Taming a Wild Forest 



333 



supply, now is being cut two to three 

 times as fast as it can grow anew. 



As the supply of private timber is 

 cut out, the Willamette timber will be 

 called upon more and more to support 

 a number of communities that depend 

 on it, among them Eugene, Springfield, 

 Sweet Home, and Lebanon. The fact 

 that this public timber is being cut on 

 a sustained-yield basis will be a factor 

 in the stability of the communities. 



It has been estimated that Willa- 

 mette timber will provide employment 

 directly for some 5,000 persons when 

 cutting does reach the sustained-yield 

 level; many thousands more will be 

 supported indirectly. On the Willa- 

 mette, the problem has not been to 

 limit the cut but to increase it up to 

 the allowable limit. The reason has 

 been the remoteness and inaccessibility 

 of the back country, in which much of 

 the timber grows. 



Orderly harvesting of the timber will 

 require the development of a system of 

 timber-access roads. Early completion 

 of the system is needed in order to pre- 

 vent steadily occurring losses from nat- 

 ural causes in overmature and deca- 

 dent stands. Such a road system will 

 also serve as an aid in protection of the 

 timber against fire and insect attack 

 and will permit salvage of material lost 

 from such causes. 



The road-building plan on the Wil- 

 lamette calls for the early construction 

 of 3 1 miles of timber-access roads into 

 four main drainages the Fall Creek, 

 South Fork McKenzie, Blue River, and 

 Winberry. 



DEFINITE STEPS have been taken to 

 safeguard and develop recreation on 

 the Willamette. Two areas of magnifi- 

 cent scenic beauty, the Mount Jefferson 

 Wild Area and the Three Sisters Wil- 

 derness Area, have been set aside to 

 be kept free of logging roads or other 

 marks of civilization. In them will be 

 210,000 acres of land ,to be preserved 

 in its pristine glory, unchanged from its 

 condition when the first pioneers and 

 fur traders set foot on them in the early 

 nineteenth century. Also to be reserved 



from cutting are scenic strips along all 

 major highways, fishing streams, and 

 lakes. Several natural areas are also 

 planned, to remain forever untouched, 

 even by trails, as evidence to future 

 generations of what their forefathers 

 found here and as laboratories for sci- 

 entific study. 



The Forest Service has built 173 

 forest camps and picnic areas on the 

 Willamette National Forest. Fireplaces, 

 benches, and tables are provided for 

 campers. Shelters are available in 

 the inaccessible regions for use in rainy 

 weather. Two organization camps are 

 available now to civic and welfare or- 

 ganizations and three winter-sports 

 areas have been developed. 



In many of the more accessible rec- 

 reational areas, such as the Breitenbush 

 Hot Springs, the McKenzie River, 

 the Upper Willamette River, and the 

 North and South Santiam Rivers, re- 

 sorts and hotels are operated by pri- 

 vate concessions under permit. All six 

 ranger districts have plans for leasing 

 sites for summer homes. 



Practically all the recreational im- 

 provements on the Willamette were 

 built by the workers of the Civilian 

 Conservation Corps. The thousands of 

 youths, housed in eight camps from 

 1933 to 1941, built the forest camps, 

 picnic areas, organization camps, win- 

 ter-sports areas, trails, and roads dur- 

 ing the great opening-up period of the 

 1930's. Their work also in fighting for- 

 est fires, building protection roads and 

 trails, and constructing lookout sta- 

 tions and guard stations was invaluable 

 in preventing disastrous fires and rais- 

 ing fire-protection standards. 



The use of the ski areas on the Willa- 

 mette Pass and McKenzie Pass terri- 

 tory has grown very rapidly. An even 

 greater development has been the Hoo- 

 doo Butte area on the Santiam Pass, 

 where a winter-sports area accommo- 

 dates at little cost 1,500 skiers. 



With four snow-capped peaks 

 Mount Jefferson, North, Middle, and 

 South Sister all over 10,000 feet in 

 elevation, and numerous lesser peaks, 

 including Mount Washington (7,802 



