Recent FANtastic Activities
FANs of the Deschutes Canyon Area hosted a booth at Crooked River Ranch's Independence Day Celebration in June 2018. Lots of local residents stopped by to learn more about native plants and our public lands.
Our Ring in Summer Member Party was great fun, as we celebrated local public lands conservation successes this year.
FANs of the Deschutes Canyon Area volunteers weeded around one-year old showy milkweed plants at Steelhead Falls Monarch Way Stations in May 2018.
Author and hiking guru William L. Sullivan returned to Crooked River Ranch in May 2018 to present "New Hikes in Oregon." A crowd of 50 hiking enthusiasts listened carefully, with many taking notes about future hikes to plan.
In April 2018, Marilynne Keyser shared a slideshow of native plants in the Deschutes Canyon Area to 36 participants. The group then visited the Native Plant Interpretive Garden at Crooked River Ranch.
To celebrate Earth Day 2018, twenty four volunteers came together to pull invasive mullein and Scotch thistle at Horny Hollow Trailhead near the Lower Crooked River.
In April 2018, FANs hiking leaders, Jeff Scheetz and Eric Hansen, and photographer Tom Iraci, shared the beauty of the canyons near Crooked River Ranch and discussed safe hiking essentials with an audience of more than 50 outdoor enthusiasts.
An audience of 65 people, in March 2018, learned from Gail Snyder about the importance of collaboration and complex problem solving to restore the health of the Upper Deschutes River.
In February 2018, Jerry Freilich demonstrated to an audience of more than 50 people that bees are extremely difficult to identify even to the family level (let alone species). Most native bees in Central Oregon are ground nesters.
In November 2017, Paul Bannick shared with a captive audience his multimedia presentation on the lives of owls. Paul emphasized the importance of preserving and managing our diverse public lands to support healthy owl populations.
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Upcoming Events and ProjectsFree Guided Hikes - Sign Up Now
All guided hikes are free. To help reduce damage to the trail, minimize social impacts on other visitors, and protect wildlife habitat, group size is limited to 8 hikers, and dogs are not allowed. Registration opens one month before each hike. If the hike is full, sign up on the wait list, and you will be sent an invitation via e-mail if a space opens. If you have to cancel, send us an email at fansofdeschutes@gmail.com. This will open up the space for another hiker. Smith Rock Canyon Trail Hike Saturday, September 29 at 9:00 a.m. Hike Rating: Easy; 3 miles Guide: John Magee Our hike will begin with amazing views along Rim Rock Trail on the Crooked River Canyon rim. We will then descend Rope-De-Dope Trail to Canyon Trail and follow the Crooked River to an overlook with spectacular views. We will head back in the same direction we came, and continue along Canyon Trail to the foot bridge, concluding with a steep 0.2 mile ascent back to the rim. CLICK HERE to learn more and register for this hike. Public Lands Stewardship Projects
Do you want to get some exercise, meet new people, and help take care of our public lands? Check out our October stewardship projects! Space is limited; please the click links below to register. Monarch Way Stations Fall Cleanup Friday, October 12, at Foley Waters Way Station, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Saturday, October 13, at Steelhead Falls Way Station, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Fall is upon us and the native showy milkweed growing season has come to an end. The time has come to ready our Monarch Way Stations for the winter ahead. If you enjoy light gardening and getting exercise, come join us at Foley Waters October 12, or Steelhead Falls on October 13. You can sign up for both mornings too! CLICK HERE to learn more and sign up for Foley Waters on October 12. CLICK HERE to learn more and sign up for Steelhead Falls on October 13. Otter Bench Trail System - Maintenance Work Party Sunday, October 14, 8:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Trail Maintenance Event Rating: Easy - Moderate This work party will consist of light maintenance on several parts of the trail system, including light brushing, tread cleaning, and some limbing. The Easy group should experience less than 2 miles of trail work, while the Moderate group should expect up to 4 miles. Please wear sturdy work clothes and heavy footwear, and bring gloves along with any favorite tools. We will be working for several hours, so bring a trail lunch and lots of water. Tools will be provided (shovels, McLeods, Reinharts, Pulaskis, rakes, loppers, etc). We will meet at the Otter Bench Trailhead at the end of Horny Hollow Road at Crooked River Ranch for a fun and rewarding day. CLICK HERE to learn more and sign up for Otter Bench Trail maintenance event. FANs of the Deschutes Canyon Area's
2018-2019 Lens on Learning Series Mark your calendar now and save the date!
Space is limited and registration opens one month before each event. In Search of Ice Age Giants Presented by Mike Full, Founder of Willamette Valley Pleistocene Project October 20, 2018, 4:00 p.m. Juniper Room at Crooked River Ranch FANs of the Deschutes Canyon Area members admitted free; non-members pay $3 at the door Fifty thousand years ago, Oregon was a spectacular place. Giant ice age beasts thrived in unimaginable numbers with a multitude of species. Mammoth and mastodon shared the land with two species of giant bison, horses, camels, and giant ground sloth. The Willamette Valley Pleistocene Project explores the late Pleistocene and early Holocene of the Willamette River Valley in Northwest Oregon to discover, study, and preserve our prehistoric past. CLICK HERE to learn more and register for this event. Wildfire Myths and Realities Presented by George Wuerthner, author of "Wildfire: A Century of Failed Forest Policy " November 17, 2018, 4:00 p.m. Juniper Room at Crooked River Ranch FANs of the Deschutes Canyon Area members admitted free; non-members pay $3 at the door Local ecologist and wildfire expert George Wuerthner will discuss misunderstandings about wildfires, how and under what conditions they burn, the ecological benefits of wildfire to creating healthy ecosystems and proven methods to protect homes and communities. Deschutes-Steelhead Falls Wilderness Study Area:
Public Lands Worth Protecting Summary of President Marilynne Keyser's Testimony Before Senate Committee, August 2018 FANs is a local stewardship organization based at Crooked River Ranch (CRR) that was started six years ago by neighbors who love the incredible river canyons bordering CRR and believe in the importance of local involvement in managing public lands. With our nearly 400 members and an additional 600 participants and volunteers our mission is to preserve and restore the wild landscapes of the Whychus-Deschutes area, which includes the Deschutes Canyon-Steelhead Falls Wilderness Study Area (WSA) that will be impacted by HR 2075. FANs has long recognized the need to implement fire risk reduction measures on both public and private lands in and around CRR. FANs worked for over a year with others in the community, including the fire chief, the homeowners association board President, and the appropriate federal agencies, to develop a collaborative concept that would ensure CRR is better protected from wildfire while also resolving the status of the entire WSA, one of the most scenic, wild places in Central Oregon. A concept emerged that is a true win-win solution. This approach would result in fire risk mitigation activities in the form of fuels treatment on BLM lands adjacent to CRR, wilderness protection for certain qualified public lands, and release of certain lands from WSA status. Our organization is not opposed to WSA release. In fact it was FANs representatives on the working group that introduced the idea as a part of the collaborative process. But we have several serious concerns about the approach of HR 2075.
Although the public lands impacted by HR 2075 are located in our backyard at CRR, Whychus-Deschutes contains outstanding recreation opportunities, one of the highest concentrations of cultural sites and artifacts in our region, and critical habitat for native plants, fish and wildlife. All of these resources are currently threatened by illegal off-road vehicle abuse, recreation overuse, and vandalism. Certain public lands in this area need and deserve permanent protection. Finally, we need to ensure land managers have the direction and the resources to tackle these complex and serious issues. We believe a comprehensive solution based on true local collaboration is possible for this area. I urge the committee to expand this bill to address the concerns of all the stakeholders of this incredible wild landscape. CLICK HERE to read Marilynne Keyser's HR 2075 written testimony. Tom Iraci, photographer and FANs board member, created a slideshow titled "Beauty in the Canyons," featuring images from the Deschutes Canyon Area. Click the blue button below to view this spectacular slideshow.
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Friends and Neighbors of the Deschutes Canyon Area
fansofdeschutes@gmail.com P.O. Box 2127, Terrebonne, OR 97760 541.771.FANS (3267) |
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