464 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



November, 



Clackamas would have yielded 8,000,000 

 to 10,000,000 feet to the quarter section, 

 or 50,000 to 60,000 feet per acre. Com- 

 puting 120,000 acres at 17,700 feet per 

 acre, we have 2,124,000,000 feet as the 

 amount of standing timber killed by 

 recent fires in Multnomah and Clacka- 

 mas counties. 



The value of the standing Douglas 

 Spruce , considering it to have been worth 

 $1.00 per thousand, was $2,124,000. 

 Much of this is a total loss, though a great 

 deal will be utilized. Were the district 

 less convenient to transportation, the 

 loss would be much more severe. As it 

 is, logging roads will be hastily built into 

 the heavier timbered portions, and by 

 rushing operations perhaps two-thirds 

 of the Douglas Spruce will be saved. 



The following list shows the losses in 

 Clackamas and Multnomah counties : 



Green and dry ' ' Cedar ' ' ( Giant Ar- 



borvitse) .. $75,000 



Tie timber 100,000 



Down timber 100,000 



Hemlock .... 50,000 



Value of Douglas Spruce killed. . . . 2,124,000 



Total |2, 449,000 



The forest as such is practically de- 

 stro3^ed. Upon thousands of acres not 

 a living tree remains to seed the burned 

 areas. In a few places enough Douglas 

 Spruce remains to bring about repro- 

 duction, but Cedar, or more properly 

 Giant Arborvitae, and Hemlock, being 

 less resistant to fire, were invariably 

 killed. Upon the steeper hillsides and 

 mountain slopes even the soil has been se- 

 verely damaged. Particularly does this 

 apply to northeastern slopes, where the 

 force of the wind was greatest. 



RECAPITUI.ATION OF LOSSES. 



Farm property, exclusive of timber 1315,000 



School-houses and churches 35, 000 



Bridges 7,000 



Saw-mills and manufactured forest 



products 149,000 



Timber 2.449,000 



Total |2, 955, 000 



While there is some government land 

 and much that is owned by the state in 

 the burned region, these heavy losses 

 fall chiefly upon small private owners. 

 Large companies had not yet begun 



buying up the claims. Outside of a 

 few old settled neighborhoods, many 

 homesteads have been taken and numer- 

 ous timber claims higher up the slopes. 



The past season has been one partic- 

 ularly favorable to forest fires. Not 

 only was the summer very dry, but the 

 two preceding summers were wet in May 

 and June, thus interfering with the 

 burning of slashings and allowing an 

 unusual amount of debris to accumulate. 



In the early part of September the 

 wind blew from the east most of the 

 time. An east wind, after it gets west 

 of the Cascades, is ready to absorb al- 

 most any quantity of moisture, so that 

 the forest was soon in the condition of 

 tinder. When on September loth a stiff 

 breeze began to blow from the northeast 

 it found a number of ground fires waiting 

 to be fanned into something more seri- 

 ous. 



In sections 25 and 26, township 3 S., 

 range 5 E., Clackamas county, a fire 

 had been burning since the first of Au- 

 gust. Evidence points to its starting 

 from unextinguished camp - fires of 

 huckleberry-pickers. 



Another fire had been burning in the 

 southwestern part of township 4 S., 

 range 5 E., in the vicinity of Dodge. 

 This fire originated very close to the 

 line of the Cascade Forest Reserve, 

 and is believed to have been started by 

 hunters, though their names cannot 

 be ascertained. It was on August 

 14th that this fire was first observed 

 by the people of Dodge. On the 20th 

 it burned all around Myers & Sons' 

 sawmill at that place and required fight- 

 ing for two days and nights. It was 

 believed to have been extinguished, but 

 no one watched it, and it proved to be 

 only smoldering. On September 12th, 

 peculiar as it may seem, it swept back 

 over the same area, this time traveling 

 as a fierce crown fire and sparing noth- 

 ing. The mill, together with other 

 buildings and considerable sawed lum- 

 ber and logs, was consumed, and the 

 fire swept on down Springwater Ridge 

 and southwest to the Molalla. A few 

 sections on the reserve appear to have 

 been burned over by this fire. 



On September 9th a spark from an 

 O. R. & N. locomotive set fire to the 



