Distr...
EUGENE: With a four-to-one vote the Lane County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved placing a recreation referendum on this November's general election ballot. The measure is based on the 2018 Lane County Parks & Open Space Master Plan, which staff said has a core goal to "re-invigorate and revitalize targeted parks as thriving, family-friendly outdoor activity hubs through redesign, renovation, and programming to help position Lane County as the best county for outdoor recreation and...
BLUE RIVER: The delayed election of board members for McKenzie Valley Wellness (MVW) will be held on August 30th. Ballot counting that had been planned for the non-profit’s regularly scheduled annual meeting on May 3rd was delayed while changes to the membership section of the organization's bylaws were updated. Four incumbents are now on the new ballots: Jane Wilson, Val Rapp, Kelly Shaw, and Josh Cloke. The names of two people who had announced they would be running as write-in candidates will be listed on the ballots as well. In his a...
EUGENE: The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) financial analysis report delivered to the Eugene Water & Electric Board last week was based on social, economic, and environmental factors. The TBL is focused on what the future could hold for the mothballed Leaburg hydroelectric project. After weighing the potential the utility's staff offered four options. Decommissioning the facility and returning the area to conditions before it was built could come at a projected cost of $250 million, Mark Zinniker,...
By Tuesday, the Cedar Creek Fire near Oakridge had continued to grow. US Forest Service officials reported it was active on over 3,234 acres near Spirit Lake and on the southwestern flank. Fire growth has been minimal on the eastern flank of the fire due to more wet soil conditions and a change in fuel type from dense timber to more sparse conifer forests and meadows. One water scooper and four helicopters were working to moderate the fire using Hills Creek Lake as a water source. The fire also...
Drownings and boating-related deaths needlessly continue claiming lives in Oregon, recently fueled by a heat wave, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Oregon State Marine Board (OSMB) reported 19 boating-related fatalities in 2021 and the Oregon Health Authority recorded 57 drownings in natural waters in 2020, which is a 160% increase from 2019 (35 drownings). Life jackets may have prevented many of these deaths. "Heat waves can exacerbate drownings and accidents," said Tom...
Fire danger levels on lands protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry Western Lane District and South Cascade District will be increased to “high” (yellow) last Saturday, August 6th. The escalation came on the heel of recent lightning strikes that caused numerous fires across the Cascades in portions of Lane, Douglas, Deschutes, and Klamath counties. With high temperatures and low relative humidity forecasted, the restrictions are designed to reduce the risk of human-caused fires. The restrictions affect the public use of power-driven equ...
The Oregon Division of Financial Regulation (ODFR) has determined that certain property and casualty insurers should extend timelines for policyholders who suffered losses during the 2020 wildfire season and who have been unable to rebuild or replace property due to circumstances outside their control. The determination applies to property and casualty insurers who write homeowners policies that specifically contain a time limit of less than three years for rebuilding a home, replacing contents, or both. The ODFR bulletin outlines the...
WALTERVILLE: Masons have been busy recently laying blocks and mortar in a downriver filbert field. The design involves a double-sided 20 ft. wide by 15 ft. tall structure that was designed for highway traveler readability. Property owner Joel Clements says he was happy to donate a spot on his family's 30 acres of filberts for the installation. The Clements previously allowed the McKenzie River Chamber of Commerce to place one of the community locater signs there as well. "It just felt like the...
The Willamette National Forest is restoring access to fire-affected areas. The Willamette National Forest has reopened its ranger stations and Supervisor’s Office to in-person business from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. For the past two years, services were offered only online and via mail due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the Forest has lifted and reduced fire closures, increasing access to more than 188,641 acres of Forest Service land previously in fire closure a...
When in drought, fish and wildlife are stressed out. Officials are reminding the public that ongoing drought conditions can take a toll on Oregon’s fish and wildlife. While some parts of the state benefitted from a wet spring and early summer, areas still remain in significant drought (including southeast Oregon and parts of southwest, central and northeast Oregon). The extreme temperatures and heat this week, officials say, will exacerbate drought conditions. During a drought, fish like Oregon...
