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52 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, April 17, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 15, 2005 Tom Vallejo of Rogue River pilots his invention, called a �brush claw,� to remove blackberry bushes along the Bear Creek Greenway Thursday. Use of the machine costs $680 per day, but the first day was free, Vallejo said. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell All clear Blackberry bush-munching machine put to the test along the Bear Creek Greenway By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune For Pat Forehand, the removal of acres of dense, invasive plants alongside her daily jogging path is a welcome sight. "I think it’s fabulous," said the Medford resident, looking at bare soil next to the Bear Creek Greenway. "I’m hoping that the native plants will come back," she said. "My biggest objection is it was just ugly." Blackberry bushes gave way to machinery Thursday as work crews began clearing the Bear Creek Greenway near Siskiyou Boulevard and Willamette Avenue. Advertisement Bruce Galloway, Medford parks and recreation department superintendent, said work on this two-acre portion of the Greenway is a trial run. "We’re trying to figure out the best way to take the berry bushes out," he said. Tom Vallejo of Rogue River removed the brambles with a "brush claw," a machine attachment he invented and for which he has a patent pending, he said. It is specifically designed to pull out light brush such as blackberries and manzanita, said Vallejo. "Larger equipment makes bigger divots in the land," he said. Vallejo said he was charging about $680 per day, but his first day was free. Galloway said Vallejo’s brush claw is better than cutting the bushes because it pulls out a lot of the root systems. "He gets probably 60 percent of the roots," Galloway said. He said the area may require topical herbicides and hand pulling for the next couple of years. "Right now we’re just trying to see what’s in there," he said. Joy Olson, executive director of the Bear Creek Greenway Foundation, said she hopes this test area goes well so the project can continue along the entire 18-mile path between Ashland and Central Point. "If you have visibility, at least everybody can see everybody else," she said. Clearing the Greenway became a major concern in the community after a 15-year-old girl reportedly was raped March 4 by a Phoenix man and two others in the bushes along the Greenway near the Rogue Valley Mall. Since the incident, local law enforcement agencies have swept through the Greenway twice, ousting transients who camped in the blackberry bushes. The Greenway foundation has been asking local jurisdictions for their help in removing the non-native plants that provide cover for illegal activities. "Less than a month and a half later, here we are," said Olson, pointing at the machine. The huge piles of blackberry debris will be hauled off and shredded, said Brian Sjothun, parks and recreation director. Burning of brush piles is illegal within the city limits. Sjothun said the city has almost $2,000 to put toward the effort, and the Greenway foundation has pledged $2,500. He said the parks department is willing to cooperate, but the planning, effort and funding will have to come from the Greenway Foundation because the parks department cannot pull its attention off other parks projects. The site was chosen, said Sjothun, because it is outside of the riparian zone. Riparian zones — such as the area near the mall — require more complex surveying and planning, he said, because they are recognized as supporting healthy streams. Galloway said the plan is to try pulling up the blackberries near the Bear Creek Park playground, too. The project has to stop by April 25, when migrating birds which nest in blackberries are expected to return, said Sjothun. Work may resume in the fall. Galloway said the Oregon Department of Transportation, which owns the property where the rape reportedly took place, has tentatively agreed to let that area be cleared when work can resume. Greenway fund-raiser planned WHAT: Bear Creek Greenway Crab Fest and silent auction fund-raiser. WHEN: Saturday. Doors open at 5 p.m., dinner begins at 7 p.m. WHERE: Red Lion Hotel, Medford. COST: $50 per ticket. For more information, call 732-1604 or visit www.bearcreekgreenway.com on the Web. The Bear Creek Greenway Foundation will donate all money raised at its annual fund-raiser Saturday to the blackberry removal project. Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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