June Tour Meeting
We met at the Starker Forest office on Philomath Blvd.,
complete with the lunches recommended by our fearless
Tour Leader, Gary Blanchard. We didn't have enough people
to fill the 14-passenger bus. Gary told us that Starker's
named their various segments of forest after previous owners,
and the one we visited is named the Dan Farmer segment.
We got there in short order and almost immediately were
looking at a whole lot ot Douglas Iris. Big patches spread
alongside the road. Thimbleberry, too. And Ali spotted an
anemone. Gary told us something about tree farm operations.
Thinning once, followed years later by thinning again, followed
by finally clear cutting the large trees that had been let grow
until they were at last harvested. Just in case our lunches proved
inadequate, Marlene had brought a big tin of chocolate chip
cookies. Somehow we got into the cookies before eating lunch
and lunch became superfluous. We stopped a while by a pond
that drained throiugh a culvert, and Gary said that beavers kept
trying to dam the culvert. Starker's had to keep taking out the
dam so the pond didn't overflow ant take out the road. We ate
lunch at a viewpoint from which we saw a lot of countryside.
There was an odd vehicle parked where slash was being cleaned
up and piled for burning. It had 2 wheels and several legs. This
combination allowed it to work on steep slopes, picking up and
piling the woody debris for burning. At one point, Gary stopped
and pointed at a tree, asking if we could name it. When we
couldn't, he told us it is a black walnut, evidence of an old
homesite. There were many small holdings in the woods long ago,
but as towns became more attractive and 'country' living
became more arduous, people abandoned their remote houses
and moved where they could travel by wagon instead of
horseback and had access to some neighbors and grocery
stores. We said goodbye to Dan Farmer's plot and went back to
Starker's. Thank you Gary and Marlene.
Next Board Meeting: July 22 at Elmer's on 9th Street
at 7:30am.
