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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories 10 things to know for Friday Posters about missing teen will be distributed Competition keen at first city chili cookoff They got algorithm Alice Hardesty shares healing memoir Education Ashland schools expand chicken pox exclusion rules Students go behind the scenes at hospital Ashland robotics team aims to build a winner AHS ranked No. 7 by Niche College debt load balloons: What could, should be done? Environment The top five conservation success of 2014 Protestors want Keystone pipeline plans stopped New wandering wolf arrives in Southern Oregon Turning fire fuel threat into wood stove heat Ashland watershed trails would change under proposal Business Ride & Drive: 2015 Cadillac Escalade Brammo bought by Polaris They have a plan Ashland coffee roasters win nationwide honors Chamber's Business Resource Portal offers tools for success Politics and elections Chief Holderness retiring, wants to help find successor State News New wandering wolf arrives in Southern Oregon Police officer shoots armed driver near Reedsport Nation - World Obama makes Maduro’s ‘insolent Yankees’ line harder to sell Obituaries Elizabeth Hope Garrett Death Notices Harry Theodore Hertz Death Notices Marvin Leo "Bud" Gettling Shareable Looking back: Do you remember 2014’s biggest stories? In memoriam: 2014’s notable deaths Sports Latest Stories Respect: sock it to him A Grizz sweep Heisman winner Mariota says he's going to the NFL Comets press past Grizzlies Buckeyes won title behind line play, Elliott and Jones High school A Grizz sweep Comets press past Grizzlies Raiders put on a show Graham sparks Grizzly rout Ashland drops MWL opener to Marist Southern Oregon University Heisman winner Mariota says he's going to the NFL Buckeyes won title behind line play, Elliott and Jones Sayre says character key to SOU's success Ducks grounded Raiders put on a show Opinion Latest Stories Kent Bush: Capital punishment raises questions Our View: A matter of survival Letters to the Editor, Jan. 16 Other Views: Get GMO rules right Editor's Notes: We were wrong Editorial Our View: A matter of survival Other Views: Get GMO rules right Our View: No benefit from LNG pipeline Our View: Putting slash to work Our view: Protect Ashland's crown Letters Letters to the Editor, Jan. 16 Letters to the Editor, Jan. 14 Letters to the Editor, Jan. 5 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 31 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 29 Guest opinions Guest Opinion: Bikes, hikers/equestrians need separate watershed trails Guest Opinion: SOU biomass burner would be big mistake Guest Opinion: City hiring policy is fair, unbiased Another view: Cheney defends nation's journey into darkness Herb Rothschild Jr.: Fury impedes justice Revels Latest Stories Thanks for the Memories Theatre presents 'Cardenio' Best Bets: Jan. 15-22 A look at the life and vision of Martin Luther King Jr. 'Spotlight' highlights Orbison's life, music 'Selma' struggle remains relevant today Theater Insights into the gifts theater offers off the stage Theater is an act of co-creation ACT presents reading of 'The Quality of Life' Music Jeff Kloetzel at Belle Fiore The Farr Side: Top 10 album count-up for 2014 Visual Art Schneider winter exhibits on tap: 'Baker's Dozen' and 'New Works' First Friday kicks off a new year Movies Movie review: ‘Blackhat’ is a frustrating 404 error Movie review: ‘A Most Violent Year’ is a gritty look at oily dealings in ’80s New York Movie review: Clint Eastwood shines as director in ‘American Sniper’ 'Selma' struggle remains relevant today Interview: Bradley Cooper discusses working with Clint Eastwood on ‘American Sniper’ Food and Drink Food for Thought: Wintertime wining and dining Cruelest Month: Poetry Blog Lifestyle Latest Stories Ride & Drive: 2015 Cadillac Escalade Dr. Jeff Hersh: Heart test causes undue alarm Dr. Murray Feingold: How reliable is the medical information we read? Looking Up: Comet passes by the Pleiades Suzette Martinez Standring: Chance advice was eerie Aging Happens Inner Peace Column Inner Peace Blog Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs Business NEWS NOW Our View: A matter of survival ... Posters about missing teen will be distributed ... Brammo bought by Polaris ... Our View: A matter of survival ... Posters about missing teen will be distributed ... Brammo bought by Polaris ... GREEN HOUSE Turning fire fuel threat into wood stove heat Students make wood cut for Ashland Forest Resiliency Project into fuel for Jackson County Fuel Committee Comment By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Jan. 11, 2015 @ 2:52 pm Updated Jan 15, 2015 at 5:39 PM By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Jan. 11, 2015 @ 2:52 pm Updated Jan 15, 2015 at 5:39 PM » Social News (Jan. 15, 2015: This story has been update to correct the name of the  Ashland Forest Resiliency Project .) Students in the Green House program at Southern Oregon University like to get out of the classroom and apply their knowledge in the real world, doing some real good and participating in environmental sustainability and community building. So, it was right up their alley when 30 such students traveled to the upper slopes of Ashland’s watershed Friday, where they put on gloves and started attacking piles of trees that had been thinned as part of the  Ashland Forest Resiliency Project . A sawyer cut the softwood trees into 5-foot lengths, light enough for students in pairs to schlep them to nearby pickup trucks. From there the logs went to the wood yard at the Jackson County Fuel Committee, a volunteer organization that supplies seniors and others in need with firewood. In coming days, some students will help buck the logs into rounds, split them with “Goliath,” a powered mall run by a Volkswagen engine, then deliver and stack the firewood. “This project has the goals of understanding AFR, the Ashland Forest Resiliency Project, and then exploring environmental protection and how wood-burning stoves affect that,” said Vince Smith, a professor of environmental studies and sociology. “There are a lot of old stoves out there (put in use before environmental clampdowns on wood fires).” The students will work at JCFC next Friday as they “get engaged and face real-world problems and deal with the social arguments around fuel independence versus dealing with large corporations and oil reserves and what makes sense with all that,” said Smith. As she tossed a length of fir on a pile up by Horn Gap, Bella Uribe, a journalism and environmental science major, said, “What I’m picking up is that we can contribute to the safety of the valley (from wildfire) while providing a heat source to folks in need. The other side is that I’m working with the paradox of using fuels in new ways that redirect our understanding of resources and the community.” Uribe added that “it’s so beautiful to be up here hiking and working. I’m grateful, instead of sitting in class learning things but not applying them.” Manhandling a narrow pine trunk, felled by Lomakatsi in the past year of thinning, student Sydney Lund, observed, “It’s so nice to be out here. It’s awesome to get a chance to volunteer for such a good organization as JCFC. We’re providing fuel and warmth for people who can’t pay their utility bills, and that’s what our class is about. The forests are also too dense, and it’s awesome to help clear this wood out.” JCLC volunteer leader Doug Hoxmeier reminded the class that every person in the outfit is a volunteer, and that everyone involved makes it happen. The wood that students are loading in trucks is not merchantable, he said, but is too good for slashpiles, so “what it’s good for is firewood.” The Green House program at SOU has tapped into two major thrusts of environmental sustainability and community — the city’s fuels reduction in the Ashland watershed and JCFC’s efforts to turn such fuels into heat for the winter, said Steve Kem, an SOU professor in the Outdoor Adventure Leadership program. Part of their project in the future will be to write requests for funding for the programs, he said, as well as to use the projects to learn team-building and group processes. John Darling is a freelance writer living in Ashland. Email him at [email protected]. By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Jan. 11, 2015 @ 2:52 pm Updated Jan 15, 2015 at 5:39 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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