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About Vernonia eagle. (Vernonia, Or.) 1922-1974 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1946)
THURS., FEB. 21, 1946 THE EAGLE, Vernonia, Oregon Sub-Committee Outlines Best Timber Land Use The following report of a sub committee on land use, as pre pared by the committee of which Glen Hawkins is chairman, tells a good many details about so much of Columbia county land which is best suited for the grow ing of timber. The report was presented last Friday at the Out look Conference in St. Helens. The report is worthy of pre sentation here. INTRODUCTION Logging cn a liquidation basis in any county having a large stand of virgin timber has always ended in maladjustment of the county economy. The “cut out and get out” policy inevitably re sults in reduced income to the citizens, a migrant population and a threat to the solvency of the government through the re duction of the tax base. The return to the highroad of financial solvency on a basis comparable to that enjoyed dur ing the era of a vast storehouse For Pasteurized MILK CREAM and BUTTERMILK right from the farm to your door, write or call Telephone No. 7F51 CUR PRODUCTS ALWAYS SATISFY 11-22-46 PEBBLE CREEK DAIRY Timber Rt., Box 56 Vernonia, Oregon of timber is a condition that can not be achieved over night. In fact, log production and result ing prosperity enjoyed during the heyday cf liquidation will never return. Liquidation was overcut ting and the prosperity resulting therefrom was transitory. The land does not have the capacity of continued forest production equivalent to early day logging. There must be a proper balance between the growth and the har vest. This is the ideal to be ach ieved but it requires time. For est growth is a slow process. Certain land programs and pol icies have been established which, if followed, will grow in impor tance as the years go by and the result will be a gradual bet terment in the welfare of the people of the county. Continued adherence to a definite and pro gressive forest policy is necessary to improve the balance between the human and physical resources of the county. HISTORY Prior to the turn of the cen tury Columbia county was al most completely covered with high quality timber. Rail and water transportation and manu facturing plants within a radius of a few miles, placed the coun ty in a strategic position in log production. Some of the earliest logging in the Oregon country was in Columbia county. The county saw the transition from the old hand logging through the ox team, donkey engines and railroad t~ansportation into the modern caterpil'ar logging and truck transportation. This was the period of timber liquidation which resulted in abandoned lands, tax delinquencies and a threat to financial insolvency in governmental activities. Columbia county, through the force of circumstances, has gone through a period of readjust ment. It has been faced with critical financial situations but has succeeded. The era of tim ber liquidation has ended. For estry in the county now becomes forestry of the future for it is a county of second growth tim ber of varying ages. Future for estry income lies in second growth. Whether this income is AUTO CLINIC WE ARE EQUIPPED TO SERVICE ANY AND ALL MAKES OF AUTOMOBILES. SEE US FOR PARTS, FUEL, LUEES OR REPAIR. Geo. Johnson Vernonia Serv. Sla. Oregon-American LUMBER CORPORATION Vernonia, Oregon PROTECT Family Health Without the very best food that money can buy, sickness has an open invitation to attack you and your family. See that this doesn’t happen in your family by trading at KING’S MARKET every time you shop. Meat, produce bakery goods, groceries, daily products and household necessities. KING’S Grocery - Market “Where Your Money Buys More’’ At the Mile Bridge Phone 91 Riverview to be stable er transitory depends upon the forest land owner and the public agencies. The future looks bright for forests are now regarded as a crop and are be ing so managed. LAND OWNERSHIP PATTERN The history of the land own ership pattern in Columbia coun ty is similar in many respects to that of all counties which at one time contained a larger amount of merchantable timber. In the early days nearly all forest land was in private ownership, but coincident with logging came land abandonment, continuing on. an ever increasing scale as log ging progressed. During the late 30’s the county found itself the owner of large areas of forest land. But by the beginning of the oresent decade a change be came apparent. An active market developed for lands carrying a stand of merchantable or near- merchantable second growth. By degrees this market expanded to include all classes of forest land. These new purchasers were in forestry on a permanent basis. Thus came about one of the es sentials of modern forestry—sta- balized land ownership. It is unlikely that the county will again be the owner of any large acreage of forest land but some tracts of limited area may pass to county ownership. There should, therefore, be some policy relative to the disposal or man agement of these lands. The county has three courses which it might follow. These include (1) sale to private individuals or to companies, (2) retention in coun ty ownership and (3) transfer of title to the state forestry de partment. Private Ownership. It is recog nized that private ownership is most desirable. Sales should be made cn the best terms pon- s'ble from the county stand point and only under condi tions which give reasonable as surance that such lands are to b'» dedicated to permanent for est production. County Ownership. The COuftty may decide to retain title to lands beeaise of location, lack of available purchasers, a de sire to cooperate in a timber management program, recte- ation, watershed protection, ex perimental areas or seme other reason. Whenever the county decides to hold forest land on a permanent basis, such for est-- should be dedicated as county forests by county c.urt action. The lands cannot then be alienated without a vote of the pec pie. State Ownership. Where the county does not deside to re tain title to, those lands that will not go into private owner ship, such lands mav be deed ed to the state of Oregon for the use and benefit of its beard of forestry. The state accepts the responsibility of protection and administration and returns 75 per cent of the gross income to the county at the time cf logging. In a discussion of the land ownership pattern, mention should be made of the desi ability of publicly owned watersheds. Title may rest with the municipality, county or state, providing the area s primarily and permanent ly dedicated to the use of the municipality. Where such areas have not already been acquired, action should be taken as soon as possible. PROBLEMS OF LAND USE The problem facing Columbia county in land use is allocation of lands according to their adapt ability to farming, g azing for estry, indu trial and recreati >nal sites. Twelve per cent or 50,000 ac res of C. lumbia county is im proved farm land, from which the farmer is receiving a part or all of his income. Eighty seven per cent or 362,- 000 acres of Columbia county are potential timber forest lands. From these facts it is evid. nt that Columbia county's economic future is going to be dependent to a large extent on the efficient development by individual and private industry of these poten tial t'mber growing lands. The growing of timber is no longer a hit or miss affair; it has be.cme a s. f ntific operation the same as dirt farming. With the passing of th large virgin timbered areas, we have seen the rise of technical forestry and the technical forester has become the tree farmer of our aeqaint- anee. His problems and the prob lems of the dirt farmer are much the -amf. He is affected by winds, rain, drojth, nnd fire. Scientific experiments have shown that grazing can be an in tegral part of tree farming. The results of grazing cattle and horses have been very good, on the other hand, tests have shown, unfortunately, that sheep and g ats are harmful to a new for est crop. Much planning is needed be fore a decision is made on which lands should be set aside for the growing of timber. Economic forest management requires the forest area to be in a compara tively large block as free from broken small ownerships as pos sible. When it is necessary to settle within a forest area the location should be picked for its accessibility by roads, power and transportation. Isolated settle ment can become an expensive venture to local as well as coun ty budgets through the added expense cf long school bus runs, added road costs, etc. REFORESTRATION Reforestration in Columbia county is a minor problem. The soil conditions, topography and climate are ideal for the growing of timber. Practically all of the timber growing acreage is re- sto.'ked with very minor acreage that will need replanting. This county is regonized as the fin est timber growing county in the State of Oregon. The productive capacity of its lands are excep tionally good with slightly more than ninety per cent the acreage being Site II and Site III and ne Site V or the poorest growing conditions. MANAGEMENT Since Columbia county and private industry are the largest owners of timber growing acre ages it is only natural that the farm woodlot and small land owner will look to them for ad vice and heln in the proper de velopment of their wood lands. Private industry is approaching the tree farm development in a scientific manner. Roads are be ing built into even the remotest areas, the idea being to be able to drive to within fifteen hun dred feet of any location. These roads are a permanent instal lation that will be maintained perpetually. Fire trails are being built as a precautionary measure. Telephone l:nes are being m- stalled so that service may be had from any area. Salvage logging operations are following the big logging shows, harvesting pulpwood, shingle bolts, and short merchantable logs. This is not only a source of revenue but it is also a pre cautionary measure, reducing future fire hazards bv clearing the ground of inflamable debris. In the larger stands of second growth thinning operations are being carried on, selectively. This cleans up the forest and gives the remaining timber a chance to exDand much faster. The count” owned lands are not getting the attention due an asset of their potential value. The more accessab'e stands are being disposed of. The usual pro cedure is a slashing of the area for the pulpwood or tie timber it contains, leaving a dangerous slash as a menace to remaining stands and the denuded land re verting back to county ownership. Any eftunty so dependent on timber resources for its economic well beinir should study its prob lem scientifically and setup a program fo" the development of county owned lands which will be a source cf income nernetually and an examDle of efficient man- a'-ement to the mall land owner. This will mean the installation of trained foresters but the ultimate retu'ns justify the expense. MARKETS We are particularly fortunate in Columbia county from a mar keting standpoint for our t'm- be • products. There is already located 'n the countv one of the larger pulp and paper mills of the northwest. Our vast water frontage and main line railroad s”stems give us a ready outlet for "nr timber products. PROTECTION Toe primary requirement of any forest program as a standard of protection whereby there is reasonable assurance that fire losses will be reduced to a point upon the productiveness of the forests or any of its uses,, either where they will have little effect economical or social, that con tributes to the welfare of man kind. Adequate fire protection depends upon a number of fac tors and includes effective laws and intelligent administration; adequate finances; cooperation of land owners, operators and public agencies, and recognition and ac ceptance on the part of the pub lic of its responsibility in a state forestry program. The sub-com mittee desires to emphasize the following points: 1. Endorsement of central ized administration of forestry activities in order to definitely fix responsibility for protection and suppression. The state is to be commended upon taking di rect adin nistrative charge of pro tection in Northwest Oregon. 2. We strongly urge that the state legislature carefully consider the needs of forest pro tection in the state as well as the county and make adequate pro visions for financing a strong state forestry organization. 3. Public education in forest ry matters is an essential part of all forestry. The Keep Oregonr Green association has been ac complishing outstanding results along these lines and the work should be continued. 4. Close cooperation between the forestry agencies and the- farmers in order that the latter may suffer little inconvenience and unnecessary expense in land clearing, consistent with good protection practices. Columbia county owns several good park sites which should be improved and publicized so they can be found and enjoyed. Picnic spots are being im proved along the Nehalem by the Grange and private industry and will be available to the public use. RHEUMATISM and ARTHRITIS I suffered for years and am so thankful that I found relief from this terrible affliction that I will gladly answer anyone writing me for information. Mrs. Anna Pautz, P. O. Box 825, Vancouver, Wash. Adv. tf The Forest Grove NATIONAL INVITES YOU TO BANK BY MAIL IF INCONVENIENT TO COME IN PERSON I See this bank for LOANS of all types A Locally-Owned, Independent Bank IN SKIJUMPING In 1939, in the rugged moun tains of Jugoslavia, Joseph Bradl of Austria established a world’s ski-jumping record of 350.96 feet. TfiE K£CORD 1 tff BEER /fi Every year since Repeal ACME has been the largest-selling Western beer; each year by an ever-increasing margin of leadership. -the beer with the high J .Q jk V Nehalem Dairy Products Co. Mr. and Mr». Harry Kerns Vernonia Oregon ACME BREWERIES • San Francisco r
