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Shasta Valley 4H Club Builds Picnic Tables for Sisson Meadow
- Summer 2008
A handfull of Shasta Valley 4H Club members pooled their resources and talents to build two beautiful wood picnic tables for Sisson Meadow recently. The sturdy tables will be installed near the site of the Sisson Barn when it is built in the near future.
____________________________________________________________Eagle Scout Builds Benches for Sisson Meadow - Spring 2008
On Sunday, May 18th, Scott Fischer received Boy Scout’s highest and most prestigious award…the rank of Eagle. Scott is a member of local Troop 97 and an 18-year old senior at Mt. Shasta High School.
One of Scott’s requirements to earn the Eagle rank was to initiate and complete a community project. For this, he built four beautiful and sturdy wood benches, which he and some fellow scouts have recently installed along the boardwalks in Sisson Meadow, located at the east end of Castle Street in Mt Shasta.
Scott was inspired to build the benches after seeing that there was nowhere for people to sit while walking along the ¼-mile long boardwalks.
Originally, Scott considered purchasing and installing new benches, but at a cost of $600. apiece, it would have been a challenging fundraising task. Instead, he rolled up his sleeves, recruited some fellow scouts, and organized the project himself utilizing the skills, ingenuity and generosity of local people and materials. As a result, the total cost for all four benches was $200. instead of a whopping $2400.
Scott started by working with Jim and Velma Nile of Mt Shasta, who provided cedar timbers and milled them into 3”x4” and 3”x6” beams that Scott had planed and stained to make them smooth and weather-resistant.
Chris Marrone of Marrone Construction helped Scott weld the steel supports for the benches, Chuck Schlumpberger of Schlumpberger Engineering helped Scott design the floating concrete bench foundations so they could be installed in the wetland setting, and Tom Hesseldenz, a local landscape contractor who designed the boardwalks, assisted as a contact for the Siskiyou Land Trust, who owns the property, and helped with siting the benches along widened portions of the boardwalk.
”I had fun and learned a lot doing this project” said Scott, who is also a car mechanic and plans to attend Shasta College next year, where he wants to major in diesel technology and obtain his welding certification. After college, Scott hopes to return to Mt. Shasta, where he has lived for seven years. “It was especially rewarding, while we were installing the final bench, to see people already sitting in the first benches we had installed!”
“I’d really like to thank Mt. Shasta Rotary for donating $200.”, said Scott, “as well as Jim and Velma Nile, Tom Hesseldenz, Chris Marrone and Chuck Schlumpberger who generously offered their time to help me complete the project…plus, of course, my fellow scouts and my dad, Brad Fischer”.
Jack Moore, president of the Siskiyou Land Trust, said “We are extremely pleased and appreciative of Scott’s hard work and initiative. The benches are a great addition to the boardwalk system at Sisson Meadow, and we know they’ll be used and enjoyed by many people for years to come.”
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Sisson Meadow Project Nears Completion - November 2006
Armed with rubber boots, shovels, rakes and electric drills, over 50 enthusiastic volunteers turned out recently for several Saturday work parties at Sisson Meadow in Mt. Shasta. Under the direction of project designer Tom Hesseldenz, they planted grass and wildflower seed, spread hay, built boardwalks, stacked streambed rocks and raked the shores around a new lake. 
The work days were organized by the Siskiyou Land Trust, a local non-profit land conservation organization who owns the 7.5 acre property located at the head of Castle Street. They plan to complete work on the project by years end. It includes the creation of a new pond, building 1000’ of boardwalks, restoring two streams and planting native grasses, wildflowers and plants at the site.
“We’re very close to being done”, said Buzz Knight of Timberworks Construction, who, along with Rick Poore of Streamwise Stream Restoration, have contracted to do the bulk of the work. “This strong turnout of volunteers has really made a huge difference. We accomplished a lot those two workdays. Their help will really help us finish on time and within budget, which is great!”
Jack Moore, board president of the Siskiyou Land Trust, echoes similar sentiments. “We set out to make Sisson Meadow a place where the public can hike, enjoy mountain views and see a working example of wetlands that once covered a large area of this entire valley. To have so many enthusiastic volunteers show up and help us get this work done is terrific…it’s been greatly appreciated and lots of fun, too!”
The volunteers included local residents of all ages, who enjoyed sunny skies while working and were treated to lunch and snacks on both days.
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New Leadership at SLT - Fall 2006
The Siskiyou Land Trust is pleased to announce the selection of its new Executive Director, Steve Horn. Steve will serve as the ED for the Land Trust and help to define our role in conserving the natural resources of Siskiyou County.
Steve comes to the Siskiyou Land Trust following a long and distinguished career in conservation at the State level, principally with the California Coastal Conservancy where he had served as Deputy Executive Officer since 1994. During Steve’s tenure with the Coastal Conservancy, he had a leading role in the permanent protection of dozens of coastal properties amounting to tens of thousands of acres conserved as public parkland. In addition to his record of leadership in California, Steve was also a member of the national Land Trust Alliance committee that produced a framework for accreditation of community land trusts, which recognizes those organizations adhering to the highest standards in their land conservation practices.
With the Board of the Siskiyou Land Trust, Steve will work to complete a “Strategic Vision” for the organization, establishing a set of priorities for action by SLT over the next few years. The Board of SLT is excited to have found an experienced conservation professional to assist in preparing for the challenges that increasing local population and global climate change will bring to our community over the next decade. Welcome aboard, Steve!
At the same time, the Board of SLT is sorry to say good-bye to James Pierce who has served since 2004 as the first Executive Director of the Land Trust. James brought much enthusiasm and many great ideas to SLT as we organized ourselves to move ahead. The Board of SLT wishes James continued success in his career as an attorney.
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Heller Barn Donation - Summer 2004
SLT owes a huge debt of gratitude to Joseph Heller, who has donated wood to SLT from an old barn existing on property he owns in Weed, CA.
Heller is supporting SLT's long term goal to restore the barn situated on SLT's Sisson Meadow property in Mt. Shasta City. SLT believes that the Sisson Meadow barn, one of the most photographed icons in the area, could possibly be restored to an open-air class-room. At the very least, the Sisson Meadow barn needs to be preserved and restored for its scenic value, and Heller's wood will enable such restoration to be accomplished.
SLT President Jack Moore has spearheaded a volunteer work effort to dismantle Heller's barn "timber by timber," and then transport and store the salvageable wood. "The vintage wood that Joseph has donated will let SLT use appropriate materials to restore the Sisson Meadow barn," says Moore. "The volunteers who have helped out by giving their time, the strength of their arms and backs...and, in one case, suffered the wrath of some pretty upset yellow jacket bees...have made this effort possible. Without them, it wouldn't have happened."
Volunteer barn dismantelers included, Tom Rivizza, Buzz Knight, Rick Knight, Laurie Davis, Jean Sage, Tim Cochoran, Phil Detrich, Nancy Driscol, James Pierce, Amy Hoss, Doug Merrill, Margy Marshall. If we've left anyone out, sorry...and thank you so much!
Joseph Heller is a wonderful supporter of SLT, and this donation of barn wood is greatly appreciated. Special thanks also goes to Timberworks Construction of Mt. Shasta for their generous donation of backhoe work.
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Mt. Shasta City Award - Spring 2003
The Siskiyou Land Trust received the City of Mt. Shasta Beautification Committee's 2003 award for service to the community.