GATES, Oregon — In the Santiam Canyon, still visible are the wounds and scars from the 2020 Santiam Fire.
“Devastating impact for us,” said Marion County Environmental Services Division Manager Brian May. “From what we lost from a parks perspective, it was just all those big, lush trees of that dense forests… now, you see a little different landscape.”
Some of it gone, some of it new. All of it changed at Minto Park in Gates.
Hazards left by the fire prohibited work to reopen some of the county’s parks — until recently.
“For us, it's almost that kind of regeneration of our parks. And we're really excited to get people out and working in them again,” May said. “We haven't had that kind of need for people to just come in and return to redo our parks. So it's fun for us to because we're getting a chance to get it out to ourselves and get people involved in our park system.”
A team of volunteers braved the rain to bring Minto Park — a popular fishing access spot — back to life. Oregon Parks Forever and Solve partnered with Marion County Parks to make for a lighter lift.
Annette Galicia, of Salem, would come here to fish prior to the fire. She wanted to help cast the vision for the park’s future.
“I have a lot of empathy for the community, for the area,” Galicia said. “I want to be able to come back here and enjoy it and make it a better place for those who come here next.”
May says the county is a few weeks away from reopening Minto Park, but thanks to the work party, they’re getting much closer. From resurfacing the parking lot to putting gravel down on the paths and removing burn debris, the goal is year-round access to the park for all to enjoy.
“A chance here to for you to come out and play and enjoy our parks with us and have a piece of it be yours,” May said, “to do that work and feel that pride of rebuilding Marion County Parks.”
Next up, Marion County will focus on reopening Niagara Park a few miles upstream on the Santiam River. They could use more volunteers to get it open sometime in 2024.
“There's hope, and things can get better with restoration with being able to come back here and enjoy fishing again in the future,” said Galicia, looking out over Minto Park. “So it's really a good sense of hope and the river definitely calls you back."
The pride in the work may be hidden, but the dedication by the staff and volunteers, that’s obvious. May couldn’t be more grateful for the help and support.
“It touches your heart to have that feeling when you see this many people show up on a really miserable November day to come out and do a lot of just dirty, messy work," he said. "I can't say enough thanks for them to be here today.”