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2015
January 14 2015 Mail Tribune A former cook for a concessions vendor at Crater
Lake National Park was sentenced to more than a year in federal prison for fighting with park rangers last fall.
U.S. District Judge Owen Panner sentenced John Charles Saubert on Jan. 7 to 15 months in prison after Saubert pleaded guilty to forcibly resisting or impeding a federal officer.
Winter 2014/14 A pair of experienced long distance hikers are more than halfway through a full traverse of the Pacific Crest Trail in the dead of winter.If Californians Shawn Forry and Justin Lichter reach the Mexican border this spring, they’ll be the first on record to hike the length of the trail when it’s mostly covered in snow.
The two men set off southbound from the Canadian border down the spine of the Cascades on Oct. 21. They got to the Columbia River in 20 days on boots and snowshoes. Then Oregon took a month to traverse. This winter’s low snowpack has lessened the avalanche peril.
Shawn and Justin reached Crater Lake December 8, 2014. Their comment on Facebook, “We had the whole place to ourselves. Not a car or person in sight.”
January 2 2015 by Erik Fernandez The next few years will be a challenge for Crater Lake. As recently reported in The Bulletin, a combination of fee increases and road improvement projects might discourage some families from visiting the national park. This may temporarily reduce the economic benefits of tourism in Crater Lake’s gateway communities, which in 2013 came to a whopping $43.7 million!
March 19 2015 Three diplomats from China, Xu Ying, Lin Shuling, Hao Yagain, toured the Park in hopes that Wuyi Mountain Park in Fujian Province will someday become a sister park. They were welcomed at a potluck luncheon where each division chief gave a brief talk.
March 20 2015 West Rim drive plowed out to North Junction. No dozers were needed – only rotary snow plows. The road was not opened to auto traffic until the end of May to allow for contractors to begin rebuilding the Rim Road. Bikers and hikers were able to use the plowed road. Most likely this is the earliest and easiest plow season in the history of snow removal since plows were introduced in the Park in 1930. Only 22% of average snowdepth for this time of the year is on the ground.
Plows arrive near Cleetwood Cove. The earliest any plows have reached this far around Rim Drive.
May 2015 Low snow year allows an early start of Phase 1 (10.7 mile stretch on the North Rim) of a massive three-year rebuild of the 33-mile Rim Drive. Crews will also rebuild and enlarge the Cleetwood Cove parking lot. The existing road surface will be lowered so that Rim Drive’s narrow lanes can be widened. The road, which is seriously deteriorating, is currently too narrow for guardrails or fog lines. Planned for the summer of 2016 is the removal and replacement of the Rim Village parking lot and rebuilding Rim Drive from the North Junction to Cleetwood Cove. The cost for the Rim Drive upgrade is an estimated $18 million. Tentatively planned for 2017 is replacement of Rim Drive from Cleetwood Cove along East Rim Drive to Park Headquarters.
Next summer’s Cleetwood Cove parking area project will expand the number of parking places from 100 to about 160. The new area will include large spaces designed for RVs and trailers, which historically have used two and sometimes three vehicle-size spaces. Estimated cost for the project is $1.4 million. (H and News)
May 30 2015 By LEE JUILLERAT H&N Regional EditorThe body of off-duty airman, 1st Lt. Steven Vo, who failed to report for duty at the 173rd Fighter Wing, Kingley Field Friday morning was located Saturday at Crater Lake National Park near Cleetwood Cove by Park Rangers. Possible suicide. Park Rangers found Vo’s car on Saturday and located his body nearby. The medical examiner has not yet released a cause of death. Vo was an active duty pilot in training from Torrence, California.
Summer 2015 Superintendent Craig Ackerman reports that the new Rim Village Visitor Center (Visitor Orientation and Education Center) has found a source of partial funding through the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act. The proposed facility would be located on the site of the existing 1928 building adjacent to the new Rim Café. The park is locked into this site because of the existing foundation and the two buildings are designed to be co-located and interdependent in terms of infrastructure support.
The most modern technologies would be incorporated into the displays and messages, allowing visitors to carry with them electronic information obtained at the VC. The Crater Lake Trust will work with the park to obtain private funding for some phases. This project has been 113 years in the making.
Greg Hartell Interns, Kayla Byrne and Rawson Baylor, UO, work on schematics to redesign the Old Rim Village Campground/Picnic Hill, making the area more accessible during the summer. They focused on day-use only, or allowing for both day use and camping and another devoted to focusing on providing more interpretation on how people in the past enjoyed Crater Lake from this site. They also looked at linking the campground to the Community House and the Munson Valley Horse Trail.
Summer 2015 Mazama Campground repaved. First repaving since the campground was built.
August 1 2015 National Creek Fire Complex begins. Burns a total of 20,945 acres in and outside the
Northwestern corner of the Park. 14,624 acres burn within the Park boundary.
August 13 2015 Fires close a 12- mile stretch of Hwy 230 – The Diamond Lake Cutoff. (MT)
August 8 2015 Last ‘Seven Wonders’ Bike Discovered As Crater Lake Rim Run Begins by Lizzy Duffy Lealand Gilmore of Portland discovered the Crater Lake bike from the Travel Oregon Seven Bikes for Seven Wonders campaign on the Rim Route Saturday.The final custom-made bike for Travel Oregon’s “Seven Bikes for Seven Wonders” campaign was discovered. Leland Gilmore spotted the bike at 7:15 a.m. Fifteen minutes later, the 39th annual Crater Lake Rim Run, boasting some 500 runners, took over the park.
Travel Oregon spokeswoman Linea Gagliano said between 50 and 150 people showed up at each of the designated Oregon “Wonders” in hopes of finding the specialty bicycles, worth as much as $10,000, that were hidden at these sites. Travel Oregon chose to hide the seventh bicycle the same weekend as the Crater Lake Rim Run to show Oregonians what else is going on in their own backyard.
August 17 2015 Crescent Fire closes the North Entrance to Crater Lake Park. Hwy 230 remains closed. (MT) On 24, firefighters were still on the fire lines. The fire complex includes the Crescent Fire which is the largest of the two main fires. Hwy 230 opens. Hwy 138 remains closed.
August 28 2015 Crater Lake’s north entrance reopens
September 1 2015 The Pacific Crest Trail north of Crater Lake reopens after being closed since mid August while fire crews work to contain the National Creek Fire Complex. Some rain and cooler temperatures gave fire fighters an advantage. The fire is 60% contained. (MT)
September 17 2015 Light snow helps dampen fires near Crater Lake. Total burned acreage set at 20,945.
(MT)
September 19 & 26 2015 East Rim designated vehicle free. Only bikes and hikers are allowed from North
Junction to Park Headquarters. Bikers from all over the countryside converged on the Park during these two days.
October 1 2015 Following a 2014 vote by the people of the state, Oregon begins to allow the recreational sale of marijuana. The following was taken from the Crater Lake website: Marijuana on Federal Lands
With the legalization of recreational marijuana in the State of Oregon as of July 1, 2015, Crater Lake National Park would like to provide clarification regarding the use of and possession of marijuana on Federal lands. The recently passed Oregon state law which allows for limited recreational marijuana use under specific conditions, as well as the previous state law that legalized marijuana for medical purposes, has no bearing on Federal laws and regulations which continue to identify marijuana as a Schedule I illegal drug and prohibit its use.
Possession of marijuana or use of any amount of marijuana, even for medical purposes with a valid state medical marijuana card, is prohibited in Crater Lake National Park, its facilities, concessions, and campgrounds. Violations are punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000.00 for an individual or $10,000 for an organization, or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both (18 U.S.C. 3559 and 3571).
October 30 2015 Higher than expected visitor numbers for the Park are reported, inspite of a summer fire that closed the north entrance for two weeks. More than 640,000 people visited the Park as of October 30, even though the daily entrance fee has been raised from $10 to $15. Lighter winter snowfall, lower gas prices, and special events helped boost attendance. (MT)
October31 2015 Amelia Bruno, fee collection specialist, retires after nearly 30 years working at Everglades and Crater Lake. Son Darby works also for the NPS in Interpretation carrying on his father, Steve’s legacy.
December 2015 A 67-year record for December snowfall was broken with 196.7 inches of snowfall,
breaking the previous record of 196 inches set in December 1948. The record was last threatened in December 1996, when 195 inches of snow fell.
Season 2015 Trail Count:
Annie Creek Trail 6,179
Cleetwood Cove Trail 63,992
Crater Peak Trail 1,091
Lightning Springs Trail 23,964
Pacific Crest Trail South 4,337
Pinnacles Trail 3,617
Plaikni Falls Trail 10,967
Season 2015 A low snowpack allows park roads and facilities to open earlier resulting in a record
number of visitors. Park records show visitation up 13.5 percent compared to 2014, at 664,000 visitors in 2015. The data at Crater Lake is in line with a countrywide increase in visitors to national parks. The 305 million visitors in the national parks system in 2015 exceeded the previous year’s record.
Season 2015 Annual Budget: $5,348,000
Season 2015 Visitation: 615,000 A new record which as smashed in 2016. (from the Park Newspaper)
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