Last chance! The deadline is fast approaching to run for the SROA board Page 5
COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS Deschutes County’s COVID risk level remains “high” and may affect some services. Contact a business/organization to confirm hours of operation, meeting and/or event dates published in this issue.
The show must go on! Local theater group utilizes virtual platforms Page 26
Stay Safe! MASK … DISTANCE… WASH
S U N R I V E R
S C E N E A NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE SUNRIVER OWNERS ASSOCIATION
MARCH 2021
VOLUME XLVII • NUMBER 3
Wildfire risk reduction continues in the winter
Turn to Reduction, page 3
It’s Gus on the left and the new female on the right moments after her release. Onlookers watch the interaction from the shore, below.
SUSAN BERGER PHOTOS
SNCO Animal Program Coordinator Kelli Newman releases the swan.
Gus the swan gets a new gal pal By Susan Berger, Sunriver Scene Sunriver’s resident trumpeter swan Gus has a new gal pal, and she arrived just in time for Valentine’s Day. The yetto-be-named female swan was released the morning of Feb. 10 while a group of onlookers watched the quiet, and uneventful, first interactions. “I feel this is sort of like a big family reunion,” said Amanda Accamando, Sunriver Nature Center Manager, as she greeted the crowd. “We haven’t seen everyone gathered like this for so long.” Grace, Gus’s previous mate, was killed in October by predators, and the nature center had been on a swan search ever
since. The four-year-old female swan arrived from a private waterfowl breeder in Indiana. The swan was flown from Indiana into Portland, then picked up and transported back to Sunriver by SNCO Animal Program Coordinator Kelli Newman. After arriving in Sunriver on Feb. 5, the swan underwent an observational period as well as a health check prior to her release. You could almost hear a pin drop as the swan sprung from the crate and into the water at Lake Aspen… the crowd quietly waited to see what would happen next. Gus, who had been snoozing
alongside several Canada geese on an iced-over portion of the lake, took notice of his new lake-mate and swam over to join her. The two casually paddled side-by-side for several minutes before the female moved off to graze on aquatic vegetation and take a bath. While sparks may not have flown at first sight, it is hoped that once breeding season arrives the duo will mate – a vital step in increasing the trumpeter swan population in Oregon. Sunriver’s trumpeter swans are important to the restoration of the species after being Turn to Swan, page 3
Proposed rule change to include Class 2 e-bikes fails By Susan Berger, Sunriver Scene SROA NEWS – At its February meeting, the SROA Board of Directors rejected a second reading and a motion that proposed changing Sunriver Rules & Regulations Section 2.03 that would have allowed Class 2 electric bicycles (e-bikes) on Sunriver pathways. The proposed rule change was generated by the Covenants Committee following a recommendation by an owner in 2020 and meetings between the SROA and SSD to discuss/review an Enforcement of Rules & Regulations
Agreement. During the 60-day owner input period, some 40 owners wrote in opposition of including Class 2 e-bikes to the rule – citing safety, speed, lack of police enforcement and etiquette by pathway users as their biggest concerns. Only eight respondents were in favor. The Sunriver rule remains as follows: 2.03 Pathways, Pedestrians and Cycles B. Pathways shall be used solely by (1) pedestrians and (2) non-motorized vehicles.
The term “non-motorized vehicles” means: tricycles, bicycles, scooters, strollers, child trailers, tag-along bikes towed behind bicycles and Class 1 e-bikes. For purposes of these rules, “Class 1 e-bikes” means two-wheeled, pedal-assist only, low-speed electric bicycles, with no throttle, that have a maximum assisted speed of 20 mph. All motorized vehicles and non-motorized vehicles not specifically described above (including, but not limited Turn to E-bikes, page 6 SUNRIVER SCENE SUNRIVER OWNERS ASSN. VOLUME XLVII • NUMBER 3 P.O. BOX 3278 SUNRIVER, OR 97707
By Claire McClafferty SROA NEWS – Reducing our community’s risk from wildfire is an ongoing effort. While fire safety activities are most visible in the summer months, projects and preparations continue for Sunriver Owners Association’s Natural Resources department staff even when there is snow on the ground. Last fall, for example, staff began inspecting and preparing more than 150 acres of common area along Sunriver’s western boundary for Ladder Fuels Reduction (LFR) treatment. Ladder fuels are the accumulation of combustible materials linking the ground to the tree canopy and includes bitterbrush, live and dead limbs and tree seedlings. Ladder Fuels Reduction also includes thinning of larger trees to reduce competition to promote forest health as well as to slow spread of fire should it reach the tree canopy. LFR is an essential tool for mechanical removal of vegetation in wildland urban interface communities such as Sunriver. Staff prepared the area by locating and identifying with pink ribbon the boundaries between SROA commons and private properties. Staff also inspected and marked with green paint trees on commons that will be removed during LFR treatment. In mid-February, notification postcards were mailed to owners near the Common areas that will receive LFR treatment in 2021. “While we make every effort to accurately locate property lines, some LFR work on Commons could occur on the fringes of private properties,” notes Patti Gentiluomo, SROA Director of Natural Resources. “Now is the time for owners to contact us if they have questions about our flagging or if they believe a tree was marked for removal on their private property,” she continued. Owners are asked to contact the Natural Resources department at 541-593-1522 no later than March 15.
PRSRT STD. U.S. POSTAGE PAID BEND, OR PERMIT NO. 213