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3 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Emergency Services, March 31 Southern Oregon Education Service District superintendent to retire in June Republicans sidelined this session Central Point Cemetery is still broken A sea-foam change Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Emergency Services, March 31 Emergency Services, March 30 Emergency services, March 29 Cottage Grove man dies in Rogue River boating accident Emergency services, March 28 Politics and Elections Jackson County Commissioners plan no tax on marijuana for one year Arthur I. Cyr: Iran – a crisis without end Arthur I. Cyr: South Korea represents long-term triumph – for them and for US Special election: Jackson County voters OK marijuana tax Ex-Merkley aide chosen as Oregon secretary of state Education Southern Oregon Education Service District superintendent to retire in June Which comes first: The rocket or the egg? Medford School District one of most accident-prone in state Dianne Williamson: College admissions mania ill-advised Oregon legislators may end fifth-year high school programs Environment A sea-foam change Rogue Valley lions on their way to California Corps hopes to clear Lost Creek Lake of debris Beetles taking toll on Ashland pines Mt. Ashland Ski Area to host party March 28 State News Oregon ski areas ask lawmakers for re-strengthened lawsuit protection More truck traffic coming into Oregon via Highway 97 Man pleads guilty to trying to set up Oregon terrorist training camp Bend police kill cougar above popular hiking trail 5 things to know about Oregon's gun-control bill Nation - World Obituaries Claudine Barbara Pollard Alexander Edwards Ray E. Kniffen, Sr. Lois Emmerette (Wright) Huntley James "Jim" Peter Duman Weather Photo Galleries Since You Asked Videos Web Cams Mail Tribune 100 Shareable Sports Latest Stories Comets drop two games in Fresno tourney Playoff bound After rough start, UConn reaches Final Four Long-time softball tourney undergoes changes Celtics win to aid playoff push Varsity 541 College Sports After rough start, UConn reaches Final Four Kaminsky, Okafor lead All-America first team Ducks' following continues to grow South Carolina earns first Final Four berth Only blue bloods need apply Pro Sports Playoff bound Celtics win to aid playoff push Cleveland GM gets suspended for texting Bill Ballou: Pace-of-game rules are a good start to improving baseball Walker wins hometown Texas Open Community Sports Business Latest Stories Cars We Remember: ‘Topper’ movie car most memorable After being sidelined by blindness, Stan Moore returns to the bike business in Medford Mandatory paid sick leave gets mixed reviews Blog: How to Practice Patience Ride & Drive: 2015 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque Real Estate News East McAndrews Road sees a resurgence in commercial projects Business briefs: March 7 New construction prices jump 18.2 percent in Jackson County People In Business People in Business, March 26, 2015 Transportation Rogue Disposal plans natural gas fueling site Alaska, United Express boost Medford airport to record February CEO Rieder leaving Erickson March 31 Agriculture Broth maker leaves San Diego for Medford Harry & David announces new president Opinion Latest Our View: Lawmakers ending a small annoyance in the law Letters to the Editor, March 31 Guest Opinion: Marijuana offers Oregon benefits, drawbacks Wry & Ginger: Daylight saving and our hour of need Letters to the Editor, March 30 Editorials Our View: Lawmakers ending a small annoyance in the law Other Views: Sage grouse listing would be unfortunate Our View: Phoenix lion sanctuary was a missed opportunity Other Views: Gun background check bill won't make us safer Our View: Some police videos should be released Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor, March 31 Letters to the Editor, March 30 Letters to the Editor, March 29 Letters to the Editor, March 28 Letters to the Editor, March 27 Columns Guest Opinion: Marijuana offers Oregon benefits, drawbacks Kathleen Parker: A leap of faith — into thin air George Will: Remembrance of Clintons past Dana Milbank: The end of the White House's insularity? Guest Opinion: How to end the influence of money in elections Guest Opinions Guest Opinion: Marijuana offers Oregon benefits, drawbacks Guest Opinion: How to end the influence of money in elections Guest Opinion: How schools teach U.S. history raises hackles Guest Opinion: Guest Opinion: Raise your voice against child abuse Lifestyle Latest stories Dr. Elaine Heffner: Words that stick It Is What It Is: There’s only one thing worse than being sick … David Murdock: What’s in a name? (Quite a bit, actually) Brent St. Germain: Feeling the burn again Cars We Remember: ‘Topper’ movie car most memorable Food Tammy Kelly: Lighten up traditional Easter desserts Kitchen Call: Goat cheese recipes worth bleating over Community blog: Try slightly smoky baked beans instead of refried App Finder: Best barbecue apps Health Watch: It’s OK to have a cheat day Home and Garden Paul Rogers: Choose the right tool for job in the garden Home Help: Easy enhancements for your master closet Prepare the beds for summer vegetables Hot tub: The perfect centerpiece for outdoor living Garden Cameos: Welcome spring to the garden Health Brent St. Germain: Feeling the burn again HealthStyle: Normal anxiety or anxiety disorder? Community blog: How to Get Rid of a Tension Headache St. Mary's student helps others with diabetes Community blog: Sleep Tight: Making Your Bed, Body and Mind Ready for Rest Hiking Biking Faith Religion briefs: Friday, March 27 Religion briefs Religion News: Presbyterian Church gives approval on same-sex marriage Religion briefs: Friday, March 13 More religion events in the Rogue Valley Milestones and Achievements Haga-Parks Exercise helps special-needs kids adjust to airport procedures Engagement: Workman-Wright Columnist for a Day Rogue Healthy Aging Tempo Latest stories Rising Stars raises $10,000 for LIFE Art ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ plays the Craterian Theater Here's Tempo's top five picks for live entertainment this week The 2015 Rising Stars music competition ends with its final round on the Britt stage in Jacksonville Live Music in Local Clubs Theater Review: From past into present in OSF's 'Long Day's Journey' ‘A Dream of Red Pavilions’ at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Review: Education and its discontents Next Stage Repertory presents 'Educating Rita' at the Craterian Theater Eugene O'Neill's 'Long Day's Journey into Night' opens at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Music Rising Stars raises $10,000 for LIFE Art ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ plays the Craterian Theater Futurebirds play the Brickroom in Ashland The 2015 Rising Stars music competition ends with its final round on the Britt stage in Jacksonville Live Music in Local Clubs Community Events Rogue Valley artist Linda Evans' pastel paintings capture landscapes of Southern Oregon Ashland Independent Film Festival announces this year's lineup OSF Hip-Hop Poetry Open Mic Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhibits by regional artists Jesse Lawson and Joe Moxley host 'Barkeeper' Dining Restaurant Inspections: March 29 Basque-inspired cuisine at Eleven in Ashland Parsing the meaning behind wine medals and scores Restaurant Inspections: Sunday, March 22 Jasmine Thai Cuisine Tempo Videos Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obits Blogs TV Listings Movie Listings Oregon Outdoors Oregon Healthy Living Magazines/Special Sections Business Services NEWS NOW Our View: Lawmakers ending a small annoyance in the law ... Central Point Cemetery is still broken ... A sea-foam change ... Our View: Lawmakers ending a small annoyance in the law ... Central Point Cemetery is still broken ... A sea-foam change ... ENVIRONMENT Conservancy hopes to turn 352-acre ranch along Rogue River into a preserve SOLC looks for grants to buy 352-acre property to conserve its unblemished habitats By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Mar. 29, 2015 @ 12:01 am By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Mar. 29, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> EAGLE POINT — Alicia MacArthur was in her early 20s when her father, Pulitzer Prize-winning publisher Robert Ruhl of the Medford Mail Tribune, bought a large ranch along the Rogue River off Highway 234 as a weekend getaway. It sported a riverside lodge in which Ruhl built an elaborate bar shaped like a boat that protruded over the river. The Ruhls regularly held weekend family outings, parties and card games there. While her mother liked to fish for salmon off the lodge lawn, MacArthur always seemed more drawn to the property's downstream corner closer to Dodge Bridge. "It had big trees and a little meadow and when the violets bloomed, it was absolutely beautiful," recalls MacArthur, 93. "I thought that was the prettiest part of the property." The trees, meadow and seasonal violets that have grown there for generations could be protected for generations to come under an agreement meant to keep the ranch's habitats intact, nurtured and unscathed by development. The MacArthur family plans to sell the ranch to the Southern Oregon Land Conservancy if the 37-year-old nonprofit can land enough grants and donations. This one purchase would grow its holdings by more than 11 times. The ranch was appraised at $3 million, but the MacArthurs gave the conservancy a bargain sale agreement for $2.4 million, allowing the conservancy to use that savings as matching money toward state and federal grants needed before the purchase agreement expires in fall 2016. During its tenure here, the conservancy has purchased or been donated conservation easements that protect more than 9,760 acres, making it the largest regional conservancy in Oregon. But it actually owns just one parcel, a 31-acre site on Williams Creek in Josephine County. When it comes to ownership in the land-conservation world, this makes buying what the SOLC plans to call the MacArthur Rogue River Preserve akin to moving from a mobile home to a mansion. It's an uphill financial struggle, but conservation project manager Craig Harper believes the SOLC will be the little conservancy that could. "For us to purchase a 352-acre ranch is a real challenge, but that's what we're aiming at," Harper says. "The opportunity to conserve this would be lost if this property were divided and sold into 5-acre lots with mansions." During a stroll through the property on a sunny Thursday, Harper passionately describes why he believes this purchase needs to become a reality. The property is a mosaic of the different types of habitats that once dominated the upper Rogue River Basin but largely have given way over time to cleared cattle pastures, ranchettes and dream homes. The lands near Upper River Road are chaparral boasting buck brush that help draw black-tailed deer and Roosevelt elk. Vernal pools dot the landscape that eventually becomes meadows sprinkled with natural springs, extremely rare white fairy poppy plants and surprisingly few blackberries. Much of the ranch is unblemished by non-native vegetation, but even some of the invasive plants that are present are losing ground naturally. A hefty population of gall mites is killing off the scotch broom with a success rate that impresses SOLC botanist Kristi Mergenthaler. "This is the headquarters for the scotch broom gall mite," Mergenthaler says. "Twenty to 30 percent of the plants are dead or dying. That's one reason alone this land is special." The property's brightest gem, however, is its mature and largely streamside oak woodlands, the second largest intact riparian forest along 100 miles of the Rogue. The only larger one is the publicly owned and primarily unreachable oak woodlands around the now-removed Gold Ray Dam impoundment. "That's what's so amazing about this site," Harper says. "It's so big and it's in such good shape. The native vegetation is doing very well and we want to keep it that way." The first steps toward a chance to do that will come in April when a SOLC steering committee meets and starts making decisions about management plans, conservation guidelines and funding sources that favor those plans. Harper says the conservancy is eyeing everything from the Oregon Lottery-fed Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board and special federal funds through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for tapping. "How we manage it will determine what kind of funding we get," Harper says. The conservancy also hasn't yet figured out how public this ranch would be if it's purchased. When it comes to conserving natural places, too many people is generally not considered a good thing. "I think there is a lot of opportunity for limited public access," Harper says. "We just haven't figured that out yet." Also unsolved is to what degree the property could be turned into a working ranch again. Thick patches of incense cedar have sprung up in recent decades after intensive cattle grazing ended decades ago. "The ground has healed very well," he says. But cattle could be invited back to help keep grasses from overrunning the ranch's vernal pools — a growing practice amid vernal-pool management in the region, Harper says. "We want to protect and enhance those features while still allowing a working component to it," Harper says. Conservancy staff such as Mergenthaler are currently surveying the land for plant species and habitats. Eventually they will strike out toward the roughly 10-acre island that regularly sports elk that move among the ranch and other large tracts on the other side of the Rogue. "I can't wait to get on that island and see what's there," Harper says. "We better take a machete to hack our way through." Conservancy officials also have made no decision about what to do with the old lodge, which now serves as a residence for the property's on-site caretaker. "The lodge is a whole different story," Harper says. "We don't know what we can do with it. It's old. It's flood-prone. But it's historic. "It could be a liability, or it could be a benefit," he says. For the MacArthurs, the ranch again became a weekend getaway in 1966 when Alicia returned to Medford with her six children. Her husband, John MacArthur, had died in a climbing accident while the family was living in the Middle East, where John was working on a large water project. Robert Ruhl had deeded the ranch to Alicia in the early 1950s, though he continued to use it until his death in 1967. The bar Ruhl built had washed away in the 1964 flood, but the property remained largely unchanged. "I used to take my children out and picnic on the property," MacArthur says. "I liked to go out and hunt for stones." Her children eventually moved away from the area. Fourteen years ago, MacArthur moved outside of Philadelphia to be near two of her daughters. It is time, she says, to let the property go. "My children's children are college-age now, so need I say more?" she says. "They could use the money." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected] . Follow him at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman .   By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Mar. 29, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » 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. » EVENTS CALENDAR Connect with MailTribune.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 Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked 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. 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