Boomer Day Feb 2nd

February 2nd

Just like that - it is the beginning of February - half way between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.  Candlemas was originally a Celtic festival marking the "cross-quarter day," or midpoint of the season.

For us on the mountain, who heat with wood, we like to have at least half of our stack of wood remaining for the other half of the cold, wet days.

If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Winter has another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Winter will not come again.

Boomer, or Mountain Beaver, Day is upon us.  According to legend, if a Boomer sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter; it it doesn't, then spring is right around the corner.

The Mountain Beaver, or Boomer, lives in the Pacific Northwest where water is plentiful from Northern California to British Columbia.  The Boomer will dig tunnels near a year-around water source and dine on seedlings, ferns, rhododendrons, tree roots and grasses.  To the frustrated gardener, the Boomer will also go after almost thing being grown - beans, tomatoes, squashes, peppers, etc.  The forester may also trap and move the Boomers to protect the replanted tree seedlings.

The Boomer is a rodent, said to be the oldest living rodent, and is not at all related to a beaver.  Their tunnels allow air and water to penetrate the soil.  If the tunnels become abandoned, then other small animals - like opossums and skunks -  may find a new home.  The Boomers may also become food for larger animals, such as bobcats, coyotes, and owls.

Mountain Beavers are cautious animals and may folks who live here have never seen one.  If they hear you coming they will go hide in their tunnels and they always stay near their tunnels.  So if you head out on a walk be very quiet and alert, you may spot a Boomer.

wild fish vs hatchery fish

OregonLive has a posting on this very issue including the latest decision by a Federal Judge

Releasing Sandy River hatchery steelhead, salmon thrown into flux by federal judge

By Rob Davis | rdavis@oregonian.com 
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on January 20, 2014 at 5:40 PM

0

A federal judge has stepped into the middle of Oregon’s wild-versus-hatchery fish debate, ordering federal officials to do more to ensure hatchery fish planned for release this year don’t harm wild fish on the Sandy River, a key Columbia River tributary.

The decision has big implications for fish and anglers, not only on the Sandy, but throughout the West Coast. Similar lawsuits have been filed on other rivers in Oregon and in California.

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2014/01/releasing_sandy_river_hatchery.html#incart_river

Multnomah Falls footbridge remains closed

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The historic Multnomah Falls footbridge remains closed after a large boulder crashed through it last week, causing considerable damage.

The U.S. Forest Service reported Friday that the Benson Bridge that traverses the falls is closed indefinitely. On Jan. 9, a boulder damaged a 4-by-4-foot section of the decking and railing. No one was hurt.

The USFS is working to find a contractor who can repair the bridge, which is expected to remain closed for several months. An estimate on the cost of the repairs was not confirmed.

Meanwhile, the Larch Mountain Trail that leads from the Multnomah Falls Lodge remains open up to the bridge. However, the Multnomah-Wahkeena Loop and the Horsetail Falls Loop are both closed.

On Thursday, a group of hikers got lost on the Wahkeena Loop after discovering that the bridge was closed. They were safely rescued.

http://www.koin.com/news/oregon/multnomah-falls-bridge-closed-indefinitely

I also want to share the one comment that was posted to the KOIN article

Mick Wagner 

• 3 days ago

• −

"Several months"?? "Working to find a contractor"?? What the hell is going on here? It's not rocket science - the initial inspection showed that the substructure is sound and wasn't damaged. So it's just a matter of cutting out the damaged section, setting up a form, and pouring a new section with concrete that's made to emulate the original formula, both structurally and cosmetically. And you need a contractor and several months to get it done? I'm pretty sure I could find a Boy Scout Troop that could do that on a Saturday afternoon, as a public service project.

Leaving it as it is for "several months" is simply NOT an option, and the Forest Service needs to understand that! In addition to the damage to the tourism industry, and the literally tens - if not hundreds - of thousands of dollars that will be lost from tourists, it also creates a potentially hazardous situation. There are actually several different ways to approach the falls from the top, some with multiple sub-trails, and lots of folks take that route, with the thought that when they get to the falls, it's all downhill from there. There will be some who will get to to top of the falls, and finding the signage about the blocked bridge, may not have the stamina to re-trace their original path. Worse yet, it's possible that somebody in that position might not see the signage, and make it all the way down to the bridge, before realizing that it's blocked, and be stuck there, without the energy to make the climb back up!

If the Forest service can't take proper care of this valuable public resource, then the State of Oregon needs to exercise eminent domain and take over its ownership and operation. I'm not sure how the feds can make claim to it in the first place, since it's clearly a "waterway", and under Oregon law, is supposed to be owned by the citizens of the state!

Giant Surprise: Old Trees Grow Fastest

Giant Surprise: Old Trees Grow Fastest

by Becky Oskin, OurAmazingPlanet Staff Writer   |   January 15, 2014 


Like a fairy-tale beanstalk, a tree can grow and grow until it scrapes the sky.
Instead of slowing down as the centuries add up, old trees speed up their growth, according to a study published today (Jan. 15) in the journal Nature.
"Trees keep growing like crazy throughout their life span," said Nate Stephenson, lead study author and a forest ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Three Rivers, Calif.


- See more at: http://www.livescience.com/42578-oldest-trees-grow-fastest.html#sthash.jmt6o2Nq.dpuf

Tree Sitters Protest Logging Viewed as New Model for BLM

The Portland Tribune has a good article on the Myrtle Creek Timber Sale near Crater Lake

Tree Sitters Protest Logging Viewed as New Model for BLM

Created on Thursday, 02 January 2014 23:14 | Written by Amelia Templeton, Tony Schick, EarthFix | 

1 Comment

Last year, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management sold the rights to log a small grove of Douglas firs to a private company called Roseburg Forest Products.

Roseburg bid more than $1 million for the trees, and planned to start logging this fall.

Then the tree sitters showed up.

Stationed on wooden platforms and rope lines 100 feet in the air, members of the group Cascadia Forest Defenders are protesting what they claim is a clear cut of native forest. But the scheduled logging is also part of a pilot project designed by Northwest forestry professors to mimic nature.

The professors' plan has become politically popular and is a key component of bills proposing new management for Oregon's O&C Lands -- a checkerboard of parcels in Western Oregon named for the Oregon & California Railroad that once owned them. Those on both sides of the protest say it's potentially the first battle in the next big debate over how to manage Northwest forests.

link to the whole article http://portlandtribune.com/sl/206426-63250-tree-sitters-protest-logging-viewed-as-new-model-for-blm

Drone testing sites named

Warm Springs among FAA picks in Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii

By Andrew Clevenger / The Bulletin / @andclev

Updated Jan 1, 2014 at 12:01AM - Published Dec 31, 2013 at 12:01AM

WASHINGTON — The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs will host a drone test range as part of a national effort to integrate unmanned aerial vehicles into American airspace by the end of 2015.

On Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced its selection of six winning proposals, including the Pan-Pacific Unmanned Aerial System Test Range Complex, a three-state entry composed of Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii. The other winning sites, chosen from 25 applicants from 24 states, were the state of Nevada, Griffiss International Airport in upstate New York, the North Dakota Chamber of Commerce, Texas A&M University and Virginia Tech.

Within each site, there are multiple test ranges, and the Pan-Pacific group will have three ranges in Oregon, said Eric Simpkins, the chief operating officer of the Pan-Pacific team and Oregon’s team leader. They include an operations center on tribal land at the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs near Madras, one at Tillamook on the coast, and a third in Pendleton, based at the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport. A potential fourth test range at the Juniper Military Operations Area, a remote area where the Oregon Air National Guard trains that encompasses parts of Deschutes, Crook, Harney and Lake counties, is being “held in reserve at this time,” he said.

Simpkins said the Warms Springs site has a “very large footprint,” including almost 900 square miles of sparsely populated area. It will be used for long-term missions, as well as missions that require speed and high altitude.

The sites will conduct research that will help the FAA integrate unmanned aerial vehicles into American airspace by the end of 2015. Key focus areas will include safety and data-gathering, environmental impacts and the ability to detect and avoid other aircraft.

“The announcement is incredible for the emerging UAS industry,” Simpkins said. “To be selected is an incredible feeling.”

Although remotely piloted aircraft are often called “drones,” particularly to describe military-style predators, they are more correctly referred to as unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs. Unmanned aerial system, or UAS, describes not just the aircraft but the other elements, such as navigational equipment and pilot, involved in flying the aircraft.

Diversity of climate and geography was an important criterion for the FAA, and with sites in Alaska, the Pan-Pacific team was the only entry with an arctic component, Simpkins said. Hawaii adds a tropical element, while Oregon provides access to desert, high desert, forest and coastline environments.

“That (diversity) is going to be very important, because unmanned aerial systems, just like manned aircraft, have to fly everywhere,” Simpkins said.

The facilities at Tillamook and Pendleton are already operational, and the Warm Springs site will likely be up and running in six months, he said.

“It’s going to take awhile to spiral up,” he said.

The FAA has committed to running these sites through February 2017, which will mean millions of dollars in economic development.

The Association of Aerial Vehicle Systems International projects $13.6 billion of economic impact from UAVs within the first three years of integration into American airspace. Domestically, this will lead to the creation of 34,000 manufacturing jobs and 36,000 related jobs by the end of 2017, according to the association.

It is too early to tell what kind of economic impact Monday’s announcement will have on Central Oregon, Simpkins said. But the hope is that aviation companies will develop local facilities, and that related software and research projects will also spring up.

None of the FAA test sites will be involved in military applications, he said.

“We will concentrate on commercial and civil applications,” such as developing UAVs that can help the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration study fisheries or farmers use airborne sensors to tell whether crops in hard-to-reach places need water or fertilizer.

The FAA maintains that people living nearby a test range should not worry about having their privacy invaded by the development of new technology that could allow a UAV to hover in one place for hours.

“From the start, the FAA recognized it was important to have requirements ensuring that privacy and civil liberties are protected at the test sites,” the FAA’s news release states. “Among other requirements, test site operators must comply with federal, state, and other laws protecting an individual’s right to privacy, have publicly available privacy policies and a written plan for data use and retention, and conduct an annual review of privacy practices that allows for public comment.”

— Reporter: 202-662-7456, aclevenger@bendbulletin.com

FAA Selects Six Sites for Unmanned Aircraft Research

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After a rigorous 10-month selection process involving 25 proposals from 24 states, the Federal Aviation Administration has chosen six unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) research and test site operators across the country.

In selecting the six test site operators, the FAA considered geography, climate, location of ground infrastructure, research needs, airspace use, safety, aviation experience and risk. In totality, these six test applications achieve cross-country geographic and climatic diversity and help the FAA meet its UAS research needs.

A brief description of the six test site operators and the research they will conduct into future UAS use are below:

• University of Alaska.  The University of Alaska proposal contained a diverse set of test site range locations in seven climatic zones as well as geographic diversity with test site range locations in Hawaii and Oregon. The research plan includes the development of a set of standards for unmanned aircraft categories, state monitoring and navigation.  Alaska also plans to work on safety standards for UAS operations. 
• State of Nevada. Nevada’s project objectives concentrate on UAS standards and operations as well as operator standards and certification requirements. The applicant’s research will also include a concentrated look at how air traffic control procedures will evolve with the introduction of UAS into the civil environment and how these aircraft will be integrated with NextGen.  Nevada’s selection contributes to geographic and climatic diversity.
• New York’s Griffiss International Airport.  Griffiss International plans to work on developing test and evaluation as well as verification and validation processes under FAA safety oversight. The applicant also plans to focus its research on sense and avoid capabilities for UAS and its sites will aid in researching the complexities of integrating UAS into the congested, northeast airspace.
• North Dakota Department of Commerce.  North Dakota plans to develop UAS airworthiness essential data and validate high reliability link technology. This applicant will also conduct human factors research. North Dakota’s application was the only one to offer a test range in the Temperate (continental) climate zone and included a variety of different airspace which will benefit multiple users.
• Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi.  Texas A&M plans to develop system safety requirements for UAS vehicles and operations with a goal of protocols and procedures for airworthiness testing. The selection of Texas A&M contributes to geographic and climactic diversity.
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech).  Virginia Tech plans to conduct UAS failure mode testing and identify and evaluate operational and technical risks areas. This proposal includes test site range locations in both Virginia and New Jersey.

Across the six applicants, the FAA is confident that the agency’s research goals of System Safety & Data Gathering, Aircraft Certification, Command & Control Link Issues, Control Station Layout & Certification, Ground & Airborne Sense & Avoid, and Environmental Impacts will be met.

Each test site operator will manage the test site in a way that will give access to parties interested in using the site. The FAA’s role is to ensure each operator sets up a safe testing environment and to provide oversight that guarantees each site operates under strict safety standards.

From the start, the FAA recognized it was important to have requirements ensuring that privacy and civil liberties are protected at the test sites. Among other requirements, test site operators must comply with federal, state, and other laws protecting an individual’s right to privacy, have publicly available privacy policies and a written plan for data use and retention, and conduct an annual review of privacy practices that allows for public comment. 

Under the current law, test site operations will continue until at least February 13, 2017.

For more information go to http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/uas/.