SUNDAY,
The Story of
(Editor's Nate: Following is
a story about the planting and
seeding of a clear cut, or
logged off area, in the Pros
pect Ranger District. The
area described, called Jim
Top, Is at the headwaters of
Jim Creek, which starts at
the Elk Creek Divide, high
above the Woodruff Meadow
area, then empties into the
Rogue River near the
meadows.)
By JIM REILLY
Prospect Forester,
Prospect Ranger District
It was a cool, overcast, not
unusual winter morning last
December. A light skiff of snow
covered the ground and flocked
the tops of the pines, cedar,
and Douelas fir on the flat.
A thousand feet higher, near
the divide, the snow was a pure,
white, heavy blanket; bending
the hemlock and noble fir with
its weight.
A light drizzle was falling in
the middle of the hill, i drizzle
too cold to be rain and not quite
cold enough to be snow. It was
a lime ol silence for the moun
tain forest, a peaceful scene:
the hills and trees, the stream,
the ever-pressing sky, the soli.
tary, lonely, winding logging
road and the clcarcut.
Clcarcut Is Newcomer
The clearcut was a newcomer.
A steep, bare, 40-acre piece of
land, it had not been there two
years ago. Two springs ago this
opening in the forest was the
scene of, daily activity. First
came the fallers and buckers to
down the trees and cut them
into lengths suitable for process
ing, then a huge, stationary log
ging engine with a cable system
ultachcd to it winched log after
log up the steep slopes to a flat
spo t near the road called a
landing. There they were piled
to form a "deck." When a suf
ficient number of logs were in
the deck they were loaded onto
trucks, which shuttled back and
forth along the road to and from
the sawmill.
The clcarcut was called Jim
Top 2 and was the second log
ging unit in a timber sale which
opened this mountain forest
country for the use and enjoy
ment of people. Timber from
this clearcut would soon
find use for a variety of pur
poses from wooden toys for
children to studs, joists, and
beams in building construction.
But now, logging had long
since been completed, the slash
and debris had been windrowed,
'. and the ground was bare. The
ry J 4 J0 Ills JSSSS3? " " ' " " """ " ?"(
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It
STORAGE SHED Dave Richey, foreman of the Prospect plant
ing crew, stands in the Prospect Ranger District's tree storage
shed. The young trees are packaged in plastic impregnated paper
bags which aid in controlling humidity during storage. The shed is
fully insulated.
area seemed deserted except for
faint, almost inaudible sounds
coming up from the bottom of
the clearing.
Trays With Trees
Then, coming on into view,
trudged a line of six men carry
ing planting hoes and metal
trays filled with small trees. Up
the hill they went, about eight
feet apart, pausing every few
paces to scalp the ground clear
of snow and debris, lift their
hoc, bite deep into the earth, put
a tree in the opening and tamp
down around it to compact the
soli.
The men were part of Pros
pect Ranger District's project
work crew, doing a portion of
their annual planting and seed
ing ot trees to replenish ine tim
ber that was cut in order to
keep the forest growing and
keep its values intact.
At this time of year when the
forest was resting, when plants
were dormant, and the activi
ties of most men and wildlife
Replanting Logged Off Area in National
-u
had ceased in this locale, it was
time to plant tree seedlings. For
the seedlings were also dor
mant, and the disturbance of
being lifted from the nursery
and planted on the clcarcut
would do a minimum amount of
root damage at this time.
Just as there is a story behind
the creation of the forest, so
also is there a story behind
man's use of the forest a story
behind our particular clearcut,
Jim Top 2, and the tree planters
trudging up its slope with their
planting trays and hoes.
The clearcut actually had its
origin in 19S8 when it was in
cluded as part of the Prospect
Ranger District's annual "Five-
Year Action Plan a plan of
proposed timber sales to be
laid out each year during the
subsequent five-year period. The
plan guides tne district in a sys
tematic and orderly develop
ment of the timber resources
to better serve the public interests.
A few months before work
was started in laying the sale
out on the ground, a rough esti
mate was made of the amount,
kind, and age of seedlings that
would probably be needed to
adequately restock the area fol
lowing logging.
FORWARDED TO NURSERY
This estimate was placed on
a sowing schedule and for
warded to a forest nursery to
allow them enough time to grow
the seedlings. Usually, seedlings
are not used until they are at
least two years old.
After groundwork was done
on the proposed sale (marking
of clearcut unit boundaries, lo
cating main and spur roads, and
determining the amount and
quality of timber), an appraisal
was made of various costs and
profits of logging. The apprais
al included a "Sale Area Bet
terment" plan which assured
that an adequate amount of
money would be set aside from
the stumpage value of the tim
ber to provide reforesting the
area cut over.
The summer following logging
of the Jim Top sale, as happens
every summer, inventory lists
were sent from the various nur
series to the national forests of
the region. Prospect Ranger
District received a copy of this
list from the Rogue River Na
tional Forest supervisor's office
in Medford. The list described
the trees that were on hand at
the nurseries.
Tree Are Ordered
From this list, along with
trees needed for other sales,
trees were ordered that would
have the necessary characteris
tics to survive and grow on Jim
Top 2. A few weeks later, a let
ter was received from the nur
series allocating to Prospect the
trees sought. This meant that
Prospect district was assured
of a certain supply of seedlings
and that later on, during the
planting season, the trees could
be picked up at the nursery as
they were needed.
Starting in early October, the
district's project work crew
began spot seeding in the high
country with tree seed. Later,
as more soil moisture was pres
ent following light rain and
snow, planting began. One day,
early in December, tree seed
lings were picked up at the nur
sery for use on Jim Top 2.
Even the process of placing
trees in the ground is not neces
sarily a simple job. The roots
of each layer of seedlings in the
planters' tree-carrying trays
were covered with moistened
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD,
.tv- ''.- t j
BRUSH CLEARING Part of the site prepa
ration work done prior to tree planting is
depicted in this photo. Personnel of the Pros
vermiculite, a silicate made
from mica. Across the top layer
of roots was a double thickness
of wet burlap. These precau
tions had been taken to prevent
drying out of the fine root hairs.
Spot Is Selected
Typically, a planter selected a
spot which provided some
shade, such as a rock or a cull
log, cleared the area of debris,
and plunged the head of the
planting hoe into the soil. By
lifting the handle up and then
moving it downwards, a hole
was made which was large
enough to insert a tree. The
rocking action on the hoe, how
ever, also made a hole beneath
the seedling root level, so that
the top and bottom of the hole
formed an hourglass shape,
making an air gap at the bottom
that could dry out and kill the
roots.
The planter carefully pulled
a seedling from the tray in a
manner to prevent the roots
from meshing, tangling, and
breaking against the remaining
seedlings. The seedling was
placed in the hole, and the hoe
was gently removed, allowing
the seedlings to slide into place.
The tree was held high
OREGON
a
w 7U-X :
enough so the root collar, a
slight swelling at the juncture
of the stem and roots, was at
ground level. Then the planter
pushed the loose soil back into
the hole, and, with a hard kick,
angled toward the tree about a
foot away from the stem, com
pacted the soil around the tree
roots, closing the air gap at the
base of-the hourglass.
Procedure Is Repeated
This procedure was repeated
as the panters worked their way
up the hill. Each tree seedling
and each planting spot present
ed a slightly different problem,
a slightly different manner in
which to do an effective planting
job. At times, a piece of bark
was used for shade. Sometimes
a spot proved too rocky and the
planter would move ahead to the
next potential site.
Taking all things into consid
eration the length of the seed
ling roots, soil moisture and
rockincss, available shade, the
amount of competition to be ex
pected from nearby brush or
grass sprouts, and the spacing
needed lo fully utilize the poten
tial of the area for growing
trees, the job of the planter had
its complexities and required
P MEDFORD 545 Stevem Street
-ll . " MEDFORD Westgate Center
M f MEDFORD 13th and Central
V S tJr rMr I J tntn etfectivt through Wed., Dec. 18
v ...
i to.
pect Range.- District cleared the brush before
planting seedlings on Peavine Burn, a 1,200
acre brushfield in the district.
careful consideration of the
work.
At some earlier date, consid
eration had been shown in
selecting healthy tree seed from
the proper elevation level, sow
ing seed in the nursery, lifting
the developed seedlings from
the nursery beds, storing them
in warehouses in which the hu
midity and temperature were
controlled, and in transporting
them to Prospect Ranger Dist
rict headquarters and ultimate
ly to the planting site.
Plant 706 Acres
Last year Prospect's crews
planted 706 acres and seeded 770
acres. The planting areas includ
ed 245 acres on recent clearcuts,
254 acres on clearcuts that had
been planted previously and
needed supplemental stocking,
and 207 acres on Peavine Burn,
a large brushfield dating back
before the turn of the century,
that has been cleared.
The seeding areas included 227
acres on recent clearcuts and
543 acres on Peavine Burn that
had been planted previously and
needed additional stocking.
Units planted varied in eleva
tion from 5.500 feet near the
Rogue-Umpqua divide to 2,800
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DEVELOPMENT AND WE WISH THE VERY FINEST
SUCCESS FOR THE FUTURE.
feet on Prospect flat. Steepness
of slopes ranged from almost
flat to over 45 degrees on units
such as Round Top I on the Elk
Creek divide.
Almost 400,000 trees and 73
pounds of seed, averaging 23,500
seeds per pound, were used in
this forcstation effort, which re
quired upwards to 10,000 man
hours of work and 6,000 miles
of travel.
On 346 acres of land window
ing of logging slash and debris
and brush was done to prepare
planting sites, and 147 acres of
dense brush was killed by herbi
cides to give coniferous trees be
neath the brush additional mois
ture and sunlight necessary for
survival and growth.
According to Forest Service
regional standards for Oregon
and Washington, an area is con
sidered successfully planted
when there are 250 well estab
lished, evenly distributed, vigor
ously growing saplings per acre
tall enough to prevent serious
browse damage from deer or
elk.
In order to attain this mini
mum standard, 680 trees per
acre are usually planted initial
ly. A variety of occurrences de
termines the amount of survival
that will be realized. Natural
factors such as temperature,
moisture, and light influence
plant survival and growth.
. Ground temperatures, for in
stance, often reach as high as
150 degrees Fahrenheit on south
facing slopes in the middle of
summer. This is often hot
enough to kill food and fluid
carrying cambial cells which
lie between the wood and thin
bark on a seedling.
The expansion of water into
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Forest
ice crystals in the upper soil
layers on cold winter days some
times pushes small seedlings
part way out of the ground, ex- .
posing the roots. Brush may
sprout from already developed
root systems following logging
and planting and may overtop
nearby seedlings cutting out the
necessary light.
There arc, of course, varying '
weather conditions from year to
year. Last spring, for instance,
was quite cool and moist and
conditions for seeding survival
were generally beneficial.
On an average, however, tak
ing the bad years with the good
ones, it has been determined
that planting 680 trees per acre
will usually insure survival of
250 sapling size trees at four or
five years after planting.
Sometime between the first
and second growing seasons fol
lowing planting stocking surveys
are made to determine seedling
survival on each planting area.
If survival is poor an analysis
is made of the reason for fail
ure, and the unit is replanted as
soon as possible.
If survival is adequate an ad
ditional survey is made between
the fifth and sixth growing sea
sons. If the plantation is still in
good condition at the second sur
vey it has an excellent chance
of surviving and becoming a
mature stand of timber.
By advance planning, logging,
planting, and follow-up record
keeping as a basis for future
plans, true conservation of for
est resources is practiced by
harvesting and utilizing the pro
ducts of the forest and subse
quently by managing the land
to perpetuate its value and
beauty.