Cement pile, peacock larkspur and survey results

Bianca stands guard over the pile of heavy concrete that was buried under the blackberry bush we cleared in anticipation of our boundary fence.
In October, volunteers planted 1500 Peacock Larkspur bulbs in the Corvallis Watershed. All were planted across the watershed road from Shiver River property.

Shiver River’s boundary with the City doesn’t follow the watershed road all of the way to the water treatment plant. It parallels the road in some places, but is in the middle of some dense underbrush and trees.

Loading

FSC Audit

The Forest Stewardship Council mission is to promote environmentally sound, socially beneficial and economically prosperous management of the world’s forests.

Our vision is that we can meet our current needs for forest products without compromising the health of the world’s forests for future generations.

Principles & Criteria
To achieve our mission and vision, FSC has developed a set of 10 principles and 57 Criteria that apply to FSC-certified forests around the world. The Principles include the following:

  • PRINCIPLE #1: COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS AND FSC PRINCIPLES– Forest management shall respect all applicable laws of the country in which they occur, and international treaties and agreements to which the country is a signatory, and comply with all FSC Principles and Criteria.
  • PRINCIPLE #2: TENURE AND USE RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES– Long-term tenure and use rights to the land and forest resources shall be clearly defined, documented and legally established.
  • PRINCIPLE #3: INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS– The legal and customary rights of indigenous peoples to own, use and manage their lands, territories, and resources shall be recognized and respected.
  • PRINCIPLE #4: COMMUNITY RELATIONS AND WORKER’S RIGHTS– Forest management operations shall maintain or enhance the long-term social and economic well being of forest workers and local communities.
  • PRINCIPLE # 5: BENEFITS FROM THE FOREST – Forest management operations shall encourage the efficient use of the forest’s multiple products and services to ensure economic viability and a wide range of environmental and social benefits.
  • PRINCIPLE #6: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT– Forest management shall conserve biological diversity and its associated values, water resources, soils, and unique and fragile ecosystems and landscapes, and, by so doing, maintain the ecological functions and the integrity of the forest.
  • PRINCIPLE #7: MANAGEMENT PLAN– A management plan — appropriate to the scale and intensity of the operations — shall be written, implemented, and kept up to date. The long-term objectives of management, and the means of achieving them, shall be clearly stated.
  • PRINCIPLE #8: MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT– Monitoring shall be conducted — appropriate to the scale and intensity of forest management — to assess the condition of the forest, yields of forest products, chain of custody, management activities and their social and environmental impacts.
  • PRINCIPLE # 9: MAINTENANCE OF HIGH CONSERVATION VALUE FORESTS– Management activities in high conservation value forests shall maintain or enhance the attributes which define such forests. Decisions regarding high conservation value forests shall always be considered in the context of a precautionary approach.
  • PRINCIPLE # 10: PLANTATIONS– Plantations shall be planned and managed in accordance with Principles and Criteria 1-9, and Principle 10 and its Criteria. While plantations can provide an array of social and economic benefits, and can contribute to satisfying the world’s needs for forest products, they should complement the management of, reduce pressures on, and promote the restoration and conservation of natural forests.
    Mike, Stephan and Mark took Bill and I on a tour of our recent logging sites as part of our foresters’ FSC certification – the gold standard in forest management.

    These two stumps have their roots intertwined. So, when one was cut a long time ago, it still got nourishment from the live tree (only recently cut) and grew bark over its stump!

Loading

Well repair finished

Trench from the well to the big garage. Water and electricity go through pipes at the bottom of the trench.
Well bladder niftily placed in big garage.

Loading

Tom visits and electrical panel installed

Tom was tasked with judging a sight hound coursing event near Junction City.

We naturally forced him to do farm chores!

The upstairs bathroom window will be smaller, but will offer more privacy.
Neighbor and his crew did a great job of connecting the annex to the farmhouse.
Meter will be outside the small car garage.

Inside the small car garage is the rest of the electrical panel.

Loading

Concrete and boundary lines

Lovely concrete floor in new car garage.
The electrical panel will be located on or near the right wall.
Here is the beginning survey marker between our neighbor and ourselves.
The boundary goes to the right of the big blackberry bush where Hoss (black cat) is sitting.

Boundary gradually edges out at an angle.

The pink ribbons indicate where the boundary line apparently is when it intersects with the watershed road.

Loading