Make the McKenzie Connection!
Make the McKenzie Connection!
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The Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) is accepting grant applications for the new Small Forestland Investment in Stream Habitat (SFISH) Program. “Our goal is to improve fish habitat and water quality while helping small forestland owners fix their roads which are essential for the management of their forestlands,” said SFISH program coordinator Josh Hanson. The SFISH Program is a grant program established to help small forestland owners (SFOs) with road improvement projects that increase fis...
Rural residents who need help with fuels reduction to help make their homes less at risk from wildfire may be able to receive up to $4,000 in work from Lane County – and, unlike other grant programs, it does not require property owners to cover any of the cost. The focus of the grant is providing 50 feet of defensible space around homes through vegetation clearing. “This new grant funding is going to make a big difference for at least 100 properties in our community,” said Lane County Land Management Technician Cammryne Anderson. “Othe...
A whitewater fleet took part in the 3rd annual Christmas boat parade organized by the Horse Creek Lodge. Lights, Christmas trees, and background tunes all added to the festive scene that was greeted with cheers from bankside viewers....
A newly released report contains several measures a transportation consulting firm says could improve safety along the Hwy. 126 corridor. Using crash data from 2016 to 2020, DKS Associates of Salem identified nine safety focus areas, primarily from Vida to the west. They include the Walterville canal bridge, the area near the Leaburg hydroelectric spillway, and Ben and Kay Dorris Park, as well as four intersections with Hwy. 126 - at Deerhorn Road, Ross Lane, Holden Creek (east and west),...
Habitat for Humanity, the Late Bloomers Garden Club, and other volunteers were busy last week on the grounds of the Vida McKenzie Community Center. Their work will help stabilize areas along the center’s driveway entrance and slopes below the south bank retaining wall....
Despite a reputation for being ill-natured and mean-tempered, the Grinch didn’t dampen holiday cheer when he visited McKenzie Feed and Tackle over the weekend. The two-day Christmas Party proved to be popular with plenty of shoppers and families....
EUGENE: The Lane County Board of County Commissioners has voted 3-2 to begin the process of building an Integrated Materials & Energy Recovery Facility (IMERF) in Goshen. The facility is described as potentially the most technologically advanced waste processing facility in the country and will be designed and built by a local manufacturer, Bulk Handling Systems (BHS). The new process will involve gathering residential garbage, commingled recycling, and organic waste to produce marketable...
To avoid major lawsuits under the federal Endangered Species Act, state and federal agencies have crafted a plan to reduce the amount of timber logged from Oregon’s western state-owned forests annually by up to 40%. Officials in some counties that have relied on those timber revenues for the past 80 years are angry and worried about the impact that could have on their budgets and social services. Last week, the Oregon Department of Forestry released its long-awaited projections showing how m...
BLUE RIVER: It may not be brick and mortar but a small coffee shop is making a stand as the first business to be up and running in “downtown” Blue River. “I didn’t think about it,” admits Jess Boykin when asked about that status. “It’s soaked in now and it’s kind of awesome.” Growing up near Bear Creek, she had life-long ties to the area but an urge to serve caused her to change course. She attended McKenzie Schools until the ninth grade when her desire to be part of the military caused h...
COUGAR DAM: A landslide closed Forest Service Road 19 (Aufderheide Drive) on Sunday near milepost 55.5 about ¾ of a mile south of Cougar Dam. Although the road has reopened, traffic is currently reduced to one lane. Repair work is expected to be ongoing and intermittent with the possibility of more rock falls, according to forest spokesmen. Due to stormy weather, the current condition of many roads and trails is unknown. Roads may not be passable due to fallen trees, rocks, debris, water, snow,...
Warnings of another atmospheric river didn’t douse the enthusiasm of runners who turned out for Saturday’s running of the “Storm the Castle” half marathon in Rainbow. The event, organized by Elevated Trail Racing, was an out-and-back 6.5 mile long course that began and ended at the Upper McKenzie Community Center. Along the way participants crossed the McKenzie River via the Belknap Covered Bridge and climbed up and down 2,815 feet to the top of Castle Rock....
Santa and his elf weren’t alone in spreading Holiday cheer at the Vida Community Center’s Christmas Bazaar last Saturday. The annual event drew a steady stream of people to the event inside the Walterville Grange Hall to sample vendor’s offerings, music and food....
Oregon’s top elected officials pledged to spend millions of dollars on winter road maintenance after dire warnings from the state Department of Transportation that highways would go unplowed because of a budget shortfall. Gov. Tina Kotek, Senate President Rob Wagner, and House Speaker Dan Rayfield announced Monday that the state would commit $19 million to make up the shortfall and allow the department to buy snow plows, purchase sand and salt for deicing roads and fix potholes and damaged p...
Since its closure on October 23rd, upgrade work at the Finn Rock Landing has been underway. Details of the project, owned and managed by McKenzie River Trust (MRT), include building a better road base, creating safer traffic flow, and the installation of new parking stalls. Other improvements to the popular site, which attracts as many as 400 people a day in the summer. will range from ADA-accessible walkways and fencing to bird-friendly lighting, picnic tables, and garbage receptacles. The...
FINN ROCK: Staff on the McKenzie Community School campus will be punching in and out soon, thanks to a plan approved at the district's November 15th board meeting. With a unanimous vote, the district board approved the purchase of software that will be used to operate timeclocks that are already installed in all the site’s buildings and are to be used by all employees to both check in and check out each workday. The costs of the system will be reimbursed by the state. In other business, Lacey Joy, the district’s special programs coo...
Beneath a Beaver moon, the McKenzie River Discovery Center was also a beacon....
Forest modeling by Oregon State University scientists shows that a site’s productivity – an indicator of how fast trees grow and how much biomass they accumulate – is the main factor that determines which time period between timber harvests allows for maximum above-ground carbon sequestration. The findings, published in the journal Forests, are important for Pacific Northwest forest managers seeking to strike an optimal balance between harvesting and carbon sequestration, an important tool...
Sharp-eyed folks can be rewarded if luck is with them on their hikes. Starting last Friday, two hundred locally crafted wooden ornaments were hidden along trails across the Willamette National and Umpqua National Forests. The annual Willamette Valley Ornament Hunt is now in its sixth year and will run until December 31st. People who locate them can register to win this year’s grand prize, which includes a two-night getaway in the Willamette Valley. Locally, some ornaments were placed on the M...
Local events got underway last week at both ends of the River, with a fair in Walterville and a dinner in Rainbow. More is planned next month, starting with the Walterville Grange hosting its annual Holiday Dinner and Open House on December 2nd. The Holiday Dinner and Open House will be held on Tuesday, December 12th, with doors open at 6 and dinner at 6:30 p.m. The program will start at 7:30 PM. Upriver, a raft parade float will be part of the Holiday Bridge Lighting Ceremony on Saturday,...
When considering traction tires for winter travel, the Oregon Dept. of Transportation is reminding motorists that they have several alternatives. Because studded tires damage pavement, ODOT encourages drivers to consider using chains or non-studded traction tires. “Traction tires” are studded tires, retractable studded tires, or other tires that meet the tire industry definition as suitable for use in severe snow conditions. Tires that meet Rubber Manufacturers Association standards for use in...
More than 1,100 Oregon households have received help from a $150 million wildfire recovery program the state set up after residents lost their homes during the devastating 2020 Labor Day fires. Three years later, the area is still recovering from the wildfires, which burned more than 1 million acres and destroyed or heavily damaged more than 4,300 homes in an eight-county region of Oregon. A full recovery is still years away. Since the fall of 2021, the Oregon Housing & Community Services agency...
The trade-offs between hydropower dams and endangered salmon in the Willamette Valley have been on full display in public feedback in a series of meetings hosted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The public meetings took place as an operational change at two dams meant to help fish is deluging rivers with mud. Willamette Valley residents and conservationists weighed in on the future of eight hydropower dams operated by the corps and the future of endangered salmon in three public comment...
BLUE RIVER: Besides reconfiguring the way traffic passes through the community, Lane County planners have also been exploring ways changes to zoning might help Blue River area recovery efforts. At a public meeting last week people were encouraged to comment on three different community plans. Two focused on the “downtown” area from west to east along Blue River Drive up to the bridge. The third option extends from the bridge to the McKenzie Schools campus. Under Alternative 1 (Downtown Fle...
McKenzie River startups, entrepreneurs, and small business owners are all invited to participate free of charge in the Destination Creation Course, a nationally recognized program for small businesses. The course will involve two all-day sessions in February and March with breakfast and lunch provided. Funding for the classes, valued at $800, comes from Lane County and RAIN Catalysts. The Destination Creation Course was developed by internationally renowned business consultant Jon Schallert. Jon’s Destination Business Strategy and has been used...
