LeGue - Oregons ancient forests: a hiking guide

OREGONS

ANCIENT FORESTS

OREGONS

ANCIENT FORESTS

A Hiking Guide

Chandra LeGue

MOUNTAINEERS BOOKS is dedicated to the exploration, preservation, and enjoyment of outdoor and wilderness areas.

1001 SW Klickitat Way, Suite 201, Seattle, WA 98134

800-553-4453, www.mountaineersbooks.org

Copyright Oregon Wild

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form, or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Mountaineers Books and its colophon are registered trademarks of The Mountaineers organization.

Printed in China

Distributed in the United Kingdom by Cordee, www.cordee.co.uk

First edition, 2019

Copyeditor: Eve Goodman

Design and layout: Kate Basart/Union Pageworks

Cartographer: Erik Fernandez, Oregon Wild

All photographs by the author unless credited otherwise.

Maps are based on data from ESRI, United States Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, State of Oregon, Oregon Wild, National Park Service, Garmin, and United States Geological Survey.

Cover photographs, clockwise from top left: Western big gym mushroom; Maidenhair fern; Pileated woodpecker (Photo by Mahogany Aulenbach); A lush forest of western hemlocks and Douglas-firs greets visitors along the upper McKenzie River Trail. (Photo by Greg Vaughn)

Frontispiece: The ancient forest in the Bull of the Woods Wilderness offers peace and solitude for visitors.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: LeGue, Chandra, author.

Title: Oregons ancient forests : a hiking guide / Chandra LeGue.

Description: First edition. | Seattle, Washington : Mountaineers Books, [2019] | Based on A Walking Guide to Oregons Ancient Forests by Wendell Wood. Portland, Oregon: Oregon Natural Resources Council, 1991.T.p. verso. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018052224 (print) | LCCN 2018055014 (ebook) | ISBN 9781680512021 (e-book) | ISBN 9781680512014 | ISBN 9781680512014 (paperback) | ISBN 9781680512021 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: WalkingOregonGuidebooks. | HikingOregonGuidebooks. | OregonGuidebooks. | Forest reservesOregon. | Old growth forestsOregonGuidebooks.

Classification: LCC GV199.42.O74 (ebook) | LCC GV199.42.O74 L44 2019 (print) | DDC 796.510979795dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018052224

Mountaineers Books titles may be purchased for corporate, educational, or other promotional sales, and our authors are available for a wide range of events. For information on special discounts or booking an author, contact our customer service at 800-553-4453 or .

Printed on FSC-certified materials

ISBN (paperback): 978-1-68051-201-4

ISBN (ebook): 978-1-68051-202-1

An independent nonprofit publisher since 1960

In 2007 I was in my first months on staff at Oregon Wild when I went with my colleague Chandra LeGue and Oregon conservation legend Andy Kerr to see Crabtree Valleya place that the George W. Bush administration was proposing to designate for logging. Nearly lost in the maze of logging roads crisscrossing western Oregons Bureau of Land Management forests, we pulled out a little blue book that purported to show us the way to our destination: A Walking Guide to Oregons Ancient Forests by Wendell Wood.

I have to admit to feeling no small tinge of envy when Chandra told me, in 2017, of her plan to walk in Wendells footsteps to write a new version of the guide nearly three decades from its first publication in 1991.

A veteran of forest protection efforts in Oregon, Chandra had earned the time away from her day job to take on the daunting task of finding the best old-growth forest hikes in the state. While she was out exploring, she left the rest of the Oregon Wild staff to soak in the glory that comes from tackling the tasks of a forest advocate: sifting through National Environmental Policy Act documents, enduring long meetings while attempting to decode an alphabet soup of government acronyms, trying to convince Congress to listen to science over politics, and occasionally lifting a celebratory beer with colleagues before heading back into the fray to continue the fight for our forests.

Ancient Douglas-fir trees and a variety of forest understory plants line the Brice Creek Trail (Hike 52) in the Umpqua National Forest.

Lets face itwed all rather be hiking!

Of course, though sometimes tedious and without immediate reward, the work of Oregon Wild to protect our last ancient forests is as essential as it has ever been. Small actions over time add up to a significant legacy to pass on to future generations. Through the years we have helped advance protection for millions of acres of old-growth habitat through wilderness legislation and the Roadless Rule, support for policies that protect and restore forests and watersheds, and campaigns to secure permanent protection of mature and old-growth forests in the Northwest through federal legislation. We have worked with federal agencies to make the shift to forest restoration, using advances in science and a deeper understanding of ecosystems to drive policy.

Just after the original Ancient Forests guide was published, the landmark Northwest Forest Plan was enacted, stemming the tide of old-growth clear-cutting in Oregon. Much has changed in Oregon since then. The states population has ballooned by over one million people, many of whom are drawn here by the outdoor beauty. But new and old residents alike and visitors of all ages may have little understanding of the sometimes precarious protections that exist for the wild places they have come to love. There is a hunger for outdoor recreation information and a need to accompany those resources with a conservation ethic. I am so happy that Chandra took on the task to fill this void.