Public Lands

Young Douglas fir in the Bohemia Ranger District, September 1945.
Courtesy U.S. Forest Service.

Residents felt the influence of the federal government in Willamette Valley forests as early as 1907 when Congress set aside the Cascade and Umpqua forest reserves. Rangers fought fires and administered mining and timber activities on the federal land. When the nation plunged into the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps (established in 1933) constructed roads, trails, bridges and buildings. Structures from this period still stand.

Brice Creek CCC recruits cutting trees.
Courtesy U.S. Forest Service.

By the 1950s and '60s, lumber companies had cut much of the private timber stands in the valley, and mills began to look to public forests to supply needed timber. The following graph illustrates the growing reliance on public timber at mid-century as well as the decline beginning in the mid-1980s.

Source: U.S. Forest Service.

Map of the Umpqua National Forest