Students Help In Forest Replanting
Annual Event
Dramatizes
Vital Need
By DAWN PESEAU
The story of western Douglas
County's timber and timber prod
ucts industry is not recorded in
tabulated production or payroll fig
ures, t
Hoard footage and dollar-nnd-cents
figures have little real mean
ing to the reality of 'the dramatic
relationship between the past and
the future of this economic founda
tion of the area.
Perhaps of more significance is
the seemingly irrevelant event
which has taken place annually for
the past 15 years: the public school
tree planting expedition into the
forested hills, scarred by forest
lire ourns, or denuded Dy logging.
Each year, more than 700 or so
children from the schools of Reeds-
port, Gardiner, Loon Lake and
Klkton. under a kindly but scientif
ic direction in which the entire
community somehow joins, clutch
bundles of seedlings in young fists,
and tuck the roots into the soil
and leaf mold.
Instructions Given
Each child brings to the task of
planting the seedling a knowledge
gained in classroom instruction and
discussion. Foresters from the pri
vate lumber companies, and public
land management agencies, co
operate with the schools in pre
paring the students for this mag
nificent one-day laboratory "exper
iment, which, each year, adds
close to 25.000 young trees to Ore
gon s toresis ot uie luture
Five Firms
Located In
Drain Area
By MRS. WILLIAM GUTHRIE 'l l C2fc
In the fall of 1933. Harold Woolley i , I J ' " - , T - M vJt t.
of Drain started logginR operations 5 - jUISt" rTtAJ! A " s.' J
in the area with a team of hoist k , V J ?VVft.,- ; -J ( fc-.v tl
In 1935 he bought his first don 4fccV' ; Jfe, i'. ' t3tTt ' J'Vt'V.-SV
kev. His logging operations now i . Jfcv' '-il'T r ' JK" V' :" ftv iw
have a production of between to i CT" ' ' ' AllhV tlA J. .JLi -St iM. 3
FUTURE FORESTS in the lower Umpqua area become community projects every year
when youngsters from 'schools in the region turn their efforts to tree planting. The
annual project is promoted by International Paper Co. Shown above in 1959 ore sixth
graders Cherie Lorsen and Donald Lacey from Reedsport taking part in the annual tree
planting. -
The operations of three major i men. The two plants process an board feet of green dimension lum
timber products plants, and sev- average of 30 million board feet of ber, from a sawmill and a Skrag
era! small rough cut mills in the timber per year, and are a part of
area, are set against a perspective i ine cascades ny wooa Lorp. tar-
which includes a perpetuated res
ervoir of timber.
Of the three mills, the Interna- Change Typified
flung western operations. The main
plant, is located at Lebanon.
tional Paper Company plywood
The annual event dramatizes alPla"l and sawmill are the heaviest
concept which has added a new
depth, a new direction to the pres
ent and future of the timber prod
ucts industries. It is a concept vital
to a realistic understanding of to
day's production figures, and next
year's estimates.
Industry Revolutionized
A responsibility of land and re
source stewardship on the part of
private industry, as well as public
land and timber management agen
cies and the public at large, char
acterizes the concept which has
revolutionized the western Doug
las County lumber industries and
the timber lands tributary to them.
The outmoded policy of reckless
exploitation of the resource is per
haps best symbolized by the acres
of brush-grown stump land along
Highway 101 in western Douglas
County. The reforestation efforts
to recover those same lands to
changed concepts, as to the dimin
ishing use of the mill waste burn
ers throughout the area.
current users of timber, with a 60
million board feet capacity for 3s
inch plywood a year, and a 24 mil
lion board feet capacity from the
sawmill.
Tradition Retained
The sawmill represents past tra
dition. It was retained within the
new timber-products structure,
when the Long-Bell Lumber Co.
purchased the Gardiner Lumber
Co. plant in 1948. In November
1956, - the Long-Bell Co., with its
plywood plant at Gardiner, was
merged with the International Pa
per Co., and became the Long
Bell Division of that firm.
The sawmill and plywood plant
combine to employ a normal pay
roll of 600 men.
The Cascades Plywood Corp. op
erates a two-shift veneer plant and
a one-shift stud mill which cum-
The Reedsport plant perhaps
mill.
Timber Managed
All of the in ills own and manage
some timberland. and buy timber
on the open market.
All of them are committed to a
4. -I . t: .. . if 1 "11 till-ill die luiiiimuru lu a
tt-i'",, j policy of stewardship, expressed
change in timber products manu
facturing in recent years. In No
vember 1957 the Cascades Plywood
Corp. bought the old plant of the
E. K. Wood Lumber Company,
which, In turn, had taken over a
traditional sawmill plant establish
ed as the Winchester Bay Lumber
Co. in 1918.' ,
New processes, new structures,
new equipment and new relation
ships emerged above the wreckage
of the outmoded structure. The
transient, unskilled millhand gave
way to the skilled expert.
Similar changes took place in
the Iteedsport Mill Co. plant, suc
cessor to the old Reedsport Lum
ber Co. which had passed through
a series of operators in the past
two decades. The Reedsport mill,
located on the bank of the Schol
field River, employs 60 men. and
bine to maintain a payroll of 100 ' has a daily capacity of 100.000
em Oregon's forest industries to
make useful products out of low
grade wood is unfolding along the
Tiller-Trail divide.
Two loggers there have made
steady jobs for themselves and
others for nearly a decade by sal
vaging logs that were once thought
to be useless.
The men are Bud Leroy of Cen-
Their small outfit. Hoot Owl Log
ging Co., is taking as much as
18.000 board feet daily out of cut
over lands on the 1800-acre Tiller
Tree Farm of Medford's Kogap
Manufacturing Co.
The salvage operation has not
years, but - is putting the tree
farm into top growing condition
and is stretching its current tim
ber supply.
The timber in which the salvage
Loggers Take
Winter Vacation
By VIRGINIA PROCTOR
In January of almost any year,
a visitor to Canyonville would esti
mate that about 50 per cent of
the population is idle, but he would
be wrong, for what he would see
were men "vacationing" during the
seasonal shutdown of the town's
wain industry, logging.
That it is a prosperous business
is testified to bv the fact that the
most beautiful homes in the area trai Pojnt and Gii Bonney of Drew.
are owneu oy lusuia anu mat
at least 75 per cent of the other
businesses in town exist directly
and indirectly because of logging.
According to Bruce Ferguson of
the Douglas Forest Protective As
sociation 171,423,000 board feet of
timber were cut in his district this
past year from .Myrtle Creek to
the Josephine county line and from
Coffee Creek to the Coos County
line. Logging this area were 110
companies. Many more companies
log from adjacent U. S. Forest
Service lands.
ComDanici Operating
The DFPA lists these companies
operating with a Canyonville ad
dress in late I960: Chappel Log
ging Co., employing two to 20 men;
Donation Logging Co., with three
men: Finer Engen, Seven; J. P.
Heath, three; Herbert Lumber Co.,
four; J. W. and W. E. Irwin, four;
Jeffries Lumber Corp., 10; H. W.
Johnson, five; Archie Kindred, two;
Kenneth Kindred, three; M & B
Logging, six to 20; George E. Mey
ers, four; Gearge Michael, four;
Ramsey Logging, four: John Spin
as, four; Union Logging. 20 to 30;
Charles Pickett, two; Ted Ross
Logging, unspecified number; and
Harlev Johnson, two.
Besides these are those operating
out of the DFPA jurisdiction such
as the E. T. Cone Logging Co.
of Roseburg which has rented the
Little Twig barn since 19S8 and op
erates with eight trucks in the
Jackson Creek and Zinc Creek
area. The Cones say they have
four million feet yet to take out.
Oldest logging company in the
area to be operating continually
is the Chappell Logging Co. owned
hy Norman Chappell. who came to
the area in 1945 and at the peak
was working with 12 trucks. Their
higgest logging site was up Beals
Creek and their business uperated
at peak during the lime Harbor
Plywood bought their logs. Suffer
ing financial reverses this past
year. Chappell is nevertheless re
couping his losses, beginning his
business in a small way again, a
testimonial to the vigorous quality
of the industry
Logging Won't Die
No one believes the logging in
dustry will ever die out and surely
the continual seeding of logced olf
land promises a timber, crop lor
future generalions.
Bruce Ferguson of the DFPA
said that his office had supervised
the aerial seeding in November by
Perpetual Forest, Inc , of Eugene
for Bates Lumber Co of 60O acres
on the West Fork of Canyon ( reek
to Douglas fir. sugar pine and pon
rierosa pine. The wpek of Jan. 23
27 the DFPA. supervised seeding of
over 2.000 acres on Shively Creek
for Slomar Lumber Co. He esti
mated timber crop could be har
vested from these acres in 75 to
100 years.
'Cull' Logs Saved By Neiv
Forest Industry Techniques
An am;)7in(r cfnrv which ennt. . Innanr art wnrl-incr 14 nn Ilia
liohls the erowine abililv of south. !..iu ,i i. -t i i boundaries of the Elliott State
n-,..'. f. ;J..i-;. .!"""" ul I Forest, a maenificent timber em
the practice of replacing
through resecding or the planting
of seedlings, the timber logged
from the land.
The relatively modest timber
products production in the Gardin-er-Keedsport
area is set against
a background of an estimated 344,
000 acres of limberlands tributary
to the industry of the Lower Ump
qua basin.
An estimated 64,300 acres of that
land has been cut over and is
being reseeded or planted. Anoth
er 12,000 acres is included in the
great Weatherly Creek burn area,
which extends to more than 30,-
000 acres.
An estimated 267,700 acres is in
timber stands of a commercial
growth, containing an estimated
average volume of 50 million board
feet per acre, which translates into
an estimated 13,400,000,000 board
feet.
Management Divided
Some of this immense reservoir
of a vital resource is under pri
vate ownership. Some of it is under
the management of the federal
Bureau of Land Management
Much of it is in the national for
ests, managed by the U. S. Forest
Service Siuslaw National forest.
Still other acres lie within the
and 70 million board feet annually
In 1947, Woolloy acquired part I
interest in the Smith Kiver Lum
ber Co., and in 1948 he bought out
the other stockholders of the cor
poration. There are approximate
ly 65 men employed with the firm,
with an annual production of 30-
nullion board feel of lumber. ,
Construction Starts
Woolloy, principle stockholder of
one of the largest and newest in
dustries of the area, started con
struction of the Drain Plywood Co.
in 1955, which is located west of
the city limits on Hayhurst Road.
Operations with the peeling of
green veneer began in September !
of 1936. the production of finished i
plywood was not begun until the
plant's construction w as completed
in January 1957. I
The firm specializes in ten foot
sheets of plywood. The annual pro-1
duction of the plant runs between !
65 and 70 million buard feet. There .
are 225 men employed at the
plant. !
The E. G. Whipple Mill, the old
est lumber mill of the area was
built in 1921, with a three-man
working crew. E, G. Whipple and
Jim Whipple are partners in the
firm.
Through the years, the firm has
expanded to where it now has 52
men in its employ. Both Woolley
and Whipple have been extreme
ly active in community affairs as
well. j
Woolley was named this year as
the Chamber of Commerce's man
of the year, and E. (. Whipple, a
former mayor, was last year's ti
tle holder. j
Roy Stanwood, owner of (he
Stanwood Lumber Co., located on
Cedar St. in South Drain, first
started operations of his mill in
1956. There are 18 men employed,
with a production of 45 thousand
board feet daily.
Co-owners of the R and R Tim
ber Products Co., are Keith Robers
of Cottage Grove, Ore., and R. H.
Johnson of Drain, the firm l.s lo
cated three miles north of Drain
on Sand Creek Road. The mill was
constructed in 1951. Previously the
company worked portable mills in
the area. R and II Timber Prod
ucts has a production of 35.000
board feet a day. Ten men are em
ployed with the firm.
In December 1958, William Maas,
started operations of the North
west Wood Seal Co., located on
highway 38. The firm produces
end wood seal for lumber and edge
wood seal for plywood.
STEPS SAVED This is the site of a forest fire lookout tower in the Umpqua Notion
al Forest. The new tower replaces one near the same site,, but the difference is in the
transport of building materials to the site. When the first one wos built the timber had to
be brought to the site by mule. When the new one wos built, a helicopter did the job a
lot faster and with considerably less effort. k
vations ranging from 2200 to 4500pjrc in Douglas and Coos Counties,
feet. A sawmill was operated at
the site by Kogap until 1949. Vir
gin timber still remains in two
areas of the tree farm.
"Much of the old-growth timber
originally harvested in here was
overmature and defective." says
Glen Duysen, Kogap forester.
"Many conky logs were left in
the woods as culls. But we've
made such tremendous strides in
our ability to turn this low-grade
wood into useful products since
that time that many of these logs
have now become merchantable as
peelable culls'."
Duysen cited as an example the
only provided steady employment . development of a technique where
for LeRoy and Bonney over the j bv industry can now utilize logs
shot through with white speck
scrawling over the wilderness area
of the Loon Lake region, and only
recently made accessible by a net
work of timber access roads.
But whether the timberland, with
its stand of perhaps 400-year fir
giants, or its newly planted growth
of tiny seedlings, is part of a
mammoth public domain, or a privately-owned
tree farm, the re
source is in the young hands which,
each year, participate in the sym
bolic planting of trees.
Responsible stewardship by the
industry and the community is giv
en further expression in the ma
chinery and methods which work
toward a full utilization of the tim
ber fiber, and an elimination of
the use of the waste burner, once
Member WCLIB
CO.
4418 N. E. Keller Rd., Roseburg, Oregon
MANUFACTURERS OF
DOUGLAS FIR and CEDAR
8 FT. or PRECISION TRIM
Anti-Stain Treated and End-Sealed
PACKAGED LOADING
for
LIFT TRUCK UNLOADING
OR 2-1791
a fungus disease for inner plys of an important part, of any lumber
construction-grade plywood. I mill.
Mon., Feb., 27, 1961 The Newi-Review, Roseburg, Ore. 13
I
f -y jj&4 CA k v a ' - -' vi s
OBSERVING OUR 15th YEAR...
Our originol plant employed 6 men. Todoy peak employment it 110. Produc
tion has increased from 20 M board feet of rough lumber to 100M board feet
of surfaced lumber per shift, half of production being kiln-dried.
Paul B. Hult Lumber Co. is proud of its place among Douglas County forest
industries; sharing responsibilities in the manogement of lands and timber
for Oregon's future growth and good living for our people.
PAUL B. HULT LUMBER CO.
Dillard Oregon
sClt ' (feM
LOGGING Mmi
i aWK." ' '
Serving
The
logging
Industry
....No jS?"
Matter rjH KX?"
Where!
EQUIPMENT!
O Pacific Wire Rope
O Rope Master Blocks and
Hyloy Forgings ,
O ESCO Rigging
O Fire Equipment
O Hercules Powder & Accessories
O Lubriplate
O Drill Steel and Bits
LARGE SELECTION OF USED
EQUIPMENT, LINE b RIGGING
-Ut IT-
OR 2-3371
Hank-OR 3-7542
ivioniy-un 0-43 j jm r.-r-
K?.
SUPPLY CO.
3021 N. I. STEPHENS . ROSEBURG
i'S $'s"?''..v,titriv'-- .(f
W w ft'
mm ; S?g5sJ4
M EVERYTHING S
&j FOR THE LOGGER
5 AND CONTRACTOR! pi
ImJMnu