YEARS
A lot has changed at Kinzua
Sixty-eight years of pro
gress mark the Kinzua Tree
Farm which now encompas
ses 240,000 acres in Wheeler,
Morrow, Grant, Union and
Umatilla counties. The Kinzua
story is one of intensive
management to assure a con
stant supply of usable wood
fibre for the furniture and
building trades, coupled with
the preservation of forest re
sources for grazing, wildlife,
watersheds and recreation.
The Kinzua Tree Farm was
founded in 1909 by E.D.
Wetmore of Warren, Penn.
Wetmore rode by horseback
through the Kinzua area to
purchase 50,000 acres from
Past page three
oLand swap 5
oHow it tvorks -6
c28 year service 9
oKinzua town 11
oReid Mill 18
o Where it goes 1 9
environmental and human re
source for the future.
The Kinzua program goes
beyond trees to the consider
ation of water, feed for wild
life and other utilization,
including the leasing of all
Kinzua lands to local ranchers
for grazing livestock,
homesteaders. In later years,
he donated land for Shelton
State Park. The park was
established in memory of his
first timber cruiser.
In 1953, the tree farm was
purchased by Pacific North
west lumbermen. The work of
complete utilization of wuud
fibre at mills in Kinzua and
Heppner was characterized by
continued improvements of
intensive management. These
practices became synony
mous with the Kinzua name in
the tradition of modern forest
management practices.
Marking the growth of
Kinzua has been a special
pride in its tree farming
operations, all aimed at con
tinual renewal of trees as an
The seed work of the present
mill operation in Heppner
started about 21 years ago.
With the advent of Kinzua
Corporation, development
started at a steady pace,
building to completion of the
plywood plant in 1974. De
velopment has continued
rapidly during the past five
years.
Planned thinning
Kinzua depends entirely
upon nature to provide neces
sary moisture. Because of
limited rainfall in the area,
the number of trees per acre
must be limited to assure
satisfactory growth.
In each harvesting opera-
tion. Kinzua foresters select
the best trees as "leave trees"
to provide for a future crop as
well as a superior seed source
for new stands. Consideration
is also given to correct spac
ing of trees.
A newly planted area might
contain 700 trees per acre,
while a healthy stand of
harvest size trees might
number 100 trees to the acre.
The critical period in a
stand's life is between its
establishment and the first
commercial thinning. Trees
suffering from the competit
ion of tJiOuSuiiCiS of tree stems
per acre must be released
mechanically or valuable
growing time will be lost.
Wood cuts show trees grow
ing more wood fibre in eight
years, following one pre
commercial thinning, than
they grew in the previous 38
years. For every 17,500 acres
thinned, an increase in annual
production of one million
board feet results, along with
dramatic increases in forage
for livestock and wildlife.
Systematic operations
A typical operation in Kin
zua intensive management
units on the tree farm includes
the following practices:
A normal logging opera
tion removes the harvest size
trees from the working area.
A commercial thinning
operation is conducted to ob
tain the desired spacing of
trees over 9" in diameter at
the stump. Material to 6" in
diameter at the top is utilized
for the plywood facility at
Heppner.
A pre-commercial thin
ning is conducted to provide
proper spacing of trees under
9" in diameter.
Final treatment includes
clean-up of brush by piling,
scattering and mulching,
building water bars and dips
in roads and trails to reduce
erosion, and closing as many
roads as possible.
Planting program
Once these practices have
been completed, the disturbed
soil makes an excellent seed
bed for planting grass and
feed for. wildlife over the
entire area, and for the hand
planting of two year old tree
seedlings in open areas.
Up to 60,000 pounds of grass
seed and 30,000 tree seedlings
are added each year. The
seedlings are grown from seed
gathered from superior trees
at the elevation to be planted.
A power auger is used to
drill holes for the seedlings
and they are shaded by a piece
of bark or rock. Kinzua often
seeds in styro-block (plug)
containers which offer many
advantages in the speed of
planting and increased per
centage of survival.
Long range planning con
tinues and includes aerial
flights of the tree farm. Aerial
photos taken during the flights
produce new maps for pro
fessional management.
Cooperation
Kinzua works with the
National Forest Service and
the Bureau of Land Man
agement to exchange thous
ands of acres of company land
within the National Forest.
This land is exchanged for
scattered tracts held by the
Forest Service and BLM
within the main holdings of
Kinzua. Kinzua officials feel
that each party in the ex
change can thus do a better
job of management for the
future.
At the present time, about
158 people work at Kinzua in
the mill and in the woods.
About 320 people are employ
ed at Heppner in the sawmill
and plywood plants. The Kin
zua organization includes
sales, marketing, administra
tion, payroll, records, per
sonnel, and other aspects of
modern business practice,
gives a seasonal employment
range of 588 persons.
Employment at Kinzua rep
resents a basic monthly pay
roll in excess of $540,000, a
stable contribution to the
area's economy. Logging con
tractors also represent sig
nificant payrolls in connection
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Aerial view of Kinua at Heppner taken this week shows
rapid development toward total log utilization. Comparison
photo, above, was taken in I!I7I.
r
with their Kinzua tree farm
contracts in the five county
area.
Lease plan
A new tree farm lease is
available to landowners in
Eastern Oregon that offers
long range forest improve-
ment programs as well as
guaranteed annual payments
for the lease. The program
removes mature and over
stocked timber, leaving a
growing, healthy tree farm for
future generations to manage
in perpetuity.
Kinzua officials express a
desire for well planned
growth. In keeping with this
hope, planning for future
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generations is important at
Kinzua. To assure a continued
supply of plywood for building
and quality pine for furniture,
Kinzua at the same time is
actively working to keep
Eastern Oregon green with
trees forever.
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