©Oregon Country Fair 1995-2019
Oregon Country Fair (OCF) is a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation that hosts an annual arts, crafts, education, and entertainment event on the site it owns near Veneta, Oregon. OCF emphasizes fellowship, innovation, integrity, non-violence, and reverence for the land.
The site, on the banks of the meandering Long Tom River, has been used for seasonal gatherings for thousands of years, as indicated by the archaeological evidence of camas-roasting ovens and flint knapping. It is flooded several times most winters. The site includes wetlands and uplands, forests and prairies, endemic and introduced plant and animal species, wildlife habitat, camp sites, parking lots, roads, bridges, public paths, and work zones. Indian Creek crosses the property in a constructed channel. The former agricultural land on the property has been retired from active production for at least three decades.
The Oregon Country Fair, in accordance with our policies and philosophies as stewards of the land, vows to restore and manage our lands and waters for the purpose of protecting and preserving its natural wonders, significant fields, forests, wetlands, rivers and streams, with all of its wildlife, in a natural state for the education, pleasure and recreation of the public now and in the future. With this vision of stewardship, the site will be managed as a natural forest with its full cycle of birth, growth, senescence, and decay.
This plan is meant to be used as a guideline for land management decisions at the Oregon Country Fair. Balance is necessary in its application. Reverence for the land, health and safety of OCF participants, and the success of the Fair require compromise and judgement. No rule can cover all possible contingencies, and evolving knowledge dictates that the plan must also evolve. Consult the OCF Site Manager or the Land Use Management Planning (LUMP) committee to determine how proposed developments can follow these guidelines.
The OCF Board of Directors established the Land Use and Management Planning committee (LUMP) in 1991 and charged its members with developing a comprehensive overview of the site and a plan for its management. The Board voted in 1998 to adopt land use planning as a guiding principle.
LUMP committee members and volunteers have included biologists, botanists, land use planners, builders, landscape architects, wetland delineators, and OCF participants from all parts of the Fair. The recommendations contained in this plan are distilled from extensive site monitoring, the advice of experts, and OCF tradition. Interested parties are urged to contact the LUMP committee to participate in the evolution of this plan. Our thanks to all those who have contributed.
This document includes land use policies, implementation guidelines, subplans, a zone map, and zone descriptions. The different sections serve different needs. The following two sections (land use policies, implementation guidelines) list central, and concise, policies and implementation actions. The subplans include more detail on land use activities and site characteristics. The zone map and accompanying zone descriptions provide a geographical guide to land use. Where practical, the zone map and descriptions are cross-referenced to land use subplans.
Wetlands are characterized by hydrology, vegetation, and soil types. Wetland hydrology includes flooding or high water tables that saturate the root zone for extended periods (e.g. a week or more). Wetland vegetation has adaptations that enable growth in standing water or anaerobic soil. Hydric soils result from extended periods of saturation and anoxia; they show characteristic coloration, texture, and chemistry.
OCF wetlands include Willamette Valley prairie wetlands, ash-slough sedge swamps, channel-associated wetlands, the old Indian Creek channel, sphagnum bogs, open water, and communities characterized by threatened and endangered species such as Willamette Valley bittercress.
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The Long Tom River at OCF is a low gradient, meandering river with a deep, largely stable channel characterized by cut banks and point bars. Above OCF, it drains from the eastern slope of the Coast Range. The hydrology is driven largely by rainfall, seeps, and springs. Floods are common in the winter, while summer flows are low. The river carries fine suspended sediment year-round.
Water quality problems include elevated temperatures, and high levels of nitrate, suspended solids, and particulates. The Veneta sewage treatment facility, upgraded in 2000-2001, discharges into the river just upstream from OCF from November to May and onto pasture on the east side of the river during the summer.
Snags, stumps, logs, and finer woody debris can be found in the channel, sometimes forming jams that stretch from bank to bank. The amount of woody debris is low compared with historic loading as a result of logging in the watershed and frequent debris removal from the channel.
Debris provides important habitat for aquatic life, acting as shelter for fish, basking sites for turtles, substrate for invertebrates, and collector of fine organic material for decomposers. The woody material redirects the current, contributing to scour holes, pools, streamside erosion, and off-channel flooding.
Wildlife in the main stem and flood zones includes beavers, nutria, otters, amphibians, birds including waterfowl and kingfishers, reptiles including turtles and snakes, cutthroat trout and other fish. No anadromous fish use the river above Fern Ridge Dam. The river acts as a migration corridor for some species and a barrier to migration for others.
On both banks of the river, riparian vegetation is well developed but is compromised on the east bank by a history of cattle grazing and on sections of the west bank by OCF paths, booths, and vehicle trails. Loss of riparian vegetation can lead to increased erosion, decreased filtration of runoff, reduced wildlife habitat, warming of the water, and impairment of scenic values. Overgrown riparian areas provide hiding spots for people avoiding the sweep.
Point bars continue to grow as cut banks slump, dropping soil, shrubby vegetation, and trees into the channel. Erosion of the river bank can cause loss of path and booth space, and steep, undercut banks that may pose the danger to people on paths. Jams and spans may divert the channel, leading to channel relocation.
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Indian Creek drains into OCF property from the northwest, diffused through broad wetlands, and from the west, largely in two constructed channels. It passes through OCF property in a constructed channel that extends from the western edge of OCF property, through beaver dams in the Unorganized Territory, under bridges, to the Long Tom River. Vegetation fills the channel.
Where the stream traverses the parking lots, there are no significant trees and no riparian vegetation except for the plants growing in the channel and enhancement project areas. Trees and shrubs grow in the riparian zone at the east and west ends of the channel.
Indian Creek provides important habitat for many species. It is a corridor connecting the Long Tom River with the Unorganized Territory and the forests and wetlands to the west and north of OCF property. The beaver ponds retain water throughout the summer, providing fish habitat and drinking water for many animals and supporting the growth of riparian plants, which serve as food and shelter for wildlife.
The channel floods and drains the parking lots and the Unorganized Territory, recharging the aquifer, retaining and desynchronizing floods, and providing the periodic disturbance that is important to the maintenance of healthy wetlands ecosystems. Mature cutthroat trout travel up the stream during floods to spawn from late Fall to late Spring, depending on flows. The cutthroat fry use the beaver ponds, other pools, and shaded reaches as rearing habitat. The few surviving young trout use seasonal high water to migrate up and down the creek to establish territories of their own.
In 2001, undersized culverts were replaced with countersunk, oval culverts. Portions of the north bank were excavated to form a broader, more meandering channel with a lower gradient bank. Shade trees were planted on the south bank. The linear, trapezoidal channel is simple in form and provides little habitat diversity compared to the stream’s original channel.
The absence of meanders, pools, and large woody debris impoverishes the biological community. Steep banks prevent the growth of many riparian plants that need extended periods of flooding and drying. Erosion on steep banks and around undersized culverts can lead to loss of path space and structural problems around bridges. Water flow virtually ceases during the summer, leaving few pools and little standing water in many reaches. Many plant species cannot grow in the heavy clay soil.
The lack of riparian trees in the reaches through the parking lots causes a number of problems. Sunlight reaching the water’s surface may cause excessively high temperatures. The creek provides neither an attractive pedestrian corridor between the parking lots and the Fair entrance gates nor a good wildlife corridor between the Long Tom River and the Unorganized Territory.
Exotic species, such as bullfrogs and reed canary grass, are invading the channel. Bullfrogs eat young western pond turtles (a species thought to be endangered) and most native frogs, amphibians, and reptiles. Reed canary grass chokes out native species while providing little benefit for wildlife.
Lane County riparian setback regulations require 100-foot setback from Class 1 streams. Federal and state wetland regulations limit earthmoving activities in wetlands.
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The site includes mixed hardwood and conifer forest, grassland, wetland and riparian zones, and path and stage area. Native vegetation (including rare or endangered plant species), exotic plants (some invasive or pest species), lichens, fungi, and algae inhabit the site. The Fair recognizes our stewardship obligation to preserve our section of the rapidly–disappearing Willamette Valley riparian forest and floodplain. The Fair site serves as an important wildlife refuge and corridor linking the Fern Ridge/West Eugene wetlands, the Long Tom watershed, and Coast Range habitats.
Nursery areas are used to propagate vine maple, bigleaf maple, red osier dogwood, alder, and other species for use on site. Alice’s Wonderland includes gardens, orchard, and a greenhouse.
Forest communities include areas dominated by oak overstory, ash-slough sedge stands, ash-dominated wetlands, black oak-fir-pine uplands, a cascara-wild pear stand, and a transition strip dominated by black cottonwoods.
Grasslands include post-cultivation native wet prairie (e.g., Trotter’s Field), foxtail-dominated areas (e.g., Crafts Lot), old pasture (e.g., Dead Lot), and fescue-dominated areas (e.g., Chela Mela Meadow).
Wetlands and riparian areas include zones of spirea, willow, and cattail (e.g., Indian Creek and south side of Miss Piggy’s Lot); grasses and forbs on white clay (Miss Piggy’s Lot); old channel wetlands; upland levees (Long Tom River); old Indian Creek channel; a sphagnum bog; Indian Creek constructed channel; beaver ponds; and beaver-flooded uplands.
Path/lawn areas can be categorized into those areas with good soil (e.g., Main Stage, River Loop, Left Bank, Dragon Plaza) and those with poor soil (e.g., East 13th). Shaded areas and frequently-flooded areas occur over both good soil and poor soil.
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OCF upland forest area includes land along Chickadee Lane and the south side of DUG's Green, some 21 acres in extent. The vegetation is dominated by conifers. This area contains roads, archaeological sites, wetland inclusions, dwellings, gardens, parking lots, industrial zones, and gathering places.
Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine are the most numerous conifers; grand fir, western red cedar, and yew are present. Common hardwoods include bigleaf maple, ash, and madrone. Understory includes poison oak, blackberry, snowberry, hazelnut, sword fern, and many other species.
There are several springboard-cut stumps, indicating hand-saw logging before World War II. These trees were large and probably began life before the first Euro-American settlers arrived in the 1840s. Several well-decomposed, low-cut stumps indicate chain-saw logging soon after WW II; those trees probably germinated after Euro-American occupation began. Cut stumps of blowdown trees on Alice's indicated germination in the 1920s or 1930s. There are a few large firs that are evidently older, but most of the firs in the uplands (including dahinda's acres and Zenn Achers) are probably about the same age.
The General Land Office map of 1854 shows the area as "oak and fir openings," a landscape type now known as oak savanna. The area was probably burned frequently by Native Americans, leaving large, solitary oaks and firs scattered amid grasslands. Cessation of burning in the early 19th century led to the expansion of fir forests throughout the valley. Although much of this area has been farmed since the middle 19th century, a 1936 aerial photo shows dense coniferous cover on Alice's.
(includes forested edge along Chickadee, outbuildings, and storage areas; extends from the Chickadee driveway to the west edge of the garden)
The Oregon Country Fair site has evidence of more than 10,000 years of pre-historic and historic use. Archaeological sites are located in all zones. Most of these archaeological features are important for their research potential. When taken as a whole, the OCF’s archaeology presents a rare collection of chapters in the human story.
Protection of archaeological sites by:
Five passages provide entry to and exit from OCF property:
Pedestrian corridors from the parking lots include parking lot roads or Bus Road to Chasem Road, then to the Dragon Plaza. When exiting, auto passengers retrace their steps from the Dragon Gate to their autos.
Bus passengers walk from the Bus Stop to Bus Admissions. They exit through the Dragon Gate and wait in the Twilight Zone before crossing Auntie Em Bridge to the Bus Stop.
Waiting zones include Dragon Plaza, Twilight Zone, Bus Stop and the corridor leading to Bus Admissions. Dragon Plaza functions as a gathering and staging/meeting spot, a social zone, and a public service zone, where pack check, Alter Abled assistance, and other services for public and Fair family are offered. The other waiting zones are used primarily by bus passengers waiting for outgoing buses.
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The Dragon Plaza, paths, and spaces open to OCF guests who pay admission total approximately 14 acres. Paths vary in width. Some segments are covered with good turf; others are bare dirt. Many different path segments can be identified, each with specific problems and needs.
Facilities include stages, vault and portable toilets, hand washing facilities, drinking fountains, water outlets, recycling kiosks, info booths, Solutions booth, Pack Check booth, admissions gates, bridges, medical stations, parks and plazas, a public art/crafts demo booth, history booths, a general store, vendors’ booths, and a performer’s booth.
Problems include overcrowding, poor pedestrian flow at peak hours, congestion around performers and food booths, inadequate space for recycling facilities, narrowness of the path, inadequate parks and rest areas, long lines for overused toilets, drinking fountains and hand wash stations spaced too far apart, lack of shade in some areas, inadequate non-public access and service routes, public sneaking into non-public areas, scouring of the path and release of flotsam by floods. Structures that impede flood flow result in damaging erosion. Bank erosion consumes path and booth space.
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Camping occurs primarily on the eastern one-third of the OCF site, on both sides of the river. Availability of services and road access varies widely.
Campsite types include vehicle camping, mixed tent/vehicle camping, tent-only camping, and behind-booth camping. Affinity groups occupy some sites; mixed groups without common affiliations occupy others.
Camping is prohibited in Maui, Waui, Da Woods (west), Unorganized Territory, Henderson Woods, vest pocket “wildernesses” in dahinda’s acres, in perimeter buffer zones and in designated green zones.
Problems include not enough campsites, overcrowding, damage to vegetation, inadequate facilities (such as toilets and potable water), and lack of quiet camping areas.
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Roads on site range from gravel-surfaced, all-season roads to temporary corridors laid out through the parking lots. Vehicles include carts, bicycles, motorcycles, golf carts, automobiles, trucks, service vehicles, city buses, and charter buses. Uses include bus routes, access to booths and campsites, emergency services, facilities services, and pedestrian and vehicle access for the public and Fair family. Bridges include five culvert crossings, one timber bridge, and one temporary bridge.
Aero Road serves as the year-round entrance from Suttle Road, where there is a paved apron, to Chickadee Lane, and as a seasonal route to and from Nansleez Road. It crosses Nansleez Road, Cabal Crossing, and Chasem Road before joining Middle Parking Road. It is a public road between Suttle Road and Chickadee Lane. It is used for bus and car exit during the Fair. Surfaced with gravel, it is an all-season road except during floods. It is two-lane in part and one-lane in part. Problems include occasional pedestrian use, brush intrusion, height and width clearance, one-lane width from the gate to Nansleez, a route that is not straight enough for ease of bus passage, and a possible need for a culvert at the old Indian Creek channel. Regular maintenance is required.
Bus Road is an event entrance from Suttle Road (with a gated entry) for pedestrians, public vehicles, buses, staff and booth traffic, and service traffic, but has little use off-season. It serves as the main entrance for heavy equipment and a bus exit if necessary. It is two-lane, gravelled, and all-season to Nansleez Road. It crosses John Wayne Bridge (two-lane width) and tees at Chasem Road. Regular maintenance is required.
Chasem Road is a seasonal, unsurfaced road that parallels, and is on the south side of, Indian Creek between the northwest corner of Trotter’s Field and Refer Bridge. It is spot filled with three-quarter minus rock. It is used for vehicle and pedestrian traffic between the parking lots and the Dragon Plaza/Castle Gate. It needs occasional grading and spot maintenance. In the future, it may be re-routed to accommodate Indian Creek enhancement. It should not be graveled.
Chickadee Lane is a public road from Aero Road to the OCF back gate. It provides access to Zenn Acres, the Hub, Marshall’s Landing, dahinda’s acres camping, the yurt, and the WareBarn area. It is graded, two lane, graveled, and, except during high floods, all-weather. It is the main off-season access to the OCF site. It should be maintained by regular grading and gravelling as required.
Cord Road, now impassible, extends along the west side of OCF property from Suttle Road to the Dead Lot. It has been cut and graded but is now overgrown, bisected by beaver ponds and channels, and unsuitable for vehicles. It is used by security patrols. It should not be maintained or developed but should be allowed to revert to nature.
South Park Road (formerly Fire Road), on the southeast side of OCF property, extends from Maple Gate/Back Lot to the eastern side of Craft Lot. Its surface is graded (but rutted) dirt. It provides seasonal access to East Parking Road, Craft Lot, Left Bank, and the water truck fill-up. It is used by campers, the Peach Truck, security, emergency vehicles, and service vehicles. Parking by campers’ vehicles constricts the road and may pose problems for large vehicles. It should be graded and provided with turnouts, and brush clearance should be maintained, to provide access for water truck fill-up, Left Bank service vehicles, and emergency vehicles. No gravel should be applied. Wood chips may be used to fill mudholes.
Green Bus Road/Snivel Lane/Smile Road connects the Bus Stop with the WareBarn area. It provides all-season access (except during floods) to the recycling dock, Main Camp, dahinda’s acres camping, and the WareBarn. Green Bus and Snivel are graveled; Smile Road is dirt-surfaced and rather rough. Pedestrians, service vehicles, and emergency vehicles use the road. One-way with turnouts. Needs periodic grading and graveling (especially Snivel Lane) and may require a culvert at the old Indian Creek channel. Hub Hill Road joins Snivel Lane and The Hub. It should be maintained for all-season access to the Main Camp area (except for floods).
Henderson Road is a minimal road between Aero Road and Bus Road. It is poorly graded, has little clearance, is not suitable for vehicle traffic, and is used for occasional pedestrian traffic, security, and emergency access only. It is in an area of archaeological interest. No digging or development should be allowed. It should be mowed and brush should be trimmed
Maple Lane is the main public entrance to the parking lots during the event. It runs from Highway 126, at Maple Gate, to Chasem Road, where it becomes South Trotter Road. It is graveled for approximately 20% of its length. Problems arise when the ground is wet, and traffic must be rerouted to skirt mudholes. The underlying earth is largely hydric (wetland) soil. Maintenance includes light grading of the dirt surface. Low priority for improvement.
Moz Road provides pedestrian (primarily entertainers) and service access from the WareBarn area to Main Stage and Whitebird. It is one lane, graded, and graveled, and often wet where it crosses the old Indian Creek channel. Maintenance includes periodic gravel supplementation, grading, and brush pruning. No additional development is indicated.
Nansleez Road extends from Bus Road to the Bus Stop and Green Bus Road. It is graveled and all-weather (except during floods). During the public hours of the event, it is used by buses and emergency vehicles only. Regular maintenance (grading and rock application) is required. It is a high priority for improvement, especially at its intersection with Aero Road. It may be widened to allow two-way bus traffic.
Parking lot roads (West Parking Road, West Trotter’s Field Road, Middle Parking Road, Craft Loop) are used for access to parking lots. They are rutted, grass-surfaced seasonal roads that should be graded occasionally but should not be developed further.
Far Side Roads Two roads provide access to the Far Side. Line Drive is a leased seasonal access road crossing City of Veneta property from Territorial. The Road Not Taken from Highway 126 is owned by OCF and the City of Veneta and used only for emergency and service vehicles.
Auntie Em Bridge links the Bus Stop with the Bus Waiting area. It is used by pedestrians and occasionally by vehicles. It has an oval, countersunk culvert with square-cut ends (installed in 2001) that is 24 feet long, nine feet wide, with approximately four foot clearance above the substrate infill. The roadway, covered with gravel mixed with sandy soil, is approximately 19 feet wide. This bridge should be inspected and maintained yearly.
Cabal Crossing connects Aero Road with Middle Parking Road. Its oval, countersunk culvert, installed in 2001, has square-cut ends and is 39 feet long and nine feet wide, with approximately four foot clearance above the substrate infill. The two-lane gravel surface is 25 feet wide and is used by vehicles and pedestrians. It should be inspected and maintained yearly.
Jill’s Crossing is an arched-deck truss timber bridge built in 1991 between the Left Bank and Strawberry Lane. It is used only by pedestrians. Its length is 44 feet, its deck is 14 feet wide (with 18-foot beams and center extensions to 30 foot width) and 15 feet above the channel bottom. It was rebuilt in 2003. It should be inspected, cleaned, and maintained regularly. Off-season weather protection is strongly advised to reduce decay of the untreated timbers.
John Wayne Bridge (Bus Road) has an oval, countersunk culvert, installed in 2001, with square-cut ends, a length of 45 feet and a width of nine feet, with approximately three feet of clearance above the substrate infill. The two-lane gravel surface is 25 feet wide. It is used by pedestrians, emergency vehicles, service vehicles, and autos. It is the main Indian Creek crossing for heavy equipment. It should be inspected and maintained yearly.
Refer Bridge (Green Bus Road) has an oval, countersunk culvert, installed in 2001, with square-cut ends, a length of 32 feet and a width of nine feet, with approximately four feet of clearance above the substrate infill. The roadway is 19 feet wide and covered with soil. It is used primarily by pedestrians. This bridge often experiences erosion during floods. It should be inspected and maintained yearly.
Volunteer Bridge is a culvert crossing between Strawberry Lane and the Left Bank, used primarily by foot traffic. It has a countersunk six-foot diameter culvert with diagonally cut ends. Its grass/dirt surface is 18 feet wide, 10 feet above the stream bottom. The channel is about 33 feet wide. The sides of the bridge and the ends of the culvert are protected by gabions and riprap. It should be inspected yearly and the surface should be kept graded and grass-covered for pedestrian traffic. Damage in 2014 mandates replacement.
Temporary bridges: A temporary crossing between Pike Street and the Far Side is installed and removed each year. A second pedestrian bridge should be installed to the Far Side. A permanent, vehicle-capable bridge may be useful.
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Security land uses and concerns include lines of sight; corridors, roads, and paths; fences and barriers, both permanent and temporary, made of wood, wire, brush, and waterways; and structures, including observation posts and the Dragon tower, backpack check, communications center, and security stations.
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The OCF communications system includes three subsystems: telephones, pagers, and radios.
The telephone system includes seven incoming lines for OCF use and two leased lines for pay phones. One pay phone is located near the Dragon Plaza and one is near Entertainment Camp. The OCF use system includes a central exchange in the WareBarn, buried and above-ground cables throughout the Figure Eight and Left Bank, and 72 extensions.
The pagers include a 100-watt portable mobile transmitter, 125 pagers in stock, a base antenna, and a 35-foot tower on the WareBarn.
The radio system includes a 60-watt repeater in the WareBarn, 40 OCF-owned hand-held UHF radios, rented UHF hand-helds, and a few mobile radios.
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Infrastructure relevant to fire control and suppression includes the OCF water system; all roads, paths, and trails throughout the site, including access paths in non-public areas; four Fire Crew campsites, Alice's, Far Side, the Yurt, and Crafts Lot; four dedicated fire suppression trucks; three small Gator-mounted slip-in tanks units, one slip-in tank that may be carried by a pickup truck and one reserve water tender.
Fire hazards include unattended candles, campfires, cooking fires, and accidental and intentional fires in public spaces, open fields, parking lots, woods (with and without camping), structures, fuel depots, and the industrial zone around the WareBarn.
Fire breaks include roads, trails, streams, open areas, wetlands, and constructed fire breaks.
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The OCF electrical system includes 120/240-volt single-phase power from the grid, a 1.7 KW solar panel array tied to the grid, seasonally-installed solar power systems, portable gasoline and diesel generators, and power carts.
The Ware House 120/240-volt system includes an underground high-voltage line to a transformer and a 300-amp panel near Wolden Pond. From that meter panel and its sub-panels, underground lines go to Main Stage (200-amp panel), the caretaker’s Yurt (200-amp panel), Chillville (100-amp panel), and the pumphouse (200-amp panel). From the pumphouse, lines go to the Ware house (200-amp panel) and the Sauna (100-amp supply breaker). The Ware House panel supplies the communications center and offices.
The Hub has 120/240 volt single-phase power supplied by a transformer on the north side of Chickadee Lane. Its 200-amp main panel feeds several sub-panels, supplying electricity to the building and systems, an air compressor and walk-in cooler, the canvas yurt, and outbuildings. A bypass system for a generator is installed. The wiring and supply breaker to the yurt are rated at 150 amps.
Zenn Acres has 120/240 volt single-phase power supplied by a transformer on the north side of Chickadee Lane. It includes a 200-amp main panel and a sub-panel in the well house.
Alice’s Wonderland is supplied with 120/240 volt single-phase by an overhead cable from a transformer on a pole to the northwest of the house. Its 200-amp main panel supplies sub-panels in the well house and the Cow Palace, where power carts are recharged.
A transformer is installed on an elevated pad north of the Main Camp Kitchen. The buried high-voltage line that carries electricity between this transformer and the grid follows Snivel Lane and connects to an underground line at Chickadee Lane west of the Hub. This transformer feeds a 200-amp meter panel that supplies electricity to the Kitchen, Main Camp, Fair Central, the Recycling Dock, Traffic Camp, the Registration booth, and the Dragon. It receives electricity from the solar installation via a buried cable that crosses Auntie Em bridge.
Temporary solar- and/or battery-powered systems include battery carts, the Solar Roller (an alternative energy demonstration trailer), and PA systems at Shady Grove stage, Blue Moon stage, Kesey Stage, Stage Left, Hoarse Chorale stage, Chez Ray stage, spoken word stages, and Daredevil Stage. Solar recharging stations for food vendors’ batteries are located at Shady Grove, Blue Moon and Energy Park solar installations. A cell phone charging station is set up at Energy Park. Temporary solar installations and vehicles may be found at other locations.
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Water use at OCF includes drinking water, showers, hand washing, Main Camp kitchen uses, recycling cleanup, food booth uses, dust control, fire suppression, irrigation, and domestic use. The OCF water system includes three water lines, five wells, a concrete reservoir, three pump/well houses, water trucks, hand powered hose carts, temporary reservoirs, drinking fountains, hand wash stations, and staff showers. Separate from the OCF system is the Sauna system, which includes a reservoir, water lines, showers, and tubs.
Water lines include distribution systems for potable water and non-potable water. Potable water lines, some 13,000 feet in length, extend from the concrete reservoir (Wolden Pond) to the well head at the Water Tower near the WareBarn to Main Stage plaza, then tee in both directions to span the entire Figure Eight and Left Bank paths. A separate potable water line from The Hub supplies Main Camp. The lines vary from 2.5 inches to 1.5 inches in diameter and have outlets on 75- to 100-foot spacing. Spur lines extend from the Figure 8 to the original Child Care, Main Camp and upper river loop. Wally's Way, Chela Mela Meadow, and Crafts Lot are served by a loop.
During the Fair, this system carries water from the reservoir, which is supplied with EWEB water transported in a tanker truck. At other times, this system is supplied from the well under the Water Tower and is used for irrigation. A separate two-inch water line for non-potable water, installed in 1995, extends some 2,500 feet from the well head at the Water Tower down Smile Road and Snivel Lane to the Recycling Dock and Nansleez Road, then out to the Pole Star Plaza. It includes outlets every 50 to 200 feet. It is supplied from the well. This line can be extended up Nansleez Road, to the parking lots, and/or to the Left Bank. This line operates throughout the Fair as shower water and fire control.
Reservoirs include Wolden Pond, a 16,000-gallon cast concrete reservoir with an eight-stage submersible pump, and a 1,200-gallon food-grade plastic reservoir that supplies well water to Energy Park showers. Approximately (100) 50-gallon food grade plastic water barrels supply water for outlying campsites, horses, and a few locations within the Figure 8. There are also approximately (70) 55-gallon steel barrels used for dust control within the Fair.
There are also at least 35 food booths that have elevated plastic reservoirs ranging from 250 to 500 gallons. Most of these reservoirs are gravity systems with quick connect fittings used to fill them from the water carts. The remaining food booths use 55 gallon barrels or smaller.
A water line is used to fill Wolden Pond and the Sauna reservoir from tanker trucks, parked at a location near the Art Barn, thus avoiding the heavily peopled Ware Barn plaza. This infrastructure includes about 700 feet of 3-inch diameter line buried shallow from the north property line across the lawn behind the Ware Barn and across Chickadee and into Wolden Pond.
Drinking fountains, hand wash stations, and main camp showers are supplied by the potable water system. Drinking fountains are distributed throughout the public areas of the Fair with one located near the Water Tower. Hand wash stations, with one to six outlets, are found near toilets and in porta-pot areas. Hand powered hose carts circulate through Fair every morning and evening and fill dust barrels and food booth reservoirs.
The well under the Water Tower, near the Ware Barn, is capable of delivering 50 gallons per minute and is approximately 125 feet deep. The water contains nitrates at levels that exceed drinking water standards; it is used for irrigation, dust and fire control, and domestic use at the Yurt and Ware Barn, where it is filtered through a reverse osmosis filter for potable water.
Zenn Acres has a 160-foot deep well. The water is very hard; it contains sulfur and iron but no nitrates. It has a 3/4 horsepower pump and produces about 8 gallons per minute. This water is used to supply shower water and handwash water for the Zenn Acres campground.
Alice's Wonderland has soft water (with a little iron but no sulfur or nitrates) from a 60-foot deep well. The 1.5-horsepower pump delivers 20 gallons per minute. This well supplies the screen house kitchen and Alice's campground with drinking water and handwash water and irrigation water for the garden.
The Hub has moderately hard water with iron from a 80-foot deep well. The 1.0-horsepower pump delivers 20 gallons per minute. This well supplies the Main Camp Kitchen for cooking and dishwashing, Marshall's Landing campground with drinking water, showers for the Hub, and handwash for the offices and barns at the Hub. Crew Services also uses this water for their coolers and drinks.
DUG's Green, acquired in Spring of 2013, has a household well that provides potable water. Depth of well, power of pump, and flow rate have yet to be determined.
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The mission of the Recycling Crew is to lead the effort to minimize the waste impact of OCF, to work with other Fair organizations to reduce materials used and left behind, to educate Fair family and the public about reducing our impact, and to dispose of material left behind in the most environmentally responsible way.
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Oregon Country Fair
442 Lawrence Street
Eugene, Oregon 97401
Web:
https://www.oregoncountryfair.org
Email:
office@oregoncountryfair.org
Office:
Vox: 541•343•4298
Fax: 541•343•6554
Site:
Vox: 541•935•7846
