JWA HISTORY

I will try to recreate the history, and major accomplishments of the JWA. I do not know if I can get across the thought, effort, and sweat that has been required and expended. This report will be rambly and rough, but it should get the across what I want people to remember about the founding of the JWA.

A friend of mine, Robertson Collins, the father of our Jacksonville National Landmark Status, told me several months ago I should be keeping rough notes just in case there is a need to write the history of the JWA. Well, I have kept some records, so I will attempt a quick history.

El Sire, our newsletter editor and keeper of the records has agreed to put together additional information, but he is out of town this week and will work on it in September.

After the death of Carrie Beekman on July 12, 1959, the Beekman Estate reverted to the University of Oregon (State Board of Higher Education). The proceeds from the estate were to establish a teaching Chair for Northwest History at the University of Oregon. The University quickly realized that the house was full of valuable antiques, so they advertised an estate auction and piled the stuff out on the lawn. Meanwhile the citizens of Jacksonville, most notably the Siskiyou Pioneer Sites Foundation, were horrified at the desecration of the most complete family collection (covering 105 years) in existence in town. The Britt Family Collection had already been sold off or given away by Southern Oregon College (Oregon State Board of Higher Education) and the State had allowed the house to burn twice, until it was totally destroyed.

The Siskiyou Pioneer Sites Foundation was determined not to let this happen to the Beekman House. They gained a court order that stalled the sale and ordered the University to put the Beekman?s belongings back in the house. An abundance of O&C timber money allowed Jackson County to purchase the Beekman House, the furnishings and two acres of land in 1966. I don?t know why the County did not buy the whole estate. I guess they felt they did not need it. (The same thing happened at Britt. The County purchased 10 acres of the Britt Estate for the Britt Festivals people, leaving the remainder with the State of Oregon.) The Beekman House and grounds were then turned over to the Southern Oregon Historical Society to operate as a living history facility. For years all of the Beekman belongings remained in the house, but eventually, except for the furnishings needed to tell the Beekman story, were put into proper storage.

So, the remaining 21 acre Beekman Woods sat untouched for the next 30 years. The City did rezone the land as 0.5 acre hillside residential (30 to 40 houses) during this period. At the time of rezoning no one gave any thought to preserving the land. The City was doing what the State wanted and that was to make the land more valuable. But what saved the Beekman Woods from being developed was a series of Jacksonville building moratoriums off and on over a 20 year period. First in about 1971 it was an inadequate sewer system (lagoons and septic tanks), followed by an inadequate water system in the mid 1980?s. Also, I think the State of Oregon kind of forgot about the Beekman land while they were waiting for the local real estate market to improve. They did want to make a lot of money off the property. Property values of undevelopable land in Jacksonville were depressed for decades. Developable land values skyrocketed almost 1000% from 1960 to 1990, but the Beekman and Britt lands were off limits because of being outside of the City?s developable land supply.

By 1989, with the promise of a new water system being talked about, the State of Oregon decided to make their move and put the property on the market. I remember it was during the summer or fall of 1989 that a large plywood for sale sign, with a Eugene phone number, suddenly appeared on the property, up on Laurelwood Drive. Within a couple of weeks someone had spray painted hills on the sign and the words, ?Eat Me? also appeared. A rep from the University came out a week or two later and scrubbed the paint off. It was a fluorescent orange as I recall. Then the vandals struck again! This time the sign posts were broken off and the sign fell face down. Tiny deer feet were spray painted on the back side of the sign using a stencil. A few days later the whole thing suddenly disappeared. The U got the message.

The sign certainly got the neighbors talking! The whole neighborhood was going to change if the land was subdivided and the kids were going to lose a neighborhood playground. Joe Reyman, my next door neighbor, began to walk around with a pained look on his face wondering if something could be done. We learned that by October two subdividers had filed application with the City to begin development even though they still did not own the land. Finally, after several weeks of talking with people, Joe and Ray Foster (another neighbor on Laurelwood) announced that a meeting for area residents would be held at the Foster home on Sunday, November 12, 1989.

(Joe Reyman is considered the actual founder of the Association. It was his decision to call the neighborhood meeting and to make the phone calls to Eugene that got the ball rolling. He would stop me every so often and ask what we could do, but I was fatalistic and assumed the houses would be built. I tell you, I have learned so much since then about land preservation and what is needed to win these battles. We did just the right thing. Keep a step ahead of the developers. There is no way a community or grass roots organization can win a bidding war against a rich and determined developer. Fortunately for us the Beekman and Britt land was still in public ownership and could be offered to the City of Jacksonville without going ?outside? for selling bids. The State sells land to public agencies at appraised value.)

44 people attended the first meeting. Interest was high. During the meeting the name ?Jacksonville Woodlands Association? was adopted after trying out several names. Joe was elected president, Ray Foster as VP. A board of directors was also elected.

Meanwhile Joe arranged for a meeting with Vice Chancellor Richard Perry up in Eugene for Dec. 3, 1989. A letter was drafted, ?Our association feels that the sale-development would be a detriment to the scenic character of our town. The Beekman property is an integral part of the historical backdrop of Jacksonville.? The U was convinced to take the property off the market until the Association could arrange for a sale. By selling to the City of Jacksonville, we were able to avoid a costly bidding war. By law the State has to offer surplus properties first to municipalities or public organizations.

The appraised value was set at $123,500. Such a deal! The estimated value of the land though gained over 10% during the two years it took to sign off on the project. The University talked briefly of raising the selling price to match the increased value, which they had the right to do, but in the interest of public relations and in all fairness to the citizens of Jacksonville, they decided to hold to the original agreed upon price.

The serious matter of building a mailing list and raising money was accomplished at the second meeting of the Association on December 17. This meeting raised $8,850 toward the down payment. There was such excitement! People bid against each other to get money raised. The Association also began to work on our constitution and tax-exempt status. The Siskiyou Pioneer Sites Foundation joined forces with the money raising efforts. (It turned out to be in name only because the organization was dying for lack of members.)The sale agreement for the Beekman property was not signed until 1991. The sale had been held up by technicalities and land encroachments that needed to be settled first.

From the very beginning of the JWA, the media has been interested in our project. For some reason we have attracted lots of press. Dozens of local articles, a score or two of T.V. news reports, plus magazine articles across the state and nation have been published. I have copies of almost all articles and most T.V. reports.

Eventually the money, plus interest, was raised and the Beekman land was purchased by the City with the Southern Oregon Land Conservancy holding a conservation easement on the property. The property was formally turned over to the City by the Association on November 30, 1995 after spending five years raising $135,000 (selling price plus interest).

During December of 1990, the City and BLM reached a management agreement for the trail development of the 70 acres of BLM lands within and adjacent to the City of Jacksonville. Mayor Bob Cecil was quoted in a news article as saying it was, ?The hottest thing since donuts?. The landmark agreement for a proposed park and trail system, committed the City to draw up a master plan with the technical assistance of the BLM and was the product of a year of work by Cecil and JWA member Katy Caulker.

It is a long and wonderful story, but buying the 10 acre City of Medford land, adjoining the Cemetery, for $1,040 was our next major accomplishment. The whole deal was negotiated and put together by 11 year-old Brian Mulhollen, a student of mine. Brian raised the money and he was the one who kept both parties going. The deal was consummated between November, 1992 and February of 1993.

One Saturday in 1992, while Brian was in the sixth grade he and I took a walk through the Cemetery. I mentioned that the bordering 10 acres were owned by the City of Medford. His next question was, ?How do we get the land?? I told him that an appointment would have to made with Andy Anderson, the City Manager at that time, to get the deal rolling. Several days later Brian came into my room at Jacksonville School and announced that he had called Mr. Anderson and that Brian?s mother was out in the school parking lot to pick Brian up for an appointment at City Hall. I told Brian to wait. He needed a game plan before starting to negotiate for the land. I suggested first that Brian ask the City of Medford to just give us the land. Then I looked in my desk drawer and found $250 from selling Woodland t-shirts. I said, ?Offer them $250. Mr. Smith has that much from selling t-shirts.? I figured that if an 11 year-old boy would come to the table with a ridiculous offer, they may just accept the deal. I was told by a City of Medford employee to get news of the Brian?s negotiations in the newspaper and that would add pressure to the City to give a good deal to Jacksonville. Brian meet with Andy Anderson twice, one time with his 11 year-old friend from the Elementary School, John Robert Manes. Finally, the Medford City Council said they could not just give the land to Jacksonville, but they could sell the land for what they paid for it in about 1914. Medford had purchased the land for use as a rock quarry. They would blast out the rock, crush it and transport it by railroad to Medford or they would use the rock for railroad ballast. Medford owned the Rogue River Valley Railroad for several years after the railroad went into receivership because of money problems. The rock was too hard to crush, so after digging out a big hole the quarry was closed and the City seemed to forget that they owned the land for the next 60 some years which was fortunate for the City of Jacksonville. Since the deal was between two cities, Medford did not have to put the land up for bid. Brian then took the offer back to the Jacksonville City Council, made a presentation. He explained the deal and that Mr. Smith had $250 in his desk drawer which was really money from the Jacksonville Woodlands Association. One member of the Council, Walter Jascowitz (Walt Jay) spoke up that he would throw in $250. Mayor Lewis thought the City could come up with the remaining $540 and the deal was sealed. The offers and the money was turned over to the lawyers and Jacksonville gained an outstanding addition to its natural parks system and the preservation of the western entrance to Jacksonville was ensured. Since part of the Medford land jutted up into the Cemetery, about a half an acre of land has been sold to the Jewish Organization for grave sites. So, the City has more than gained back the $540 they invested in eleven-year old Brian Mulhollen?s land deal.

It was also during this time that I noticed that Jackson County owned three tiny pieces of property in Jacksonville. The smallest piece was located at the south east corner of the Medford land, next to the curve in the abandoned roadway of old Hwy 238, next to the bridge that washed out in 1964. The other two small pieces were out Hwy 238, where the parking area is now located for the Jackson Forks Bridge. Apparently these were abandoned pieces of property that the County took over because of lack of payment of taxes. The County was more than happy to rid themselves of them. I wrote a letter suggesting the transfer and the deal was done. The total acreage was less than one acre.

Most volunteer organizations begin to lose steam after the initial excitement has passed and the JWA was no exception following the successful negations for the Beekman property. But our goals were huge and we had to keep going. The biggest boost occurred in October, 1992, when the JWA joined forces with the Friends of Jacksonville, an west side organization that had been founded to control detrimental types of development in Jacksonville and to work on the purchase of the Britt Property. By this time most of the original JWA board members had either moved, or moved on to other things. We were in the middle of a major crisis. Several of the ?Friends? board members joined the JWA and most important, Phil Gahr of the Friends took over as JWA President, a position he has held for 5 years. We would have foundered if it had not been for Phil?s very capable and decisive leadership. He breathed much needed energy into the Association. He is an accomplished speaker and works well with fund raising and community relations. He has an excellent sense of business operations having run a Fortune 500 company prior to ?retiring? and moving to Jacksonville in 1990.

As the Beekman project was nearing completion, Southern Oregon State College decided to put their 77 acre Britt Woods on the market. They did so reluctantly because the property had not yet been included in Jacksonville?s Urban Growth Boundary. Had it been in the UGB, the price would have skyrocketed. The 77 acres was zoned for only one house which depressed the price.

Learning our lessons from the Beekman Purchase, we worked fast and hard with the State and City to seal the sale at $140,000. The State claims that by law they could not just give the land to the City, but instead they are required to sell at appraised value. We were fortunate that the appraisals were low and fair. This type of land would now be worth over $1,000,000 based on sales prices this year within Jacksonville. The City approved the purchase of the Britt Estate on February 16, 1993.

December, 1993 saw the donation of the 7.5 acre Sarah Zigler Woods to the City of Jacksonville by the Zigler, Brown, and VonTress families. It is a very long and wonderful story of how Peter Britt gave the land to Sarah Zigler in the 1870?s and it stayed in the family for nearly 130 years. I was able to track down 90 year old Zelia Zigler Von Tress in Indiana. The family agreed to give the land to the City in memory of Zelia?s grandmother, Sarah Zigler. There are only four direct descendants of Sarah left. Zelia is now 96 and in very good health. She has no children. Her late sister only had one son who had two children. We hear from her frequently. The Sarah Zigler Interpretive Trail was built with a Sims Trail Grant of $4,500 in December of 1994, following the course of the old Peter Britt water ditch. The Zigler Trail was our first official trail. Things were starting to move!

The Zigler land was Quit Claimed to the City of Jacksonville from Vernon Brown and Zelia Von Tress was recorded by Jackson County at 8:00 a.m. on December 30, 1993. Deed Number: 93-45230.

From the very beginning back in 1989, environmental education has been a very important component of the Woodlands Trail System. Trail brochures, t-shirts, news letters, a national award winning video tape are just some of the materials produced by the JWA.

From the very beginning of this project the media has been interested and we have received wide publicity which has helped in our fund raising efforts. People from all over the region know about the project and awards. Dozens of newspaper and magazine articles have been written. Several articles have appeared in national publications. In January, 1993 our educational program won the Amway ?Class Act? award recognizing our program as one of the top environmental programs in the Nation. We took 3 students back to Washington, D.C. and brought home $8,000 in prize money.

In February of 1997 our program won Sea World/Busch Garden?s ?Pledge and a Promise? recognizing our program as the number one elementary environmental program in the nation. We brought home $12,500 in prize money which was used in October, 1997 to purchase 10 acres of Rich Gulch which is the head waters of Daisy Creek. The asking price was $88,000. We still owe $20,000 which is going to take some serious fund raising. We have four more years to pay off the land. The owner, Mike Begley, refused to sell until my students bombarded him with a couple dozen letters. He reduced the price by almost $30,000 to give us a break and himself a tax break. A Collins Foundation Grant for $20,000 arrived in October of 1998. We were left with a balance of only $20,000 after only one and a half years of fund-raising.

During the Spring of 1998, Mrs. Verne Beebe offered to donate to the Woodlands Association a 7.5 acre parcel located on the east side of upper Hill Street, immediately adjacent to the BLM?s 10 acre Chinese Digging. The appraised value has been set at $260,000. During the Spring of 1998 I was approached by Dr. John Wilkinson, who lives at the South end of Hill Street about the possibility of the Woodlands Association purchasing Mrs. Beebe?s 7.5 acre parcel, which stretches east from the BLM?s Chinese Digging. There is much evidence of placer mining on the property. I suggested that Dr. John go talk to Mrs. Beebe and see what type of deal he could strike. About two days later Dr. John called me very excited. Mrs. Beebe had the property listed at $300,000. Several builders were interested in the property, but for the Association, she would sell her property for $150,000. I told Dr. John, ?That is wonderful, but the Association does not have $150,000 at this time. We still owe $40,000 on the Rich Gulch property.? I suggest that he contact other people living on Hill Street, including Katie Caulker, and see if they would be interested in helping raise the money. After talking to Katie, she approached Mrs. Beebe about perhaps a better deal. Mrs. Beebe said later that she went to bed that night unable to have a restful night. She was distressed over her decision. She thought about her late husband, Tony, who loved the woods on the property. He loved the animals and deer that lived there. The next morning Verne called Katie and offered to give the property to the Woodlands Association. After several months of legal preparation, Mrs. Beebe formally signed the property over to the Jacksonville Woodlands Association, who in turn signed the property over to the City of Jacksonville. The Southern Oregon Land Conservancy owns the scenic easement on the property.

The Beebe Woods was recorded with the City on September 24, 1998.

On May 11, 1998 the National Park Service (Rivers, Trails & Conservation Program) gathered together 21 community leaders, activists and organizations to begin forging a master plan for the various properties that have been included in the Jacksonville Woodlands Historic Natural Park and Trail System. The effort will most likely take a couple of years.

During the Spring of 1998, the Oregon Economic Commission awarded the JWA a $29,600 grant award to be used for trail construction, bridge building, land purchase, and educational brochures and maps. The Meyer Memorial Trust granted us a $8,800 grant to produce a trail map and to build several informational kiosks.

A $3,300 grant has been secured from Mrs. Verne Beebe to place the Rich Gulch properties in the National Register of Historic Places. That application is presently being written and evaluated by Ashland Historian Kay Atwood.

Presently we are in negations with the BLM and the Frontino family as we attempt to buy their 27 acre parcel boarding Rich Gulch on the West. The price will be around $110,000. The Frontino property contains the remains of the one mile Miller Water Ditch which brought in water for the hydraulic gold mines that operated in Rich Gulch for over 60 years. A verbal agreement between the Federal Government (BLM) and the Frontinos for $95,000 was completed in November, 1998. The BLM had $113,000 available from an emergency Land and Water Conservation land acquisition fund, but the official appraisal came in at $95,000 because of the limited development potential.

During the spring of 1998 I mentioned to my neighbor, Ray Foster, that while investigating the ownership of the Frontino property, that I had found a brother to the owner (who lived in S. California) living in Eagle Point. Since Ray teaches high school in Eagle Point, he volunteered to contact Mitchell Milich, a retired firefighter, living on Nick Young Road. The Milich and Frontino families agreed to selling the property. The Frontinos had planned to build on the property 30 some years ago, but ended up moving to Southern California. Mr. Frontino has passed away and Mrs. Frontino is very elderly and would like to sell.

I then wrote a letter to the BLM on March 18, 1998: ?Dear Mr. Rich Drehobl (area manager): Fred Tomlins informs me that your office is interested in helping the Jacksonville Woodlands Association and the City of Jacksonville by facilitating a Government land swap for a 27 acre parcel bordering Rich Gulch, Highway 238 and two BLM parcels along the City?s south western boundary. By taking a look at the enclosed map you can see the importance and wisdom of adding western protection to the Rich Gulch/Chinese Digging and the Rich Gulch Historic Mining District. The parcel of interest also retains the remains of the 1880 mining ditch that fed water from Jackson Creek to the Petard?s hydraulic mining operation on Rich Gulch. The land is presently owned by Helen Frontino. She is quite elderly and has moved to Southern Oregon, apparently in the Burbank/Arcadia area. Phone: 626-288-9462. Her brother and sister-in-law have moved into her Eagle Point house and are helping Helen with her business affairs. Mitch told us that his sister is very much interested in selling her property, so the timing is good. Mitch Milich, 541-826-2696. If you have any more questions, please give me a call!? Sincerely, Larry Smith, VP JWA.

My letter was read at a BLM staff meeting. One member of the staff felt that purchase would be the best approach, but that the deal and funding would take at least two years. One BLM relator specialist, Teresa Gallaher-Hill, asked permission if she could take over the project. Mr. Drehobl gave her the project, but she was informed that it was not to interfere with her other duties. During the ensuing months Ms. Gallaher-Hill located $113,000 in an emergency fund of L&W money available to the Northwest Region. She then had to convince several managers and staff members of the importance of this purchase. It would preserve the historic 1867 Zigler Mining Ditch, 1,000 feet of Jackson Creek riparian habitat, and protect the habitat of Genter?s Fritillary, an endangered flower. Many meetings later, and many hundreds of pages of legal documents and letters later, and after conducting several fieldtrips to the property for Government officials, the purchase deal began to move forward. About two months before the deal was finalized, Ms. Gallaher-Hill was able to gain a power of attorney from Helen Frontino allowing her brother, Mitch Milich to legally sign for the sale of the property. Ms. Galaher-Hill overcame many obstacles, but she believed strongly in the project and worked and worked until the deal was finalized. At one point Teresa showed me her file. Very thick.

Once the price and the appraisal had been agreed upon, the legal package was sent to the BLM?s Solicitor in Portland, where they spent a month checking out the legality of the details and contract. On February 12, 1999 the deed was recorded in Jackson County and the Frontino property officially became U.S. Government land! Almost 12 months from the day I wrote my letter to the BLM asking if they would buy the Frontino property.

We are also in negotiations along with the Trust for Public Lands and Mark Burkhalter, et al, in an attempt to purchase his 15 hillside acres bordering Rich Gulch on the east. Asking price is around $350,000. Many details remain to be worked out. Developers are after the property. By November of 1998 the Trust for Public Lands had obtained a purchase option for the property and we are now waiting for the many details of fund-raising, and public ownership to be settled. The process may take a couple of years.

I met with Mark Burkhalter in September of 1997 to see if he and his partners would be interested in selling all or part of their property to the Woodlands Association. It took several phone calls and letters and visits with his real estate agent to set up the meeting. I was told that a family and a developer were both looking at their property and that they were close to a deal, but since Mr. Burkhalter is a lawyer with a history degree, he was interested in preserving at least the Gulch section of the property. Mark owns 50% with three partners owning the other half in equal shares. On June 1, 1998 I sent a letter to see if the partners would be interested in at least selling the upper 7.5 acres, but got a luke warm response. In August, 1998, I sent Mark a letter asking for permission to include his 4.5 acres of the Gulch (zoned Special Protection) into our application for the Rich Gulch listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Mark called and was very please to give his permission. Also, he told me that he did not mind hikers on his property, just that he wanted a sign posted that it was private property and people were to travel at their own risk. I placed the sign within a week.

Several years ago I wrote the Trust to see if they would be interested in help the JWA purchase property. They answered saying that they did not give money to projects. That they operated differently than most conservation groups. I again wrote them them, in fact during the summer of 1998 I wrote to their Boston office, their SF office, their Portland office and their Seattle office. I got their attention. They felt that my proposal for the Burkhalter property was too small for their efforts. To make it worth their time, they needed projects that were over $300,000 in size. Well, after the appraisal was completed the selling price was well over that for the 15 acres. Now I had their attention and they were definitely interested. Negotiations started with Mark B. I was told that the Escutcheon was to back off at this point and the Trust would take over. Good news for me.The negotiations did not go easy. Burkhalter was a business man and at times the deal almost fell through. During the summer of 1998 Sam Hoder, the main negotiator for the Trust and Chris Beck, one of Sam?s colleagues, visited Jacksonville and I was able to take them on a tour of the project. Chris Beck is a member of the Oregon Legislature. They became convinced that it was going to be well worth the Trust?s time to purchase this wonderful piece of property. The view is terrific from the top of the Knoll and the land is prime Fritillary habitat. The Trust negotiates appraised value and then they work with land owners to give a reduction donation to the Trust equal to the the tax savings a donation of that amount would bring from the IRS, thus saving on their capital gains taxes. This price reduction becomes a donation to the Trust for Public Land and pays for the staff?s time putting the deal together.

The Trust is now preparing a ?Beauty Book? with photos and text for interested funders. The Trust is trying a several prong approach for funding. They have a lobbyist back in D.C. working with Congress and the Land and Water Conservation Fund looking to be included in their annual budget. The Purchase Option with Mark Burkhalter, et al is in effect until December, 1999. The Trust called in February, 1999 asking for historic data and area maps, which I mailed to them. They are also working on a funding package to present to the Governor?s Water Board which administers Lottery money for park purchases, among other things. The voters of Oregon passed Measure 66 last November to make available additional funds for land preservation and State Park restoration.

The BLM is probably going to end up owning the Burkhalter property, now known as the ?Knoll Property?. In a letter from the BLM, dated March 18, 1999, Reality Specialist Teresa Gallagher-Hill announced that her supervisor(s) has/have given her official approval to work on obtaining the Knoll Property for the Government.

In February of 1999, Kay Atwood (historic consultant from Ashland) completed an exhaustive research project with her completion of the nomination for Rich Gulch to be placed in the National Register of Historic Places. The nomination was submitted to Oregon?s SHPO office February, 1999. The Listing will include 4.5 acres of the Burkhalter property (the lower end of the Gulch already zoned ?Special Protection by the City), 10 acres owned by the City of Jacksonville at the top of Rich Gulch, and 10 acres of BLM land in the Chinese Digging, for a total of 24.5 acres. The Rich Gulch nomination contains the best preserved and the best examples of turn-of-the-century mining remaining within the city of Jacksonville. Kay feels that we have a very strong nomination.

1998 & 1999 have been the biggest years in the history of the JWA!

An interesting side note: Some of the former owners and present owners of the properties that we now have under contract are the: Beebes, Beekmans, Begleys, BLM, Britt and we are presently negotiating with the Burkhalters.

In hopes of the BLM purchasing the Burkhalter property, the Medford office of the BLM put high priory on the property.

The Jacksonville Woodlands Association P.O. Box 1210 Jacksonville, OR 97530 541-899-7402 Lsmith@wave.net February 17, 1999

Rich Drehobl Area Manager Bureau of Land Management 3040 Biddle Road Medford, OR 97504 541-770-2200

Dear Mr. Drehobl:

Since 1989, the Jacksonville Woodlands Association has been working to preserve the wooded scenic backdrop surrounding the National Historic Landmark town of Jacksonville, Oregon. Since almost the beginning of this very successful community conservation project, the Bureau of Land Management has supported our preservation efforts. Without the strong support of the Medford/Ashland BLM?s staff our natural park project along the western border of Jacksonville would have foundered. For the past nine years the BLM has: made a major land purchase, offered trail engineering advice, has contributed photos and maps for our use, supported a memorandum of understanding between the project?s six stake holders, provided assistance with plant studies, and has assisted our meetings with the National Park Service as the Association develops a General Master Plan for the woodlands conservation project.

Our amazing progress to preserve nearly 300 acres of wooded hillsides has been recognized nationally. Our project has even attracted attention at the highest level of Oregon State officials. During a visit to Jacksonville on April 16, 1998, Mr. Phil Keisling, Oregon?s Secretary of State noted in a speech that, ?I travel extensively around Oregon visiting many community projects. Jacksonville?s effort to preserve a circle of green space around their town is unparalleled in the state of Oregon.?

We want to especially thank the BLM staff for the purchase of the 27 acre Frontino property which sits between the BLM?s 40 acre parcel and the BLM?s 20 acre parcel. The Frontino property is one of the project?s most important and valuable acquisition. This new property protects the one mile 1867 Lewis Henry Zigler mining ditch which was dug to bring Jackson Creek water from Jacksonville Hill into the Rich Gulch Mining District. The old ditch will now provide trail access between Rich Gulch and Highway 238 at Jacksonville Hill. Government ownership of the Frontino property also protects the numerous glory holes and mining ramparts found on the property, provides habitat protection for the rare and endangered Gentner?s Fritillary, gives long term conservation to 1,000 feet of Jackson Creek riparian habitat, and supplies a buffer zone for the newly established Rich Gulch Historic Mining District. Government acquisition of the Frontino property has also given additional recreation opportunities to the many people who are now recreating in the Rich Gulch District. The completion of a trail from Highway 238 will allow bicyclers safe access from the Wagon Trail subdivision (Miller Gulch) into downtown Jacksonville, thus allowing children to avoid riding into town on the narrow and dangerous Hwy 238. Thank you BLM for your foresight!

Organizational Background for the JWA

The Jacksonville Woodlands Association is a non-profit, tax exempt, citizen based organization that is coordinating the preservation and establishment of the JACKSONVILLE WOODLANDS HISTORIC NATURAL PARK AND TRAIL SYSTEM. There is no paid staff. All work is done by volunteers or by contract. The JWA is operated by an eleven member Board of Directors, meeting monthly.

The Jacksonville Woodlands Park and Trail System is a 280 acre hillside woodland park that, when fully established and protected, will surround 70% of the National Historic Landmark City of Jacksonville, Oregon. The plan is to protect the forested hillsides of Jacksonville which form the town?s historic wooded viewscape. The natural woodland park will stretch from ridge-top to ridge-top, thus visually protecting the scenic view that has circled the town since its founding in 1852. Much of the Rich Gulch/Daisy Creek Drainage and upper watershed will also be protected.

During the ten years since the founding of the Jacksonville Woodlands Association, 16 parcels of forested woodlands, totaling more than 250 acres, have been placed under protection by either purchase or by donation. Several adjoining landowners, including the BLM, are working with us to have portions of their land included in the project. Also during these past eight years the Jacksonville Woodlands Association has raised over $350,000 for land purchases, conservation easements, environmental education materials and interpretive trail building.

We are in the process of establishing a series of educational and environmental trails and a Native Plant Botanical Garden that will provide an educational resource for local elementary, high school, and college students, as well as for Southern Oregon residents and town visitors who are interested in learning more about the unique natural and human history of Jacksonville and the surrounding region. Our trail exhibits, plant identification booklets, interpretive brochures, and student activity books are developing an understanding of the uniqueness of the flora and fauna of the Siskiyou Mountains of Southern Oregon.

JWA Mission Statement: The Jacksonville Woodlands Association is protecting the heritage and historic landscapes that define our town, thus preserving our quality of life for future generations. Our mission includes: fund raising, land acquisition, recreational and interpretive trail construction, the placing of conservation easements, initiating educational and interpretive materials and displays, and the formation and support of an active citizens? group to accomplish these objectives.

The Jacksonville Woodlands Association is a non-profit, tax exempt, citizen based organization that is coordinating the preservation and establishment of the JACKSONVILLE WOODLANDS HISTORIC NATURAL PARK AND TRAIL SYSTEM which is a core component the Open Space Element of the City?s Comprehensive Plan. All project development work and trail construction are done by volunteers or by contract, in full cooperation with the City of Jacksonville.

Much of the Rich Gulch/Daisy Creek Drainage and upper watershed will also be protected. The plan will preserve the livability of life in Historic Jacksonville and will serve as a catalyst for increased tourism, an essential element of the City?s economic life blood. Funds are being raised for an outdoor interpretive center that will tell the combined story of the natural and human history of the Jacksonville Historic District. Nowhere in the state of Oregon does there exist an opportunity such as this to interpret the combined story of one of our Nation?s greatest gold rushes and the story of the diverse plant life of the Siskiyou Mountains of Southern Oregon.

Rich Gulch Historic Mining District & the 15 acre Mark Burkhalter, et al, Property. (Also known as the ?Knoll? Property.

Rich Gulch is the site of one of the richest gold strikes in the history of the West. Gold was first discovered on Daisy Creek (Rich Gulch) in 1852. The resulting gold rush founded the town of Jacksonville, Oregon. Because Jacksonville?s buildings have been so well preserved and represent an 1880?s commercial look, the National Park Service and Congress designated the town a National Historic Landmark City in 1966. The town?s preservation efforts have now extended beyond the buildings on Main Street to the surrounding forested hillsides.

When the easier placer gold mining in the streams played out in the 1860?s, the miners brought in ditched water from nearby creeks to hydraulically wash out a large, steep sided canyon known as Rich Gulch. The sections of Rich Gulch that have been included in the Woodlands project contains numerous examples of turn of the century hydraulic gold mining.

The proposed Interpretive Centers for the Rich Gulch Historic Mining District will make readily available a study area of regional native plants for area residents, town visitors and school children from a six county area. Several thousand school children (K -12) from all over Western Oregon visit Historic Jacksonville annually along with 60,000 tourists and visitors. Our extensive woodlands trail system will add to each visitor?s outdoor experience. The educational materials that we are producing will give both students and adult visitors an understanding of the Siskiyou Mountains forest story; the most unique collection of plants west of the Rocky Mountains.

The center piece of the Rich Gulch District will be two educational kiosks which will display habitat maps, plant identification and interactive environmental displays. The kiosk designs will be of such to promote an understanding of the Siskiyous and Klamath Mountains. Public ownership Rich Gulch is of utmost importance because it will allow for the connecting, by a network of trails, of 11 parcels of land presently owned by the BLM, the City of Jacksonville and Jackson County. Without public ownership, the hiking trails will not connect. The upper end of Rich Gulch, which contains the best remaining evidence of gold mining activity in Jacksonville, is under three different ownerships. (Two parcels are publicly owned and two are privately owned by the same owners.) The evidence of hydraulic gold mining is so well preserved that the whole upper Gulch (25 acres) has been nominated for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. Five acres of the lower privately Knoll property have been included in the Register nomination.

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Letter to the BLM, Mr. Rich Drehobl, Area Manager 3040 Biddle Road Medford, OR 97504 541-770-2200

Dear Mr. Drehobl:

Fred Tomlins informs me that your office is interested in helping the Jacksonville Woodlands Association and the City of Jacksonville by facilitating a Government land swap for a 27 acre parcel bordering Rich Gulch, Highway 238, and two BLM parcels along the City?s south western boundary.

By taking a look at the enclosed map you can see the importance and wisdom of adding western protection to the Rich Gulch/Chinese Digging and the Rich Gulch Historic Mining District. The parcel of interest also retains the remains of the 1880?s mining ditch that fed water from the Jackson Creek to the Petard?s hydraulic mining operation on Rich Gulch.

The land is presently owned by Helen Frontino. She is elderly and has moved to Southern California, apparently in the Burbank/Arcadia area.

Her brother and sister-in-way, Mitch and Ila Milich have moved into her Eagle Point house and are helping Helen with her business affairs. Mitch told us that his sister is very much interested in selling her property, so the timing is good.

Mitch Milich 465 Nick Young Road Eagle Point, OR 97524

If you have any more questions, please give me a call.

Sincerely, Larry Smith VP JWA

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BLM Real estate Specialist, Teresa Galaher Hill reports that the BLM and the Frontino family signed a sale agreement, on January 13, 1999, for 27 acres, bordering the Rich Gulch parcel to the west of Rich Gulch, and bordering the BLM 40 and BLM 20 which joins the Britt Woods. The process took about 9 moths which is almost a new record. The old Petard (Miller) Water Ditch, which crosses the Frontino property, carried water from Jackson Creek to the Rich Gulch area for use in hydraulic mining. When the mining was shut down, the water was used for agriculture by the Petard family. Much of the 3/4 mile ditch still exists and will make an excellent trail from the top of the ridge out to Hwy. 238 on Jacksonville Hill. The trail will provide access into Jacksonville from the Wagon Trail subdivision. (Miller?s Gulch). The BLM is working to gain access to the west end of the trail from off of Hwy 238.

The BLM began working on the Frontino property on March 20, 1998 The BLM was notified of the awarding of $95,000 in L&W Conservation Fund money on June 3, 1998. Appraisal completed, October 23, 1998.

The purchase was recorded, February 11, 1999. Could not be recorded until Title Review/Approval from the BLM Solicitor.

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Burkhalter Property - 15 acres

Adjoining Rich Gulch from the east.

Trust for Public Lands. Purchase agreement, Fall of 1998. Has started a Capital Campaign to raise money for the purchase.

Encouraging BLM ownership of the 15 acre ?Knoll?

Now that the historic Frontino property has been purchased by the Government and is now an important part of the Rich Gulch Historic Mining District, we need to shift our focus to the 15 acre Knoll (Burkhalter, et al.) property. The Knoll consists of two 7.5 parcels. One upper section and one lower section, evenly divided. Nearly five acres of southern section of the Knoll property contains the middle section of the historically important Rich Gulch. The City of Jacksonville owns the upper 10 acres of the gulch and the BLM (Chinese Digging) owns the lower portion of the gulch.

Even though the Jacksonville Woodlands Association has successfully purchased five parcels of woodlands for the project during the past 9 years, we are, at this time, not positioned financially to assist with the purchase of the Knoll. We are still obligated for the next 3 years to pay off the outstanding Rich Gulch debt. Any extra resources are being directed toward trail building, educational projects and interpretative displays.

There are a number of important reasons why the Jacksonville Woodlands Association is encouraging the BLM to purchase this historic property.

1. The top of the Knoll, accessible by trail from the BLM 20, gives an unobstructed view of the complete length of historic Rich Gulch, where gold was first discovered in 1852. The Gulch was first placer mined and then hydraulically mined until the mid 1930?s. The top of the Knoll is the ONLY place in Jacksonville where the complete Historic Jacksonville Mining District can be viewed from one location. It is important that we preserve this historic viewshed.

2. The lower 5 acre portion of the Knoll Property (Rich Gulch) contains the best preserved remnants of placer and hydraulic mining remaining in the Jacksonville area. The washed out gully, the water control gates, the forebays, dams, and ditches are still very much in place. It is almost as if the miners had just walked away from their frenzied search for gold.

3. The Petards, immigrants from France in 1902, spent three generations mining the property and tending to their extensive vineyards and gardens using water runoff from their mining operations for irrigation.

4. Even though the ridges surrounding Rich Gulch are dry, oak, Madrone, pine, and manzanita uplands, the washed out sections of the lower gulch portion have become a man-made riparian zone, complete with the native creek type plants found along Jackson Creek. During the past 60 years, since the cessation of hydraulic mining, hundreds of wetlands plants have migrated up hill and established themselves in a rare example of plant recovery following three quarters of a century of destruction. Finding a riparian habitat on the top of a dry ridge in this area of Oregon is a rare find, especially when one thinks about the amount of earth that was removed to create this huge gully.

5. Both of the Knoll properties contain habitat for the rare and endangered (and soon to be listed) Gentner?s Fritillary (Red Bell). If this property is allowed to be developed then a valuable habitat for the rare G. Fritillary will be wiped out. Studies have shown that disturbances on adjoining private lands will detrimentally affect the plants and animals a minimum of 300 hundred feet into surrounding BLM and City lands that were thought to be protected. This is perhaps the strongest argument in favor of public ownership for the Knoll properties.

6. BLM ownership of the Knoll will allow a loop trail connection between the BLM?s Chinese Digging (10 A) and the City?s 10 acre section of Rich Gulch and the BLM?s 20 acres and the BLM?s recently acquired 27 acres to the City of Jacksonville?s 90 acre Britt Woods. The the potential for 7 miles of hiking trails adds an important dimension to the people use of the Rich Gulch District.

7. Public ownership of the Knoll will preserve an important segment of Jacksonville?s historic viewshed as seen from the Beekman Woods Trail System and from the houses that have been built over the past 100 years along 5th, 4th, and 3rd streets. This undeveloped viewshed has been in place, unchanged since the days of the earliest gold miners.

8. The lower part of the Knoll property (located on portions of both properties)has been nominated by the Jacksonville Woodlands Association for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. This nomination, which was formally turned into the State of Oregon in February, 1999, shows that the Rich Gulch section of the Knoll that the Association has proposed for BLM purchase is of national importance. We cannot afford to let this opportunity to slip away from us. This type of opportunity for habitat and historic preservation comes about only once in a double lifetime and here it is lying right in our lap.

9. The City of Jacksonville supports public ownership of the Knoll. The City has legally noted the property?s historic and scenic importance by zoning the southern third of the properties as ?Special Protection.?

10. With the BLM owning the Knoll, the Government ownership in the area will no longer be fragmented into four separate parcels, but will become one contiguous, U-shaped parcel consisting of 112 acres. Management and resource protection will be more effective.

11. Public access into the whole of the Rich Gulch District will be ensured under BLM ownership.

12. The Trust for Public Land, the nation?s foremost land conservation organization has signed a one year purchase option on the property. The option runs out in December, 1999. With the land experts at the Trust tending to many of the purchase details and working on the fund raising, the Government?s position in this important project has been strengthened.

Thank you Rich for encouraging BLM?s continued support of the Woodlands project as Jacksonville works to wrap a visually valuable historic park around itself. With BLM?s strong and expert support, Jacksonville has been able to create an unique Woodland Park found nowhere else in our country. What an opportunity this project affords to the future generations of Historic Jacksonville!

We trust that the BLM, working with the Trust for Public Lands, and using the above arguments, will continue to pursue the funding of the Knoll purchase so that the Rich Gulch Historic Mining District can be completely protected.

Sincerely, Larry B. Smith Vice President Jacksonville Woodlands Association

P.S. Over the past 10 years the Woodlands Association has sponsored a number of land and trail dedications. We normally invite the public to these events through our news letters and by press releases. We have come to realize that perhaps not all of the people who have helped with our projects have been properly informed. Our next big public event is the dedication of the Jackson Forks Bridge, to be held on April 24, beginning at 10:00 a.m., followed by our annual Hike-A-Thon. The BLM is invited to be a part of this dedication. Please put this event on your calendar. We will be mailing out additional details in March. _________________________________________________ The BLM?s application for L&WC funding left Oregon headed for Washington number two on their want list.

In September, 1999 we learned that the project did not make the final cut for funding at the National level, we the TPL is continuing their search for funding. One possibility is through the State Parks/Measure 66/lottery funding for local parks. $250,000 grant limit. The land is appraised at $500,000.

JWA leadership change. November 22, 1999 Larry Smith becomes president, with Phil Gahr stepping down after 6 years. The National Park Service presented the final draft of the Woodlands new General Management Plan. Sixth annual ?Autumn in the Woodlands? was held at Redman Hall. Nearly $3400 is raised.

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December, 1999 Gentner?s Fritillary is listed as Threatened and Endangered throughout its range, which is mostly the Jacksonville area over to the Table Rocks. A few grow in east Jo County. See Mail Tribune article, December 14, 1999.

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24.6 acres of Rich Gulch is placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior on March 22, 2000.

I had been looking into seeing what it took to list properties on the National Register for several years. I wrote for the two inch application. The idea of filling out something so complicated overwhelmed me so I set it aside for a couple of years.

In 1998 I again started thinking about what the listing would mean to the project. I called George Cramer, of Ashland to give me an approximate price. Between $3,000 and $3,500 he said.

In June, 1998 I was invited by the JV Chamber to give a short presentation about a summer youth program that I was directing. 12 high school students, mostly from back East, were coming to Jacksonville at the end of June, and I desperately needed additional housing for the Landmark Volunteer kids. As I entered the breakfast meeting, I chose a table with an empty chair and sat down. I soon realized I was sitting across the table from Mrs. Verne Beebe, the lady who had earlier donated a 7.5 acre parcel of land on Hill Street, worth $265,000, to the Woodlands Association.

We visited a bit. She wanted a new Woodlands sweat shirt and a couple of t-shirts which I promised to drop off at her house. We talked a bit about her wonderful donation. I mentioned that we were wanting to place Rich Gulch on the National Register. Verne really perked up. ?Do you know Kay Atwood??, she asked. I told her that I did. ?If you hire Kay to write the application, I will pay her fee.? This excited me. ?Verne, the cost will be over $3,000.? ?That is ok. I have used Kay for several of my properties and I know she will do a good job.?

So I called Kay and within a month or two she was working on the application.

It is more difficult to get bare land onto the Register, than say, a building or a set of buildings. The land needs to have physical features of the historic event still visible. I had wanted to include a much larger area, but Kay felt our chances would be better if we scaled down the area to 24.6 acres where the water ditches, glory holes, dikes, reservoirs, and washed out gulches are still visible.

I called Mark Burkhalter and asked him if we could include the 4.6 acres of his property that contains the lower part of Rich Gulch, and is zoned ?Special Protection? by the City, in our application. He readily agreed. I contacted the City and the BLM for permission to include their respective 10 acre sites. Both agreed.

Kay worked on the application for several months before submitting it to the State. Once the application was submitted, the process took nearly 18 months to go through the state and onto the Interior Department in Washington.

Quite a process, but we were successful! (See Mail Tribune article, April 6, 2000.

The National Park Service and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt declares the Sarah Zigler Trail a National Recreation Trail, April 14, 2000. One of only two so designated during the past four years.

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Here is something so ?full Circle? it is almost scary. Four years ago, from my classroom at Jacksonville School, I launched the campaign to buy Rich Gulch with the $12,500 that we won at Sea World. The kids wrote letters to a very reluctant land owner and talked the Begleys into selling the land to us.

But that left us with a balance of $88,000 to raise in 5 years. So, with grants from the Collins Foundation, S.O.R.E.D.I., Carpenter Foundation, City of Jacksonville, the Woodlands Association members and various fundraising activities, we were able to raise $64,000. Leaving a balance of $24,000. So we applied in April to the Cheney Foundation of Tacoma, Washington for the balance.

Now for the Weird.

Yesterday while I was subbing back in my old classroom at Jacksonville School (June 8, 2000) Linda (my wife), came rushing in. She had walked down to the school and announced that Cheney had just called and informed us that they were sending us a check for $24,000. The final payment!

I then announced to the class, after reviewing the history of Rich Gulch, that I was standing in EXACTLY the same spot making the announcement of the payoff where I had stood 4 years ago when I started the whole project.

How appropriate!

This week(June 20, 2000) I counted the number of articles that this project has generated during the past 11 years in national, regional, and local papers and magazines: 122.