October 19, 2018
T he C olumbia P ress
5
Timber tour takes leaders through working forest projects
B y p eggy y ingst
The Columbia Press
The forests are all right.
That’s because dozens of lo-
cal and state agencies have
partnered to make it so.
The 28th annual Clatsop
County Forestry Tour on
Wednesday gave community
leaders a chance to go into
the woods to see how the tim-
ber industry is managed.
The tour was sponsored by
Clatsop Forestry and Wood
Products Economic Develop-
ment Committee.
“Timber is money,” said
Monica Steele, Clatsop Coun-
ty’s budget and finance direc-
tor. “It’s essentially a crop.”
Timber is Oregon’s largest
industry. And Clatsop County
is 94 percent forest.
The first stop was Hamp-
ton Lumber’s Big Creek Tree
Farm, where visitors saw the
stream restoration project to
improve fish passage.
When Hampton bought
the land in 1991, the compa-
ny wondered why there were
no fish above the hatchery,
site manager Bud Henderson
said.
The previous owner had
dug trenches and installed
culverts to divert the creek
so that bridges wouldn’t
wash out during big storms.
A $390,000 grant helped in-
stall new bridges, and dona-
tions from Hampton of labor,
rocks, fill dirt and hundreds
of trees, put the creek back
where it belonged.
At another stop in the Clat-
sop State Forest, visitors
toured a cut-to-length thin-
ning operation.
Tess Hamby, the new ag-
ricultural and industrial
instructor at Astoria High
School, envisions bringing
three or four students with
her next year.
“With my woodshop class-
es, I have kids who like to
work with their hands,” Ham-
by said. “They’re interested
in woodworking. By bringing
them here, I can show them
all the possibilities and they
can see their projects from
start to finish.”
Matt Mattioda, who man-
ages cut-to-length teams for
Miller Timber Services, com-
pared what he does to home
gardening.
“Like the carrots in your
garden, it’s necessary to regu-
larly thin some of these trees
to allow others to get bigger,”
he said. “There’s a fine line.
… What we leave behind is
a whole lot more important
than what we send down the
road.”
At the Northrup Creek
Horse Camp in southeast
Clatsop County, the state per-
forms a difficult balancing
act to integrate off-highway
vehicle users, campers and
equestrians, all while serv-
ing to protect and maintain a
working forest.
There are 30 miles of trails
up to Nicolai Mountain. New
this year is an obstacle train-
ing course for horses that in-
cludes a teeter-totter bridge.
The forest has important
recreational value, said Char-
lie Moyer, a reforestation and
recreation manager for Clat-
sop State Forest.
“In the past, we have en-
capsulated seed in nutrients
and dropped them into the
ground,” Moyer said. “But
seed is expensive, so we pre-
fer to plant seedlings.”
The state will rely on 11
nurseries for its supply of
three-quarters of a million
seedlings this year. They have
planted cedar seedlings in
the past, but it’s one of the
favorites for deer and elk to
pull from the ground, he said.
When they plant cedar, they
now add netting around the
base to discourage the ani-
mals from eating them.
Neil Bond of ODF’s Clat-
sop County protection unit,
said his agency protects up to
450,000 acres of timberland.
They manage six engines
filled with 400 gallons of wa-
ter and patrol forestry roads.
During fire season, they’re
required to have a fire truck
on site when firms are cutting
or thinning the forest.
Tom Clark, an engineering
forester with Greenwood Re-
sources, got involved in the
tours three years ago. This
year, he chaired the tour
committee.
“I got involved with the for-
estry project and fell in love,”
he said.
Matt Mattioda of Miller Timber Services describes the work
of the state-of-the-art Ponsee Harvester behind him.
With Nicolai Moun-
tain as a back-
drop, tour mem-
bers hear about
future plans for
harvesting Hamp-
ton’s Douglas fir
and alder. In 25
years, the stand
will be thinned
and harvested 15
years later.
Peggy Yingst
The Columbia Press
Bud Henderson, Hampton site
manager, talks about his com-
pany’s maintenance plans.
Obituary
Shirley Irvin
Warrenton
Shirley Loretta Irvin, a
nearly lifelong resident of
Warrenton, died Saturday,
Oct. 13, at her home. She was
86.
Irvin
was
born in Seaside
to Virgie Shultz
and Roy “Hap”
Magnuson and
graduated from
Warrenton
High School in
Irvin
1949.
That summer, she married
her high school sweetheart,
Jack Irvin, and they were
married for 64 years until his
death in 2003. Together they
raised four children.
In her early adult life, she
worked as a waitress, a can-
nery worker and a telephone
company operator. Later
she became a stay-at-home
mother.
She was an active and long-
time member of Warrenton
Christian Church.
Irvin was an avid wood
carver and made hundreds
of wooden Santas, which
she often gave to family and
friends. She loved to gar-
den, play bridge and be with
friends.
She is survived by a son,
Donald, daughters Mar-
leen Torian and Kathy Ir-
vin, six grandchildren and 11
great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will
be held at noon Friday, Oct.
19, at Warrenton Christian
Church, 1376 S.E. Anchor
Ave. All are welcome.
The family suggests that
in lieu of flowers, memorial
contributions be made in her
name to Astoria Rescue Mis-
sion, 62 W. Bond St., Astoria
OR 97103.
thecolumbiapress.com
Charlie Moyer, a Clatsop State
Forest reforestation manager.
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