Forest is home to "industrial' site

Log trucks once rolled through Sisters in great numbers. Not anymore. From the paucity of log rigs, one might think the U.S. Forest Service was out of business - but they're not.

One of the factors that makes our forest valuable -aside from providing wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities - is the diversity of life one can find among all those magnificent trees.

The evidence of all that diversity came to light recently with a call to The Nugget from a concerned forest-user regarding what he thought was a messy camping site along Rd. 1217, west of the Metolius River.

Special Forest Products Officer and Forest Protection Officer Jeremy Fields responded to questions about the reported trash at what appears to be an abandoned campsite. What came out of a meeting with Fields was a surprise - and a good look at how the Forest Service carries out its business.

What the concerned citizen thought was a "messy camping site" is actually a regulated, pay-for-use industrial site used by mushroom-pickers in season. It is presently being used by pinecone-pickers.

Many of the mushroom-pickers are Thai, as Fields noted.

There are frame structures made of poles there, and a black plastic hut that looks out of place in the forest, but upon inspecting the plastic-covered structure, Fields said, "It's difficult for me to put myself into Thai culture, like this place. They not only dry mushrooms here, but they live in this tiny tent. I don't know if I could do that."

The buildings are made from poles left over from a thinning operation that took place previously, and cut from the nearby forest.

"It doesn't make sense to ask them to remove all these structures; they'll only come back next year and cut more poles and do it all over again," Fields said.

The site is a paying proposition for both the USFS and the people who use the area.

It's a modest operation. Unlike Crescent Ranger District, which sees thousands of mushroom-pickers in spring and summer, the Sisters district only has 50 or so using the paid-for industrial site. Adjoining the camping area are several numbered sites mushroom-buyers pay for when they set up their operation.

As Fields passed one of the buyers' spaces he pointed to the sign and said, "This is where Mr. Kim sets up his operation. He's one of the nicest people I know, and you know what? When he leaves there's nothing for us to do but look forward to him returning next season."

After a pause, Fields grinned and said, "Last year we presented Mr. Kim with the neatest-camper-of-the-year award."

Instead of reacting to dispersed actions on the land, the Sisters Ranger District has established a designated area in the basin where industrial activities can occur. Typically this activity is buying and selling of mushrooms. However, pinecone-collectors and other "industrial' campers stay there too, including biker groups.

There are three plastic containers with used motor oil in them set out of the way, signs that someone changed oil in that location.

"Yeah, that's not allowed with their permit," Fields said, shaking his head. Then he added, "But look, they left it set away from any chance of fire or spilling, and I'll bet it will be gone in a couple of days."

Another aspect of the industrial camp is the permit-buyers must provide toilets. The Forest Service supplies two big dumpsters for personal trash, and they are emptied twice through the season. It's difficult to see today where they are placed each season; the soil is disturbed in a way that could have been a logging landing left over from the thinning operation.

One other factor seems to make the industrial site work smoothly: Each season Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council and the Youth Conservation Corps conduct the annual spring cleaning of the area before permits are sold. There is a fall cleanup as well.

Fields noted how quickly the mushrooms gathered at the site travel from the forests of Sisters Country. In two days they will be on the table as a delicacy in Korea and other parts of Asia.