Wildlife, Hiking, New Forest & More!

Wow, there was a lot of major news crammed into this 4 day work week! So here it is;

The positive news:

Story #1

Courtesy of Oregon Forestry Dept

“Oregon Lottery – It does good things” - Oregon created a new state forest for the first time since 1948, 43,000 acres of young pine trees in central Oregon. The state purchased the land from Fidelity National Timber Resources Inc., of Whitefish, Mont., with $15 million in lottery-backed bonds.

The land was owned for much of the 20th century by the founders of the town of Gilchrist. The department said Gilchrist Timber Co. sold it to Crown Pacific Partners, which logged the timber in the 1990s and replanted before going broke. Fidelity National Timber Resources bought 293,000 acres from Crown Pacific in 2006. It is the real estate subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial Inc., a title insurance company based in Florida.

The sale was part of a strategy of finding buyers who would maintain conservation benefits of the land, said Greg Lane, executive vice president of Fidelity National Timber Resources. – Source: Registered Guard

Story #2

Oregon Dept of Fish & Wildlife announced Rocky Mountain Goat reintroduction. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs are about to move 30 to 40 Rocky Mountain goats from their home in the Elkhorn Mountains onto the slopes of Oregon’s second-tallest peak.

He said the goats will be trapped with a drop-net in northeast Oregon’s Elkhorn Mountains, home of the state’s 400-strong parent herd.

They will be taken to the upper headwaters of the Whitewater River, which is on the Warm Springs Reservation.

Assuming all goes well, he said, additional transplant sites in the future might include the slopes of Three Sisters, Three Fingered Jack and, eventually, the Columbia River Gorge.

A few introductions were attempted in the gorge a few decades ago, but only a few goats at a time were transplanted, not enough to establish breeding herds. – Source: Oregon Live

Story #3

Courtesy of NAU

Project Wilderness is up for a $10,000 grant which you can help us win! NAU.Com a Portland, Oregon based clothing company is awarding $10,000 to support one non-profit who instigates lasting, positive change in their communities.

You ask, what will Project Wilderness do with the $10,000 if they win? Well, here’s your answer:

Project Wilderness is working to break the mold of standard non-profit funding by developing a Portland based for-profit subsidiary.

“The Green House”, a wilderness themed ale house will donate 100% of proceeds above and beyond standard operating expenses for Project Wilderness to improve & expand public land in the Pacific Northwest. In addition The Green House will serve as a conduit to further engage the community in stewardship education and volunteerism.

Click the link to vote for Project Wilderness!

http://www.nau.com/collective/grant-for-change/project-wilderness-1375.html.share

Tragic news:

Courtesy of Terry Richard

News reports said a hiker fell to his death on Saddle Mountain this past weekend. Reports said the accident occurred after a group of hikers reached the mountain’s 3,283-foot summit Sunday. One of the hikers in his 20s apparently went out on a ledge to take some pictures, lost his footing and fell more than 100 feet down a steep slope. Rescuers said the hiker died shortly after a rescue climber was able to reach him. – Source: KATU

This is not the first death at saddle mountain and recently a hiker died at Silver Falls State Park.

Remember while hiking obey signs warning of danger & do not climb over any fence. The photo is not worth your life.

Dominic Aiello

Founder & President

www.projectwilderness.org

www.facebook.com/projectwilderness

www.twitter.com/prowilderness

It’s always sunny on cleanup days!

Buttes Creek

Follow me for a moment; You wake-up in the morning to the phone ringing, you answer; “Good morning Dominic, I heard you were going to be out in the woods today. What would you like the weather to be? Rainy & cold or sunny & decent?” Hmmm, hard decision there!

I must say, although the weatherman would never call me and can’t change the weather it sure seems he’s looking out for Project Wilderness on cleanup days! I can’t recall a single cleanup that it rained. So not only do we get to spend sunny days out in mountains & forest, which, we may not have otherwise had the chance to experience, but we’re making it better! No matter how tired I am after a cleanup, I always feel good.

On Saturday, March 27th we worked out in the Scotts Mills, Oregon area forest. This area was reported to us from local recreational shooters that noticed trash accumulating. Even though they packed out more debris than they created it didn’t seem to make an impact. We cleaned what appeared to be two small shooting areas, little did we know one would turn out to be a dumpsite;

Site #1

Site #1

Pulling up to site # 1, pictured above, we jumped out eager to pickup trash. Divide and conquer was the plan. Of course this site and site # 2 look small, especially compared to other cleanups we’ve done, however don’t judge a book by it’s cover. The worst of the trash had been thrown into the bushes, which was full of thorns!

After - Site # 1

Site #2

Pulling up to site # 2, I quote myself saying, “Oh nice this one doesn’t look to bad, it shouldn’t take long”. Ok, that is the last time I say that…ever. Again divide and conquer was the plan. I was cleaning up a destroyed 90′s style cassette player/radio when I hear;

Asha – “Anyone interested in going for a swim?”

Me; “No, why?”

Asha – “Well, because there’s a kiddie pool over here.”

That was good for a laugh, until the reality hit. It just wasn’t a kiddie pool, but lots of household garbage that had been dumped over the edge with it.

Site #2

Let me tell you, I thought I’d seen the nastiest stuff during previous cleanups. However, I think I’ve come across the winner. A bag full of decomposing diapers. They had started to turn into this green ooze, and the smell…yuck, almost enough to make you vomit. After everything was said and done we gathered 384 cubic feet of garbage on the 27th.

To-date Project Wilderness has been in existence for less than 1 year and we’ve removed 6,528 cubit feet of garbage from public land in the Pacific Northwest! Check out projectwilderness.org for all the cleanups to-date.

Dominic Aiello
Founder & President
www.projectwilderness.org

What’s your reason?

“What’s Your Reason?” – Well? What is your reason? Why do you want to help improve & expand public land? Is it to ensure you have beautiful natural areas to enjoy, is it solitude you strive for, to ensure you have healthy populations of animals to hunt, or maybe to ensure your children and grandchildren get to enjoy the beautiful Pacific Northwest?

Whatever your reason is, we understand it and we understand how important this cause is. It’s an unfortunate reality of today that with the more populated the pacific northwest becomes the more trafficked and trashed our land becomes.

This is the message we talked about at the Pacific Northwest Sportsmen show in Portland over the past 5 days. Speaking with nearly 500 individuals we learned that most of the land users do what they can to “Leave No Trace” by packing out what they packed in! Many times the first question was “are you pro-hunting?”. Our answer to this is exactly as it’s written in our position statements – “Project Wilderness is not opposed to any lawful, ethical, responsible and safe recreational activity on public land…” This quailed fears that we might be a political advocacy group trying to lock groups out of the forest. Many even asked, and signed up, to volunteer at future events!
Oh and I can’t forget to mention that the Jerky Hut was on our left and kept feeding me “free samples” which of course suckered me into buying the double habanero explosion of fire in your mouth. Wow, that stuff is HOT!! On Sunday we walked around to check out all the goodness and I even picked up a few items for myself.

It was a long but great 5 days. We look forward to working with everyone in future cleanup events. Speaking of trash on public land; we’re currently looking for input on public access areas that are in need of assistance.

To recap the project we’d been working on over the past couple months; we’ve completed the restoration site along the Wilson River. After cutting down Himalayan Blackberries and cutting 6 & 7 inch thick rooted English Ivy off mature trees. In replace of those invasive species we planted:

Big Leaf Maple
Black Cottonwood
Western Red Cedar
Sitka Spruce
Vine Maple
Indian Plum
Cascara
Crabapple

Also, a trail was added allowing easier access to the Wilson River.

Make sure to email us your suggestions or request for cleanup location(s) in Oregon or Washington and then stay tuned to see the schedule coming for spring!! Until then, enjoy our beautiful Pacific Northwest! Here’s a couple photos from planting;

Asha Planting

Dominic Planting

Trees Planted

Green Night Out – Music for Conservation

Green Night Out – Music for Conservation
A night of live music, 2 bands, (Pilar French / Jackson Jackson and the Citizens), door prizes, raffle prizes, dinner & drinks and silent auction to benefit Project Wilderness habitat restoration & public land expansion programs in Oregon for 2010.

$5 suggested donation at the door.
A portion of all food and drink proceeds will be donated by The Agency Ultra Sports Lounge.

Auction Preview:
Date Night – One night stay for two in “Portland’s ‘Most Romantic Hotel” (City Search) / 1 of the world’s top 500 hotels (Travel & Leisure Magazine). Including romance package, vip parking, food & alcohol!
Gardeners Package – One pair of Felco pruners, leather pouch, gift certificate to Portland Nursery, certificate for thirty 4″ pansies from Al’s Garden center & 2 passes to the Japanese Garden in Portland!
U4E.com -Two “Buffer Zone” jackets of any size or color which utilizes Rose City Textiles Pacific Tech Micro Weave fabric, 59% of which is composed of yarns made from recycled plastic beverage containers. The Fill is made by Thermore and is made of 50% virgin polyester and 50% high performance recycled fibers.
AND MUCH MORE!

When: Thur, Jan 14th 2010 at 7pm.

Where: The Agency Ultra Sports Lounge
1939 Southwest Morrison Street
Portland, OR 97205

Sponsors: U4E.com, The Vintage Plaza Hotel, Pacifica Perfume, Portland Nursery, The Agency Ultra Sports Lounge, Hopworks Urban Brewery, Al’s garden Center, Portland Timbers, Portland Beavers, Portland Art Museum, Portland Spirit, Rogue Brewery, Pyramid Brewery, Japanese Gardens, and more!

Contact: Dominic Aiello (503)484-6292 / ProjectWilderness@gmail.com

Sponsor logo’s not included yet.