History of the Fremont National Forest

PERSONNEL 1940-1950

Personnel Sketches

Gilbert D. Brown. Gilbert D. Brown, for many years supervisor of the Fremont National Forest and of late years supervisor of the Wenatchee National Forest in Washington, retires from active service at the close of April this year. Brown has spent the greater part of his life in forestry work beginning as a ranger in the early days of the organization.

Brown was a native of the state of California moving with his parents to Crystal Creek near Fort Klamath in the late nineties. Here in a most beautiful setting of mountains, meadows, and lakes, Brown found his main interest in the great outdoors and began his early training.

After coming to the Fremont, the wide expansion of Forest Service activity found the new supervisor directing a large program over the far flung distances of the Fremont. Roads, telephone lines, and a system of lookouts were established where previously horseback trails were the order of the day. Telephone lines were few at a time. The line northward ran only as far as Thomas Creek ranger station. In the next four years this line was extended to Ingram Station and on to Silver Lake. The main forest trunk road extended only as far as Dairy Creek, and this was also relocated and extended to Ingram and Silver Lake, as was the connection from Dairy Creek to Finley Corrals.

In this large plan of development, several young foresters received their early training and found places in the great national expansion of the Forest Service. Among these, Walt L. Dutton is now assistant chief forester in charge of grazing, Washington, D. C.; Lynn F. Cronemiller has been connected with the Oregon State Department of Forestry for several years; while Fred P. Cronemiller is assistant regional forester in charge of grazing in the San Francisco regional office, all having received the foundation in the Service under Brown.

It was in Brown's administration here that drought conditions became serious and forest fires became a menace to the forest. Equipment and fire fighting organizations were built up in anticipation of some emergency which came with the first great fire in the Crooked Creek area north of this city. Here for a week hundreds of men fought flames which swept over an area of some 8,000 acres lying west of the main highway. At night, light from the great inferno was visible a hundred miles over the desert area towards Burns, and in the Goose Lake Valley light sufficient to read a newspaper was evident at times. Some ten miles of fire lines were established and held and with a change of weather the flames subsided.

Brown, in taking his departure from the Service, carries his sixty-one years lightly and his legion of friends in this county find it difficult to realize he is really retiring from the Service, but probably only to resume some private activity the trend of which he has not indicated, except to say that he will make his hone in Wenatchee. ("Six-Twenty-Six," February, 1940. Editorial in Lake County Tribune)

And Gilbert Replies:

On the eve of my retirement, after thirty-three years and nine months, to the day, I look back over this period spent with the Forest Service and wonder if ever any man has enjoyed his lifetime work more than I.

In the early days, we underwent considerable hardship and privation; the Use Book Regulations at that time stated that a forest officer must be able to support himself and his horses in areas remote from civilization. This was often required, but not necessarily disagreeable. At that time, a good gun and fishing tackle were important to a forest officer's equipment. Game and fish were abundant, and consequently the remoteness from civilization brought many pleasures.

The greatest pleasure, however, has been association with fellow workers in protecting and developing the national forest resource; establishing telephone systems, roads, and trails; constructing buildings for use of the service, camps and recreational centers for the enjoyment of the public; developing the use of the automobile, the radio, and the airplane in our forest work. To have had a part in this march of progress has furnished a world of satisfaction to me. (Gilbert D. Brown, "Six-Twenty-Six," May, 1940)

William O. Harriman. The supervisor went on annual leave November 16, 1942, prior to his retirement at age sixty-two, effective March 1, 1942, after thirty years of service. A banquet was given for Mr. and Mrs. Harriman at the Lakeview Hotel on November 5, attended by approximately seventy-five persons representing the Fremont, Siskiyou, and Umatilla forests. On November 15, a regional stag dinner party was given for Mr. Harriman at Bend, attended by approximately fifty persons. (1941)

The Pilot Butte Inn, Bend, was the gathering place of fifty members of the Forest Service (without their wives) on November 15 to congratulate and honor Supervisor William O. Harriman upon his retirement. The regional office, Umpqua, Whitman, Ochoco, Deschutes, Rogue River, Malheur, and Fremont forests were represented. Retirees M. L. Merritt and Perry South attended.

After a good bullfest session, a fine turkey dinner preceded many enjoyable talks by both the older and new generations. Old skeletons were dug out of Harriman's closet. An old Model T. Ford was made to live and run again, although it broke down on several occasions; the old Paulina Forest was restored, homesteads refiled on, and many other instances recited.

A very fine time was had by all and especially Mr. Harriman who had an opportunity to verbally "spank" several members present and renew old acquaintances.

Mr. Harriman has discharged successfully the numerous responsibilities which confront a forest supervisor, but his outstanding accomplishment is the progress made in obtaining selective logging practices on the private lands within the Fremont Forest. The principles under which this program is being conducted were set up by Mr. Harriman and the promotion of it was his major interest during the last several years. Operators were requested to leave thrifty timber designated by the Forest Service and amounting to between 35 and 50 percent of the ponderosa pine inventory, with the understanding that in exchange for this land the Forest Service would grant cutting rights of value equivalent to the loss in income which the operator would suffer on account of removing 50 to 65 percent of the timber as compared with clear cutting. Under this system approximately 20,000 acres of private land have been or are in the process of being cut selectively within the Fremont Forest. Likewise, approximately the same acreage of national forest timber land has been developed for selective logging, and the trees most susceptible to attack from bark beetles have been removed. This procedure can be considered the initial step towards intensive management of pine timber resources and is indeed a happy contrast to the clearcutting which would have occurred on these privately owned lands through force of economic circumstances if it were not for Mr. Harriman's activities. Upon Mr. Harriman's recommendation, the Forest Service has given a very low priority to the acquisition of stripped, clearcut land, and this policy has been an important factor in bringing about the adoption of selective logging practices within the Fremont Forest.

The areas south of the Klamath Falls-Lakeview Highway, from Fishhole Mountain west and the Cottonwood Creek drainage, are the two outstanding tracts where this program has been put into effect. These tracts will be a lasting monument to Mr. Harriman's vision, persistence, and ability. They will form a permanent basis for lumbering activity in this vicinity. The Forest Service is grateful for the cooperation of the private timber operators which made this accomplishment possible. Mr. Harriman's ability to obtain this cooperation is a mark of the faith in his integrity which the operators placed in him. (Regional Forester Lyle Watt, November 28, 1941)

This preliminary work by Mr. Harriman prepared the way for the creation of the Lakeview Federal Sustained Yield Unit in 1950. He was also interested in the protection and development of all other forest resources and made a sincere effort to educate the public as to how this could best be done. He never spared himself to do the best possible job in accomplishing aims and objectives of the Forest Service.

Mr. Harriman was intensely interested in people and made an effort to train his staff and other employees. He wanted his staff to learn not only their own jobs, but to be able to do tasks in other fields in order to be ready for advancement. He was the champion of the employees, although they did not always realize it at the time. In later years many said they finally realized how much they had learned from Supervisor Harriman and wished they had expressed their appreciation to him.

One of his favorite hobbies was etymology as it applies to proper names. If he did not already know the meaning of a visitor's name, he promptly looked it up.

Mr. Harriman passed away on March 27, 1947, as the result of a heart attack.

Edward P. Cliff. Edward P. Cliff is a native of Heber City, Utah, and graduated from Utah State University in 1931 with a B. S. degree in forestry. In March 1958 the university conferred on him its Distinguished Service Award.

Mr. Cliff entered the Forest Service on the Wenatchee Forest in August 1931. From May 1, 1934 to 1939, he was in charge of wildlife management in the Pacific Northwest region with headquarters in Portland, Oregon. In May 1939 he was appointed supervisor of the Siskiyou National Forest, from which he came to Lakeview on January 1, 1942. Upon leaving Lakeview on April 1, 1944, Mr. Cliff was transferred to the Washington office as assistant chief of the Division of Range Management. He was assigned as assistant to Walt L. Dutton, chief of the Division of Range Management, also formerly of Lakeview.

From Washington, D. C., in September 1946, he became assistant regional forester in charge of the Division of Range and Wildlife Management for the inter-mountain region, with headquarters in Ogden, Utah. In January 1960, he was promoted to regional forester for the Rocky Mountain region with headquarters in Denver, Colorado, and remained there until his transfer to Washington, D. C. in October 1951 as assistant chief of the Forest Service. In that capacity he was in charge of the National Forest Resource Management Division, directing timber, watershed, range, wildlife, and recreation activities on all the national forests. He was appointed chief of the Forest Service on March 18, 1962.

Since 1953, Mr. Cliff has been the U. S. Department of Agriculture representative on the Board of Geographic Names. He was appointed chairman of the board in 1961.

While on the Fremont, Mr. Cliff successfully supervised a very large land and timber sale exchange program. While many of the cases were started by Supervisor Harriman, Mr. Cliff negotiated and completed a great number of exchanges during his stay. The large exchange with Walker-Hovey was completed, and other exchanges negotiated were with Buzard, Anderson Brothers, Big Lakes Box Company, Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, Long-Bell Lumber Company, Ewauna Box Company, Shevlin-Hixon Lumber Company, and Harold Crane. These exchanges added considerable acreage to the forest.

The Lakeview Rotary Club held a farewell luncheon for their president, Ed Cliff, on March 29, when Ed turned over the gavel prior to his leaving to assume his new duties in Washington, D. C. Principal speaker E. A. Fetsch called it a lend-lease operation, saying "We are lending our club's president to Washington, and we hope that the lease end of it will come with the return of President Ed to our midst." Fetsch paid tribute to Ed's leadership in the community and presented him with a pen and pencil set as a farewell gift from his fellow Rotarians. Cliff expressed his regret at leaving Lakeview, and his pleasure in having served as president of "one of the outstanding Rotary clubs in the district." (Lake County Examiner, April, 1944)

Lawrence K. Mays. Lawrence K Mays was promoted from the Division of Operation in the regional office to forest supervisor of the Fremont on March 1, 1944, to replace Edward P. Cliff. Supervisor Mays had spent approximately two years on the Fremont from 1932 to 1934 as assistant and district ranger of the Silver Lake District and was, therefore, not only familiar with this area, but well and favorably known to many forest users and the public.

Larry Mays was a native of Colorado and attended Washington and Oregon state colleges. Before coming to the Fremont as supervisor, he had been assigned to the Columbia as a forest worker and timber sale officer, to the Umatilla as a fire control staff officer, to the regional office in fire control planning, to the Deschutes National Forest as assistant supervisor, and to the Emergency Rubber Project as project superintendent.

During Mr. Mays' supervision of the Fremont, many worthwhile projects were accomplished. Due to his efforts, county officials of Lake and Klamath became more favorable toward land exchanges and approved some of the Shevlin-Hixon and other cases. He also paved the way for exchange and selective cutting of the Boutin lands by Fred Dougherty, the new owner.

Being a specialist in work planning and organization, Mays analyzed the work loads of the Warner and Bly districts, and as a result, created the Drews Valley District in February 1946. He established better relationships with the Lakeview and Klamath Falls sportsmen as well as with the state game commission by means of personal contacts and helpful cooperation. He also raised the esteem of the policies of the Forest Service in Klamath Falls by personal visits and by his acquaintances in Klamath Falls during his residence there on the Emergency Rubber Project. Better distribution of stock on the ranges was obtained and a start was made toward eliminating trespass horses from the Bly District.

Supervisor Mays was promoted to assistant regional forester in charge of fire control of the Pacific Northwest region on September 23, 1946. After an assignment in the regional office of Region 8 at Atlanta, Georgia, he was transferred to the Washington office. He later was director of the Internal Audit staff in the Washington office.

Eugene J. Rogers. Ranger Eugene J. Roger, who for the past eleven years has been district ranger on the Fremont's Silver Lake District, is slated to retire shortly. Gene entered the Service as a horse wrangler and packer on the Lewis and Clark Forest, Montana, in 1915. In the spring of 1921 he transferred to Fort Klamath as district ranger. Later he managed ranger districts at Butte Falls and Tiller, Oregon, and at Dayton, Washington. Gene's friends will miss his honest integrity, his homely philosophy, and his colorful tales of the buckaroo trails. We hope to see him often and extend our best wish that the pastures will be green and the days long and pleasant. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," January 17, 1945)

Albert Arnst. Albert Arnst, formerly of the Forest Service and more recently with the Soil Conservation Service, has just been appointed associate editor of the Timberman magazine, Portland, according to announcement by George F. Cornwall, managing editor. Arnst, graduate of the School of Forestry, Oregon State College, has specialized in problems and management of farm and woodlot forestry. He entered the Forest Service in 1931, serving in fire control, operation, and on the Region 6 showboat until 1935. He then worked on the Rogue River and Fremont until July 1937, when he went with the Soil Conservation Service. During the past year he has worked for a logging machinery manufacturer in the S. A. F. and the American Forestry Association. Albert is not only a thorough forester, but also a proficient writer and photographer. We congratulate him on his new assignment and predict that he will acquire more laurels as a timber industry journalist. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," February 6, 1946)

Pearl V. Ingram. Pearl V. Ingram, who has been retired from the Fremont Forest about seven years, passed away quite suddenly September 23 after a very short illness. Five of the pallbearers were ex-Forest Service men, having worked in the Service about the time that Ingram started. They are Fred and George Bonbrake, Grover Blake, Ulysses F. McLaughlin, and Vern Harpham. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," September 24, 1947)

Marguerite C. Harbison. Mrs. Marguerite C. Harbison, clerk at Lakeview since 1943, died on October 13. Her husband, Milford W. Harbison, is the district assistant on the Paisley District and is a veteran of World War II. Mrs. Harbison became an employee of the Forest Service during his absence on military duty. She also leaves two sons and a daughter. She will be missed by members of the Fremont organization, by her many friends in the community, and by visiting regional officers. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," October 29, 1947)

Henry U. Sarles. Henry U. Sarles passed away October 22, 1949, at the age of forty-nine. He is survived by his wife Portia Butler Sarles. Though ill for some time he conscientiously and faithfully continued at his work, having been absent from the office but two weeks during his last illness. He was a native of Colorado, a Legionnaire, a member of the Lake County Sportmen's Association, and a Rotarian. He was a leader and worked with the Boy Scouts for many years in Lakeview.

TIMBER MANAGEMENT

Cut Allowances

While it is emphasized that no reduction in timber cut is suggested while the war is under way and lumber remains a critical material, a reduction in lumber cut immediately after the war was forecast for the Lakeview and Klamath Falls area and for most of the lumber production areas of the Northwest by forest officials at a conference in Klamath Falls last week.

The Forest Service officials urged that methods such as remanufacturing be employed to take up the slack by the time the reduction in sawlogs occurs. In the Northwest, more plants using lumber rather than logs as raw materials are needed, according to the officials. Larry Mays, Fremont forest supervisor, stated that as most of the privately owned timber in the Lakeview production unit has been cut out, it will be necessary to reduce the cut to approximately one-third of its present size in order to meet a rate approaching the sustained-yield capacity of the forest growing lands, which is 38 MMBF. Mays indicated that it is not the intent of his statement to emphasize any reduction until all war demands have been met. The annual cut is now 116 MMBF. (Lake County Examiner, December 21, 1944)

A number of steps are now being undertaken by Forest Service officials to alleviate the reduction in timber cut that they forecast is necessary after the war to get cutting in line with growth in the ponderosa pine region. One of the foremost steps in this direction is the investigation of greater utilization in the logging and milling operation. The Madison, Wisconsin, laboratory of the Forest Service and specifically assigned research men throughout the country are working on a variety of investigations aimed at developing uses for wood materials now wasted. Commercial development of the results of these studies should be of material value in Lake County when the timber cut is reduced, according to L. K. Mays, supervisor of the Fremont National Forest. Dr. Edward G. Locke has recently been appointed chemical engineer on the staff of the Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station in Portland. Dr. Locke will work in close cooperation with the Madison laboratory investigating problems of chemical wood utilization in the Pacific Northwest. Dr. Locke will assist with such developments as plastics, wood distillation for industrial charcoal, and wood hydrolysis for production of alcohol. (Lake County Examiner, December 28, 1944)

At a recent talk given before the Rotary and Lions Clubs of Lakeview, Larry Mays, Fremont Forest supervisor, told the story of the local lumber industry in the Lakeview Working Circle and what the prospects and outlook for the future are. According to Mays, up to 1928 only a few small lumber mills were operating in Lakeview. In that year the standard gauge railroad to Alturas was built and the lumber industry started to expand, shipping lumber to outside markets. The total depletion of the lumber resources up to 1919 was 183 MMBF.

In 1944 at the height of the lumber production in the Working Circle, the cut for one year was 130 MMBF. Up to the present time the total cut from the timber in the Lakeview Working Circle is about 1-1/3 billion board feet, of which 1 billion has been cut in the last ten years. The total volume of national forest timber in the Lakeview Working Circle at the present time is about 2-1/2 billion board feet of all species. Mays also pointed out that practically all private timber in the area owned or controlled by the Lakeview mills has been liquidated and, in fact, this year — 1945 — will see the end of private timber except for a few isolated tracts and those owned by outside interests.

There are three alternatives open in disposing of the 2-1/2 billion board feet of timber. The first is to cut clear at the present rate. If this is done, the timber will last for twenty years and then all cutting would cease for at least 100 years. The second alternative is to selectively cut the timber; however, at the present rate of cutting, it would last but eleven years, then all cutting would be at a standstill for the next thirty years. The third proposal and the one which is planned, is to selectively cut the stand at a rate of about 38 million board feet, which is the allowable annual cut in the Lakeview Working Circle. Cutting on this basis will require approximately forty years to cut over the virgin stand, at the end of which tine the timber land will be ready for the second cutting.

In regard to the remanufacturing of the timber, Mays stated that in 1944 the cut was 116 MMBF; 66 percent of this cut (or 77 MMBF) was cut into rough lumber and shipped out of Lakeview. That amount provided employment at the rate of one man-day per thousand board feet for approximately a total of 280 man-years. The remaining 34 percent (40 MMBF) was remanufactured and provided 275 man-days of employment per thousand board feet, or a total of 350 man-years. The total labor provided by the lumber industry was 630 man-years during 1944.

Assuming that the allowable annual cut of 18 MMBF for the Lakeview Working Circle was remanufactured here and provided four man-days' labor per thousand board feet, which is not an unreasonable assumption, Mays continued, 510 man-hours of labor would be provided on a permanent basis. In closing Mays stated:

The industrial economy of Lake County is primarily based on timber so that continuation of this industry is intimately related to the continued production of timber. The most important community objective, therefore, is to maintain maximum timber production on every acre of forest land, private and public, thus supplying the industry with the greatest amount of timber possible. In this way a stable industry can be maintained and a dependable tax base assured to the maximum benefit of the community. (Lake County Examiner, April 12, 1945)

Timber Companies

Cedar Products Mill. The Cedar Products Mill in Lakeview is a recent addition to industrial row, becoming seventh in a row of sawmills and remanufacturing plants along the railroad track. This plant buys incense cedar bolts by the cord for manufacturing into pencil stock. It is an interesting process and is as follows:

1. The bolt is placed on a table and is pushed through a small band saw by an endless chain. This process cuts the bolt into planks 2-1/2" thick.

2. The planks are put through an edger with saws set the same distance apart as the plank is thick, thus making squares.

3. The squares are piled on small cars and run through a dry kiln.

4. They are then run through a trimmer which cuts each square into lengths 4" to 16".

5. From here the short squares are put through a multiple saw which cuts the square into slats about 3/16" thick.

6. These slats are then run onto a sorting and grading table where women do the work.

7. They are piled in bundles, tied, and are then ready for shipment. Another process being installed is a dye works, where the slats are placed in a boiler under pressure and dyed various colors. Under pressure the dye penetrates the slat, and it comes out a uniform color throughout. (L. L. Stewart, "Six-Twenty-Six," May, 1940)

Remanufacturing at Lakeview Mills. Two years ago the six sawmills in Lakeview were just sawing boards and shipping rough lumber after it was air dried. Only two mills had any semblance of a remanufacturing or drying plant. A large portion of the labor was transient, and when the mills closed down in the fall for lack of logs, Lakeview became partially deserted overnight and business more or less hibernated for the winter.

These last two years have seen a great difference, especially during this last winter (if we can say we are out of the winter yet).

The reasons? Underwood Lumber Company has expanded its box factory and now employs throughout the winter. It has started a quite complete remanufacturing plant, turning out lumber products of all kinds, somewhat on the lines of Kinzua. The box and remanufacturing plants require dry lumber, so a batter of kilns has been installed.

The Goose Lake Box Company has greatly expanded its box and remanufacturing plants and four new dry kilns have been built. The Anderson Brothers Lumber Company has installed two dry kilns and can keep active all winter. The Buzard-Burkhart Pine Company has expanded its molding, box, and remanufacturing plants and has installed several kilns. The Oregon Molding and Lumber Company has built a modern molding plant that employs several men on a year-around basis.

The men required in these plants, plus the men employed in the general repair and overhaul of the mills, have more than doubled the over-winter employment. All of this leads to better social and economic conditions, which is our aim in community stabilization. We have a long way to go yet to reach our ultimate goal of sustained yield and a balanced yearly employment, but progress is being made and the future looks bright. ("Six-Twenty-Six," April, 1941)

Underwood Lumber Company Leased. Announcement of the leasing of the Underwood Lumber Company's sawmill, remanufacturing plants, box factory, and molding plants, and the company's logging equipment to the American Box Corporation was made this week by J. C. Clark, president of the Underwood Lumber Company.

The American Box Corporation head office is in San Francisco and will continue to operate the company's interests as in the past and no changes of personnel are contemplated. The company has plans for extensive improvements for remanufacturing in their post-war program, as soon as the present emergency is over. In order to convert to peace time remanufacturing, it will be necessary to install machinery as soon as it is available.

The Underwood Lumber Company operated here in the 1920s. In 1920 the entire stock was sold, and management of the enterprise was taken over by J. C. Clark. Up to and including 1929, all lumber leaving the plant was classed as raw lumber; at the close of 1944 only 8 percent of the lumber leaving was raw, so, by the installation of the remanufacturing plants, the company has been able to employ an average of 200 workers and maintain a payroll of approximately $500,000 a year.

Through the efforts of J. C. Clark, a cut-up plant was installed, the logging unit purchased in 1937, and in 1939 dry kilns were constructed. In 1941 the molding plant was put into operation. (Lake County Examiner, January 4, 1945)

Fires. The DeArmond Mill, which was under lease to McDonald-Collins interests, was destroyed by fire December 1, 1946, and now we have only three mills in Lakeview — American Box Company, Goose Lake Box, and Lakeview Lumber Company. All have molding, box, or cut-up plants for remanufacturing. The Willow Ranch Mill and Boutin lands have been purchased by the Dougherty Lumber Company of Cleveland, Ohio. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," December, 1946)

The box factory of the Lakeview Manufacturing Company was totally destroyed by a spectacular blaze September 4, when a fire broke out from a hot box. Loss of the plan will run upwards of $50,000, with a considerable amount of insurance coverage. The plant was purchased this spring by H. C. Marryman and George Garbinio. (Lake County Examiner, September 7, 1944)

The Fremont Sawmill, which burned down on August 3, was completely rebuilt into modern electric mill, and resumed cutting on November 7. A little over ninety days' delay. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," February 4, 1948)

Sales, Cuts, and Land Exchanges

1941. A sale was made on July 1 to Jess Roberts involving some 15 MMBF on Dog Mountain. The Peterson and Johnson sale in Hay and Howard creeks was continued with a cut of approximately 4,691 MBF this year.

The Barnes Rim fire area (1940) timber was salvaged by Peterson and Johnson's cutting approximately 3-1/2 MMBF. Jess Roberts salvaged approximately 1 million feet from the Horseshoe Rim fire 1939.

Weyerhaeuser conducted a light bug salvage cutting in the vicinity of Swede Cabin which may be the beginning of a new phase of timber management in the pine area.

The following exchanges were negotiated during 1941.

Anderson Brothers Lumber Company #58, involving 3,650 acres valued at approximately $24,000. About 5-1/2 MMBF of the offered lands was selectively cut.

Jacob Cantlin Exchange #55 involving 640 acres valued at $1,675, wherein the Marsters Spring recreation area was acquired.

Ewauna Box Company (Bly Land Company) #59 wherein 3,520 acres were acquired, valued at $27,800. Approximately 4 MMBF of the area was selectively cut along with a high strip of virgin timber.

Esther Kernan Exchange #60 for 960 acres of offered land, a portion of which was selectively cut.

Detroit Trust Company #56 which offered 11,460 acres valued at $81,000, a large majority of which (11 MMBF) was selectively cut.

Detroit Trust Company Exchange #61 for 8,710 acres valued at $91,400, most of which was selectively cut.

Several other offers of exchange were received, among which are the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company on Grizzly Peak to be selectively cut involving some 2,000 acres and cut-over lands south of Bly totaling some 7,600 acres. Anderson Brothers Lumber Company offered several scattered tracts, some of which will be selectively cut. The largest of these tracts is around 5,000 acres in the Warner division. Buzard Burkhart Pine Company offered approximately 3,500 acres in the Deep Creek area which will be selectively cut. Ewauna Box Company is offering some 10,000 acres in the Fishhole country, 6,500 acres of which will be selectively cut.

The Fremont has discovered what may be the first instance in Region 6 of a light selection cut in ponderosa pine. When a timber sale was recently made in Cottonwood Creek, quite a few old stumps were discovered on the area. At the time it was thought to be an old trespass cutting, but ring counts on several released trees indicated that cutting took place thirty-seven years ago in 1903. As the Fremont was created in 1906, the cutting was evidently a trespass on Public Domain land.

In 1903 operations were confined to one small watershed and highly selective logging was practiced. Evidently only the largest and cleanest trees were taken, leaving a heavy residual stand.

Out of this watershed the 1941 sale removed 828 MBF under a 50 percent cut, for an average of 1,280 board feet per tree. At the time of scaling, 220 old stumps were counted. From their size it was evident that the trees cut in 1903 averaged larger than those cut under the present sale. A conservative estimate of 1,500 board feet per tree was used, which indicates that 330 MBF were removed by the first cut.

Stated in a different way, this means that 1,940 board feet per acre was removed in 1903 and 4,870 board feet per acre in 1941. Using a net growth figure of 65 board feet per acre per year, the growth for thirty-seven years following the initial cut was 2,400 board feet per acre. (S. T. Moore, "Six-Twenty-Six," July, 1941)

1942. A policy statement was prepared and was approved by the regional forester in which sales policy and exchange plans were outlined. The following sales were made this year:

The Summit Prairie sale was awarded to Anderson Brothers on May 15, 1942. Sale completed, total cut: 3,985 MBF.

The Dog Mountain sale to Jess Roberts was completed, total cut: 14,071 MBF.

A second sale at Adams Spring was made to Jess Roberts involving about 3 million feet, to be completed in 1943.

The Hay Creek-Howard Creek sale to Peterson and Johnson Brothers was extended into 1943. About 3 million feet remain to be cut.

Horsefly sale was awarded to Crane Mills. Nearly 10 million of a total expected cut of 30 million was cut in 1942.

A small bug salvage sale in Cox Flat was awarded to Anderson Brothers. A total of 1,361 MBF was cut and sale is completed.

A small bug salvage sale was made to Ivory Pine Company involving 142.85 M feet and is completed.

A sale of 10 million feet in Snyder Meadow was awarded to Fremont Lumber Company. No cutting was done this year on this sale.

The following exchanges were negotiated during 1942:

Anderson Brothers #64, involving 240 acres and about $4,681, and #65, involving 7,412.92 acres and an approximate value of $28,477.

Bly Land Company (Ewauna Box Company) #68, involving 9,688.79 acres and approximate value of $100,800.

Big Lakes Box Company Exchange #70, involving 3,040 acres and an approximate value of $44,704.

G. D. Stockburger Exchange #69 (land for land), involving 160,26 acres of offered land and 120 acres of selected land.

Weyerhaeuser Timber Company Exchange #62, involving 2,128.16 acres and an approximate value of $20,250.

Fremont Lumber Company Exchange #34, involving 1,280 acres and an approximate value of $12,000.

Offers were received from Buzard-Burkhart Pine Company, Boutin Pine Company, Crane Mills Inc., and the Anderson Brothers Lumber Company. Offers may be expected from the Shevlin-Hixon Company and probably the Fremont Lumber Company.

1943. According to the tabulation of timber business in Region 6 for the calendar year 1943, the Fremont enjoys the rather dubious distinction of leading all other forests in the region in the volume of timber cut during the year. Our cut of 185,471 MBF nosed out the Snoqualmie by about 4-1/2 million board feet and the Olympic by about 15 million. As I recall, this is the first year for a long time that an eastside forest has topped the region in the volume of timber cut. The Fremont was second only to the Olympic in the value of timber cut on sales and exchanges. In addition to scaling and marking over 132 million feet of national forest timber during the past year, the Fremont personnel marked over 50 million feet of privately owned timber for cutting under the selective exchange program. This large volume of sale and exchange business has been conducted with practically no extra personnel. Timber sale officers, assistant rangers, and district rangers who have handled this large volume of business have made important contributions to the war effort and are entitled to a pat on the back for the efficient and cheerful manner in which they have shouldered this additional load. (This is real "man bites dog" news.) (Ed Cliff, "Six-Twenty-Six," February 16, 1944)

The following sales were awarded in 1943:

The following land exchange cases were consummated in 1943:

1944. County Treasurer Harvey R. Sanders reports the receipt of $94,702.03 as Lake County's portion of the moneys received by the Fremont and Deschutes forests during 1944 for Forest Service rentals and timber sales. The portion received from the Fremont acreage of 798,802 acres within the county was $90,463.63, while the Deschutes Forest acreage of 161,729 brought $4,238.40. Of the $94,702.03, 25 percent goes to the county school fund and 75 percent to the road fund. (Lake County Examiner, February 15, 1945)

1945. The Anderson Brothers Lumber Company bought 6 million board feet of timber on Helphenstein Creek near Cottonwood Reservoir. The price paid was $7.25 plus a $.37 deposit for slash disposal, making a total of $7.62 per M for pine and $1.50 per M for white fir. (Lake County Examiner, (April 5, 1945)

Larry K. Mays, supervisor of the Fremont Forest, announced the sale of 14 million board feet of timber in the upper Horseshoe area of the Fremont to the Goose Lake Box Company on a bid of $81,860. This was the only offer received. The bid opened May 26 and quoted $6.10 per 1,000 board feet for ponderosa pine and $1.50 per 1,000 board feet for white fir and other species. (Lake County Examiner, June 7, 1945)

At the meeting of the Lake and Klamath county courts, Forest Service officials, WPB members, and Shevlin-Hixon officials held in Klamath Falls last week regarding the 17,000-acre land exchange between Shevlin-Hixon Company and the U. S. Forest Service, members of the two county courts indicated that they would stand pat on their protests until they have discussed the possibility of the State Board of Forestry, with the probable aid of the two counties, purchasing the Shevlin-Hixon lands offered in the exchange. In that way, the Forest Service could sell the timber to Shevlin-Hixon on a cash basis, which would give the counties their 25 percent on the sale. The doubt was expressed over the possibility of a state forest program on the land because it is intermingled with federal forest lands. However, Judge U. E. Reeder of the Klamath County Court and a member of the State Board of Forestry will attend a state board meeting this week to ascertain if the problem could be worked out.

The WPB representative was concerned over the action of the two county courts and said that we want to keep Shevlin-Hixon in full production as long as their lumber is needed for the war effort. He expressed fear that if this exchange and another prospective transaction involving 13,334.95 acres in Klamath County are held up because of the protests, the company's production would be endangered.

Estimates were given by Frank Folsom of the regional Forest Service office in Portland as to what the two counties could expect from national forest timber sales, grazing fees, and other revenues for the next ten years. His estimate for Lake County was $672,931 for the next decade, compared with $190,838 in the last ten years. Klamath's estimate was slightly higher than Lake's with an estimated figure of $678,900 as against $244,447 for the past ten-year period. Folsom stated that it was difficult to arrive at an exact figure, in view of the war and other changing conditions, but the amounts given are what can be reasonably expected by the two counties. Emphasis was also placed on the fact that through the Forest Service land exchanges, selective cutting was adhered to, which, in time, will produce more timber from which the counties will receive a financial benefit. (Lake County Examiner, January 25, 1945)

Main speaker at the Rotary luncheon last Wednesday was Larry Mays, Fremont Forest supervisor, who summarized the Forest Service aims under the land exchange program and the benefits derived by the counties under the selective cutting of timber.

Mays stated that the objective of the Forest Service land exchanges is to get private owners to cut their timber selectively. This is accomplished by exchanging equal value of mature national forest timber for private land with young growing timber that has been reserved under the terms of the exchange agreement. Selective cutting leaves the land in the most productive condition possible by preserving the moisture, reducing soil erosion, and protecting the land from sun and wind, thus preventing damages to the resource which result from clearcutting.

According to Mays, the ponderosa pine timber in the forest through selective cutting can be recut in approximately thirty-five years' time, and the counties, through the land exchange transactions, would be able to continually realize their 25 percent of the gross receipts from timber sales as the volume of timber in national forest ownership remains unchanged; also 10 percent of the gross national receipts are expended on roads and trails within the state.

In addition, from $18,000 to $29,000 a year is spent by the Forest Service on roads and trails within the Fremont National Forest and approximately $110,000 a year is spent on administrative and general maintenance on this forest. During the years of emergency programs, the federal funds appropriated for improving the forest ran as high as $500,000 a year.

In concluding his talk, Mays said that the estimated revenue the Forest Service would turn over to Lake County during the next ten years would be $670,000 and if the land exchanges with the Forest Service are discontinued, large areas of privately-owned pine timber lands will be clearcut and will yield little revenue or land taxes.

The consequences of this type of timber exploitation and its results upon the stabilization of the economic life of Lake County and the maintenance of wood-using industries should be seriously considered. (Lake County Examiner, February 1, 1945)

1946. Even though Supervisor Larry Mays has been detailing in Washington, there hasn't been much evidence of mice playing around the Fremont. Jim Thompson's timber management bunch, while they have been kept from much field work by a series of pea soup thaws, are busily engaged in revising cutting budgets and gathering management plan data. All logging operations in the vicinity have been suspended since the last week of February. Verus Dahlin's crew at Shevlin are making cut-over surveys of areas on the Shevlin sale and exchange, as well as carrying on the current administrative work of this project. The largest land exchange yet with the Shevlin-Hixon Company has received Secretarial approval. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," April 3, 1946)

Shevlin-Hixon and Ewauna are both cutting full blast on exchange timber. The Lakeview mills are now consolidated to three operations — American Box, Goose Lake Box, and Lakeview Lumber. The Willow Ranch Mill and Boutin lands have been purchased by the Dougherty Lumber Company of Cleveland, Ohio. We are encouraging several operators to experiment with equipment designed to log on a salvage, or sweetened salvage basis of 15 to 25 percent by volume. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," August, 14, 1946)

1947. Our timber disposal program continues at its usual fast rate. Elimination of OPA ceilings caught us advertising two sales which had to be readvertised. We have one stand improvement project well underway and hope to do one or two more this winter. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," January 1, 1947)

Spring rush is now on, with roads and back country not opening as fast as first expected, but it is still early. Our tree planting projects this spring were for only 114,000 trees but it was the largest season's planting the Fremont has done — one was KV and others P & M. Boy Scouts and 4-H plantations were started in two locations. A big timber disposal program is usual business for the Fremont, but pressure and demand continue to be heavy with our first auction May 5. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," May 14, 1947)

The most noteworthy activity in timber management during the year was the start of auction sales. The Fremont had its first auction with the Whiskey Spring sale of July 17, when the Spangler Lumber Company bought 10,000 M feet of ponderosa pine for $12.95 per M with an appraised price of $12.42 per M. White fir sold for $3.27 per M at the appraised price. This was only the start of competitive auctioning, for on September 12, the Shake Butte sale of 12,000 M ponderosa pine and 6,000 white fir sold for $21.00 and $3.15 respectively, while the appraised prices were $14.80 and $3.15. Other auctions which created interest but no competition were the Buzzard Roost sale of 8,500 M feet to the White Pine Lumber Company; the Schoolhouse Creek sale of 4,800 M feet to Adams Mill; and the Big Baldy sale of 18,000 M feet to Lakeview Sawmill Company. The Kelley Creek sale of May 8, 1947, was awarded from a sealed bid to the Goose Lake Timber Company. The $21.00 per M received for pine on the Shake Butte sale was a record for the forest.

Total cut on all sales for the year amounted to 57,607 M valued at $497,159 and from exchanges of 22,079 M valued at $133,408. This was the greatest volume and value of timber cut since the war years of 1944 and 1945.

The Fremont now has completed three timber auctions, and we feel like old hands at that game. However, we can't quite compete with the Deschutes on our sales prices, although we have reached $21 on ponderosa pine. Perhaps we haven't taken enough radio lessons in auctioneering to date. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," September 24, 1947)

1948. Timber cut to date for FY 1948 is 55 million feet. Most loggers now spending their money, waiting for spring weather to resume logging. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," February 4, 1948)

The Fremont is experiencing a late spring, same as other parts of the region. Our timber operators are anxious for logs, and we have more mills shut down than at any time for several years. Last fall's log decks just couldn't hold out this long. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," June 16, 1948)

Timber operators are hesitant to purchase timber for next year's cutting with present uncertain outlook for lumber prices. Thus, we are getting less timber sold but more ready for sale than usual at this time of year. Drews Valley District has just completed a trial of fall tree planting and reports ideal planting conditions. Fall planting may be the answer to our short season and often poor conditions for spring work. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," October 20, 1948)

Disposal of national forest timber on the forest reached a post-war peak in 1948 with a total cut of 102,366 M. The allowable annual cut for each of the three working circles was slightly exceeded, but this was due mainly to over-cut in white fir that was present on the areas cut. An all-time high in stumpage prices was reached for the Green Mountain sale, which was sold by auction but without competition to Weyerhaeuser Timber Company in August, with stumpage prices of $25.90 for ponderosa pine and $5.10 for white fir. This was considerably over the previous peak of $21.00 for pine on the Shake Butte sale in 1947.

1949. We are just beginning to climb out and thaw out of the biggest snowdrift in many years. There's no rest for a scaler — Shevlin-Hixon and Weyerhaeuser timber companies logged right through some of the worst of the snows and into the middle of one of the worst blizzards, using bulldozers from tree to tree to open trails for the fallers. TSI and cruising crews worked through most of the season except during the worst of the blizzards. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," March 2, 1949)

As with some other forests, our sale business has slowed, and it does not appear that we will be able to cut our allowable annual cut this calendar year. However, we have but few large sale commitments, and it appears that no one will be greatly hurt with Fremont stumpage in this declining market. Our tree planters did a banner business this spring in planting approximately 320,000 small ponderosa pine in four different districts. The Lowther tree-planting machine worked to good advantage on the Silver Lake and Bly districts, and it appears the use will become more widespread within the region. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," July 13, 1949)

Timber sale business was at a low ebb all summer but picked up in October with four advertised sales awarded. Three of these were on a sliding scale basis, which we understand puts the Fremont in the lead in sales of this type. Christmas tree cutters now are working almost every available chance but finding poor "pickings" due to last spring's frost damage. It appears our Christmas tree sales will set a new record this year. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," November 23, 1949)

Timber cutting was at a low ebb due to lumber market adjustments which made operators fearful of buying timber at our appraised prices. The Lakeview mills mainly cut private timber, a large part of which was supplied by approximately twenty "gypo" loggers from many small, widely-scattered tracts. Cutting by the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company on the Green Mountain and Riverbeds sales was materially disrupted by a strike on the railroad between Bly and Klamath Falls. In all, only 34,576 M board feet were cut on sales and selection areas of the forest during the year. Market conditions improved late in the season and six sales for more than 28 MM were made in the last three months of the year. Lack of active sales gave the forest timber management force an opportunity to get sale preparation work accomplished further in advance than ever before. (Accomplishment report, 1949)

Timber Organizations and Meetings

The first meeting of the Columbia River section of the Society of American Foresters ever held in southern Oregon took place in Klamath Falls and in the pine forest of Klamath County on May 23 and 24. The forestry problem of the Klamath region was the main topic under consideration.

The indoor meeting was called to order by Chairman F. P. Keen on the afternoon of May 23. The sixty who attended included representatives of timber owners and operators, officials of the Western Pine Association, State Forester Rogers, entomologists from the Berkeley and Portland Forest Insect Laboratories, and foresters from the Indian Service, O&C Land Administration, and the Forest Service. The resources, drain, and growth replacement in the Klamath region were discussed by R. W. Cowlin, Herman Johnson, Harry Kallander, F. P. Keen, and P. A. Briegleb. A summary of what was being done by the timber agencies to sustain production was presented by Superintendent of Forestry Kephart of the Klamath Indian Reservation, Otto Krueger of the O&C Lands Administration, Tom Orr of Weyerhaeuser Timber Company and by Supervisor W. O. Harriman, Loran Stewart, and Simeri Jarvi of the Fremont National Forest. Regional Forester Watts brought the whole picture in clear focus by a talk and by charts which dealt with the possible future timber production in the Klamath region and the effect of inevitable curtailment of the timber industry on the economic life of Klamath Falls and the smaller neighborhood communities.

On the evening of May 23, a dinner meeting of the section was held, and again there was a wide representation of timber interests as well as society members. About sixty attended. Mr. Frank Jenkins, the publisher of the Klamath Herald News, was the principal speaker. He stressed the difficulty of convincing communities of the need for providing timber supplies for the future. It was his experience that towns and cities were largely interested in their immediate prosperity and that long-range planning was therefore difficult to put into effect. Mr. Jenkins' talk was followed by a motion picture illustrating the necessity of forest fire protection. The film was made under the direction of the Klamath Falls Post of the American Legion.

On the morning of May 24, a field trip was made over portions of the Klamath Indian Reservation to see the cutting practices and hazard reduction work in the pine forests on that reservation. After a most appetizing and big lunch at the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company's camp at Sycan near Beatty, the party visited the beetle control salvage experimental cutting in the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company's lands near Bly. Here the company, under the direction of Tom Orr and with the advice of F. P. Keen, is entering the second season of testing the efficacy of a light cut to reduce beetle losses and to salvage trees likely to be killed. The selection of the trees to be cut in this removal of about 15 percent of the stand was most interesting because of the possible applicability of this type of cutting to ponderosa pine stands elsewhere in Oregon. ("Six-Twenty-Six," June, 1941)

Edward P. Cliff Speaking of His Fremont Years
(Supervisor from 1942-1944)

I am especially proud of the Shevlin-Hixon exchanges. With the help of the regional office I had a hand in negotiating the first Shevlin-Hixon exchange which set the pattern for the several exchanges which followed and resulted in the acquisition of the bulk of the Shevlin-Hixon lands located inside the Fremont National Forest.

I am also proud of the part I played in negotiating with Ewauna Box Company for the exchange of their cut-over lands in the Quartz Mountain area. This was difficult because of the opposition of the counties to cut-over land exchanges. The counties were willing to go along on selective cutting exchanges but were opposed to the exchange of timber for strictly cut-over land. I was able to get both Klamath and Lake counties to go along with this rather large exchange. As I remember, this was the last exchange I handled and it was completed after I left the forest.

Another accomplishment that I am particularly proud of was the record made in timber sale activities while I was on the Fremont. We not only handled an exceedingly large exchange business, but the last year I was on the forest we cut more timber than any other national forest in Region 6: 130 million board feet. All of this timber had to be cruised, appraised, marked, and scaled and, of course, this was a much more complicated job than the clearcut silviculture on the west side forests. On top of this, the Fremont personnel marked and supervised the cutting on a large area of private land which we were acquiring under land exchange procedures. We probably marked 60 million board feet or more. On the private lands we were marking only the leave trees and letting the private operators take any unmarked trees they wanted to remove. The government acquired the land with the leave trees, and it required just as much care and time to mark and supervise the cutting on these lands as it did on national forest land.

All of this work was done during the war when labor was scarce and pressure was on for production. Most of the credit for accomplishment goes to the fine crew of rangers and timber sale officers who were doing the job on the ground. I felt at that time, and I still feel that this was the finest group of timber sale officers ever assembled on a single national forest. At least their records of production would so indicate. Compared with the present-day manning on the national forests, we had a small crew. I feel that the overall job was one of which everyone connected with it can be very proud. We also had a small force in the supervisor's office compared with today's organization, and the personnel of the clerical force also deserves credit for superior performance during those hectic war years.

FIRE MANAGEMENT

Fire Reports

1940. Seventy-three class A fires, fifteen class B, three class C, five class D, and no class E fires, for a total of ninety-six fires, thirty of which were man-caused.

During 1940 a total of 17.13 inches of moisture was recorded at the Lakeview weather station.

("Climatography of the United States," No. 11-31, 1940 climatological data, Lakeview, Oregon)

1941. The total number of fires reported on the Fremont for this year was sixty-six. The large amount of moisture kept the number of fires low. The causes of fires were as follows: lightning, thirty-eight; smokers, sixteen; campers, eleven; and miscellaneous, one. Fifty-five of the fires were controlled before they attained a size of one-fourth acre, nine were controlled before they reached a size of three acres, one fire burned over forty-seven acres, and another ninety-three acres.

Brush disposal was undertaken by our own organization on the offered and selected timber areas on the various exchanges. This work covered approximately 15,000 acres on the various exchange and sale areas.

During 1941 a total of 21.30 inches of moisture was received at the Lakeview weather station. Excessive amounts of rain in June and August resulted in some hay spoilage throughout the County.

("Climatography of the United States," No.11-31, 1941 climatological data, Lakeview, Oregon)

On September 17, 1938, at 10:00a.m., a new high schoolteacher, first month in locality, with about twenty boys climbed Black Cap to restore the dilapidated "L" to its prime time glory by removing the offending vegetation and by applying a coat of whitewash. The day was hot, the grass was dry, and the perspiration-soaked instructor, against the protests of some of the Boy Scouts in the group, decided that fire would clear off the vegetation most efficiently. So a match was applied, and "Poof!" The hill was ablaze. Before all was quiet on the eastern front, 281 acres, some of it forest land, had been burned over.

In February 1939 on the flat at the foot of the hill where the fire took place, two small canyons that drained the burned area terminated in narrow gorges just above the town's two most prosperous auto courts with their accompanying grocery stores and service stations.

The rains came. For the first time in history (so say several old timers), rocks, silt, and rubbish were down the two canyons in a muddy torrent. Drains were clogged, and several hundred dollars in actual property damage resulted. The palmated arrangement of the deepening shoestring gullies had become perceptible from a distance.

One month later, at a meeting of a local organization interested in civic welfare, Conservation was discussed. The mayor and first citizen of the town spoke. He brought home vividly to his listeners the vital local interest in fire prevention by citing the flood damage that could be directly traced to the aforementioned fire. He stated that there had always been considerable run-off water from the area involved, but it was only after the fire that the water had carried with it debris, silt, and rocks which had been the main contributing factor to the flood damage. No mention was made of the soil loss and the destruction of forage plants on the burned area.

Actual examples do more to put over an idea than volumes of printed material and hours of orating. Are we capitalizing on our actual, close-to-home examples? Some progress has been made when property damage by a flood is directly tied up with a specific fire. When soil losses will cause as much concern as property damage, then it could be assumed that real progress has been made in conservation and wise land use. (Charles F. Fogelquist, "Six-Twenty-Six," February, 1941)

1942. A total of forty-one fires were suppressed on the Fremont Forest in 1942. Twenty of these were started by lightning and twenty-one were man-caused.

Of the twenty-one man-caused fires, fourteen were started by smokers. Of the smoker's fires, three were started by hunters, three by timbermen, two by fishermen, one by a stockman, and five miscellaneous. Four fires were started by hunters' campfires and one from a stockman's campfire.

One fire started from an eagle sitting on a powerline and one by a farmer burning debris. The latter burned over 3,280 acres, of which 1,280 were forest-protected land. Two fires starting from children playing with matchers burned over 378 acres.

Sixteen of the twenty lightning fires were suppressed before they burned over one-fourth acre. Two were suppressed before reaching a size of one acre and two before reaching ten acres. Lightning fires burned over a total of sixty-nine acres; man-caused fires burned 1,676 acres.

Nineteen of the forty-one fires were discovered and reported by forest users and ranchers. Independent action to suppress the fires was taken in eight instances, and cooperation was given on twenty-one fires.

The number of 1942 fires shows an approximate 50 percent decrease over the five-year period. The cooperation by the public has shown a corresponding increase. (December 15, 1942)

1943. A total of ninety-two fires occurred on the Fremont National Forest during the year. Of this total sixty were caused by lightning, and thirty-two were caused by man.

The Lakeview weather station recorded a total of 15.10 inches of moisture during the year.

("Climatography of the United States No. 11-31," 1943 climatological data, Lakeview, Oregon)

Supervisor Cliff reports that during the first week of the hunting season, over 8,000 hunters were registered into the limited areas on the Fremont that were open to hunting. Fire prevention material was distributed to those hunters at registration points, and most of them were given a personal fire prevention message. Says Cliff:

We received outstanding cooperation from hunters in preventing fires during the period when the forest was dry and fire conditions quite critical. There were only two hunter fires on the Fremont during the first week of the season. These were suppressed while very small. We had more hunters concentrated in a smaller area and less fires than ever before. This is real on-the-ground fire prevention, and we are pleased with the results. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," October 20, 1943)

1944. Of the ninety-six fires that occurred in 1944, sixty-nine were lightning-caused and twenty seven were man-caused.

The Fremont Forest experienced its worst fire of the season during the last few days. Two man-caused fires occurred on the Fremont forest during the past week. One of these was on Willow Creek. This fire started Monday, September 11, and was suppressed by a crew of six under the direction of Fireman Rollin McDonald. The fire was on a cut-over area and was caused by a careless smoker. Another fire occurred at Mud Springs west of Strawberry Lookout from smoker's carelessness. Ranger F. H. Armstrong, and three men were able to confine the fire to a small area. A special fire warning was issued by Supervisor Mays that stated that while the fall season is approaching, the greatest danger of the year from forest fires is now at hand.

The Lakeview weather station recorded a total of 17.68 inches of moisture during the year.

("Climatography of the United States No. 11-31," 1944 climatological data, Lakeview, Oregon)

1945. Because of hazardous conditions, all lookouts within the forest have occupied their stations: Frank Boswell (Lakeview) on Fitzwater point, Norman Parks (Portland) on Cougar Peak, Bill Sullivan (Lakeview) on Abert Rim, and Margaret Kintigh (Caruthers, California) on Drakes Peak. Other Lakeview people stationed on forest lookouts are Mrs. Virginia Gilinsky on Dog Mountain in the Bly District and Phil Brogan on Hager Mountain in the Silver Lake District.

During the current fire season sixty forest fires were caused by lightning and forty-two were man-caused. A total of 102 fires burned 2,000 acres. (May 3, 1945)

Harold Tally, "Keep Oregon Green" chairman for Lake County, announced this week the appointment of Merle S. Lowden, assistant forest supervisor, and Herbert Pollard, district grazier, to assist in the "Keep Oregon Green" program for Lake County.

An intensive drive will be held soon to enroll the boys and girls of the county in the "Oregon Green Guard," which was given much of the credit last year for the success of the publicly-sponsored program. Under the "Keep Oregon Green" set-up, it is the responsibility and duty of every citizen to see that man-caused fires do not get started. (Lake County Examiner, May 3, 1945)

The Lakeview weather station recorded a total of 15.32 inches of moisture during the year.

("Climatography of the United States No. 11-31," 1945 climatological data, Lakeview, Oregon)

1946. During the fire season from May to October, 104 fires occurred, burning 2,078 acres. Of this acreage, 1,242 acres were grass and sagebrush, while 836 acres of timber land were burned, which resulted in a total kill of 3,418 MBF of merchantable timber. In addition, 530 acres of reproduction were destroyed. Fires were classified as follows: eighty-three class A fires, sixteen class B, two class C, two class D, and one class E. Lightning caused sixty-three of the fires and man caused forty-one. Of the nineteen hunter fires, only one reached large size—the Wooley Creek fire on the Paisley District, burning 628 acres within the protective area and a total of 1,400 acres.

One of the hunter-caused fires occurred during a high wind period and cost in excess of $9,000 to suppress. This Wooley Creek fire was the second to occur in the Summer Lake area in the last few years. One ranger computed that the government expended over $8 per hunter to meet the increased fire load they imposed upon his district.

It was formerly thought that since the war was over, ample personnel would be available for fire positions, but this did not prove to be the case. Personnel for fire positions were still unavailable. The applicants for work were not interested in lookout or fireman jobs, where they would have to work alone, and, instead of accepting these positions, they would hire out as road-crew members, where cooks and company on the job were available.

The Lakeview weather station recorded a total of 9.75 inches of moisture during the year.

("Climatography of the United States," No.11-31, 1946 climatological data, Lakeview, Oregon)

1947. The fire season, which started in May and lasted until the middle of October, produced forty-one fires, which burned a total of 375 acres, or two-hundredths of 1 percent of the protective area. The breakdown of classes was thirty-one class A fires, nine class B, and one class E. This latter fire burned 360 acres in a logging operation. There were twenty-one lightning fires and twenty man-caused fires. The classes of people responsible for the man-caused fires were as follows: hunters, twelve fires; farmers, one fire; timber, five fires; stockmen, two fires; and construction worker, one.

Two hundred twenty acres of logging slash was broadcast burned, and eighty-two miles of roadside slash was burned, representing 60 percent and 50 percent, respectively, of the amount planned for burning.

Hunting season was from October 1 to 20. Hunters started arriving around September 25. The weather was dry the first few days with an average BI class of five. Only a skeleton guard force was left on the forest, with an average of two outlying stations manned per district. Specific action posters, newspaper items, contacts, and frequent patrols were all used to inform the hunters of the critical weather conditions. In addition, campfire permits were issued until October 9, when sufficient rains occurred to warrant lifting the closures and campfire permit requirements. From September 24 until October 9, a total of 2,482 campfire permits were issued, representing 6,790 people. It is estimated that an additional 2,000 people were on the forest for this first weekend of hunting.

The Antler Spring fire #12 covered 360 acres in the logging operation of William Raymond and was the only fire of a large size. Forest personnel assisted the operator in suppressing this fire for which payment was received. Jess Roberts and the Goose Lake Lumber Company crews were called on for assistance on the fire.

Fifty industrial operations were on the forest in 1947. Four of these were on national forest sales only, four were on sales or exchanges and private land, while thirty-nine were on private land only.

The Lakeview weather station recorded a total of 12.86 inches of moisture during the year.

("Climatography of the United States No. 11-31," 1947 climatological data, Lakeview, Oregon)

1948. A total of seventy fires occurred, forty-seven lightning and twenty-three man-caused. Of the twenty-three man-caused fires, campers started ten, smokers twelve, and miscellaneous one. A total of eighty acres was burned.

Recruitment of the forest guard force was somewhat easier in 1948 than it had been in previous years, but it was still difficult to get good, reliable lookouts who would remain the entire season. The thirty-nine guard positions on the forest were occupied by nine forestry students, four other students, twenty locals, and six transients. Four major work crews on the forest were available for fire fighting and were given special training for this purpose. The weather this summer would probably be considered of less severity than normal. The only critical period occurred on September 14 when there were winds recorded up to forty-two miles per hour throughout the forest. Fire equipment was better, and radio sets, particularly the mobile type, were a real boon to fire goers. The forest used a total of eighteen of the new type sets, of which three were headquarters, five lookout, and ten the mobile variety.

The Lakeview weather station recorded a total of 14.46 inches of moisture during the year.

("Climatography of the United States," No. 11-31, 1948 climatological data, Lakeview, Oregon)

1949. Summer has come to the Fremont with the appearance of a drier than normal season. Up to the first of July we had had nineteen fires, most of which were lightning caused. Our instructors and visitors all commented on the improved appearance and capabilities of the trainees at our annual guard camp. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," July 13, 1949)

The Fremont has again experienced one of southeast Oregon's late, dry falls. At long last it seems that the prolonged and severe fire season is over, leaving in its wake the greatest number of fires this forest has ever had in one year. The 156 fires in 1949 were fifty-two more than the previous record of 104 in 1946. We're not proud of our man-caused fires which were at an all-time high of fifty-four. However, only twenty-one occurred before the hunting season, and the thirty-three caused by hunters mostly came the last of the hunting season. This was after we had had a general snow, and to the hunters the danger seemed over. ('R-6 Administrative Digest," November 23, 1949)

The fire season was particularly severe and long, resulting in the greatest number of fires ever reported on the forest. Most of the 156 fires were held to small size with only one of E and one of D size. The bad part of the fire record was that fifty-four were caused by man's carelessness and thoughtlessness. This far exceeded the previous five=year average of thirty-one, and the 1948 figure of twenty-seven. Thirty-two of these were caused by hunters after October 1 and are directly attributable to the dry fall. The slash disposal job was more nearly completed than for many years on both private and national forest land. (Accomplishment report, 1949)

The Lakeview weather station recorded a total of 10.82 inches of moisture during the year.

("Climatography of the United States No. 11-31," 1949 climatological data, Lakeview, Oregon)

WILDLIFE

Game Wardens

Randall McCain arrived last week to assume his position as game management assistant on the staff of the Fremont National Forest. McCain was formerly a district ranger and junior forester in northern California. In announcing McCain's addition to the staff of the local forest, Supervisor Mays pointed out that this new position is one which the Forest Service has been endeavoring to fill for several months. Game management is one of the important resource management jobs on the Fremont National Forest, and the Forest Service plans to give it increased attention. McCain will work closely with sportsmen and conservation groups and will tie his work in with that of the Oregon State Game Commission and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He has a large number of jobs to begin work on immediately, particularly in gathering information concerning the mule deer herds, winter range conditions, and other wildlife problems of the Fremont Forest.

He will study closely the conditions of the forest range, particularly the effects of wildlife and domestic stock on range plants and shrubs. Obtaining a man for this position should greatly strengthen Forest Service administration of this important resource, Mays said. The Forest Service should now be better able to actually plan the management of game and its correlation with domestic stock, and we are looking forward to some very good results. (Lake County Examiner, January 11, 1945),

Game Population

Fingerlings. Approximately 150,000 rainbow fry and fingerlings supplied by the State Game Commission were planted by the Forest Service. Except for two loads of fry, the four-inch fingerlings averaged about fifty-eight per pound as against an average of eighty to ninety per pound during past years. (1941)

Deer. In order to become better acquainted with the conditions of the ranges on which many of the Lake County deer winter and the condition of the deer themselves, two officials from the Fremont Forest, Forester John Kucera and Wildlife Management Assistant Randall McCain, spent last Tuesday and Friday with Modoc Forest Supervisor Mel Barron and Ranger John Fischer in examining the federal rangelands on the Modoc Forest.

They stated that the deer are in very good condition and, due to the open weather, the deer are already foraging in the green bunch grass. The Modoc study this winter reveals that there has been no decrease to date in the deer herd. However, should a severe winter set in, there would undoubtedly be a decrease in the deer population. The study also shows that the buck-doe ration is 1 buck to 7.2 does, which is not a properly balanced sex ratio. (Lake County Examiner, February 22, 1945)

Ran McCain's January and February deer counts have passed the 2,000 mark after eliminating all duplications. This means seen deer, and since he has actually covered only a relatively small percentage of five of the fifteen ranges, it looks as though the population trend is still upward. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," April 3, 1946)

The present Fremont herds considerably exceed existing winter range capacity according to the joint field survey made by the Forest Service and the State Game Commission employees. This forest controls very little of the critical winter range area. However, the deer have exclusive use of much of the winter range that the Forest Service does administer. The summer range on the national forest is more than adequate even for the existing herds.

The removal of antlerless deer is a step in the right direction.

It is estimated that 6,000 deer were killed by predators and 16,000 by other means, leaving a current population of 32,000. (1946)

Major activities in wildlife management involved cooperative studies and work with the State Game Department. Two special deer hunts were held on the forest in the Crooked Creek and Silver Lake areas. Other cooperative projects with the State Game Commission included feeding of quail during heavy snows late in the year, planting of fish, car census of deer on the Silver Lake District, and other special deer census.

Ranger Peters was detailed to the Modoc Forest to assist with the fall survey of forage use on the winter range of the interstate deer herd. This is a cooperative project between the Forest Service in Regions 5 and 6 and the State Game departments. (1948)

Deer numbers appeared to increase with a large fawn crop reported from all districts. (Accomplishment report, 1949)

Surveys show the greatest deer concentration in many years. There does not appear to have been any great starvation nor exposure losses to date, but there has been considerable deer damage to haystacks in some localities. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," March 2, 1949)

Antelope. Antelope have been seen recently for the first time in several years in the Goose Lake Valley. Many of the local people say they are here to extend an invitation to the big antelope convention scheduled for Hart Mountain July 15-17, for which local people are making great preparations. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," July 13, 1949)

Humming Birds. An old timer once used the expression in my presence "quarrelsome as a humming bird." The full force of the phrase did not appear to me until just recently upon a trip to Silver Lake ranger station.

This station is located in one of the most desert-like valleys in the state of Oregon. Because it is dry and exposed to drifting sands, it is difficult to keep things growing, and the station well is not up to any very extensive irrigation. Hence anything that will grow without much water or attention and produce a spot of green is doubly welcome. Trumpet, or matrimonial vine as it is sometimes called, meets these specifications. With its abundance of small purple flowers and green leaves, this plant is a prominent feature of the desert country, growing wild about abandoned homesteads long after every other living thing, plant, or animal has given up the struggle.

At the Silver Lake ranger station, on the site of an old dwelling removed several years ago, the trumpet vine has thrived and has been allowed to produce an extensive thicket. in this thicket dwell literally hundreds of humming birds.

These gorgeously-colored little fellows, about as big as a man's thumb, must have been in mind when a meaning to the word "pugnacious" was assigned. While in this place, insofar as man is concerned, they have become so tame as to ignore his silly doings completely; let anything in feathers, be it a hundred times as large, appear, and watch Mr. Archolochus Alexandri with his wife and relatives run it off the place.

And the fighting is not confined to other species, for life to a humming bird is apparently a series of battles. One of these bundles of furious energy will be posed in mid-air calmly searching the trumpet flowers for the insects and honey that form his food, when suddenly there will be a zoom of sound and another of his ilk will attack without warning as though he intended to spear him through and through. Both then rise vertically in air, swearing at each other with loud (for anything as small as this) titterings. The battle is over in a few seconds. No damage appears to be done, but throughout the day, the series of single combats is continuous so that the tittering never ceases.

These little creatures are the most perfect aviators of all life. They can fly backwards, forward, sidewards, or up and down at will, apparently without effort or, if need be, pose in air. This place is perfect to observe them. They will pose in air or light unconcernedly upon a twig within a foot of your hand. If you come by the place, drop in and meet Mr. Alexandri. It's worth a trip. (Henry U. Sarles, "Six-Twenty-Six," September, 1941)

Hunters and Trappers

The opening of the Mule Deer Refuge to limited doe and to buck hunting caused a large influx of hunters. In this area, 800 special tags were issued for the taking of female, spike, or immature deer. The antelope season was opened from September 28 to October 5 in the area just east of the Fremont from Silver Lake south to Warner Canyon. The State Game Commission maintained the checking stations for both deer and antelope. (1941)

The largest number of hunters in the history of the Fremont, estimated at 15,000, flocked to the forest to harvest the deer crop. The buck season extended from September 28 to October 25, with two special post seasons of one week each. Three special seasons permitted the taking of antlerless deer through the issuing of 1,000 lottery-drawn permits—500 for each area. It is estimated that 5,000 bucks were taken by hunters. (1946)

There were approximately 17,000 deer hunters on the forest in the fall of 1947, and it is estimated that they harvested 3,300 mule deer.

Hunters were more numerous than ever and had only fair success. The three special antlerless deer hunts seem to go over well except for considerable confusion at the Summer Lake area. A special pheasant season, an either-sex deer hunt, and the beginning of the duck and goose season all at one time meant there were more hunters than this small area could comfortably handle. The opening day of this combined nimrod produced a real cannonading. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," January 1, 1947)

Forest personnel continued to keep site record of deer seen. Most observers estimated that there were less deer hunters on the forest during 1948 than for previous years. However, through the return cards provided by the Game Commission, it was possible to get a much better estimate of actual hunter use. These cards indicated that the estimated 15,000 hunters on the forest during the 1948 season harvested approximately 5,000 deer.

Hunters were in about the usual number but reported better than average luck, which should again make Lake county the high for the state in deer killed. Duck and goose hunters again came to Lake County in large numbers but bemoaned the lack of fall storms. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," November 23, 1949)

LIVESTOCK

Wool and Livestock Sales

Best lambs in years are being shipped from Lakeview and Bly stockyards. Louis Kandra, who runs on Bly and Paisley districts, shipped lambs weighing almost eighty-eight pounds August 2. Lambs shipped were mixed, and none were cut back. Based on total ewes in band, a 138 percent lamb crop was actually sold. In other words, 121 pounds (worth $.25/lb.) return per ewe. This certainly speaks well for our forest allotments as well as Mr. Kandra's skillful sheep husbandry. Even utilization by continual bedding out and proper rotation of camp units is one of the reasons for Kandra's success. Correct timing of the use of browse, weed, and grass feed makes for fat lambs as well as good range. That Mr. Kandra believes in the bedding out system is exemplified by the discharging of a herder who bedded his band three nights in one place. (John M. Herbert, "Six-Twenty-Six," September, 1941)

Grazing Seasons

Grazing Season of 1941. An experimental common use range involving approximately 1,700 cattle and 6,000 sheep was established on the north half of the Paisley District. The Brattain and ZX cattle were moved from the Chewaucan range to alleviate overgrazing on that area. The abundance of coarse feed on the former sheep allotments has made this arrangement entirely successful. Both sheep and cattle men appear to be satisfied, and stock on the Chewaucan range came off in better shape than ever due to the decreased numbers.

Weyerhaeuser leased approximately 40,000 acres of their land to the ZX Company, some of which was subleased to former sheep permittees. The balance was credited at forty acres per head for cattle. Sheep allotments were considerably enlarged to compensate for the cattle use, and all available water was developed. Considerable improvement in forage conditions on the Chewaucan range is anticipated due to the 25 percent reduction in numbers effected by this arrangement. (1941)

Precipitation for 1941 exceeded any year since 1907, according to figures released this week by Mrs. George Down, local official weather recorded who totals 20.90 inches for the year.

The complete precipitation for the past ten years as prepared by Vic Johnson:

(Lake County Examiner, January 8, 1942)

Grazing Season of 1942. Enclosed is the Fremont's 1942 Annual Grazing Report. You will note that the estimated grazing capacity for usable national forest lands is less than the figures submitted in 1941. This reduction does not mean that it is felt that the range actually has a lower capacity this year than it had in 1941. Reduction is actually a difference in estimates. Due to land acquisition, there is undoubtedly more forage available than there was in 1941.

The differences between "estimated capacity" and "permitted to graze" of 1,049 cattle and 2,797 sheep represent the reductions we feel should be made to bring stock in line with proper forage use. To accomplish this reduction, there will be eliminated (on account of land acquisition) at least the equivalent of four bands of sheep beginning with the 1943 grazing season. Further reductions on a smaller scale are being made currently as the opportunity arises.

The 286 trespass figure represents almost entirely horses which were on the forest in small bands for intermittent or very short periods. Most of the horses are owned by nonpermittees, and it is expected that this trespass use will be materially reduced next year. Warnings have been issued, but it may be necessary to resort to trespass action. (Edward P. Cliff, Grazing report, 1942)

Grazing Season of 1943. Enclosed herewith is the Fremont's 1943 Annual Grazing Report. Estimated grazing capacities have been reduced over those shown for last year as the result of additional field inspections. Part of this reduction is attributed to the loss of forage on account of logging activities.

Cattle numbers on the forest remain practically the same as in 1942, but sheep have been reduced one band.

We are continuing to acquire slack through the acquisition of lands. In 1943 there were approximately 200 cattle and 7,400 sheep less than in 1942 under private land permit. This difference is largely accounted for through land acquisition and increased acreage requirements on private land permits.

Range management during the past season has not been what we would like to see, largely because permittees are short of help and because fire and timber activities have prevented rangers from devoting enough time to this job. We managed to construct a few miles of fence and develop three new water holes this summer, but a considerable mileage of additional fences is needed to correct unsatisfactory conditions on several allotments. The Bly District has done considerable reseeding in slash areas, and we hope to do more of this if labor is available.

The matter of filling sheep allotments is as yet not a problem on the Fremont. In fact, our ranges will benefit by additional non-use or reduction in numbers. We have decided that a few allotments that are located in or directly adjacent to winter deer ranges should be closed to livestock use. It is our intention to bring this about as soon as conditions permit. (John M. Herbert, Grazing report, 1943)

Grazing Season of 1944. One of our major problems during the past season was trespass cattle and horses. Considerable work has been done on this problem, and we feel that in another year real progress can be made on this job.

At the present time, it is difficult to maintain our existing range improvements, due to the shortage of labor and materials. New construction is almost entirely out of the picture. However, we are going ahead with plans for a post war construction program.

In regard to revising the upper and lower permit limits, we believe that they are satisfactory as they exist, insofar as distribution is concerned. However, from the standpoint of management, we are of the opinion that in many localities the lower limit for sheep should be 800 rather than 1,000. This is based on the established fact that many of our operators are voluntarily reducing their bands down to this lower number. In doing so, they get better management, which results in heavier lambs. Thus, the income from the smaller band is just as much as that received on the larger. Needless to say, the range usually improves rapidly under this type of use. (Annual report, December 1, 1944)

Grazing Season of 1945. This year's report indicates a slight increase in numbers of cattle under paid permit. However, there has been a reduction in total animal months' use permitted, which is considered a better index than permitted numbers.

One sheep permit was transferred to cattle this year. There is still a desire on the part of many permittees to convert their sheep permits to cattle.

We have ten cattle and horse allotments where it is difficult to get the proper use of timber feed. Even with proper use of timbered areas, the permitted numbers still could not be increased, but at least the extra forage made available would tend to make reductions in permitted use on these allotments unnecessary. Approximately fifty miles of new fence will be needed to secure the proper use of timber feed on these allotments.

Sheep were herded satisfactorily in most cases in timbered areas before the present labor shortage, but these areas are not used now because it takes an experienced herder to hold them in the timber. Many of the permittees want to use the timber feed but report this is impossible until better herders are again available.

Labor is still not plentiful, and many sheepmen are selling their sheep for this reason. Approximately 25,000 head were sold in Lake County during 1945. We still anticipate another year of poor management on the range by permittees because of labor difficulties.

All matters pertaining to the management of cattle on the Sycan common use allotment were discussed with the permittee, and a definite plan was formulated. In addition, a small reduction was made in the private land cattle permits, and the permittees were informed that a larger reduction would be made if they continued to abuse the range in 1946.

During 1946 only 60 percent of the permitted cattle were turned onto the allotment; consequently, there was no problem from permitted cattle this year. However, a considerable number of ZX cattle drifted onto the forest south of Sycan Marsh from the Indian reservation. This may develop into a real problem next year. In addition, the permittees did not have the riders on the range they agreed to.

This year the driveway drift from Silver Lake was not as bad as in 1944 because we insisted that riders go with each herd of cattle before we would issue a crossing permit. The drift that did occur was stragglers and cattle coming in from the desert at night. At present we are constructing a boundary fence south of Silver lake which should prevent this drift. (Memorandum to accompany 1945 annual grazing report, December, 1945)

Grazing Season of 1946. The dry season adversely hit our ranges and many of them showed the effect of heavy use and dry weather. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," January 1, 1947)

The forage growth was below normal this year, due in part to grasshopper infestations and rodent damage. Caterpillar damage on bitterbrush was very slight because a severe late spring frost not only damaged forage on many meadows but killed practically all of these insects while they were still in the cocoon stage.

Areas of browse forage, mainly bitterbrush and mahogany, have been closed to livestock use on the key winter deer ranges near Silver Lake along the "desert fringe" and on Goodlow Mountain, adjacent to Langell Valley.

Labor is still one of the chief problems in the sheep industry. Herders are apparently no more plentiful now than during the war. Consequently more operators have quit the sheep business this year. In most cases, the operators are running a small bunch of cattle on their own lands in place of the sheep. At present, some of the operators who quit the sheep business during the early years of the war have had non-use for several years, and their allotments are now in fair shape as the result of the non-use, yet they will request continued non-use, which is becoming more difficult to justify. The pressure to change from sheep to cattle is becoming greater.

Grazing Season of 1947. Forage growth along the desert fringe was below normal, and stock water in these areas was practically nonexistent in 1947. This created a demand by the permittees to go on the forest ranges early. In most instances it was possible to postpone going on by showing them that such a move would be a very poor management practice.

Five sheep permittees transferred to cattle. Others desired to make such a change but were convinced, for the present at least, that such a change would not be beneficial to their livestock operations.

The most important range improvements were maintained with G-9 funds and cooperative funds received from permittees. The permittees also maintained additional range improvements. Rodents were poisoned on approximately 1,000 acres of meadow lands.

Voluntary reduction amounting to 1,123 cow months were obtained on the overgrazed Chewaucan cattle and horse allotment, with 764 cow-months on the overgrazed Sycan common use.

Grazing Season of 1948. A general improvement in management of livestock was obtained in 1948 due to forest officers having more time to devote to this activity and stockmen having more and better help available. There were heavy rains in May and June, and most forest ranges were ready for grazing use later than usual. In general, the year was a "bumper" one for forage on the forest. Many local residents were of the opinion that 1948 was the best grazing year that they had seen for the last twenty or more years. In general, this belief was borne out by the experience and observations of forest officers.

Some sheepmen still wish to convert their preference to a cattle permit, but with the increase in sheep profits during the last few months, this problem should be alleviated.

There were no opportunities during the year to remove additional livestock from overgrazed winter deer ranges. All rangers spent at least a day and in many instances a night with the herders on problem allotments. Due mainly to a better class of help being available, there was better use of timber feed on the more open areas.

"Jungle" areas continue to be a problem Rangers were able to map out unfavorable areas on the Grizzly, Yocum, Bridge Creek, Buck Creek, Dairy Creek, and Blue Lake allotments.

Reseeding program continued to be a major project on the forest with 2,151 acres reseeded. Major projects were Dry Prairie of 912 acres and Antelope Flat of 793 acres. An additional 350 acres of skid trails and disturbed areas on cut-over lands was reseeded. A reseeding provision was included in the standard erosion clause in timber sales for the first time during the year. This clause provides for the operator to reseed disturbed areas or, in lieu, he may make a cooperative deposit of a set figure per M. board feet cut, and the Forest Service will do this work. It is expected that this provision in future sales will materially help revegetate logged areas.

Grazing Season of 1949. It was a bad grazing year with forage growth poorer than old-timers could remember for many years. This was due to a very dry spring and summer after a heavy winter snowfall, which many thought would make 1949 a good growing year. However, May and June rains largely determine forage growth and not the amount of winter snows. Definite strides forward were made in management of many range allotments through working out specific problems on the ground with permittees. This led to the construction of several miles of fence and many water developments through joint effort of the permittees and the government. The reseeding program slowed up materially for large project jobs. (Accomplishment report, 1949)

The 1949 grazing year was characterized by a dry season and short forage crop. Little rain of any consequence fell after the first part of May, and most ranges were ready to use prior to the regular opening dates. This trend carried through to the fall grazing season. In many instances, fall forage was practically nonexistent. This made it necessary to remove livestock from many forest allotments early. Low elevation ranges on Bureau of Land Management lands and private pastures failed to produce sufficient forage for early winter pasture. These conditions are reflected in the grazing load carried on the forest.

Permits for 8,638 cattle were issued, representing 30,284 animal-months of use. Permittees grazed 8,251 head on the forest, for a total actual use of 27,963 animal-months. The dry season interfered to a greater extent with sheep operations. Permits for 29,075 head were issued, representing 82,301 sheep-months of use. Permittees grazed 23,113 head for a total actual use of 60,281 sheep-months.

Due to the brighter economic outlook for the sheep industry and additional labor becoming available for use by the producers, no formal requests were received in 1949 to transfer sheep permits to cattle.

Our reseeding program has been much reduced, but we hope to plow a large acreage of cheatgrass next spring for 1950 fall planting. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," November 23, 1949)

Stockmen and Stock Organizations

Trail Herd. Trail herds are in large measure a thing of the past. Many thrilling accounts of cowboy experiences on the Chisholm Trail and others are found in our libraries, but has anyone written about trailing cattle 1941 fashion?

It's true, of course, Indians aren't around to stampede the cattle, and on most long drives the stock are held in pastures instead of being "night herded." However, we know of an outfit that trails approximately 15,000 head over country, an undertaking that presents greater difficulties than confronted cowboys in 1860.

The Chewaucan Land and Cattle Company, more popularly known by their iron "ZX," move their stock from Paisley to the desert north and east of Silver Lake every spring. The dries go out first, usually around April 1, and believe me, it's some sight to see about 5,000 head strung out for several miles. Whereas in the early days abundant feed could be had along the trail and the stock moved along leisurely, now they must be hurried as there is nothing for them to eat. Water is scarce; in fact, the buckaroos drink warm water from a barrel strapped on the chuck wagon. Poison larkspur is prevalent, and particular care must be exercised to prevent losses. Holding a large herd of hungry, thirsty cattle isn't easy, and this must be done for three nights.

When the cows and calves go out, usually two weeks later, the job is harder still. Cows with sucking calves are naturally in poor flesh and thus harder to move. Urging little "doggies" along for seventy miles would tax anyone's patience, but ZX riders make five or six such trips every spring. After the day's drive, the calves must be "mothered up." That is, each calf is helped to find his mammy, and this is a real job, one that requires skill and a good knowledge of cattle. Ewes will find their lambs no matter how large the band, but cows don't when held in large herds.

For those of you who have never seen a large trail herd or chuck wagon, come to Paisley next spring. Chuck wagon outfits are practically a thing of the past, and perhaps in another ten years there won't be one left in the Northwest. (John M. Herbert, "Six-Twenty-Six," June, 1941)

Meetings. With President Ned Sherlock presiding, the Fremont Sheepmen's Association held its twelfth annual meeting in the Odd Fellows Hall in Lakeview on Monday, February 21. Sixteen members and twenty guests attended the session.

Along with other regular business, officers for the ensuing year were elected as follows: president, Ned Sherlock; vice-president, Con Taylor; secretary-treasurer, Victor W. Johnson (county agent); advisory board, Stanley Hanson of the Dry Creek District, David T. O'Connor of the Silver Lake District, Con Lynch of the Plush District, and W. H. Leehman of the Bly District.

With complete accord, members of the association expressed their appreciation for the excellent cooperation the State Game Commission has displayed in matters pertaining to the game management as related to livestock operations and range problems. In this connection, Secretary Johnson was asked to communicate with the commission and to thank its members on behalf of the Fremont Sheepman's Association for their interest in and cooperation with livestock operations.

Mr. Albert, a representative of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, discussed the new coyote getter, with which very favorable results have been obtained through experimental use in Colorado and Wyoming. Although the coyote getter is very humane as compared with steel trapping, it is extremely efficient and can be used throughout the year with excellent results. The sheepmen voted to purchase 500 to be used in Lake County in reducing the increasing numbers of coyotes, which in recent years have caused heavy losses in their bands of range sheep. Each of the four government trappers in the county will use 100 of the getters, and 100 will be placed with Jean Branson, superintendent of the Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge.

Edward P. Cliff, supervisor of the Fremont National Forest, expressed appreciation for the fine cooperation the Forest Service has received from Lake County and other sheepmen during the two years he has been supervisor. Cliff stated that rangelands used by sheepmen are generally in very good condition. However, he emphasized that unless steps are taken to reduce the number of deer on the range, valuable browse plants will in a few years be reduced to practically a minus quantity.

Members of the association decided to continue for another year their membership in the Oregon Wildlife Federation. It is felt that through this organization, stockmen are afforded an opportunity to work closely with sportsmen and other groups on problems relating to game management. (Lake County Examiner, February 24, 1944)

Ned Sherlock, eastside wool grower, was elected president at the thirteenth annual meeting of the Fremont Sheepmen's Association at Lakeview, February 19. Con Taylor was elected vice-president, and Victor W. Johnson (county agent) was elected secretary-treasurer. Advisory board members elected were David T. O'Connor of Silver Lake, Vancil A. Withers of Paisley, Con Lynch of Warner, W. H. Leehmann of Bly (east half) and Jerry McCartie of Bly (west half).

Speakers appearing on the program included Ed Marsh, assistant secretary of the National Wool Growers Association from Salt Lake City; Walter Holt, secretary of the Oregon Wool Growers Association of Pendleton; Larry Mays, supervisor of the Fremont National Forest; and John Withers, president of the Lake County Agricultural Conservation Association. (Lake County Examiner, February 22, 1945)

Predators and Other Nuisances

The rodent and grasshopper use this year has been abnormally heavy. In some instances it is estimated they consumed from 30 to 40 percent of the available grasses. To date, no serious damage to browse by rodents has been noted. Some of the permittees with our assistance put out several tons of grasshopper bait in the heaviest areas of infestation. (Memorandum to accompany 1945 annual grazing report, December, 1945)

Trespassing

Trespass is one of our most serious problems, particularly on the western part of the Bly District. It is our opinion that this problem is no worse than formerly and some of it was corrected this year. The 2,132 cattle and horse months' use reported is based on a careful record kept by the rangers on trespass stock observed and perhaps is more accurate than any information previously obtained. It will probably be necessary to conduct another roundup of trespass livestock under Reg. T-12 next year, at least on the Bly District. (Memorandum to accompany 1945 annual grazing report, December, 1945)

Since in 1944 it was estimated that about 450 wild horses were trespassing on the Bly District, an impounding order was obtained for part of the district. This continuing problem had existed for a great many years in spite of repeated efforts to solve it.

On July 29, 1945, six head of horses (five owned by Mack Barbour and one by George Noble) in trespass on the forest were placed in the Evans corral near Keno, by Mr. Evans and Administrative Guard John Brown. The next afternoon, Ranger F. H. Armstrong, John Brown, and staff officer John Kucera went to the Evans Ranch to move the impounded horses to corrals at Royston.

At the Evans ranch, George Smith removed the rope that Armstrong had across the corral gate. Armstrong informed Smith that he was removing the horses in violation of the court order and that if he thought the horses should be set free, the Klamath County Court members were the proper officials to see. Smith then attempted to drive the loose horse from the corral; Armstrong stood in the gate, holding the horse on which he had the hackamore. This kept the loose horses from escaping. Smith then got off his horse with an open pocket knife in his hand, informing Armstrong that he had been breeding a scab on his nose since last summer. (It was assumed he was referring to Armstrong's requesting Barbour to remove from the forest trespass cattle being herded by Smith.) He started toward Armstrong with the open knife in his hand. Armstrong stepped back out of the gate as Smith came toward him. When Smith came within reach of Armstrong, he reached out and cut the lead rope on the horse that Armstrong was holding. The rope was cut approximately one and one-half feet from Armstrong's hand. George Smith and Billy Walker then left, taking the horses that had been in the corral.

It was later found that Smith had no entry permit for the closed Keno area in which the rope cutting incident took place. Ranger Armstrong informed Smith that he would have to appear before the Justice of the Peace on a fire trespass charge.

For some time after the rope cutting incident Spike Armstrong was known as "Short Rope" Armstrong.

Considerable progress is being made in correcting the trespass problem on the west end of the Bly District. During this year's roundup, forty-eight trespass horses were removed from one sheep allotment. In addition, owners of trespass livestock removed another estimated 125 head. (1946)

"Spike" Armstrong at Bly got to be quite a horse wrangler before the summer was over with approximately fifty trespass horses rounded up. Most of these were auctioned off, but a few were redeemed by owners. Many more were taken up by owners before the boys got to them. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," January 1, 1947)

The Fremont has tried various methods of getting rid of unwanted trespassing horses. Comes now the role of the current effort by Jack Groom. He placed a block of salt at a favorable location for constructing a corral. After the horses found the salt, he and his maintenance crew hurriedly threw up a corral around the block of salt in a passageway through the timber. Two gates were constructed on opposite sides in line with the passageway. They were left open for a day or two. The horses could pass through freely. When they had become accustomed to the corral, Jack slipped through the timber and closed the remaining gate. Only two or three horses out of about twenty could be caught and led. However, the forest officers finally led and drove the horses to a ranch where they were to be kept temporarily. This confused a part of cowboys who came later to the corral evidently bent on forcibly taking the horses. After considerable talking, the owners finally decided to redeem the horses. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," July 30, 1947)

In 1947 twenty-eight head of trespass horses were removed from the Warner District by impounding. In addition, owners of trespass horses were impounded on the Bly District. It is estimated that owners of trespass horses removed approximately twenty head in addition to those impounded.

The necessary preliminary contacts and approval of the county court, stock associations, and grazing permittees for a Secretary's shooting order were submitted through channel, and approval of the order was obtained. A special allotment of $100 was received from the regional office, and the project will be carried out early in 1948.

Special attention was given during the year to the trespass problem on the Bly and Paisley districts, in the west end of the Bly District, eighty-four head of horses were removed from February to April under a shooting order signed by the Secretary of Agriculture. On the Paisley District, six head of horses were impounded and redeemed by the owners. These two instances were augmented by the roundup of many head by the owners who removed the stock themselves. (1948)

Numbers of trespass horses caught in deep snows in the western end of the Bly District seem to be dying of starvation. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," March 2, 1949)

Trespass continues to be some problem on the west half of the Bly District. This is primarily due to Indian horses drifting onto the forest from the adjoining Klamath Indian Reservation. Some cattle drift onto the forest north of Langell Valley. An impounding order was issued under Reg. T-12 in the spring, but the trespass did not become serious enough to invoke its use. We believe the impounding order in itself kept people aware of the problem, and they made a special effort to keep stock off the forest. (1949)

Coffeepot Flat Reseeding Project

In 1945 Larry Mays talked L. H. Douglas, assistant regional forester in charge of Wildlife and Range Management, into giving all of the region's reseeding money to start rehabilitation work at Coffeepot Flat on the Paisley District. This project was started in cooperation with the Soil Conservation Service, which made surveys and maps of the area with a view to rehabilitate the area through water spreading, check dams, and revegetation.

The regional office gave the Fremont 900 pounds of crested wheatgrass seed; $700 to cover seed bed preparation, seeding, and rodent control; and $848.29 for the purchase of a Wheatland plow and drill. The plow and drill were to be used by other forests as needed. Since our plow was not available for delivery until too late in the season, we borrowed a Wheatland plow from the Soil Conservation Service at Madras and started plowing in October. The plow cut off the sagebrush and disturbed a few inches of the top soil for a seed bed. Eighteen acres were drilled to crested wheatgrass as a test area.

The plan was to reseed 1,350 acres of depleted rangelands on Coffeepot Flat, a 4,370-acre unit of the spring range of the Chewaucan cattle allotment, on which 2,333 head of cattle are permitted from May 16 to September 15. The elevation of this area is 4,925 feet. The annual precipitation is 12" to 16" with over half of it occurring during the winter in the form of snow. Since very little erosion is present on the timbered slopes of this allotment, the timbered areas were not seeded. However, severe active erosion of all types existed over the rest of the allotment, which is primarily an open sagebrush type. In places, erosion gullies ten-feet deep and thirty-feet wide were formed. This situation occurred in spite of the fact that in 1928 to 1930 thirty-three erosion dams were constructed in this area, which were expected to retard the gullying action and raise the water table to favor better forage production. These dams were made of various materials which were recommended by authorities at that time. Materials included rock rubble, rock and woven wire, brush dams, earthen fills, and poles. it appears that most of the spillways were too small and most of the dams are washed out around the ends of the structures.

Before 1945, local history and remnants of the original grasses indicated that this area once produced an abundant growth of forage made up mainly of bluebunch wheatgrass. Idaho fescue, June grass, and Cusicks blue grass in the wetter sites. The once palatable forage had been replaced by big sage, cana sage, black sage, rabbitbrush, and only occasional clumps of grass. This was the result of

1. Unregulated livestock use prior to the creation of the Fremont Forest in 1907

2. Excessive use by livestock during the first World War

3. Heavy winter deer use during more recent years

4. Heavy drought of the early 1930s

Previous reseeding shows that there are three principal rules to follow if reseeding is to be successful:

1. All existing revegetation must be removed. If this is not done, the plants already established on the area will use the available moisture and cause the death of the young grass seedlings in the first year.

2. Grass seed must be covered with one-fourth to one-half inch of soil to secure proper germination and to protect the seedling roots from drying winds and direct rays of the sun.

3. Young grass seedlings must be protected from grazing until the root systems have become firmly established. Two years' protection is the minimum.

These objectives were accomplished in two ways on the Coffeepot project. On areas comparatively free of rocks, the existing vegetation was removed with a disc tiller. Nine pounds of crested wheatgrass seed per acre were planted with a deep furrow opener drill. On areas too rocky to use the disc tiller, a special pipe harrow (Dixie) was used to cover the grass seed and eliminate competing vegetation. Nine pounds of crested wheatgrass seed was broadcast on these sites before running the Dixie harrow over them.

Since the 1945 planting was successful, the remainder of the area, a total of 1,216 acres, was reseeded in 1946 and 1947. Twenty-five brush dams were constructed in 1946 as a start to correct the twelve miles of erosion gullies. These dams were made of white fir boughs placed compactly together with the limb end of the boughs downstream. About 275 additional dams of this type will be needed to correct erosion gullies on this project. At the time of the reseeding work, fences were constructed for protection of the entire project. This original fence system included about 5,000 acres of land in this one field, about 1,200 of which could be reseeded, the remainder being timbered lands. Since the last seeding in this field was not completed until 1947, it was necessary to protect the area from grazing until the grazing season of 1950.

Before the reseeding was started in 1945, this sagebrush range required about fifteen to twenty acres to support one cow for one month. By July 1948, an excellent stand of crested wheatgrass was established. On this type of range it requires about two acres to support one cow per month. It is estimated that this area of 1200 acres would provide at least 600 cow-months' feed on a sustained production basis, which is about eight times what the area produced before it was seeded. Cattle were permitted to use this unit in 1950. Although only 310 animal-months' use was obtained before the cattle were gathered and moved to the summer unit, the use was four times the production before the area was reseeded.

Coffeepot Flat reseeding project has been the Mecca for many demonstration trips. Senator Wayne Morse, governor nominee Douglas McKay, legislators, state game commissioners, other public officials, forest advisory board members, and hundreds of other interested individuals looked the area over and apparently were impressed with what they saw on this 1,200-acre project. Before and after the countywide picnic held at Marsters Spring on September 19, two groups of more than 130 people were shown over the Coffeepot Flat area and the adjacent species trails. Drilling is in full swing on two large areas at Antelope Flat and Dry Prairie, and the forest appears headed for a record reseeding year. Lakeview Rotary Club's range-reseeding demonstration on August 19 attracted approximately 400 ranchers, public officials, and other interested folks. The demonstration with its nationwide publicity was termed by many as the greatest conservation selling job in the West this year. A joint trip of the two Oregon livestock advisory boards and Forest Service representatives was made to Fremont reseeding projects on August 18, and the group then took in the Rotary Club affair the next day. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," October 20, 1948)

Our favorite project at Coffeepot Flat suffered considerable damage last winter and this spring from meadow mice. We believe that a concentrated drive to control them, which we have carried on recently, will give good results. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," July 13, 1949)

In 1951, by request of Walt Dutton, chief of the Division of Range Management in the Washington office, John M. Kucera established two transects of the Coffeepot area.

In 1955 in cooperation with the Soil Conservation Service and the regional office Division of Engineering, a water speading project was carried out. Of the plans made for this area in 1945, only the revegetation portion was put into action, due to lack of funds. The original plan was now used as a base for the 1955 water spreading project.

The spreader system from Long Hollow Creek consists of a concrete core earthen dam 24' long and 8' high, a diversion ditch, and a series of 1-1/2' deep contour ditches. Fifteen 12' X 10' culverts with headgates were installed at equal intervals along the diversion ditch to feed the water into the spreading contours below the diversion ditch.

Two miles of fence and one cattleguard were built to protect the spreading area from grazing until the grass on the disturbed areas became established. The cost of this water spreading project in 1955 was around $40,000.

In 1955 about 300 acres of the Coffeepot area were sprayed with 2-4D for sagebrush control.

IMPROVEMENTS AND OTHER FOREST SERVICE OPERATIONS

Roads

The principal engineering project of the year was the construction of the Drews Creek utilization road.

Our first attempts at locating and setting the standard of logging roads on national forest sale areas was made with very good results in the Cottonwood and Howard Creek areas. This opens up a new field for the forest road development program. (Melva M. Bach, December 22, 1941)

The long dry fall of 1949, with few storms, permitted forest work crews to get much needed maintenance accomplished and to practically complete other road jobs, such as graveling the river road south of Paisley and constructing approximately one mile on the Howard Creek section of the Cottonwood Road. (Accomplishment report, 1949)

We see by the Sunset magazine that the Fremont is best known for its faults. Oh well, it might have been defaults. They also say we have more roads than any other forest, 1,800 miles, which, if they knew the roads, might also be considered quite a fault. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," July 31, 1946)

Buildings

The lookout house, a 14' X 14' Aladdin-type house on Dog Mountain, was completed in the early summer, having been started in 1946. The garage was moved from its former location, one-fourth mile from the house, to the end of the road at the house. New shutters and roof were put on the house at Round Pass lookout, and new steps were put on the tower on Fremont Point. The dwelling at the Dairy Creek guard station was remodeled inside to provide a reception room with counter and a more attractive appearance.

The first building additions to the forest plant since the CCC days were made during the year. A two-car garage and an oil house were constructed at the new Shevlin camp, using surplus materials from the REP shop in Bend. One side of the Bly warehouse was converted to crew quarters, which filled an urgent need. The guard cabin at the Silver Lake ranger station was moved to a new location directly west of the office. A bedroom, bath, and utility room were added and the inside completely made over into a comfortable dwelling. The warehouse and shop at the Lakeview Hot Springs were improved in appearance with a silver-gray paint job. At Silver Lake, a new 5 KW AC light plant and electric water pump were installed. (1947)

A new 14' X 14' Aladdin-type lookout house was constructed during 1948 on Drakes Peak to replace the old D-6 type house which had been there for many years. The Coleman Point house, which had not been occupied for several years, was moved to Fitzwater Point, where it will be erected in 1949. Major improvements were made to the Shoestring lookout cabin, with new cabinets, linoleum, and a sealing job inside.

Public Relations

The motion picture "Realm of the Wild" was shown on seventeen occasions by personnel of this forest with a total audience of 1,200. About one person in five in our zone of influence saw this picture. Randall McCain, the wildlife assistant, presented six talks, four of which were illustrated with our own color slides. (1946)

Good public relations continued to be an important activity of forest personnel, and major attention was given to possible trouble spots. It is believed residents within the zone of responsibility of the forest gained a greater knowledge of Forest Service activities, policies, and procedures and that good will for the Forest Service continued to increase. No major public relations problems arose during the year. Particular attention was given to keeping in active touch with people in Klamath Falls, and an effort was made to better acquaint Klamath County residents with the work on the Forest Service. This was done through frequent newspaper stories, radio addresses, and appearances before service clubs and other groups.

Movies were shown to approximately 2,000 people in the zone of responsibility during the year. The supervisor gave six major talks to an estimated audience of nearly 1,000. Major attention was devoted to carefully planned demonstration trips. There were seventeen such trips for which reports were made.

Particular attention was given to informing local residents and loaders of the state on the possibilities of range reseeding and what has been done on the forest. Among those who viewed these projects were U. S. Senator Wayne Morse; governor-elect Douglas McKay; State Game Commissioner T. R. Conn; Ben Buisman, editor of the Oregon Grange Bulletin; and representatives of the Oregon Cattle and Sheep Advisory boards. The latter group was taken on a special trip in August to visit the Wooley Creek and Coffeepot reseeding projects and to observe range conditions on forest allotments. This trip was taken the day preceding the Lakeview Rotary Club's range reseeding demonstration at Valley Falls. The Rotary demonstration was the major E and I activity in which the Fremont participated during the year. Over 400 agriculturists, government leaders, and other interested individuals attended this demonstration. Forest Service equipment was used for practically all of the work, and many of the local forest officers helped in planning and conducting the demonstration. Valuable publicity and interest were gained for reseeding in the advance and follow-up publicity which was given to this demonstration. Newspapers through the country carried many hundreds of column inches of material, and there were articles in many leading stock magazines. The supervisor was a member of the Rotary Club reseeding committee and worked with the group throughout the year to carry out this important project.

Forest officers continued to serve as leaders for 4-H forestry clubs, and many took an active part in the Boy Scout program. These two activities served as excellent means of getting over the forest program. (1948)

CCC and ERA

The Bly CCC Camp operated throughout the year. Enrollment was very low during the summer but has increased to some hundred men this fall. Main projects were brush disposal, construction of Drews Creek utilization road, and road maintenance. The Sprague River campground was completed early in the spring. The camp is now undertaking the construction of the Bly protective assistant's house.

On December 1, the ERA projects which have been going on in this forest since 1935 were closed because no additional funds were available. (Melva M. Bach, December 22, 1941)

Protected Areas

Goodlow Mountain Natural Area. Supervisor William O. Harriman proposed the Goodlow Mountain Natural Area in 1940, with the original report being written by Loran L. Stewart. The area was finally set aside during Supervisor Edward P. Cliff's administration on May 12, 1942, by L. F. Kneipp, acting chief of the Forest Service, who approved Mr. Cliff's recommendation. This area lies on the east slope of Goodlow Mountain about fifteen miles southwest of Bly in Klamath County. It covers 1,295.95 acres in Sections 4 and 5, Townships 39 South, Range 13 East, W.M. The elevation varies from 4,900 to 5,300 feet, and the area contains about 14,077 MBF of mature ponderosa pine and small amounts of incense cedar and white fir. The timber is a valuable protection to the watershed of Langell Valley.

The area is set aside for the purpose of maintaining a tract of ponderosa pine in its natural condition. The management of this area consists chiefly of protection against fire, cutting, trespass, or disturbance of any sort that will alter the natural conditions of the forest cover. One road and several other wagon trails cross the tract in a general north-south direction. Construction of new roads or other improvements will not be permitted.

The tract will serve as an example of southern Oregon ponderosa pine growing under natural conditions for scientific comparison with analogous areas of ponderosa pine elsewhere in the region. It will afford an opportunity to study the life history and mortality of trees of various classes. For over forty years, section 5 has been under observation by the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine for study of bark beetle activity in all classes of trees. Also, two ten-acre plots in section 5 have been established with all trees ten inches and over tagged, recorded, and fully described. These permanent plots will continue under observation but will have no effect on the natural condition of the area.

Gearhart Mountain Wild Area. The original report on the proposed Gearhart Mountain "Primitive Area" was made by Ranger Leo D. Quackenbush in 1938. A later report on the Gearhart Mountain "Wild Area" was prepared by John M. Herbert and approved by Supervisor Edward P. Cliff in May 1943. On November 11, 1943, Lyle F. Watts, chief of the Forest Service, signed an order officially designating 18,709.30 acres of national forest land in Klamath and Lake counties in Townships 35 and 36 South, Ranges 15 and 16 East, W.M. as the Gearhart Mountain Wild Area for permanent primitive and recreational use. It is located about ten miles northeast of Bly and may be reached by way of the Bly-Dairy Creek road to Finely Corrals. There are very few trails in the area. The principal one is the Gearhart Trail, which extends from Lookout Rock in the southeastern part of the area to the top of Gearhart Mountain and down the north side to Blue Lake.

The elevation varies from 6,000 feet on the south and east boundaries to 8,364 feet at the summit of Gearhart Mountain. The topography is rough and broken, with ridges and canyons radiating in all directions from the top of the mountain. The rocks which compose Gearhart Mountain are of intrusive igneous origin. Coarse-grained dioritic and granitic rocks are the most common. There is evidence of glaciation in the headwaters of Dairy and Gearhart creeks and in Blue Lake Basin. Many rugged promontories and peculiarly-shaped pillars and obelisks have been weathered out of the solid rock in the southeastern part of the area. The famous Gearhart notch, a sheer cliff that breaks off the north side of the main peak for over 300 feet, is a prominent feature of the mountain.

The mountain is an important summer and fall range for mule deer. A few black bear, wild cats, coyotes, blue grouse, and an occasional cougar frequent the area.

Within this area are Blue Lake and about fourteen miles of streams that support fish.

Parts of four sheep allotments and one cattle allotment are located within the boundaries, supporting 4,000 sheep for one month and fifty cattle for two months each summer. Carefully controlled grazing use will be continued.

All of the important timber types on the Fremont National Forest are represented here by virgin stands of ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, white fir, and white pine. The volume of merchantable timber is estimated to be 6,125 MBF. The area is valuable for watershed protection.

It is considered desirable to retain this small area of ponderosa pine timber in a virgin condition since it is one of the few remaining forested sections of south central Oregon suitable for a wild area that is not traversed by numerous roads.

With the possible exception of grazing, it has greater value for primitive recreational use than for commercial purposes. The construction of road, summer homes, hotels, resorts, and similar developments will be prohibited within the area. Recreationists and nature lovers are assured of the continued opportunity to enjoy fine scenery, interesting geology, as well as the other attractions found in an area unexploited by man.

Miscellaneous

Boundary Change. The boundary change on the east portion of the forest that has been under consideration for several years was approved by the local County Land Use Committee, and the report has been forwarded to Washington where we understand favorable consideration is being given it. (1941)

Are They Usually Predatory? During the Independence holiday, Portland papers carried a front-page story about a twenty-year-old woman who was lost in a heavily timbered area of the Mount Hood Forest. While the excitement was at its height, I turned on my radio just in time to hear the breathless broadcaster saying, "After thirty hours in the woods, the housewife has been found unharmed by forest rangers." (Emma H. Morton, "Six-Twenty-Six," August, 1941)

Last Homestead. The last active homestead case on the Fremont National Forest was settled in June 1942. Stanley Hughes of Paisley is the last person to acquire a homestead in the forest. All listed lands have been recalled, and no further homestead reports or work along these lines is anticipated.

Oregon Rubber Project. Because of the success of a small scale test in 1942 in Klamath County by the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station, sixty acres will be sown to Russian dandelion this spring in the vicinity of Klamath Falls. This is part of the 750-acre seed production program for 1943, most of which is concentrated in the Lake States. The Forest Service is responsible for the administrative direction of the project, but other bureaus in the department and state experiment stations are giving us the benefit of their experience.

The purpose of this year's work is primarily to supply seed for dandelion roots for a large acreage in 1944. The roots contain considerable rubber that is almost equal in quality to that produced by the rubber tree. The Russians have worked with the dandelion for a decade and had more than 10 million acres of it in the peat soils of the Ukraine when the war broke out. The Russians lost much of this acreage to the Germans.

The seed to be used in Klamath County and elsewhere is mostly of Russian origin and was shipped by plane and boat to this country.

Larry Mays (transferred twice soon after), assistant supervisor of the Deschutes, who is in charge of the project, has been in Klamath Falls, his new headquarters, since late March. Two areas totaling sixty to seventy acres have been leased. Preparation of the ground for irrigation and seed sowing is in progress. Over 300 pounds of Russian dandelion seed is in Portland awaiting Larry's call. The general direction of the Oregon project is in the hands of the regional office. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," April 14, 1943)

Fremont Wins Speaking Contest. Merle S. Lowden of the Fremont was acclaimed winner of the three-minute, after-dinner speaking contest held at the advanced management training camp at Wind River the latter part of 1944. Every member of the trainee group participated, with five or six speeches after dinner each evening. Runner-up winner was chosen from each evening's group, and these winners competed at the close of the school for championship title. Both runners-up and finalist were selected by popular vote of the trainee group, since audience approval is the final test of the success of a speech. Contenders in the finals were Mays and Lowden of the Fremont; Hulett, Ochoco; former Fremonter Brandner, Mount Baker; and Jolley, Chelan. Lowden was presented with a book on public speaking with a suitable inscribed bookplate commemorating the event. Every participant in the contest gave a good account of himself, with a thoughtfully-prepared and well-delivered speech. ("Six-Twenty-Six," January, 1945)

Recreation. In 1945 when K. Wolfe of the regional office's Division of Recreation and Lands was in Lakeview, Supervisor Mays took him to Cottonwood Meadows and outlined his plans for developing a recreation area there. Mr. Wolfe was favorably impressed, and while on this field trip, they altered the timber marking and changed the road location to benefit the future recreation area. This was the beginning of the present Cottonwood Recreation Area, including the organization site and the beautiful trout-stocked lake.

Photographing the Fremont. Following the picture tour of the Ochoco, we spent last week on a similar detail on the Fremont and found that the stock of superlatives we applied to the Ochoco could be used equally well on the Fremont. Cooperation, planning, and hospitality were tops. The weather, well, the Fremont couldn't do anything about that. The first part of the week was really hot, but Larry Mays had arranged for some good photogenic clouds on the skyline, so all was well. Latter part of the week, alas, heavy clouds and some rain, reminiscent of west side. Fire fighting forces said, "Come again, if that's what your camera brings."

But we did get some excellent shots of resources in use — logging, good selective cutting, cows and sheep that really would hold still for a picture, deer, water facilities, scenics, and recreation. Again we called on the forest for "Hollywood" atmosphere in the recreation pictures, and they tried to outdo the Ochoco. In the interest of inter-forest diplomacy, this photographer refuses to commit himself; the camera will have to be the judge.

Anyway, we express high appreciation to our charming stars: Bertha Barry, Dorothy Jenkins, Genevieve Pochelu. They were pleasant, cooperative, and eye filling. If the camera lived up to its opportunities, recreation on the Fremont should boom when these prints get into circulation. Larry Mays and Merle Lowden were excellent guides and hosts, and our thanks to them for an enjoyable and profitable trip. (George E. Griffith, "R-6 Administrative Digest," July 31, 1946)

Klamath Indian Reservation. The hearings at Klamath Falls and the Klamath Indian Reservation on Senate Bill 1222 to liquidate the reservation provided considerable stir in this part of the country and four days of activity that rivaled a three-ring circus. The bill provided that Indian reservation forest lands, when purchased, would be turned over to the Forest Service for administration. Results of the hearings will probably not be apparent for many months or even years. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," September 24, 1947)

Plane Wreck. The most noteworthy accomplishment of the year was the part the forest personnel took in locating the wrecked plan which carried Governor Earl Snell, Secretary of State Farrell, State Senate President Marshall Cornett, and pilot Cliff Hogue to their deaths on October 28, 1947, southwest of Dog Lake. Forty-six Fremont personnel assisted in the gruelling search and recovery of the bodies on October 29 and 30.

Letters of praise are beginning to come in for the Fremont personnel for the part they played in the period immediately following the recent plane crash. Fred McNeil of the Portland Journal says:

"I just wanted to tell you how enthusiastic our staff of photographers, bureau chiefs, and writers have been over the grand treatment given them by the Forest Service men throughout — from top to bottom, from start to finish. I have never heard a newspaper bunch speak in praise as warm and fervent as these fellows give your boys at this time, and they are speaking from the heart, believe me."

Les Ordeman, chief photographer, said, "Well, that's the Forest Service. They always do swell on a thing like this." H. Quentin Cox, manager of radio station KGW, comments that their information to the public in the most part was factual, correct, and prompt and adds

This could not have been done without the wonderful cooperation of Merle Lowden, supervisor of the Fremont National Forest. His assistance was invaluable; his courtesy and understanding of our problem aided materially in our transmitting the story of this tragedy to the people within our listening area. I cannot commend Mr. Lowden too highly.

Saddened though we are over this tragedy which struck at the state of Oregon, we thrill with pride that the Fremont men lived up to our high Forest Service traditions. When the full story is told, we are sure it will be that the Fremont force played a major and brilliant part in this most difficult phase of Oregon's great catastrophe. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," November 5, 1947)

LOCAL NEWS

On Location

Scenes from "The Forest Ranger," which will star Paulette Goddard, Fred McMurray, and Madeline Carroll were recently shot in the vicinity of McDonald's logging operations on the Fremont. Much to the disappointment of local residents and yours truly, none of the stars were on hand. Guerdon Ellis, forest supervisor from Region 5, accompanied the director and his assistants as technical advisor for the Forest Service. Background scenes depict back firing, running ground fires, crown fires, and constructing fire trails with bulldozers. In one scene thirty local loggers and fifteen Camp Bly CCC's made their bid for film fame.

Director Tate expressed himself as being particularly well pleased with the 6,000 feet of color film used. The troop had been searching in vain for appropriate fires in the vicinity of Eugene before they got word of our extensive slash area. To make the ground fires hotter, 1,800 gallons of diesel oil were used. The final big slash fire, which extended for over three miles, put up a realistic smoke with the aid of oil.

The Forest Service will undoubtedly, through the medium of this picture, obtain some excellent publicity, not only in fire prevention but in other land management activities. (John M. Herbert, "Six-Twenty-Six," November, 1941)

Army-Navy E Award

Ponderosa pine timber from the Fremont Forest basked in reflected glory on June 20, when the Goose Lake Box Company of Lakeview was awarded the first Army-Navy E award to be presented in the pine industry. This important war industry of Lake County has been cutting national forest timber for several years, and since the beginning of the war nearly their entire supply has come from this source. The award presentation was well attended by company employees and officials, army and navy personnel including the Camp White band, townspeople, and a number of prominent visitors from Reno, San Francisco, and points throughout the Northwest. Although Jim Thompson and his timber sale staff did not get one of the coveted pins, they nevertheless received a good deal of satisfaction in knowing they had contributed to the significant recognition give the local company and its employees. ("R-6 Administrative Digest," June 28, 1944)

Japanese Bomb Incident

One of the Fremont's worst tragedies occurred toward the end of the war while Larry Mays was supervisor. On Saturday morning, May 5, 1945, Mr. and Mrs. Archie Mitchell, pastor of the Missionary Alliance Church of Bly, Oregon, took Sherman Shoemaker (11), Eddie Engen (13), Jay Gifford (13), Joan Patzke (13), and Dick Patzke (14) on a picnic and fishing trip to Leonard Creek near Salt Spring, about ten miles northeast of Bly. When they came to the Forest Service road maintenance crew, Reverend Mitchell stopped the car and inquired of Richard Barnhouse, foreman, about the road ahead. When Mr. Barnhouse told him that the road was impassable, Mrs. Mitchell and the children got out of the car and started down to the creek. Mr. Mitchell turned the car around and started back down the road toward Salt Spring. Barnhouse had just gotten the grader out of the mud and started back down the road behind the Mitchell car. About the time Mitchell was even with Salt Spring, Mrs. Mitchell called to him to see what she had found, and repeated it twice. Mitchell answered her, "Wait a minute, and I'll come and look at it." From his position on the grader, Barnhouse could see Mrs. Mitchell and the children standing in a semi-circle about 300 feet from the road, looking at something, but he could not see the object.

Just then there was a terrific explosion which shook the ground for considerable distance. Needles, twigs, and sticks flew through the air, some of which were later picked up near the grader. Barnhouse immediately stopped the grader, which was about 150 yards from the explosion, and both he and Mitchell ran to the scene. Four of the children were dead, part of them badly mangled, another died immediately, and Mrs. Mitchell died within a few minutes. None were conscious after the explosion. Mrs. Mitchell's clothes were on fire, and Mr. Mitchell immediately put this fire out.

At about the time that Mitchell arrived on the scene, there was a sharp report, which was later identified by the military as a blow-out plug in the mechanism. The other two men in Barnhouse's crew — George Donathan and John L. Peterson — had driven down the road about one-eighth mile ahead of the Mitchell car. When the explosion occurred, they immediately drove back and ran to the scene.

Richard Barnhouse immediately surveyed the disaster and saw that nothing could be done. Barnhouse told Peterson to stay with Reverend Mitchell, and he and Donathan drove to Bly as quickly as possible. From there, he called the sheriff's office in Lakeview at approximately 11:00 a.m. and reported what had happened. Barnhouse then proceeded to the Forest Service ranger station and told his story to the District Ranger F. H. Armstrong. Armstrong in turn called the supervisor's office in Lakeview and reported to Administrative Assistant Henry U. Sarles, who called the controller in Everett and G-2 at Fort Lewis. Armstrong then planned the action by the Bly personnel.

Rangers Armstrong and Smith then took first aid equipment, sheets, water, rations, and tools to the site, arriving at 12:05 noon. Armstrong noted bits of fish baskets, parts of rods, three reels, a jackknife, and shreds of clothing scattered over the ground. Smith felt the Patzke girl's pulse to see if she could be alive, but she was not. From the condition of her body, it is very doubtful if she lived longer than a few minutes. They cautiously covered the bodies with sheets. Messrs. Peterson and Mitchell had previously covered them with fir boughs.

At about 1:15 p.m. Hadley with Coroner James Ousley, Deputy Coroner Fair, and Dr. H. E. Kelty arrived with ambulance and pickups. Dr. Kelty checked Mitchell's condition. His hands were stained a light yellowish-brown, caused by picric acid when he extinguished the fire in his wife's clothing, according to Dr. Kelty.

At 2:00 p.m. Sheriff Casiday, District Attorney Tom S. Farrel, and Warrant Officer Sever arrived. Military authorities from Fort Lewis arrived at the scene at 5:30 p.m.

When Barnhouse and Mitchell first arrived at the site, the balloon bag was stretched out full length over some low bushes with two of the shroud lines hanging from a stump about ten feet in height. Parts of the mechanism and bomb were scattered quite thickly over an area ninety feet in diameter and fragments from the demolition bomb were found as much as 400 feet away. The balloon was complete and very little damaged, but it was estimated by the military authorities from its weathering, mildew on the paper, and other evidence that the balloon had been there for a month or more. Evidently, the balloon had landed intact with four incendiary bombs, one anti-personnel type bomb, and six to eight sand bags. It appeared that the demolition bomb had caused the explosion which tore up the mechanism, including the demolition block on the mechanism, but did not explode this block as the picric acid was widely scattered over the area. Two of the thermite bombs had their charges blown out, but the remaining two, although badly battered and the tail assembly blown off, still had their fuses and charges intact.

It seems likely that one of the children had touched the demolition bomb in some matter, possibly to set the fuse and also strike it.

The military personnel picked up all available pieces of the balloon, bombs, and mechanism and brought them to the Lakeview Air Base. Forest Service men made a thorough check of the area the following day and picked up additional small pieces, which were sent to Fort Lewis. Armstrong and Smith chopped out one piece of shrapnel that was buried six inches deep in a pine tree.

Colonel Bisenius was questioned concerning the information that the Forest Service should give out concerning the incident. It was decided that the Forest Service should state that an explosion of undetermined nature had occurred in the vicinity of Bly, killing six persons, but that we were not at liberty to give out any further information on it. The Colonel reported that the Office of War Information had given a similar reply to a number of inquiries by newspapers.

It was not until May 31 that the newspapers were permitted to publish the facts about the explosion — that it was caused by a Japanese bomb. On this date information was given by Undersecretary of War Robert P. Patterson as a warning to the public not to approach strange objects in the forests. He also warned that any future damage caused by balloons must be kept under strict censorship. Although government officials had been aware for some time of the landing of Japanese bombs on this continent, they were not permitted to warn the public. The information was a military secret to keep Japan from knowing that the balloons were reaching this country. In an attempt to burn our forests and do other damage, the Japs launched, in May and June of 1944, 200 of the balloons on which they had been working and experimenting since the Doolittle raid on Tokyo in April 1942.

The balloons rose to the stratosphere, about 30,000 feet, and were borne along on air currents. Ingenious devices, such as barometers and gauges, kept them at stratosphere levels by dropping sandbags when they came too low and releasing hydrogen when they soared too high. They carried three or four bombs weighing thirty pounds each. Timers were sent to explode them in forty to fifty hours. Then a fuse ignited the balloon, causing "flashes in the sky," which many persons reported.

More than nine million yen, ($2,000,000) was spent to manufacture the balloons, and 9,000 were launched from three sites near Tokyo. Approximately 1,000 of the balloons reached here. One balloon sailed as far east as Michigan, two or three fell in Texas, some in Mexico, Alaska, and Canada, but the center was Washington and Oregon.

The Japanese listened eagerly to radio reports, hoping to hear of the bombs' effectiveness, but because American editors kept the information to themselves and so discouraged the Japanese, they abandoned the project.

This was the only known instance of fatalities suffered on this continent as a result of Japan's attempt at long-range bombing of the United States by unmanned balloons launched from Japan.

On August 20, 1950, The Weyerhaeuser Company dedicated a monument built on the site of America's only World War II continental battleground. Weyerhaeuser Company established the historic spot on Leonard Creek as a patriotic shrine to be known as the Mitchell Recreation Area. A native stone monument, bearing a bronze plaque with the names of the six victims was dedicated as a permanent memorial. Other developments included outdoor stoves, appropriate signs for the memorial, and a protective iron fence around the site of the tragedy and monument.

Entire County Holds Picnic

Word was received last week of what sounds like the last word in a Western hospitality picnic. Date was set for Sunday, September 19 at Marsters Spring, seven and one-half miles from Paisley. Every man, woman, and child in Lake County was invited. No admission charge, no lunch to bring. The big-hearted people of Paisley were hosts, furnishing all of the food. Two steers for the barbecue were donated by Brattain Brothers and the ZX Ranch. The invitation, printed in the Lake County Examiner, stated:

Everyone planning to attend the picnic should write a card to Homer Oft, forest ranger, Paisley, so the host community will know how many to count on in figuring the amount of food needed. Program will begin at 10:00 a.m. and the first item will be a visit to the Fremont Forest's reseeding area at Coffeepot Flat. At 2:00 p.m., there will be a program featuring a short talk by Ray Harlan of Lakeview on the value of a payroll to a community, followed by races and games. At 4:00 p.m., the group will inspect the new Adams sawmill at Paisley.

No further word has been received as we go to press, but this Paul Bunyan event must have been something to remember. Sounds like good public relations, Homer! ("R-6 Administrative Digest," September 22, 1948)

Lawrence K. Mays, Forest Supervisor, March 1, 1944 to September 23, 1946

William O. Harriman, Forest Supervisor, April 1, 1934 to December 8, 1941

Edward P. Cliff, Forest Supervisor, January 1, 1942 to April 1, 1944

Merle Lowden of the Fremont wins Region 5 speaking contest, January 1945. Left to right: Larry Jolley, Larry Mays, Merle Lowden, Henry Hulett, Phil Bradner.

Ranger Meeting, May 1946. Front, left to right: Jim Thompson, Verus Dahlin, Homer Oft, Lew Harris, Jack Groom. Back, left to right: Henry U. Sales, John Kucera, Herb Hadley, F.H. Armstrong, V. Jay Hughes, Don Peters, Randall McCain, Merle Lowden, Jack Smith. (click on image for a PDF version)

Forest Staff in 1949. Seated, left to right: Henry Sarles, Merle Lowden, Don Peters, Verus Dahlin, John Kucera, James Thompson. Standing, left to right: Lew Harris, Bert Bokker, Herb Hadley, Ellis Gross, Carrol E. Brown, Jack Groom, Ray Knudsen, F.H. Armstrong, Uriel Corbin, Bill Harbison, Orville Cary. (click on image for a PDF version)

Reseeding with grass in the Wooley Creek Burn, 1948. Ranger Homer Oft in the center of photo.