I confess: As a teenager, I occasionally avoided paying campsite fees by leaving early in the morning before the rangers could stop by to demand payment. Hey, I was 16 years old and making $1.80 per hour at a restaurant, and $3 a night seemed like a lot of dough. (on the other hand, I was more than willing to pay $1.99 for a 12 pack of Lucky Lager beer in 11-ounce bottles. Don’t ask how I got them.) Okay, I cheated. I apologize. Since then I’ve been a good citizen and paid fe

Lon Welsh (left) and Mitch Williams. We wouldn’t have Barlow Wayside Park without them. Photo by Steve Wilent If you haven’t yet visited our local Clackamas County park, Barlow Wayside, you’re missing out on a sweet place to walk in the woods and along a quiet mountain creek, witness salmon and steelhead spawning, and relish the sight and sound of two small but lively seasonal waterfalls. It’s not a large park, compared to other local parks, such as the US Bureau of Land Mana

With all the crazy (and worse) news these days, you may not know that there’s actually been some good news. On June 24, the Washington State Department of Agriculture banned the sale and distribution of English ivy and its cousin Atlantic (or Boston) ivy. Oregon prohibited the sale of English ivy in 2010. Why? Forests choked with ivy is why — along Highway 26 and Barlow Trail Road between Tim Rim and Brightwood, for example, where tree trunks are covered with ivy. Not only ca