News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 50
Meadows are rare in the deep forests of Sisters Country. Found near rivers and springs, their deeper loamy soils grow grasses and summer wildflowers and, when wet enough, discourage trees. People have been drawn to meadows for centuries, to camp, graze animals, cultivate grasses, and gaze at a portal to the open sky. If you park at the Allingham Bridge in Camp Sherman and walk upstream on the west side of the Metolius River Trail, you walk beside Allingham Meadow. First you cr... Full story
Maybe you were out for a walk recently on a cool morning and then had to stop and stare at a familiar landscape, now painted with color. Tiny hot-pink monkeyflowers across a sandy flat, a pine forest bright with the yellow sunflowers of balsamroot, or a meadow scattered with waving stalks of blue flax. It’s been an exceptional year for wildflowers in Sisters Country and now is the time to enjoy them before late summer heat. Sisters has an unusual amount of plant diversity b... Full story
When people hear the name Perry South they often think of a remote and scenic campground on the shores of Lake Billy Chinook with boating, eagles, and a few rattlesnakes. Some even ask, “Where is Perry North?” But the name honors a special ranger who began his work on the banks of the Metolius River in the old Allingham Ranch house in 1906, in the earliest days of the Forest Service. He went on to serve in Sisters for over 20 years, longer than any other ranger to this day... Full story
They say getting older is not for sissies. If we are lucky, things go along pretty smoothly for a long time. But suddenly, we notice we are on a bit of a downhill slide. Then, one thing after another seems to go wrong. When I told my husband, Rod, about an Internet video proclaiming to test agility and strength as we age, he was ready to try it. Yes, it’s called “The Old Man Test,” but it’s open to old ladies too. You start by standing in bare feet, with a pair of untied... Full story
Guy Ferry was a 26-year-old University of Oregon graduate who loved to climb and explore the Cascades with his good friend, 23-year-old Henry Cramer. They grew up in The Dalles and had been in a fraternity together at the university. It was early September, 1927, and fall in the Cascades can be so beautiful. They took off in a Model?T for Frog Camp off the McKenzie Pass, to climb mountains. Frog Camp was in Forest Ranger Prince Glaze’s territory, and he came across the y... Full story
He was an Oregon boy, born in the Willamette Valley in 1877, raised in Prineville, spending summer months in a cabin near Black Butte. His proud father, Tillman Glaze, saloon keeper, horse breeder, fiddler, and homesteader of Glaze Meadow, named his firstborn son “Prince Jerry Glaze.” Prince grew up wandering in wild Central Oregon landscapes. I imagine him learning to handle a horse in the rugged juniper and sage canyons near the Crooked River and playing with his two sis... Full story
As we walked the old road, we could see glimpses of Whychus Creek, though most was hidden by a living screen of old cottonwoods, pines, and willow. It had been at least 23 years since Martin and Carolyn Winch first visited Camp Polk. We asked permission from the Deschutes Land Trust to enter the Camp Polk Meadow Preserve on this cool and sunny December day, to take a walk and look at several decades worth of restoration efforts by the Land Trust and its many partners and... Full story
Imagine walking in a grove of pine trees on a summer evening. There’s a large meadow nearby and you are drawn toward it and the sunset colors. As you walk, you hear the soft crunch of fallen pine needles under your feet. But suddenly you hear something else. A sweet thread of violin music, sending an old tune soaring across the grasses and wildflowers of Glaze Meadow. In front of you is an old split-rail fence; as you step over it and walk toward the shadow of Black Butte, y... Full story
Living among the pine forests of Sisters, many of us enjoy a feeling of solitude with only trees, birds, and wind for company. But sometimes there’s been someone watching over us. For over 100 years there have been people climbing swaying trees, scaling towers, and living on mountain tops scanning the sky. I was lucky to be one of the sentinels. Most of the time nothing happens as you watch the mountains and they watch you. Then in an instant the work begins, scanning and m... Full story
The story goes that Sisters had a river once, then we lost it, but then we found it again. This is a tale distilled from science but fueled by community passion. It reminds us that we can overcome huge challenges with the work of a village of willing souls. As the Sisters Ranger District ecologist for 25 years, I had a front-row seat as the Forest Service began to look at landscapes in new and different ways. Beginning in the 1990s, this shift started moving our National... Full story
My memories of Indian Ford Meadow live in many snapshots. In the early 1960s my father Harry Pajutee was awarded a contract to put in a water system at a new development in Indian Ford called “The Hill.” His lawyer Rockne Gill invited us to visit his sister Donna Gill’s Indian Ford Guest Ranch nearby. As an eight-year-old from the city and a first generation Estonian American I had never seen a place like this. There were cowboys, fiddle players, a pool, cabins, dining room di... Full story
Their faces were streaked with dirt, but they had a certain glow about them that wasn't just sunburn. The 12-person "Red" Crew of the Northwest Youth Corps, a youth development and outdoor education organization, spent last week undertaking the largest restoration project ever performed on the summit of Black Butte. They improved one of Central Oregon's favorite hiking trails, restored habitat - and rescued a baby golden eagle to boot. The mountaintop has been the most... Full story
Almost 100 years ago, a man killed a wolf and was unexpectedly transformed as he stared into the dying wolf's green eyes. Last Thursday night a crowd of over 100 people gathered to hear the story of how the death of a wolf gave life to a new era of holistic stewardship at the Central Oregon premiere of "Green Fire" at Sisters Movie House. The documentary film recounts the continuing influence of conservationist Aldo Leopold, best known as author of "A Sand County Almanac," and shows how his ideas are still fueling a... Full story
Early on the first morning of December, with cold grey skies over Sisters and the icy scent of snow on the way, most kids would be sitting behind a desk in class. But thanks to a new Forest Service initiative to reconnect kids with the natural world, Kit Stafford's middle school Arts Discovery class was at Cold Springs, circled around a warm campfire, drinking hot chocolate after scrambling over rocks and learning how Native Americans once used the area. Sisters Ranger... Full story
Umbrellas and easels sprouted in strange places along the banks of Whychus Creek last weekend as Sisters hosted the first Whychus "Paint-Out." The outdoor art competition attracted 30 Plein Air artists from across Oregon to capture their vision of a wild river that few people know. Artists had only four hours to hike, paint, frame their piece, and return it to Sisters Art Works for judging. "Plein Air" comes from the French expression "En plein air" which is commonly... Full story
Those who care about wildlife know that old barbed wire fences can be fatal to deer, elk and birds moving through the forests and meadows near Sisters. The Sierra Club and East Cascades Bird Conservancy are looking for volunteers to join them in removing old fencing near Black Butte Swamp and Glaze Meadow on Saturday, August 16, to make this scenic area a little safer. Project coordinator Marilyn Miller is a certified naturalist with a passion for fence removal because of its... Full story
Sisters Ranger District Inmates, like most folks who see the Cascades from atop Black Butte, found the sight soul stirring. Photo by Maret Pajutee Mountain tops have always been places for reflection and soul searching. Inmates contracted to dismantle an old lookout tower on Black Butte earlier this month marveled at the beauty and spoke of their lives, their mistakes, and their hopes for the future. Keith Gleave of Portland sees a change in his future and credits the unique program forged between the Department of... Full story
Sisters District Ecologist, Deschutes National Forest Inmate workers sort through the wreckage of the old Black Butte Tower. Photo by Maret Pajutee It's been nearly 70 years since the sound of hammers on wood and the shouts of a large crew of men echoed on the top of Black Butte near Sisters. In 1934 the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) laboriously assembled a new fire lookout tower using a thousand loads of lumber carried up the mountain by pack horses. Last week the job was to take apart the tower ruins with a 20-man... Full story
The legacy of this summer's wildfires continued last week, as an emergency fire rehabilitation crew labored to protect severely burned slopes of the Eyerly fire north of Sisters to reduce the threat of soil erosion. More than 900 bags of winter wheat and annual rye totaling 47,000 pounds were seeded by helicopter onto steep and remote drainages of Spring and Street Creek above Lake Billy Chinook. The plants are expected to persist for three to five years and then die out, acting as a "nurse crop" for native plants... Full story
An unusual restoration team of 800 goats came to Sisters last week to help control a massive noxious weed infestation in the Eyerly Wildfire area. A dense infestation of spotted knapweed threatens to take over thousands of acres of burned land in the beautiful and remote Fly Creek drainage on the eastern fringe of the Sisters Ranger District. The weed-eating goats have a taste for knapweed and quickly consume flowers, destroying developing weed seeds. The Fly Creek weed problem was identified as a potential ecosystem... Full story
Sisters Ranger District Ecologist Hikers studied Metolius area wildflowers. Wildflowers, fire and forest management were the topic of a Forest Service field tour in Allingham Meadow along the Metolius River on Saturday, June 29. A group of flower enthusiasts took to the trail to identify plants in the meadow and view two rare wildflowers of the Sisters area in bloom -- Peck's penstemon and the tall agoseris. Displays of blue flax, cinquefoil, broad-leaved lupine, and scarlet gila tinted the meadow and participants enjoyed... Full story
Forest Service workers salvaged wildflowers from a construction site at Suttle Lake. Forest Service crews broke ground at Suttle Lake Resort last week, beginning a summer full of changes for the popular recreation area. But crews were not building the new entrance road or helping with resort improvements. They were digging up and saving wildflowers and other native plants. Construction of a new, safer entrance road to Suttle Lake Resort and Cinder Beach is set to begin in late June. The new road will pass through a shady... Full story
Fifteen volunteers helped make Squaw Creek a little more scenic during river cleanup on Saturday, May 22. The group visited six sites, from Petersen Ridge to the Sisters city limits, learned about river issues, and removed 50 bags of trash. The trash was predominantly beer cans, food containers, and other discards including numbers of spent ammunition casings. Many in the group found treasure as well, discovering secret spots, including scenic canyon overlooks and areas where the wild creek swirls between cliffs and old... Full story
Aliens have invaded and they are taking over the town of Sisters. New colonies are forming everywhere. But don't call the X Files; these green aliens are not from outer space. They are aggressive, nonnative plants, noxious weeds which are rapidly degrading native plant and wildlife habitats and eroding land values in Central Oregon. Look carefully at local roadways, the industrial park, and vacant lots. You'll notice that areas which supported native shrubs and wildflowers a year ago are now dominated by Spotted or Diffuse Kn... Full story
Redtinged pine trees along forest roads have forest watchers concerned about some new blight or damage from wildfires. But the red cast to the pine trees is expected in the aftermath of prescribed fire. According to Fire Specialist Mark Rapp, during the first few weeks after a wet spring burn people venturing to the forests will see blackened tree boles, small dead trees, blackened shrub stems, and lots of red needles caused by fire scorch and heat pulses. The red needles do not always mean the trees are dead. Trees with 15... Full story
