Applegater Spring 2018
Wellington Wildlands
or wilderness?
21
BY DAVID CALAHAN
The 1964 Wilderness Act defines
wilderness as a place of 5,000 acres
minimum, with “outstanding opportunities
for solitude or a primitive and unconfined
type of recreation.”
Under that definition, the 5,711-acre
Wellington Wildlands (WWL) more than
qualifies for the protections afforded to a
“land with wilderness characteristics.” This
area, now in jeopardy, is worth fighting for.
WWL is visible from Ruch, Applegate,
and Thompson Creek. Many Applegaters
drive by it regularly. At 3,705 feet,
Wellington Butte stands sentry at the
center of this nine-square-mile intact block
of undisturbed naturalness and diversity.
Comprised of the public lands north of
Highway 238 between China Gulch and
Humbug Creek, with the Forest Creek
ridgeline as its northeastern boundary, it is
largely made up of dry, steep south-facing
slopes covered in manzanita, buckbrush,
madrone, and oaks. At the mountain’s feet
lie two shaded seasonal creeks, Long Gulch
and Balls Branch, with year-round springs
to sustain its hidden diverse flora and fauna.
Each drainage contains approximately 300
acres of giant Douglas firs and ponderosa
pines, the largest remaining intact stands
of low-elevation old-growth forests in the
Applegate Valley.
Maybe it was economics that kept old-
timers from punching roads into both
canyons to log the scattered patches of
timber. It was a long way to build roads,
and there were much easier pickings
elsewhere. In 1931 a fierce wind-driven
fire raced out of Humbug Creek, across the
wildlands, and headed to Jacksonville. Fire
is a cleanser and rejuvenator, a good thing
overall, and this one served to keep roads
and loggers at bay for another 70 years.
In 2001, despite strong public resistance,
the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
included half of the wildlands in the Ferris
Bugman Timber Sale. But ten miles of
new roads, helicopter logging, marginal
scattered sites, potentially poor return, a
pending lawsuit, and a determined public
are off-putting to timber companies. BLM
tried to sell Ferris Bugman three times to
no avail.
In 2011, BLM identified 5,711 acres
as the Wellington Butte Lands with
Wilderness Characteristics (LWC). In
2013, WWL was proposed as a Primitive
Backcountry Area in the Wyden/Merkley
O&C Act. However, BLM’s recent (August
2016) Final Resource Management Plan
denied the best two of four southern
Oregon LWC candidates, WWL and
Dakubutede (in the Little Applegate).
In both cases BLM argued that there is
too much timber. Once they complete
constructing roads and logging, neither
area will qualify for future protection.
Therefore, less than one percent of the
148,000 acres that BLM manages in the
Applegate received LWC status.
What makes the WWL unique today,
besides its size, is the intact nature and
close proximity to private lands and major
urban populations. Medford, Jacksonville,
and Grants Pass are all less than 30 minutes
away. Designated wilderness areas usually
entail a long drive to high elevations and
extremely rugged terrain. Additionally, this
incredibly scenic area is the centerpiece
Wellington Butte is prominent in this aerial photo of the
southern side of the Wellington Wildlands area. Photo: Scott Harding.
for the next phase of the Applegate Ridge
Trail (ART), the Center ART, which will
meander through the wildlands to link the
recently completed East ART to Humbug
Creek. Continuing on, the West ART will
traverse high Applegate slopes all the way
to the Cathedral Hills Trail System south
of Grants Pass.
BLM is now working to produce the
Middle Applegate Timber Sale, which
likely will include logging the WWL.
Currently, management is the biggest
threat to the wildlands and, if allowed, will
alter the natural characteristics so that the
WWL would never again be considered
a wilderness. BLM’s history is burdened
with examples of misguided management,
the results of decisions coming from
Washington, DC, and timber-company
interests.
On a local level, our objective will
be to convince BLM that this area is far
more valuable left intact for recreation, for
the use and enjoyment of the American
people, and as a legacy to pass to our
children. Economics will again play a role.
If necessary, we may need to convince BLM
or the timber companies that there will be
too much resistance to log it.
In reality, WWL is a wildland, a roadless
area, and a wilderness. But only Congress
can designate a “Wilderness.” Whatever
the name, this Applegate gem needs our
protection!
David Calahan • 541-899-1226
Chair, Applegate Trails Association
david@applegatetrails.org
ATA is a nonprofit organization with the
primary mission of building a hiking, biking,
and equestrian trail from Jacksonville to
Grants Pass. It is unanimous: we would
rather hike through a wilderness than in a
logged landscape. “Thank God, they cannot
cut down the clouds!” —Henry David
Thoreau.
Map by Annette Parsons.