PLSO The Oregon Surveyor May/June 2021

18 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 44, No. 3 Featured Article I t’s been approximately 11 years, 10 months, and some change since the Willamette Stone State Heritage Site 50/150 Project gathered to unveil the new and improved park at the site. It took efforts of PLSO, the Oregon State Parks, Bureau of Land Management, and local county surveyors teaming up with the Cement Masons Local 555 Joint Apprenticeship Training Center, Hofland Survey Monuments, Pacific Northwest Ironworkers and Employers Local 29 Ap- prenticeship Training Center, local Boy Scout troops, and countless volunteers to create what is onsite today. Over this nearly 12-year window, time has been good to the small postage stamp-sized state park, but it was time for a little maintenance, as suggested by Pioneer Chapter Member Gary Anderson. It began back in October 2020 with Gary once again reaching out and connecting PLSO and state parks. He introduced Na- than Wallace, the current park ranger assigned to oversee the Willamette Stone State Heritage Site, to me as the current president of the chapter. Over a series of emails spanning several months, we shared ideas about scheduling a clean- up day. Various local chapter members and myself visited the stone over a few months to share thoughts of cleanup activities and build a list of tasks to under- take for a spring cleanup. Mid-February weather delivered one of the region’s worst ice storms, so we really thought we would have a tough time. Discussions of previous work parties with onsite chip- pers and trailers for hauling debris rose to the top of the discussions, but Nate and the Parks Department did a decent job of keeping the trail open and moving some of the main blow down debris piles to the side. Eventually, our list of cleanup items and the parks’ lists of wants nar- rowed down to light brush and debris removal with the always pleasant and continuous ivy abatement. The ground Cleaning Up the Willamette Stone State Heritage Site By Jered McGrath, PLS The Willamette Stone State Park sign. continues T