ANNUAL MEETING SET

The 2010 Foundation annual meeting will be held at 7 PM on Monday, May 10 in the Board Room of the Lake Chelan Reclamation District in Manson. The tentative agenda includes:

· Setting Goals and Priorities for the year
· Planning for Harvest Fest and the Buckner Homestead Centennial
· Work days at the Homestead
· Election of Officers
· Election of two board members
· Adoption of election cycle
· Membership and Finances
· Update on incorporation and nonprofit status

ELK AND BEAR FENCE EXPANSION

Protection for more of the Buckner Orchard trees coming in 2010.

National Park Service plans are in the works to expand protection of the orchard from bears, a traditional threat, and from the more recent and growing elk herd. The weight of bears climbing and pulling to "harvest" apples in the fall has become even more of a danger as trees become brittle with age.

Elk cannot only denude a tree of new and young growth, but also break limbs and leaders when attempting to reach farther up the tree.

Approximately one-fourth of the orchard is now protected with a tall hog-wire fence, supplemented by a solar-powered electrical line. Even with this 8' fence, elk have, during deep snow, been able to leap the fence, creating a need to shovel snow away from portions of the fence.

In the spring of 2010, the NPS plans to fence the portion of orchard between the packing shed and the currently fenced trees. Work will involve creating post holes, mixing cement, placing poles, attaching wires, constructing gates, and adding the electric fence.

In addition, a semi-temporary electric bear fence will be installed on the remaining orchard, those trees in front of the homestead house, from the pasture to the packing shed. This fence will be composed of a single fabric wire strand between low fence posts, which can be easily dropped or removed. This fence will be utilized during the "bear season" in the late fall.

The NPS has applied for a Washington Conservation Corp grant that would provide WCC workers to construct the fences, but word has not been received as to whether or not the grant has been funded. If not granted, volunteers will be needed to complete the fence installation.

No longer the working ranch it once was, the Buckner Orchard is now haven to a small herd of deer; and bear and elk find the ranch more inviting without the activity, dogs, hunting, and work that were once the norm for the Buckner Family.

MEMBERSHIP DRIVE UNDERWAY

Your support of the Foundation is critical to the care and preservation of the Buckner Homestead and Orchard. Membership in the Foundation, Adopt-A-Tree, donating to fund specific projects, and volunteering are all ways that individuals, groups, and businesses can join in this effort.

January is our memberhip month, with a wide variety of categories for enrollment. Membership in the Foundation is simply another means by which you can contribute funds that directly benefit the Homestead and Orchard and participate in the organization. Download a membership application now. (click here)

Please join us today!

AFFILIATION CHANGE

As of December 1, 2009, the BHHF is an affliliate of the Community Foundation of North Central Washington.

For the past 10 years, the Washington National Park Fund has served as our fiscal sponsor, providing us with our not-for-profit status, great advice, and other services. The Buckner Homestead Heritage Foundation has much appreciated this relationship, and will continue to work with the WNPF on items of mutual benefit. We are very thankful for their nurturing of the BHHF as we have moved to this point as an organization.

We look forward with excitement to our new affiliation with the CFNCW as we enter a new era of activism and support on behalf of the Buckner Homestead and Orchard. Located in Wenatchee, the Community Fund provides additional services and expertise that will allow us to grow as an organization while providing us with fiscal sponsorhip as required by the IRS.

To both the Washington National Park Fund and the Community Foundation, we say "THANK YOU"!

FALL COLORS

(Click Here)
Enjoy the fall colors at the Buckner Orchard, as well as other locations in the Stehekin Valley. Photos are courtesy of Crystal Austin and Herb Sargo and were taken in October of 2008 and 2009.

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HARVEST FEST PHOTOS - 2009

(Click Here)

NEW FOUNDATION BOARD MEMBERS

Monica Courtney and David Kurth, both of Sthehkin, have been elected to the Board of the Foundation. The election fills the vacant "Stehekin Residents" positions and are for three-year terms. Congratulations to Monica and David; your willingness to work to support the Buckner Orchard and Foundation is greatly appreciated!


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