resto

The Resto | Nov. 2022 | Derek, Lynette, Jackson, Molly, Hank, Jett

Jett getting a Tío-torial on the mower

    It was the introductory visit to The Resto for a wee lad named Jett.  On a crisp, cloudy morning, he hopped into the gator faster than a spooked pintail fleas a pond.  The ultimate Resto steward, Tío Derek, saddles up alongside the bundled-up Jett and shows our enthusiastic toddler all but how to change the oil.  A typical boy, he loves fast cars, trucks, and tractors.  He’ll be “driving” a ranch vehicle sooner than he’s truly able.  Soon he’ll realize that the beauty of the gator is not in the mechanics, but its ability to transport him to an amazing piece of land that supports native plants, animals, and their human people.

 

    Tia and I follow the gator across the field of tar-weed and sweet smelling but non-native Penny Royal. We approach the forest line which is now a three-point confluence between the pond, the field, and a freshly mowed, once overgrown but now open, white oak savannah.   Former Resto stewards like the late and great Art Johnson, his father, Tía, Jock, Jimmy D, Jeff and many others would be able to tell the difference in the new feel of the forest after being mowed with their eyes closed.  Voices and the sound of rustled leaves now reverberate off the vibrant lichen-covered oak trunks.  The understory is now wide open to welcome next spring’s new growth, and the lobed leaves dominate the forest canopy once again.
        

    “Will this be burned too?” I ask.
    “Ideally.  This is a very technical burn,” replies Tío.
    The evening prior, over Resto-grazed elk burgers, he relived the first intentional Resto burn in nearly a century.  The field burning recipe: one single day (with years of planning), a dozen fire experts including fire elders from the Calapooia, Siletz, Navajo, & Grande Ronde tribes, an eon of wisdom, and a deep trust in the cultural and ecological burning practices of natives yields the burning of three small fields. 
    “13,000 years of managing the oak savannah of the Willamette Valley with fire,” Tío reminds me.  There is a lot wrapped up in that sentence for him.  That’s enough time for species to co-evolve in the presence of regular field burning – native peoples, oaks, grasses, camus, insects, deer, elk, roots, and fungi all benefit from a blackened reset. 
        

Tia & Mol walking near the woods pond

    Back to the confluence, where we skirt the pond to the south side duck blind.  Jett sees it and finds interest in pulling the string attached to the decoys.  We explain their purpose.  Tío soaks his boots to show Jett the winged decoy, simultaneously showing us his dedication to providing a memorable first experience at the Resto.  We zip passed the pump-house, where 25 years ago, Tío and Boppy warmed my frozen bones after a cold and soggy January hunt sitting in the blind.  That may have been my first time to the Resto, memorable indeed.  I should have taken their advice and eaten breakfast.  Tomorrow, when we head out for our early hunt, I will.

    A massive gaggle of thousands of geese wreak havoc on the adjacent field, which provides grass seed for sale on the ag market.   Only a small berm separates us from the neighbors field – it’s nice to see private lands open to one another for easier migration and daily movement of animals.  Hank kicks up the geese who produce a black and gray cackling cloud and who showcase their generations of choreographed community flight by circling once and landing 100 yards further along the field.  Jett cackles with joy. 
    On our way back to the shop, we pay our respects to the elk carcasses, whose flesh and blood have nourished ours.  We stop at the field blind which is near Luci’s willow, a distinguishable patch of sinewy stalks where she hunted a duck years prior.  We clean the field blind of frogs, snakes, and unfortunate rodents.  Jett beams with excitement as the frog leaps onto his lapel.  I believe his first time at the Resto will illicit more comfortable memories than mine did, but mostly, I hope that they will connect him to this land that has nourished so much life.

Admiring the frog

Jett honoring the elk carcasses

Returning to the warehouse with smiles