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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 2011)
community january11 2011 11 Keasey Century Farm continued from page 10 provide fire protection. The property has two older stands of native trees, one that is about twenty acres and one that is almost thirty acres. Those stands were harvested in the 1940’s and 50’s, and have naturally regenerated. They have been commercially thinned and salvage- logged over the years, leaving what Nelson describes as beautiful stands that are over sixty years old. Nelson would like to see these last remaining stands of native timber conserved and, hopefully, sustainably harvested as needed. There are only a handful of old growth trees still surviving on the property, including a massive 200-plus foot cedar Nelson showed me that he guesses is at least 500 years old. Massive stumps nearby give visitors an idea of the magnitude and the amount of timber that grew here at one time. The future of the Keasey family corporation and the farm property, though not in jeopardy, is somewhat questionable. Because so few family members still reside in Vernonia and actively participate in the operation and maintenance in the farm, Ralph and Caroline Keasey wonder who will look after the property after they are gone. Dennis Nelson is now in his fifties, and although he once worked as a timber cutter, he considers it a young man’s job and wonders how long he will be able to actively manage the property himself. He hopes his three daughters might develop an interest in the property and choose to be actively involved in its management someday. The Keasey family are one of the pioneering A natural wetland provides scenic beauty and wildlife habitat. families of the Vernonia region, a family that still lives, and the property was reverted back to timber. “They of an outdoor paradise, with historic relics and logging works and plays, not just in the area, but on the property planted almost all the old cow pastures-- all the cleared history on site, as well as wildlife and beautiful natural their ancestors developed. Their family story is one of perseverance and dedication, and about caring for their ground that had been laboriously cleared by previous features. A huge old barn sits behind the original farm land. generations of Keaseys,” says Nelson. Around 1980, the family corporation had to house. According to Nelson, the barn make a large payment on a piece of property that they had to be moved when the railroad had purchased and added to the farm, and the property line was constructed. Today, it still was mostly clear cut and the timber sold at that time to stands, along with the farmhouse, as a make the payment. “Right now, most of the property testament to the historic nature of the is plantation growth that is about thirty years old,” farm. The property is about a mile in explains Nelson. Ralph Keasey, along with most of his siblings, and some nieces and nephews, replanted those length, running along Rock Creek, so there is well over a mile of creek frontage as Rock Creek meanders through the Keasey farm. Salmon, steelhead and trout run upstream through the property, with gravel spawning beds visible along the waterfront. Deer, elk, cougar, bear and other wildlife roam the landscape. Nelson, who has been involved with the Izaak Walton League and the Upper Nehalem Watershed Council for many years, has done numerous riparian restoration projects on the property over the years, planting and maintaining new trees along the banks, often battling local beaver to keep the trees alive. The property has a few springs on-site, including the historically relevant “Cold Spring” that provided water for travelers on the road and area residents over the years, and still provides good quality water year- round. The property also has numerous wetlands, including an area that was dammed by the railroad grade, creating a large pond that is used by ducks and other waterfowl. And, of course, that Oregon- American rail passage, which runs east to west through the property, is trees. Dennis Nelson, who married Dick and Marge maintained by the family to provide Wysong’s daughter, Schann, is maintaining the old access to some of the more remote farmhouse and watching over the property as caretaker. areas. “Mostly, we use it as a hiking Nelson recently gave me a tour of the 390-acre property. trail, but we can drive it if we need to Nelson says he has actively helped manage the log,” says Nelson. Nelson says there property for a number of years and usually participates are also a number of logging roads that in small thinning projects that take place regularly were built the last time the property to provide income. A number of years ago, Nelson was logged in the 1980’s, which he Current caretaker Dennis Nelson stands near one of the last took the OSU Extension Service Master Woodland deliberately keeps clear for hiking and remaining old growth cedars on the property. Nelson estimates the Manager course, the same course Ralph Keasey took future logging projects, as well as to Ralph Keasey, it wasn’t until the railroad came through in the 1920’s, providing transportation to the local sawmills, that harvesting timber became economical. Dennis Nelson is currently the acting caretaker of the property. According to Nelson and Ralph Keasey, farming and raising cattle just wasn’t economical before him. As part of their coursework, Nelson and Keasey both created documents that give a legal and historical description of the property, helping create a documented history of the land and the family that owns it. A walk around the Keasey property is a tour tree is at least 500 years old.
