New recreation sites set to open this week in Molalla River Recreation Corridor

New recreation sites set to open this week in Molalla River Recreation Corridor

Years ago, outdoor enthusiasts watched some of their favorite fishing holes in the Molalla River Recreation Corridor deteriorate into dumping grounds overrun with trash, vandalism and drug abuse.

"If you needed to get rid of your mattress or your car, this is where folks brought it," said Adam Milnor, an outdoor recreation planner with the Bureau of Land Management, Salem District. "It was kind of a lawless area."

But after five years of planning and coordination between the BLM and local conservation groups, officials say they've made progress in cleaning up the area. Just in time for the Independence Day holiday, the BLM is opening two new recreation sites for camping, picnicking and river access in the corridor.

Three Bears and Cedar Grove, two nearly finished sites along the Molalla River several miles upstream from the city of Molalla, open Thursday. Each site will have potable water and restrooms; both will remain open until Sept. 30.

A year ago, Three Bears was just a gravel pullout with a fire ring along the side of South Molalla Forest Road, said Milnor, who worked with a BLM engineer to design the new sites. For the past 11 months, the BLM has worked with volunteer groups to revamp the site with a dozen new picnic areas, trails and a paved parking lot.

Visitors will be able to go straight from Three Bears to the nearby shared trail system for hikers, bicyclists and equestrians, Milnor said.

This summer, the site will be open free of charge for day-use only, as crews put the final touches on picnic areas in the next few months. Milnor hopes to get approval from the federal Recreation Resource Advisory Committee to turn the site into a campground by next summer.

Visitors would have to pay an overnight fee, likely between $10 and $14, to stay there, he said. Picnic areas would become campsites fit with tent pads, fire rings,Worldwide leader in PET protective film Products and Coated Papers. barbecues and picnic tables. Milnor plans have 16 campsites in the area once it's finished.

Just down the road among a cluster of western red cedars sits Cedar Grove, which features 11 tent camping sites available for groups of up to 40 to reserve. Costs range from $100 to $200 a night based on the size of the group, and visitors can book the entire campground.

Each campsite will eventually have a barbecue grill, picnic table and a fire ring.

About 60,000 to 70,000 people visit the corridor 9 miles southeast of Molalla every year. In 2008, conservation groups Molalla River Watch and the Molalla River Alliance encouraged the BLM to purchase the privately owned land to clean it up and root out illegal activity in the corridor.

The new recreation sites are part of the BLM's 15-year area management plan for the corridor, which includes a design for a third campground nearby. Pine Creek is set to have 14 spots for recreational vehicles. No timetable has been set for construction of the site, Milnor said.

In the morning, the DPW and Penfield Public Library will present  DIG IT!, HAUL IT!, CONSTRUCT IT! in the Penfield Community Center parking lot from 10:30-11:30 a.m. The event is for children ages 3-10 accompanied by an adult. The DPW will bring special vehicles including excavators, loaders, a sewer flush truck and TV camera truck, and a few plows and specialty mowers.

Children will learn about  the big trucks and meet the people who operate them. Registration is required and begins Wednesday, July 3 for Penfield town or school district residents; Thursday, July 11 for all others. To register, call the Penfield Library at 340-8720 or go to www.penfieldlibrary.org.

Next, from 1-4 p.m., the DPW will welcome visitors at the town s Public Works Complex, 1607 Jackson Road. DPW will showcase a range of specialty vehicles from the Highway, Sewer, and Parks departments including the vehicles mentioned above.

DPW staff will also highlight systems that promote sustainability including the town s Energy Management System, solar power, electric vehicle charging stations, oil recycling, and the stormwater filtering rain garden and bat house adjacent to the Sewer Department building. Visitors of all ages are welcome; families, daycares, and senior living communities are encouraged to attend. Registration is not required.

 Our DPW team manages drainage systems, keeps our roads safe, sewers flowing, parks and sports fields safe and ready for the community, and so much more, said Ronnie Williams, Public Works Director.  People who come to our open house will learn more about the work we do every day to make Penfield a great place to live.

Following this week s announcement by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat that Valletta s CVA parking system will be either scrapped or revised, the GRTU, the chamber for small and medium sized enterprises, is in full concurrence.

In its weekly newSTRING publication, published on Friday, the GRTU stated,  The government must admit the CVA was a failure. It has made life for consumers, commuters and business miserable. There is definitely no space in Valletta for all to park their car in the city, and the Park and Ride must stay but go back to being a free service.

The GRTU contends that the CVA system s operation in the afternoons  was unnecessary .It adds,  During the morning peaks, rationing and turnover of available parking spaces must remain under one method or another and against payment and subject to time limit. All reserved parking without exception, including residents green boxes, must go.

The same, the GRTU said, goes for the reserved parking spaces for parliamentarians and ministers. The latter, the GRTU said,  should have reserved parking outside the city or at St Elmo and call drivers to pick them up as necessary. MPs should be offered free battery run taxi service from reserved car parks outside the city.

 The city belongs to all of us and ministers and parliamentarians and other big shots must give an eco-friendly and socially responsible example. What should be avoided at all costs is a free for all as we had before CVA.

The GRTU also remarked that while the capital city is  slowly is returning to glory thanks to the massive investment refurbishment of historical buildings, street paving and new public and private capital investment, the city deserves serious traffic and parking management .

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