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Cominghomefromthe ANCW meeting in Klam- ath Falls, we drove High- way 89 to McArthur-Bur- ney Falls Memorial State Park for the grand open- ing of the visitor center with several hundred vis- itors. They had catered a free luncheon for 250, which we enjoyed, plus free entrance to the park. Driving from McCloud, the dogwood in bloom was beautiful. The Bitter Brush was in bloom and if we were still a USFS graz- ing permittee, it would be time to turn-out the cat- tle since the brush was in bloom. I didn't realize there was a Burney Falls Ceme- tery within the park, un- til I picked up a brochure. Between 1888 and 1990 thirty-three were buried there; nearly half of them under the age of fifteen. Many pioneers passed away in the August 1891 diptheria epidemic. The brochure said the trailhead to the cemetery is in the overflow parking area between campsites 75 and 76. The trail is .8 miles one way, on the old Bur- ney-Cayton Road that con- nected many of the origi- nal homesteads. The cemetery land was originally owned by Albert and Mary Peck. Albert passed away in 1888 from "paralysis of the heart" and Mary chose that loca- tion for his burial. As the population grew and pioneers died, Mary allowed their burials on her property near Al- bert's grave. The property was known as "Peck's Hill Cemetery." Most of the graves were originally marked with simple wooden crosses. A wildfire burned through the park in 1925 destroy- ing the crosses and mak- ing those graves nearly im- possible to locate. Only a handful of markers re- main. The large headstone was erected by the Burney Cemetery District in 1951. Issac Ray was the origi- nal owner of Burney Falls. He homesteaded the land in 1881. His home and saw- mill were located above the falls. Issac was born in Iowa in 1849 and died in 1915. Emma Ray was the daughter of Rev. M.C. Dungan. She married Ger- man Immigrant Her- man Schnittyer. After he died she married Andrew Ray, son of Isaac Ray. She was the mother of Hattie Ray, a twin born in 1906, and lived 16 days, as well as August and William Schnittyer. Emma passed away in Cassel in 1913 when she was 40 years old. Rev. Michael C. Dun- gan was the local minis- ter and worked at Isaac Ray's sawmill. He came to Burney from Harrison Co; Iowa. He lost four children to the diptheria epidemic of 1891. He was a very kind man known to the com- munity as Uncle Mike. He died in 1917. Hattie Peck was born in 1887 and died in 1891. She was buried next to her fa- ther, Albert. More interesting biogra- phies of some of those bur- ied in the cemetery are in the brochure. Another brochure about the park had the following history of how the park was formed, and I didn't have to take notes when we viewed the video in the visitor center. "Burney Falls was named after Samuel Bur- ney of South Carolina, who died in the area in 1859. "John and Catherine McArthur arrived in the 1860s, purchased thou- sands of acres, and opened a mercantile store in the area. "Over time, several fam- ily farms and the small settlement of Peck's Bridge sprang up along the Pit River near the falls. "Early pioneer Isaac Ray established a short lived lumber mill above the falls, but the area was sparsely populated well into the 1900s. "In 1917 the newly formed Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) began buying up land and water rights in the area. Alarmed residents foresaw that PG&E , in the inter- ests of providing more hy- droelectric power, would dam the Pit River and de- stroy Burney Falls. "Frank and Scott McAr- thur, sons of John and Catherine, purchased 160 acres surrounding the falls; in 1920 they deeded the property to the State, requesting only that it be named for their parents. "The land officially be- came a state park in 1926. The Pit River was even- tually dammed; the Pit 3 dam formed the Lake Brit- ton reservoir. "Some of the park's old- est features —- including a historic cabin and Diablo stone stoves —- were built by the Civilian Conserva- tion Corps prior to World War II." The visitor guide had the history of the Diablo Stoves written by Ranger Dan Toth. "You will notice some unique stone and mor- tar barbecue stoves. They are named after Mt. Dia- blo State Park, where they were first designed and built using local rocks na- tive to area. "During the Great De- pression of the 1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a works pro- gram that employed vet- erans and out-of-work young men to complete infrastructure projects throughout the country. "At one time there were nearly 7,500 men work- ing exclusively in National and State Parks, build- ing & improving camp- grounds, bridges, and other facilities. Many of the older State Parks in California, such as Burney Falls, still showcase their work projects. "The Diablo Stoves in our old Rim Campground are about 80 years old. And, while many show signs of wear, they have held up remarkably well over the years — a testa- ment to the fine stonema- son work of the era. "You can help us pre- serve these historic stoves for future generations. "Please keep stove fires small, and let fires burn down before dous- ing them out with water. Also, please don chop fire- wood on or near the Dia- blo Stoves. With your help, these artifacts from a by- gone era will last another 80 years." JEANBARTON A visit to McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park COURTESYPHOTO Irene Fuller was shielding her eyes from the sun as she looked at the bald eagle high in the dead tree on the skyline above Burney Falls. Black Swi s were darting above the falls and their nests built in the rock cliffs. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Tuesday that the U.S. De- partment of Agriculture is accepting applications to provide technical as- sistance to socially-disad- vantaged groups in rural areas. "These grants will help socially-disadvantaged business owners develop the tools and skills they need to grow their enter- prises and succeed at cre- ating jobs and expanding economic opportunities in rural areas," Vilsack said. "American agricul- ture is becoming increas- ingly diverse in many ways, with more minor- ities and women seeking to enter the field, as well as greater diversity in the age of farmers, the size of operations, in production methods, and in the types of crops being grown. All of these forms of diversity help strengthen U.S. agri- culture for the future." Funding will be made available through USDA's Socially-Disadvantaged Groups Grant Program (formerly the Small, So- cially-Disadvantaged Pro- ducer Grant Program), which assists organiza- tions that provide techni- cal assistance to socially- disadvantaged groups in rural areas. Examples of technical assistance are conducting feasibility studies, developing busi- ness and strategic plans, and providing leadership training. USDA plans to make up to $3 million in grants available. The maximum award under this notice is $175,000. More informa- tion on how to apply can be found on page 28937 of the May 20 Federal Regis- ter. Applications submit- ted by mail must be post- marked by July 20. Elec- tronic applications must be submitted at www. grants.gov no later than midnight Eastern Time July 14. Eligible applicants in- clude groups of coopera- tives, cooperative devel- opment centers and indi- vidual cooperatives that serve socially-disadvan- taged groups. The cooper- atives or centers can be lo- cated in any area, but the groups assisted must be located in an eligible ru- ral area. Also, the major- ity of the governing body of the organization must be compromised of indi- viduals who are members of socially-disadvantaged groups. USDA Rural Develop- ment is encouraging ap- plications for projects in census tracts with pov- erty rates of 20 percent or higher. All grants are awarded through a na- tional competition. USDA Grants available for rural producers IWantToBeRecycled.org By Seth Borenstein TheAssociatedPress WASHINGTON If honey- bees are busy pollinat- ing large, blooming crop- lands, farmers wanting to spray toxic pesticides will soon have to buzz off, the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing. A federal rule proposed Thursday would create temporary pesticide-free zones when certain plants are in bloom around bees that are trucked from farm to farm by professional beekeepers, which are the majority of honeybees in the U.S. The pesticide halt would only happen dur- ing the time the flower is in bloom and the bees are there, and only on the property where the bees are working, not neighbor- ing land. The rule applies to vir- tually all insecticides, more than 1,000 products in- volving 76 different chem- ical compounds, said Jim Jones, EPA's assistant ad- ministrator for chemical safety and pollution pre- vention. It involves nearly all pesticides, including the class of pesticides called neonicotinoids, he said. The idea is "to create greater space between chemicals that are toxic to bees and the bees," Jones told The Associated Press. This is part of a new multi-part push by the Obama administration to try to reverse dramatic de- clines in bee populations. 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