Friends of the Forest restore nature sites

Three dozen volunteers gathered Saturday morning at the Allingham Guard Station to restore trail heads in Camp Sherman on behalf of Friends of the Forest (FOF).

FOF representative Mary Vasse, the NW Director for National Forest Foundation said the foundation tries to connect people to the land. It's a way for people of all ages to take part in the forest and be productive.

The FOF planned restoration of three sites: the Head of the Metolius, the Head of Jack Creek Trail, and the Suttle Lake Trail.

At the Head of the Metolius they are fixing parts of the fence and patching spots along the trail.

Head of Jack Creek is one of the places with handicap access. Volunteers swept off the trail, removing large sticks and stones, cleaning brush and painting the bathroom.

At Suttle Lake they are shoring up the trail with wooden supports so the banks don't bleed into the lake. Trail tread and water bars will also be restored and an area where boaters tie in will be fixed.

They brought sanders so they could refinish picnic tables at all the sites.

Fourteen clients of Deschutes County Juvenile Justice along with two crew leaders, Don Bradford and Lee Chamberlin, came to assist. When the juvenile group arrived they added a fourth project. The kids got to work on the Metolius River Trail to obliterate the old trail which was too close to the river. A new trail was built last year by volunteers.

Staff members said they find the kids are more enthusiastic about doing outdoor projects in wilderness than anything else they do.

"We are here to help the environment," one young man said. "Without the environment, we wouldn't have oxygen or animals."

Several affiliates contributed to make the day's event possible. Among them are the Friends of the Metolius, the Deschutes Basin Land Trust, the Metolius River Forest Homeowner's Association, and the Nature Conservancy. Ray's Food Place donated lunch; the Camp Sherman Store donated drinks. REI provided breakfast food and snacks and shirts showcasing the event, and coupons. The Samuel S. Johnson Foundation was also a sponsor.

Projects were all completed by noon and the group returned for a quick lunch. Nate Cachtler, Fisheries Biologist for the Sisters Ranger District, gave a talk on the log implantation project on the Metolius. The logs will improve habitat and hopefully increase salmon populations.

Some people have expressed concern the bull trout who have taken over the river will eat too many of the Chinook, Kokanee, and sockeye salmon. Dachtler said that while they don't really know what will ultimately happen, they feel that before man interfered the fish did fine together and they will probably continue to do fine. It is normal for fish populations to fluctuate, Dachtler explained, and he added that currently bull trout populations are down as well.

The party broke up after lunch, but the Juvenile Justice kids volunteered to return to the trail and do some more work.