Open Space Foundation (OSF): How did you obtain the land to make this recreation area? (I read somewhere that there was a "land swap")
If so, what was swapped?
Mark Flint (M): Molalla RiverWatch was formed to protect and improve the quality of the Molalla River and its tributaries. One of the first things MRW did was convince the Bureau of Land Management to trade with private timber companies for a corridor of land on either side of the river. This was accomplished around 1990.If so, what was swapped?
(OSF): How has the land been used in the past? How extensive was the logging?
(M): The land around the river had been severely abused by logging in the 1960s. This was in the days before there was much awareness of the need to be better stewards of the land, kind of a carryover from when settlers first got there and assumed the supply of trees, salmon and game was inexhaustible. Operators would run bulldozers right up the river during spawning season; trees were felled into the river, sometimes creating log jams that had to be dynamited; clearcuts resulted in heavy sedimentation of the river; "splash dams" were used to transport logs from tributaries to the Molalla. (A splash dam is a dam made in the winter, behind which logs are stockpiled. When the spring freshets come, the damns are dynamited, releasing the logs and a rush of water, scouring everything in their path on the way to the river.) As you can see, the land is recovering nicely.
(OSF): How did people get involved in its preservation for recreation?
(M): About the time I moved to the area, 1992, the land swaps had been completed. There had been talk about enhancing the recreational use, but no action. Because it had been so devastated, the area wasn't really attractive to the general public. It was a popular area for keggers, four-wheeling and dumping stolen cars. The clientele was not too concerned about their impact, and they discouraged less gentle folk from recreating there. I got involved in MRW and began, with a few other folks, seriously bugging the BLM about getting a trail system. For the first couple of years it was like pushing a ball uphill. We put in a lot of work with not much to show for it. But the BLM was really open and helpful, and once we got that ball over the top, it took on a momentum of its own. Support broadened, we got trailhead improvements and the number of volunteers kept growing, especially as people got out on the trails and realized what an asset they were.Because the trails were not accessible to motor vehicles, vandalism and trash were not a serious problem. As more equestrians and mountain bikers began using the system, more pressure was brought to bear on law enforcement, and the keggers, shooters and trashers found it a less comfortable environment.
(OSF): What have you done to ensure its continued protection?
(M): MRW works with the BLM as a partner, commenting on management plans and providing volunteers to help with recreation, education and preservation programs.
(OSF): What restorative efforts have been undertaken or are planned?
(M): In addition to recreation, water quality is a big issue. One long-term goal is to establish a formal campground upriver with toilet facilities. When that is done, camping can legally be abolished along the river. Another effort has been to close off motor vehicle access to the river. MRW is developing a monitoring system for the river, testing for turbitity and contaminants. In addition, MRW is involving students from local schools in education and habitat/resource preservation. One area, called Aquila Vista, kind of at the south end of where you rode, is being developed as an interpretive area, and the focus of student projects to improve habitat and plant life.
(OSF): Was the river water ever contaminated?
(M): The river has had motor vehicles dumped into it, and logging equipment and practices resulted in some fuel spillage. The Oregon Forest Practices Act protects streams from pesticides, and there are no sources of industrial pollution in or above the upper river corridor.
(OSF): What groups cooperate to make this public resource possible?
(M): In addition to MRW, there has been a lot of support from user groups -- the Molalla Saddle Club, Claremont Riders, Oregon Equestrian Trails, Portland United Mountain Pedalers, Merry Cranksters Mountain Bike Club of Salem. The BLM, obviously, has been incredibly supportive. I can't say enough about how easy they were to work with. They'd come out on their days off and help us on projects, gave us more leeway than you would think possible for a government agency, and were a joy to be around -- positive, fun people.
(OSF): Are there other lands similar to Molalla that are being preserved for the public or that are ripe for preservation?
(M): There are a lot of efforts going on elsewhere in Oregon. Tillamook State Forest has a lot of public/private work going on, and in the City of Portland you have good things happening in Forest Park and Powell Butte Park. But I would have to say Molalla is probably the most comprehensive partnership effort in the state, and one of the most comprehensive in the country. It's gotten national recognition and awards.
of the liquid kind. Lance and Jeff are two transplants from Montana, tryin' to make it with the city folk. Their apartment in downtown Seattle was HQ for R&R and Outdoor Adventures.
in town, I bolted out of the city's crush and wove along a black surface of human influence into Snoqualmie National Forest. If I hear that Smashmouth tune one more time I might drive the Rig off of a fucking cliff. Hey now, you're an all-star....
voltage incalculable, breaks the cell of the mind.
awestruck across the intermittent snow patches which surrounded the northeast side of the lake.
recreational flavor. Their hospitality was fantastic. Thanks, kids!
of cod n' chips at a local pub, and afterward I sucked down entirely too many brews at a blues club downtown. I'm just a baller, shot caller; twenty oz suds ready to swallow.
I stormed Ferguson Point and did my best not to knock down the eerie balanced rocks on the seashore. It takes a steady hand.
here and 10,000 acres there will eventually become a major treasure. Get out of the city and get in touch with the nature that's worth keeping before you realize that the city no longer has a boundary.
latter poach as it creates a rawer sense of accomplishment than the juvenile Tent-n-Ditch maneuver.
fixing my bike's brakes (after having the bike hacked off my roof rack, as I mentioned) and I struck up a conversation with a Lillooet biker named Missagh who offered to give me a short tour of the rolling forest roads along the Fraser River. Thanks for the tour, buddy!
it into the bushes and water traps with precision and I can put a divot in the fairway more efficiently than most people could do with a shovel. I wanted to hit the pill around in Lillooet, though, because the course is so unique, the price is right ($10 US for a round with rental), and the scenery is like no other. The sheep pasture golf course is one of the few courses in North America where sheep graze on the fairways and "baaaaaahh" with laughter at the average hack's slices. I had to plunk a few to show them who's boss. Averaging triple bogeys, I was like Els with the stick. That's only if Ernie were blindfolded and shackled, of course.
everyone still has a pronounced fascination for firearms, but everything else you can throw out the window.
the thin scar of the Alaska Highway and a few dilapidated settlements. I read somewhere that 98% of the state remains in its natural form. That expanse is chilling and foreboding. Black spruce trees, scrawny and stark, guarded the vast acreage like ancient soldiers as I drove through the swampy Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge to get to the backwards town of Tok. That's pronounced "toke" like the puff on a blunt, not like the sound of a clock.
clear and sunny. Determined to make the best of this fortunate weather, I bolted to
saw several moose frolicking in their damp and lush terrain on the first day. To my utter horror, I lost my mosquito repellent through a hole in my pocket on the second. From then on, I had to be diligent with my swatting to keep the blood-sucking beasts at bay.
on the scene. Separate flocks of loons and ducks honked at me with laughing tones as they preened and splashed.
young bear had investigated the enticing container with his mandibles. I now have a useless, plastic sieve to show as a souvenir. The creature's tracks were left as another indelible reminder that my presence here is as a guest only.
but at least it is dry. I took the chance to create a grubby self-portrait in the late evening twilight.
swam from one bank to the other, his head and antlers silhouetted in the dull glow. It was an enchanting and sublime experience, etched precisely in my mind, which I will never forget until they drop me into my grave.
reason is dispersed and shadowy, more thin and subtile, like the air. Vast, Titanic, inhuman Nature has got him at disadvantage, caught him alone, and pilfers him of some of his divine faculty.
tent was my sheath and I felt like a castaway alone at sea and riding out the waves. But, in a dreamy haze, the torrent departed as quickly as it had arrived and I wormed out, testing for drops and hoping for the best.
and I could not approach them without initiating their flight toward the higher and safer confines high above. I wish the picture would have come out better but essentially each white blob is one or two Dall'ies. In all, on either side of the descending valley through which I walked were several flocks totaling around forty animals.
the solid earth! the actual world! the common sense! Contact! Contact! Who are we? where are we? Thank you Henry for putting the world in perspective.
It was one of the most exhilarating occurrences in my life. I had made it unscathed through bog, tussocks, bears and streams. For seven days I traveled the wilds of the Alaskan wilderness and seen and done what many others cannot fathom nor understand. I depended on my own hands, feet and cunning to carry me through an ordeal that, for me, was unprecedented. My spirits were soaring. Viva Alaska! Your state has brought perspective to my life. With one last exuberant photo at trail's end, I returned to The Rig.