Volunteers will work in Sisters forests

Those who treasure the forests of the Sisters Country will celebrate the restoration of nature's waters on Saturday, September 26, during Friends of the Forest Day.

The National Forest Foundation (NFF), the nonprofit arm of the U.S. Forest Service, sponsors the day. Sisters area volunteers will gather to help repair areas around Whychus Creek and Camp Polk Meadow.

Artists have banded together to focus attention on our natural areas. Artist Kathy Deggendorfer's Roundhouse Foundation provided a grant to sponsor Friends of the Forest Day. In July the Foundation held a plein air "paint out" along the banks of Whychus Creek, attended by nearly 40 artists. Their works will be displayed at the Village Green on September 26, and at Sisters Art Works, 204 W. Adams Ave., during the month of October.

Local painter Janet Guiley won the poster award. Her painting can be seen on advertising material for the event.

The morning begins at 9 a.m. at the Village Green, across from the Sisters Fire Hall. Participants will be pampered with a breakfast provided by REI of Bend. People will then be split into groups. They can choose between building trails, removing weeds, litter collection, or riparian area restoration. No one will have to go in the water and the NFF will provide gloves and tools.

At noon everyone returns to Village Green for lunch provided by Ray's Food Place, talks, and to view art from the "paint out." Things should wrap up around 2 p.m.

Several organizations have focused their attention on the Whychus Creek area, including the Pelton Round Butte Fund, Wolftree, the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council, and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

While each organization has its own mission, they all have one goal in common: restoring steelhead and Chinook salmon habitat.

The Whychus Creek project is focused on that goal.

"Whychus Creek is a local secret not many people know about," said Maret Pajutee, District Ecologist with the Sisters Forest Service. "It's a beautiful location.

"It hasn't had much management. Some of the people using it are abusing it. Cutting trees, dumping garbage, illegal road pioneering and trail building. Whychus is going to be an example of the new age recreation management. The Forest Service cannot do it alone. There is not enough money or people to do it."

Local author Martin Winch recognized the importance of the Camp Polk Meadow area around Whychus Creek so much he wrote a book about it.

"We all want to be part of a natural functioning system," Winch said. "That creek was once the prime spawning ground in the Upper Deschutes Basin."

"In the '60s the channel core was straightened to reduce flooding," explained Amanda Egertson, Stewardship Director of Deschutes Land Trust, partners in the project. "In doing so, we've lost fish habitat. We're re-meandering the stream to restore what was the premier spawning habitat for steelhead and Chinook.

"Volunteers will be putting plants in the ground to help restore native plants. We have already done a lot of weed pulls of mullein, spotted knapweed, bull thistle, teasel and Canada thistle. Non-native plants are the biggest problem. Ultimately, we will be planting 130,000 native plants, shrubs, trees, and herbaceous plants to restore 1.7 miles along the stream bank area. Beginning September 28 to the end of October we will be coming out every day."

Preregistration for FOF Day is required. Contact Candice Poliskey at 503-808-2695 or e-mail [email protected] As a thank you, all participants will receive a fee-free pass to access areas in our National Forests.