REPORT ON THE SILVICS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS (E) NATIONAL FOREST, OREGON
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Foster, H. D. 1908. Report on the silvics of the Blue Mountains (E) National Forest, Oregon.
Abstract: Discusses the vegetation and general characteristics of the Blue Mountains (E) National Forest, much of which was later divided among the Whitman, Umatilla, and Malheur National Forests. Most of this report is based on a reconnaissance examination of an area near Sumpter, Oregon, and as far west as Susanville. The following topics are described: topography (including geology), climate, economic aspects, and forest types (yellow pine, spruce, lodgepole pine, white fir, and mixed conifer types). The balance of the report provides descriptions for individual species, in which the general characteristics, site requirements, tolerance, reproduction, relationships with other species, and fire effects are discussed. The following species are described: yellow (ponderosa) pine, lodgepole pine, tamarack (western larch), Engelmann spruce, Douglas-fir, white (grand) fir, and other species (western white pine, juniper, etc.). Species rankings are provided in a section called "General Silvical Notes," where shade tolerance, demands upon soil and moisture, altitudinal range, and forest enemies are rated. The final page of the report is a list of the trees found on the Forest; 16 species are shown. This document includes some interesting insights about early forest conditions and management activities in the Blue Mountains, as illustrated with these quotes: "In all sales on this Forest, care should be exercised in marking the timber not to leave the cutting area in such condition that a valuable stand be supplanted by inferior species. White fir, though occasionally used for fuel when no better species are available, makes poor fuel wood, while for saw timber it is all but valueless owing to the fact that nearly all mature trees are badly rotted by a prevalent polyporus, and the wood season-checks badly. Unless care is taken this species is prone to supplant such species as yellow pine and tamarack since it is much more tolerant of shade in early life." "The forest floor is open, free from underbrush in any quantity, so much so that it is possible to ride in almost any direction through the forest without following trails." "Ten or twelve years ago a storm with the typical funnel-shaped cloud of a cyclone passed through Fox Valley, snapping large pine trees off eight or ten feet from the ground, uprooting others, and demolishing buildings in the town of Long Creek. It cut a swathe two miles wide through the forest. The storm was accompanied by hail-stones of irregular shape some of which measured 6¾ by 7¼ inches in circumference."

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