Make the McKenzie Connection!
Make the McKenzie Connection!
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VIDA: For the last two years the McKenzie’s Woden Boat Festival has been canceled because of COVID restrictions. But this year it returns on April 23, 2022, at Eagle Rock Lodge which is located at 49198 McKenzie Hwy, Vida, Oregon. The Lodge is located on the McKenzie River between milepost 34 and 35 East of Eugene, Or. Come, relax, and learn about the river and the history of this influential double-ended boat from 10 am – 4 pm. Admission is free. The McKenzie River Guides Association will hav...
EUGENE: Lane County is partnering with the Oregon Building Codes Division to launch a grant program to help owners of homes and businesses rebuild after the 2020 Oregon wildfires. Homeowners, including those with a manufactured home, or a business that was damaged or destroyed by the 2020 wildfires can receive money to cover the costs of using more fire-resistant methods and materials when they rebuild. People who have already rebuilt also qualify for the grants. Fire hardening is an important tool to help make homes more resistant to fire. It...
MCKENZIE BRI DGE: Efforts to construct a new access point for the McKenzie River Trail are moving forward - on the ground, at least. Three weeks ago members of the Dirt Dogs gravel cycling group completed leveling a pathway from the Clear Lake Cutoff to a ledge at the edge of Robinson Canyon. Sam Taylor, who's been leading the volunteer group's work party said they've reached the edge of a sharp dropoff where a new "We're ready," Taylor said, "and have already packed in the main cables and...
RAINBOW: After a particularly bad round of golf, Robert Becker said he decided not to go to the nineteenth hole [the clubhouse bar] and started to go straight home. As he was walking to the golf car park to get his Range Rover, a Sheriff's Deputy stopped him and asked, "Did you tee off on the seventeenth hole about twenty minutes ago?' 'Yes', Robert answered 'Did you happen to slice your ball so that it went over the trees and out of bounds and completely out of sight?' "Yes, I did. How did you...
CLEAR LAKE: A group of tourists spent almost four hours last Saturday night hunting for a missing woman near Clear Lake, only to find her among the search party. The group was traveling through the area on a tour bus and had made two prior stops at Koosah and Sahalie Falls. Soon after having an early lunch at the Clear Lake Resort, word spread that a female passenger was missing. The woman, who had changed clothes, didn’t recognize the description of herself and joined the volunteer party. But the search was called off about 3 p.m. when it b...
SPRINGFIELD: When it comes to hitching a ride to school, we're told by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that riding a school bus is the safest way to go about it. In fact, the NHTSA reports that while four to six school-age children die each year in school-owned vehicles, school buses are the safest roadway travel mode. While those kinds of statistics are impressive, the Springfield School District wanted to know, "if school buses really are safer than cars, why don't most...
LEABURG: The McKenzie Valley's housing stock took a severe hit when 464 dwellings were destroyed in the 2020 wildfire. Residents of some homes along the Leaburg Canal say as many as eight others probably won't be lived in much longer, after they're sold to the Eugene Water & Electric Board. A memo from Lisa Krentz, the utility's generation manager, was posted on social media this week. It noted EWEB is purchasing properties "in anticipation of future construction work on the Leaburg Canal in...
FINN ROCK: RAIN wasn't part of a weather report but the acronym held some promise of better days ahead for people interested in local business. Representatives of the Regional Accelerator and Innovation Network delivered that message during their presentation last Monday night in the McKenzie High School gym. Caroline Cummings, executive director of RAIN, explained was formed to work with people interested in starting or improving businesses in rural communities. The organization is currently...
The Oregon Legislature has passed the Private Forest Accord, which is aimed at bringing durable protections for salmon and cold, clean water across 10 million acres of private Oregon forestland. The legislature also established the Elliott State Research Forest, intended to transform this coastal rainforest into a sanctuary for science. And the legislature allocated a first-ever river resilience funding package to protect streamflows in the face of drought. "Oregon is now responding with needed...
LEABURG: Dreams of a state-of-the-art interactive visitor center moved closer to reality during the Oregon legislature's 2022 short session. Their approval of a $3 million lottery fund package was earmarked for the development of the McKenzie River Discovery Center (MRDC). "The board of directors sin-cerely thanks the legislature for this vote of confidence," said Shirley Braunstein, treasurer of the MRDC. "We appreciate the near 50 letters of support from community leaders, business and...
Worries about fire weakened trees and sloughing hillsides became realities Saturday night when high winds and heavy rains hit the McKenzie Valley. In addition to knocking down power lines serving Lane Electric and the Eugene Water & Electric Board, trees also impacted highway travelers. First responders answered a 911 call shortly after 8 p.m. on Saturday when a report came in that a 10-inch diameter tree was blocking the McKenzie Highway near milepost 31. The caller also said the tree had fallen on a vehicle whose two occupants were "out,...
BLUE RIVER: The Holiday Farm Fire raged through the heart of the McKenzie Valley in 2020. It left behind some sobering statistics: 173,000 acres burned, one fatality, 431 homes, and 24 structures lost, along with a $103 million lawsuit seeking damages from two utilities. Destroyed as well was a 1970's era medical clinic in Blue River. McKenzie Valley Wellness (MVW), a local non-profit, owned the building and had operated it as the McKenzie River Clinic until 2019. That year MVW sold the medical...
Mountain regions have a large potential for hydropower that cannot be harnessed effectively by conventional technologies, says the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. IIASA researcher Julian Hunt and an international team of researchers developed an innovative hydropower technology based on electric trucks that could provide a flexible and clean solution for electricity generation in mountainous regions. In the transition towards a more sustainable future, hydropower will...
The Willamette National Forest will hold a virtual public meeting on a proposal to decommission Delta Campground on the McKenzie River Ranger District. The Zoom meeting is scheduled from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on March 17th. Officials say their proposal is being considered because the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire burned the area at a very high intensity and killed all the trees in the campground as well as the adjacent Delta old-growth grove. The dead and burnt trees have been identified as posing an...
During McKenzie Fire & Rescues' morning and evening drills on February 23rd, crews were able to get valuable training on a structure owned by Jon and Jerri-Jo Payne. The house, at 42831 Leaburg Drive, stood behind the Leaburg Store and was scheduled to be torn down to make room for a new home. Over 25 fire district members were able to take part in the training - breaching interior and exterior walls, as well as the ceiling and roof. Breach a wall is viewed as a lifesaving skill. "If a...
BLUE RIVER: The board of the O'Brien Memorial Library (OML) has chosen an architectural firm to work with them in designing the new OML in Blue River. The process to design the building and grounds is expected to result in construction. start sometime next year. In addition to the existing property, the libray has purchased two lots adjoining the old library site. That added acreage will allow the OML to be located on main street frontage at the intersection of Blue River and Dexter Street. The...
U.S. District Court Judge Marco Hernandez issued an interim injunction last year directing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to begin implementing actions intended to improve conditions for fish passage and water quality at some of its 13 Willamette Valley Projects. Hernandez’s directed the Corps “to avoid irreparable harm” to upper Willamette River fish. Wild spring chinook and wild winter steelhead, along with bull trout. All are listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. The court case was filed by conservation group...
The Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, HR 3076, cleared the U.S. Senate today, sending legislation to President Biden that would give the U.S. Postal Service relief from a 16-year-old requirement to pre-fund decades into the future. The mandate, unlike requirements for other federal agencies, beset the Postal Service with more than $58 billion in unpaid obligations. The bill passed by a vote of 79-19 with many rural Republicans voting with Democrats in favor. President Biden is expected to sign...
In an effort to boost workers in critical industries, Oregon lawmakers are considering a major investment in education and workforce development. Proposed by Gov. Kate Brown, the $200 million Future Ready bill is a package of proposals to lower barriers to construction, health care, manufacturing, and technology jobs. One of the proposals is $17 million for career pathways programs setting up short-term ways to earn credentials, with help from program navigators. Mark Mitsui, president of Portla...
A chase that stemmed from an incident near the intersection with Mill Creek Road and the McKenzie Highway ended 36 miles later last Tuesday. According to the Lane County Sheriff’s Office, the suspect’s vehicle, a white U-Haul box van, left the area westbound after striking a parked vehicle around 5 p.m. McKenzie District Sheriff’s Deputy Russ Olson observed the U-Haul still headed westbound in the Vida area about 10 minutes after receiving the report and initiated a traffic stop. At first, the d...
McKenzie Fire & Rescue volunteers and staff came together in February in a COVID mindful manner for a night of recognition and reflection for their 2021 Awards Ceremony. Awards for the 2021 year included Service Awards for 5-years, 10-years, 15-years, 20-years, 25-years, 30-years, 35-years, and even 45-years of service. Volunteer of the Year, a Chief's Award, and two special recognition awards were also given. Fire Chief Darren Bucich summed it up by saying, "We have amazing volunteers who keep...
Thanks to the Eugene Water & Electric Board’s McKenzie River Source Protection Program, the utility is working with the Pure Water Partners and local residents to plant 500,000 trees in areas that burned in the Holiday Farm Fire. The work is designed to safeguard drinking water for metro residents by addressing erosion from high burn areas, as well as longer-term resiliency to restore floodplain areas that are critical to water quality and habitat. “This is everyone’s water source. This is th...
FINN ROCK: Local students, staff and parents are all being asked for their opinions on proposed changes to Oregon’s indoor face-covering plan expected to be announced on March 31st. At last Wednesday’s McKenzie School Board meeting Superintendent Lane Tompkins noted that a key feature of the change will shift decisions about safeguarding against the spread of Covid-19 away from the state and to individual school districts. “Removing one layer - of masking - doesn’t mean the other layers will go away,” Tompkins said. He reminded the board tho...
MARCOLA: Last Sunday a Lane County Sheriff’s deputy patrolling Marcola Road spotted a truck that matched the description of one that had recently been stolen from the Junction City area. The deputy turned behind the truck and activated his emergency lights as the truck turned into a driveway on Old Mohawk Road. The deputy was able to confirm that the truck was the stolen truck from Junction City and took the driver, 35-year-old Rickey Lee Drummond Jr., into custody. Inside the truck the d...
For the last two months, almost every week in the McKenzie area Lane County Sheriff's Reports there's a listing for littering. Whether it's happening more frequently or is just being noticed more isn't clear according to Sgt. Tom Speldrich. Most often, dumping occurs in more remote areas, like those patrolled by the Sheriff's Office's BLM deputies. Speldrich said they deal quite a bit with people dumping off the beaten path intentionally. The ones who are caught are people who continue to use...
