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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 1957)
TEN MEDFORD (OREGON! MAIL TRIBUNE Sunday, January IS, 1957 otrest Service Reviews Highlights off 1 s1 ,576,906 For Improvements in Rogue The forest service, during 1956. spent $1,576,906 on improve ments in Rogue River National forest, according to the financial report for the year. The investment included construction of roads and trails, re placement and construction of bridges, roads built by allowance In timber sale appraisals, sale area betterments which included re forestation and other improvements. Operating expenses for the year totaled $996,727, for a total expense of $2,573,633. the report showed. Income from gates, spe cial collections from timber sales, congressional appropriation, and roads built by allowance in timber sale appraisals totaled $4,024, 889, leaving a net income of $1,451,356. A little less than 100 million board feet of timber sold brought the largest income, $1,873,944. the report showed. Other sales in come was from grazing fees, $6,536. and special use fee3, $13,601. Special collections from timber sales, which includes sale area bet terment. erosion control, slash disposal and protection, and work performed for users, totaled $115,027. The congressional appropri ation was $765,921. Highlights of activities by the forest service in Rogue River National forest include: TIMBER .nght. board allow- yl!l! Annuel naivcai iulaicu ly less than 100 million feet in 1956. The annual able cut under sustained has been set for several years 103 million feet. Earlier this sea ion the allowable cut was raised to 117 million feet. The increase is based on a number of devel opments. Cruise and scale volumes maae avauaoie irom widely spread timber sales in recent vear wprp used to ariiust older inventory estimates. Weight was given tree species not consid ered merchantable previously. Better logging equipment and methods were a factor together with more efficient utilization both in the woods and at indus trial rjlants. A detailed timber inventory survey will be started in 1957. Aerial photography was com- t . i , rnu will be used to delineate timber types for survey crews to use in the field next summer in locat ing and measuring around plots for volume and growth data. Total Cut Down Total cut on the forest was less than anticipated earlier in t'ne year. Sufficient timber was sold to reach the newly set al lowable cut of 117 million. However, a large volume of salvage timber necessarily was put on the market by the Klam ath national forest as a result of forest fires In Siskiyou county in 1955. It is estimated at least 50 million fee of fire damaged timber came into the Medford, Ashland and Klamath Falls areas from -that source during the summer. Also, a general soft ening in the market has been experienced by the lumber in dustry for several months. These two factors had noticeable af fect on local timber harvesting activity. About one-fourth of the 1956 cut was salvage harvest of wind thrown, diseased and insect in fested timber. A total of 65 sales were made under competitive bid. Forty-two sales were in amounts less than $2,000 each. REFORESTATION More than 693.000 trees were planted on 1,210 acres of cut over lands in 1956. During the last five years a total of 4.290 acres have been planted or seed ed using 2.400.000 seedling trees and 200 pounds of tree seed. Flanting by artificial methods hi confined to areas in which adequate natural restocking is not expected. WATER Last year the forest service reported special attention and study was to be afforded the Ashland watershed. This 11.000 acre tract is the source of do mestic water supply to the city of Ashland. Production of a sus tained flow of pure, unpolluted water for domestic consumption is by far the most important use of this tract of forest land. A detailed land use plan for the watershed is being prepared this year. The primary objective will be continued production of domestic water with intensified protection against all lossest The plan will include limited use of timber and other resources in a manner strictly compatible with full protection of soil and water. Salvage logging is now com pleted on the city of Medford watershed, comprising some 3. 000 acres. Over a period of sev eral years a planned salvage of scattered over-mature, timber on the watershed has returned more than $100,000 to the city. A stand improvement pro pram with emphasis on tree planting has been underway an nually since 1952 when the for est service entered into agree ment with the city to manage the Medford watershed lands at cost. Tree planting has been aimed at restocking old burns and other areas that failed in past years to restock naturally. The projects have shown good survival in the main and some Expended River Forest ;f I 1 ' " i 1 1- '" 1 ft-1" Hi j aa. k liV tge 'f 7' . ,"?'" t''.,'rC' . f ffjj v &jl 'iwT j SEEDLING DAMAGED This little seedling, planted on the site of a timber sale, has been stripped of its bark by a porcu pine, and will die. These rodents, and other animals and some in sects, constitute a major hazard in reforestation programs. of the earlier plantings o 1952 are now several feet high. Water Resources Water production and the wa ter resource in general are ;of singular importance on the na tional forest. Much of the head waters of both the Rogue and Applegate rivers lie within its boundaries. It is vitally impor tant all forest resource uses be planned and developed in a manner to assure sustained, con trolled flow of unpolluted water from its mountain source. Work is progressing cooper atively with the reclamation bu reau on the Talent project. Tim ber "is being cleared and sold from the tunnel and reservoir sites currently. Next summer the forest service will advertise to sell the right of way timber along the collection canals, prior to canal construction. FIRE CONTROL The 1956 fire season was less severe than 1955, but more se vere than average. Fall rains were delayed, resulting in criti cal fire weather throughout September. Lightning set an unusually large number of fires for a total of 81. Fifty of these were set by a series .of lightning storms in mid-August.. Full cooperation of forest industry and local citizens helped materially in realizing prompt control. Total number of fires from all causes was 93. with a burned area of only 14 acres. Suppression action was aided greatly by use of smokejumpers, parachuting of supplies to the ground crews, helicopter and aerial patrol. j RECREATION , 1 Use of the forest by recrea- tionists continues to increase. On peak weekends last season avail able facilities at forest camps and picnic areas were inade quate to handle the demand. An estimated 7,000 persons visited Lake of the Woods on the July Fourth holiday. Adidtional funds were made available by Congress this year and the allocation is being used to replace worn out and unserv iceable campground improve ments in the most heavily used areas. In addition, survey and plans will be marie to determine additional facilities needed to accommodate the steadily in creasing recreation use. GRAZING. WILDLIFE Grazing on mountain ranges by domestic livestock and wild life is one of the oldest uses of Rogue River forest resources. Range forage is an important resource. Utilization of the for- age on a sustained basis in sup- port of a portion of the livestock I RECREATION FACILITIES NEEDED The forest service has received increased appro priations for recreational purposes this year, and is stretching them to go as far as they can. The public camp space shown above, on the east shore of Lake of the Woods, is an example of how they have deteriorated in the years since they were first constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The fireplace has fallen, or been torn, down to a point where it is barely usable. The table is one industry dependent on the forest for summer range is the objec tive of management. During 1956, summer range was furnished to 7,378 cattle and 4,100 sheep, representing 100 separate livestock operators. A field survey of summer ranges was started last season and will continue through 1957. The purpose of the survey will be to provide current data on location, extent, condition and trend of forage areas. The data will be used in long term man agement plans for the resource. Close cooperation is enjoyed with the state game commission. The forest service manages wild life habitat within the national forests, while the state game commission manages the wild life resource itself. Lake of the Woods was poi soned for trash fish by the com mission in 1955 and restocked with trout in 1956. Both opera tions are reported successful, furnishing an important addi tion to lake sport fishing in the area. MINING CLAIMS Public Law 167 passed . by 84th Congress provides for res ervation to the government of rights to timber and other sur face resources on unpatented mining claims located after the law was passed. Provision also is made for de termination of surface rights on unpatented claims located be for the law was passed by a process of field examination, no tification, publication and pub lic hearing. Examination for determina tion of surface rights was start ed last fall on a 6,000 acre tract in the upper Applegate. Addi tional surface right determina tions are planned. ENGINEERING A network of roads, trails and telephone lines must be main tained annually to protect and use the national forest. Mainte nance this year covered 520 miles of road, 555 miles of trail and 265 miles of telephone line. Progress is being made to com plete a transportation system adequate to serve protection and use of the several resources. Lo cation survey was done on 82 miles of road and construction completed on 57 miles of new permanent routes. Federal access road funds pro vided for installation of a major bridge and connecting link across upper Rogue river. The route taps a large body of ma ture timber in the northeast cor ner of Jackson county. Through cooperative agree ment with- a private timber own er 11.5 miles of permanent road was completed along the hither to inaccessible Elliott creek in upper Applegate. O It C EXCHANGE Last year the forest service reported the passage of the Con gressional O & C Exchange act directing the forest service and the bureau of land management to exchange intermingled O & C and national forest lands. The purpose was to simplify and im prove administration for both agencies through elimiation of intermingled jurisdiction. The exchange was completed at the target date last' June. Ap proximately 67,000 acres of O & C land was transferred to the forest service and like amount of national forest land was ex changed to the bureau of land management. New administrative boundar ies have been established and there is every indication the ad justment is an important, prog- ressive step forward. ; v ' - '5 111?:- v r p." m m tt S- -il T 4 fHrilttii REFORESTATION UNDER WAY This cut-over area, in the Dead Indian area, is an example of a carefully conducted tim ber sale, although to the layman it may look like a "mess" for the time being. All downed and useless wood (called "slash" by foresters) has been heaped and burned to get rid of it as a fire hazard. Remaining logs are left to furnish humus for the soil. Throughout the area new trees have been hand-planted, and if all goes well in another five years there will be a healthy stand of small trees flourishing here. In another 80 to 100 years the area will be ready for another timber harvest. Two of the seed ling trees planted are shown in the picture. Canis Minor Contains Only Two Stars Easy to Observe Br FAY BENTLEY When Orion, the Mighty Hunter, was given a place in the sky, Jupiter also found room in the heavens for his two favorite hounds, Canis Major the Big Dog, and Canis Minor the Little Dog, thus making it possible for this courageous, though mythological, young man to pursue his favorite sport throughout eternity. Canis Minor, sometimes call ed the Lesser Dog, contains only two stars that are easy to see. They are yellow-white Procyon (PRO-see-on) of first magnitude, known as The Little Dog Star, with a dimmer star a short dis tance above it Faint Companion However, the telescope re veals a faint companion of Procyon invisible to the naked eye, which is claimed to be the densest and heaviest of any star known so far. At the surface of the earth one cubic inch of ma terial from this celestial body that constantly encircles The Little Dog Star would weigh 200 tons or 400,000 pounds. Procyon is approaching the earth at the rate of about 150 miles per minute. Because the distance between the earth and this star is approxi mately 11 light years, or 66 trillion miles, the possibility of a collision is extremely remote. Eastern Sky To locate Canis Minor look to the eastern sky about 8 p.m. During the first part of January which has been restored at one time or an other. One of the biggest problems is the fact that the forest camps are totally inadequate to accommodate the numbers of visitors who seek to use them. Last July 4 an estimated 8,000 people visited Lake of the Woods, and every camp site was filled and people were turned away. The same is true, to a lesser extent, of virtually every forest service camp site in the Rogue River National forest. 4 n. 3 " j it will be well above the horizon and slightly south of due east at that hour, but as winter pro gresses will gradually move farther to the south and climb higher in the sky. Canis Major or the Big Dog is lower in the sky and to the right or south of Canis Minor. Sirius, brightest star in the en tire celestial sphere forms the head of Canis Major and pro vides an easy recognition point for this star group. These two dogs seem to have an unlimited amount of "stick-to-it-ivness" and patience. Since the beginning of history they have been in constant pursuit of a rabbit or hare, and nightly continue their celestial hunt al though they are no nearer the object of the chase now than when they started. Lepus the Har Lepus the Hare, a group of rather dim stars which resem bles a bow of ribbon more than a rabbit, lies just below Orion. Its location makes finding it a simple matter if the night is clear. Orion and his two dogs night ly journey across the heavens; The Hunter with upraised club faces Taurus the Bull while his hounds constantly follow Lepus the Hare. A beautiful sky figure known as the Winter Triangle is com posed of red Betelgeuse in Ori on, Procyon in Canis Minor, and Sirius in Canis Major. These three giant suns form the points r it Mm. BLOWDOWN SALVAGE PROBLEM The view above shows timber in the Dead Indian area which blew down during last winter's storms. It presents a problem in forest management to the 'forest service, for such timber is subject to infestation by disease and insects, which can spread to healthy standing tim ber. When dry, it also is a major fire hazard. Much of the timber sales in recent years have been for the "salvage" of such trees, perfectly good now, but useless if left on the ground for any period of time. Number of Visitors At Crater Lake Show Increase During '56 A total of 359,840 people, traveling in 101,861 cars, visited Crater Lake National park dur ing 1956, an increase in travel of 4.65 per cent over 1955, ac cordion to Tom Williams, park superintendent. The total is 2.89 per cent less than the number traveling in the park in the peak year of 1954. Williams pointed out, how ever, that travel records for 1955 and 1956 may not be com parable to those of preceding years since there has been no check on traffic using Highway 62 through the park between the south and west entrances snice the fall of 1954. Figures for the past two years represent only those people who actually went to Crater Lake it self from the Annie Spring junc tion or from the north entrance Williams noted. North Entrance On the total visitors last year, 132,886. or 36.8 per cent, en tered through the north en trance, which was open from June 17 to Oct, 6. a total of 113 days. The remainder entered the park through the south and west entrances, and were logged at the Annie Spring checking sta tion. Bus service through the park, which was established last year, accounted for an increase of 42 per cent over the previous year of visitors arriving by bus. How ever, visitors entering the park by bus made up less than 1 per cent of the total last year. Visitors came from eery state, Canada, Alaska, Hawaii and several foreign countries. About 40 per cent of the cars were from ' Oregon, and more than half of the remaining 60 Livestock Feeding Class Holds First Meeting Central Point The grist livestock feeding course for ad ult farmers was held at the Cra ter High school agriculture de partment Wednesday . evening, Jan. 9. Next Class meeting will be Wednesday evening, Jan. 16. Farmers interested in learning basic fundamentals of livestock feeding may still enroll in the course at that time, it was an nounced. Plane Searched for Bomb Friday Night Stockton, Calif. (U.R) A United Airlines plane carrying 26 passengers was stopped shortly before takeoff Friday night after a telephone threat that there was a bomb aboard. Authorities labeled the inci dent a hoax after a four-hour search proved fruitless. of an almost equilateral triangle in the southeastern sky and may be seen about 8 p.m. on any clear night during the winter. M M 1 & A o Z 3 per cent were from California. Increased Trend The increase in travel at Cra ter Lake is in line with a trend reported from all 29 national parks and about 150 other areas which made up the national park system, Williams said.- Park service officials have an ticipated that by 1966, the 50th anniversary ot the service, about 600,000 people will visit Crater Lake. To meet increased demand. the park service has launched its Mission 66 program, a 10 year development program to bring necessary facilities up to standard. Work on the program already is under way at Crater Lake National park. Yule Toy Project Said Biggest to Date The Medford Lady Lions and the Medford firemen announced Saturday that the 1956 Christ mas project was the largest they have undertaken to date. Mrs. Alan Jewelt, chairman of the project, said 662 children were given toys at Christmas in 1956, while only 567 were given toys in 1955. A total of 206 families in Medford and the im mediate vicinity received Christ mas help this year. This total is about 50 more than those re ceiving assistance last year. In addition to hundreds of dolls dressed by the Lady Lions with the help of individuals and organizations the firemen repair ed and painted several hundred wheel toys. Among the items re paired and painted were 58 wa gons. 138 tricycles, 34 pedal cars, 13 wheel barrows, five sidewalk bikes, 10 doll buggies and 28 rocking chairs and rocking toys. Firemen washed and steriliz ed 1,500 cellophane bags of small toys, which were includ ed in each box of gifts, Mrs. Jewett said. This work was done between Nov. 1 and Dec. 20. Air Line Firm May Get Scheduled Flights Portland U.R) General Airways, Inc., a non-scheduled airline based in Portland, said Saturday it expected Civil Aero nautics Board authorization shortly to operate 10 scheduled flights per month. The Portland line Friday was one of 31 non-sKeas recom mended for limited scheduling by an examiner for the CAB. Final authority will become effective in about 10 days. General operates a fleet of DC-3s and ,DC-4s out of Port land International Airport in military and international trans portation. It applied for sched uled operations four years ago. About one-sixth of the state of Delaware's total area is water surface. . Prism Cruising Is Discussed at SAF Meeting Friday Prism Cruising has eliminated . the necessity of importance in several factors of timber cruis ing, Gwen Sherrar, of the Ma son, Bruce and Girard company, Portland, said Friday night, Sherrar discussed prism cruis ing at a meeting of the Siskiyou chapter of the Society of Amer- ican Foresters at the Jackson hotel. By use of prism cruising, he said, timber cruisers feel they can obtain more accurate and quicker job of determining the amount of timber in a given plot. Under the old type cruising method, the cruiser had to de termine the plot size, record the diameter of the trees with the best height, the number of logs in the tree, the breakage, and the form class of the tim ber, Sherrar said. Factors Mentioned One factor of prism cruising. he said, is the correct use of the prism to record the number of trees, and the number of logs in each tree recorded. The di ameter has become unimportant, although it still is recorded by the prism method, he said, and it no longer is necessary to con sider form class of the tree. Through prism cruising, more of the larger trees are recorded than smaller sizes, he said. The prism method also can be used on windfall trees to determine if they are within the plot. The prism cruising method has been developed by the Port land timber consultant firm since about 1953, and in the fall of 1955 the firm went complete ly to using the method, Sherrar said. The method was originally developed in Germany in 1948. Hossein Khosrovi, chief of management and wood utiliza tion of the Iran forestry depart ment, discussed his mission in the United States. He has been in the Rogue valley area for about 10 days studying methods of logging, and lumber manu facture. On his return to Iran, he will manage one of the larg est lumber mills in Iran. . . Minor Accidents Reported to Police Three minor accident were reported to city police Thursday. Cars driven by Jean Frances Quackenbush, 2647 Table Rock rd., and Grady Allen Conner, 724 Victory St., Medford, were involved in an accident on North -Central ave. at East Jackson st. Conner was arrested by city police and confined to city jail on charges of driving while under the influence of intoxi cating beverages. Two vehicles operated by Diane Gay Disberry, 728 West Eleventh St., and Harold Ditmar Hornseth, SOI Marshall ave., col lided at noon Thursday on Main st. between Central ave. and Bartlett ave. No citations were issued. . City police reported that car driven by Oliver Ora Mor ton, 10 West Jackson St., Med ford, hit a parking meter on Main st. between Front and Cen tral ave. Morton was not cited by police. Williams Reelected President of League C. C. Williams, Ashland, wai reelected, president of the Jack son County Milk Producers league at a meeting last week. Some 80 persons attended the meeting, held at the Roxy Ann Grange hall. Will R. Hubbard, Eagle Point, was named vice president, and Carl Hover, Central Point, sec retary. New members of the board of directors elected were W. C. Higinbotham, Central Point, Harry Dunn, Central Point, and Albert Straus, Sams Valley. Retiring board members are J. C. Kesler and Mrs. Lewis Clark, both fo Medford, and Frank Straus, Gold Hill. Harold Hodgkins. St. Paul, Minn., spoke on technical mat ters pertaining to the bulk han dling of milk and milk prod ucts. Medford Man Elected To Real Estate Post McMinnville U.R) C. L." Knight of McMinnville Friday night was named new president of the Oregon State Association of Real Estate Boards at a meet ing held here. Other officers are M. J. Coso vich of Astoria, Frank J. Kinney of Eugene and Everett Bartholo mew of Medford, vice presi dents; George N. Meyer of Portr -land, treasurer; and Taylor Tretca of Portland, secretary.
