The McKenzie Valley's Weekly Newspaper
Volume 34, Issue 20 - January 12, 2011
Anglers take note
The McKenzie River below Leaburg Lake is open for catch and release angling with artificial flies and lures from Hayden Bridge to Leaburg Dam January 1st through April 27th for trout, salmon and steelhead, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife reports.
Although high flows can change angling effectiveness dramatically, anglers can find receptive wild fish during low flow periods of the winter, ODFW says.
The McKenzie River above Leaburg Lake is closed to fishing until April 28th.
Lane Electric moves to "inclining block" rates
On the heels of a one-month, 21% rate decrease to its members in December, the Lane Electric Cooperative (LEC) introduced a new inclining block rate design on January 1st. The change means LEC member's electric bills will reflect a two-tier rate structure, with a seasonal component.
The new rate design incorporates two "tiers" or "blocks." The first block includes all consumption up to 1,500 kilowatt-hours (kWh). The second block includes all consumption above 1,500 kilowatt-hours, and is priced higher than those kilowatt-hours captured in the first block, according to LEC spokesmen.
The "seasonal component" incorporates different rates per kilowatt-hour based upon different seasons. Kilowatt-hours consumed in the winter season when energy use is generally higher, are priced lower than kilowatt-hours consumed between May and October, when consumption is typically less.
"Our new 20-year power contracts with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) are different than those of the past," says General Manager, Rick Crinklaw. "For over 70 years, our cost per kilowatt-hour from BPA was consistent - hour by hour, day or night. Today however, our new contract with BPA incorporates a multi-tier structure with power prices that vary on an hourly, daily and seasonal basis."
Often referred to as a "conservation" rate design, inclining block rate structures reward members for operating their homes more efficiently and using electricity more wisely.
"Different than in years past, Lane Electric now receives an annual fixed allocation of power from BPA based a 1,500 kilowatt-hour energy bill, on average, per member, per month. If our members exceed this allocation, the cost to meet their need and acquire additional energy is more expensive," Crinklaw says.
Lane Electric's 2012 budget process has been completed and no rate increase is planned for 2012.
First Aid Clinic Coming
A First Aid Clinic will be held on Saturday, January 21st, from 10 -11:30 a.m. at the LDS blue river church 51214 Blue River Drive (across from McKenzie Schools).
The presenter is Jeremy Esch, a Paramedic/Firefighter with the Springfield Fire & Life Safety Dept. He is a graduate of McKenzie High School and the LCC Paramedic Program and was a McKenzie Jr Firefighter @ 16.
He also vounteers for the Muscular Distorphy Childrens's Organization, in the Eugene area. He gives EMS training for vounteer fire districts around the area, including on the McKenzie.
Light refreshments will be served after the clinic. Contact Doug & Shannon Esch For more information @541-822-3847.
Free tax sites can help bring
millions back to taxpayers
Want to know if you are getting all the tax benefits, credits, and refunds you are eligible for? United Way of Lane County, AARP, and the IRS are working as partners to establish free AARP Tax-Aid sites throughout the county for the coming tax season.
"Many people do their own taxes and don't even know about the credits and incentives available in the tax code," notes Elena Fracchia, United Way Associate Director for Income. "Collectively, they leave millions of dollars on the table that could be going to their families and supporting our local economy."
Tax-Aide is a service available to all taxpayers with low and moderate incomes, at no charge. Special emphasis is given to those age 60 and over, but membership in AARP is not a requirement for participation. Thousands of Lane County residents of all ages can take advantage of this free tax assistance.
"We are especially interested in helping people receive the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) if they qualify," says Fracchia. "A lot of people can take advantage of this credit, often worth thousands of dollars to them, if they just know how to use it. We see lots of people who qualify for the credit and don't even know it. We want to get the word out to as many people in Lane County as we can."
For the 2011 tax year, EITC Tax Aide sites at United Way and other locations assisted Lane County residents in keeping $6.8 million in tax credits and refunds in the local economy. The AARP Tax Aide sites will be available from February through mid April, and plans are under way to increase the number of sites from last year. A complete list of sites and hours of operation are available at www.unitedwaylane.org or by calling United Way at 541-741-6000.
Thinning reduces flying
squirrel populations
By David Stauth
Thinning of young Douglas-fir forests in the Pacific Northwest, done in part to help them return to a structure more similar to old-growth forests and aid recovery of the threatened northern spotted owl, also reduces the populations of flying squirrels that form an important part of the owl's diet.
A recent study by scientists from Oregon State University and the U.S. Geological Survey found that this unwanted impact illustrates the complexity of trying to restore old-growth characteristics in forests that for decades were managed primarily for Douglas-fir timber production.
In the long run, researchers said, a restoration of old-growth structure should be a positive force for both spotted owl recovery and the northern flying squirrel but in the near term, forest stands that have been thinned support significantly lower densities of flying squirrels than unthinned stands.
"Some of the stands being thinned were probably not great spotted owl habitat to begin with, and the impact on flying squirrel populations may not be permanent," said Joan Hagar, a researcher with the U.S. Geological Survey and courtesy faculty member in the OSU Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society.
"This is a fairly common problem in restoration ecology, in which there are always winners and losers," she said. "What this really suggests is that we may not want to thin all of these forest types, we need to preserve some as a refuge that would allow flying squirrel populations to recover in the future."
Flying squirrels, Hagar said, are a major part of the diet of the northern spotted owl and also help disperse fungi important to tree health. There are millions of acres of even-aged, Douglas-fir dominated forests being considered for thinning, for both spotted owl recovery and other goals, both economic and ecological.
The northern flying squirrel is considered a "keystone species" by ecologists and an indicator of forest health. They do best in forests with many large live trees and well-developed understories, characteristics that are now largely lacking in many young forests.
This research studied various types of thinning treatments, and found that the heavier the thinning, the heavier the impact on flying squirrel populations. It was one of the longer-term studies done on this issue, for up to 13 years after thinning.
The findings "would seem to argue for caution in carrying out commercial thinning across large portions of the Pacific Northwest landscape, especially if one eventual goal is to sustain the primary prey of the northern spotted owl," the researchers said in their conclusion.
Continued monitoring of northern flying squirrels and their habitat will help determine when flying squirrel populations begin to recover in thinned stands, in which treatment levels this occurs most quickly and which habitat features are most important, the scientists said.
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