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iiLlN[S I BULK RATE U.S. Postage PAID Portland, OR Permit No. 688 VOLUME XXVIII April, 1989 Region Six U.S. Forest Service Thirty Year Club STAFF Editor MERLE S. LOWDEN Assistant Editors EVELYN BROWN KENNETH WRIGHT Publisher R-6 THIRTY YEAR CLUB In Memorium WARREN POST Art MARY SUTHERLAND PETER BLEDSOE 5T5 E RVic COVER PICTURE: THE DINKEL MAN FIRE ON THE WENATCHEE NF STARTED 9/4/88 AND INVOLVED 58,525 ACRES. IT COULD BE SEEN FROM THE C/TV OF WENA TCHEE AND THE ESTIMATED LOSS WAS $13,500,730. TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE Staff 1 Table of Contents 2 REPORTS Report from the Chief F. Dale Robertson 4 Report of the Regional Forester Jim Torrence 5 Changes Underway at PNW Charles W. Philpot 7 President's Report Bob Torheim 9 From The Editor Merle Lowden 9 ARTICLES BY MEMBERS Working the Bugs Kenneth H. Wright 12 Hells Canyon Becomes John Rogers a Research Area Tape Interview 14 The Cattleman's Ride C. Glen Jorgensen 16 Dry Lab Cruising Bob Bjornsen 18 My First Lookout Job Jack Smith 18 AHappyLifeintheU.S.F.S. C.D. "Don" Cameron 19 Fighting Fires Ira E. Jones 20 Olde Hebo Stan Bennett 21 Forest Fire Research at PNW Owen P. Cramer 22 Bill's Driving Was Legendary Bob Bjornsen 24 How It All Started Ken Wilson 24 One More Lost MineAdams Diggings or the Lost Dutchman? Edward E. DeGraaf 25 Have A Rock Sandwich Dick Worthington 26 Forest Service Dispatcher Cool Under Fire Pressure Leverett Richards 27 Okanogan A-Flame, 1970 John D. Dell 28 Last Link Forged John R. Montgomery 29 The Assistant Ranger Was Skeptical Ken Wilson 30 A Man Of The Woods H.C. Chriswell 31 In the Life Of A Ranger Avon Denham 32 Roy Garwood, "Hers, Ours, Mine" M.M. "Red" Nelson 32 Locked Up Tight Gail Baker 32 Mashed Beef At Dawn Bob Mercer 33 Marion Lake Experiences Ken Wilson 34 Douglas Stopped at Fall Creek Don Garvik 35 His First and Only Elk Avon Denham 35 Good Luck To You City Slickers C. Glen Jorgensen 36 The Coup De Grace Avon Denham 37 Two Cold Rough Nights Merle Lowden 37 My First Big Fire Jack Smith 38 It Was Still There Avon Denham 39 Fresh For Breakfast Ken Wilson 39 We Will Fish On Sunday? C. Glen Jorgensen 40 A Trip Thru Big Snake Country Gail Baker 41 A Wonderful Experience Clare Hendee 41 Drive This Car Properly, OR ELSE! Bud Waggener 42 Wind River Boot Camp Bob Bjornsen 42 The Trapping Was Good Edward E. DeGraaf 43 Early Daze John Scharf 44 In and Out of the Woods L.D. "Bob" Bailey 45 LOOKING BACK 46 IN MEMORIUM 52 2 Report from the Chief Lots of Things areChanging F. Dale Robertson Sometimes I think some of the old hands in this outfit are scratching their heads and wondering just what is happening to their Forest Service and just what the Chief is doing here in Washington besides shaking things up and changing things. Well, even if it does look like lots of things are changing (and lots of things are), there is still a lot thatis staying the same. We're stillthe same dedicated, hard working outfit we always were, and we still labor at "Caring for the Land and Serving People." In 1988, we had many traditional accomplishments, meeting our targets in almost every area of our program. We had one of the worst fire seasons in modern history, an opportunity for us to show what the Forest Service is made of. I am proud of the dedication that went into fighting these fires. As an alumnus of Region 6, I am proud of the tremendous recovery efforts following the 1987 fire season. Fortunately, the 1988 fire season con- centrated in areas outside of Region 6; but, as usual, Region 6 overhead teams, crews, and fire management specialists played a major role in helping other regions and states deal with their problems. Working Some New Directions As Chief, I have been fighting the same battles as the Chiefs before me, trying to deal with the budget, trying to resolve policy issues, and helping the Forest Service face the resource issues that come and go. But I have been working on some new directions for the Forest Service. Many of us cut our teeth in a Forest Service that was mostly male and nearly all white. The composition of our nation's work force has been changing over the years, and we have committed ourselves to having a Forest Service work force that reflects our country's diversity by 1995. We will benefit greatly from having more women and minorities in the Forest Service.I have been particularly pleased with the progress in Region 6 in work diversity, F. Dale Robertson but I have called on Region 6 andall the other Regions and Stations to do what we need to do to get "Workforce 1995" on track. So, when you see more women and minorities driving green rigs through the woods, you'll know we're making progress. over the next 5 years. You folks in Region 6 contributed a Emphasis on New Partnerships sixth of those rivers on one giant step. Another major effort begun this year was the National Forest Scenic We are used to a Forest Service that relied heavily onByways program. Again, Region 6 has contributed, with its own resources to get the job done. Now, in the era offour byways in the system so far, on the Willamette, budget deficits, we have to put new emphasis on formingDeschutes, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie and Wallowa-Whitman new partnerships. Last year, we took a new approach withNational Forests. the National Recreation Strategy. It has been a big suc- I recently told the Regional Foresters and Directors cess and has thrust the Forest Service into the leadershipabout Saint Augustine's philosophy that organizations position in outdoor recreation. One of the biggest ac-don't reach great heights by sudden flights, but by toiling complishments of 1988 was almost doubling the size of theupward during the night while their competitors sleep. In Wild and Scenic Riyers System on the Nationa1 Forests1989 and the 1990s we must toil upward at night on our with 33 new riversinthe state of Oregon. I haye pledgedhigh-priority items to make our National Forests reach the Forest Servicetoadding 200 new rivers tothe systemtheir full potential. 4 REPORT OF THE REGIONAL FORESTER Eyes of Nation on R-6 These are very exciting and challenging times. Caring for the land and serving the people today is a very tough job, as more and more people place divergent demands on fixed resources. I'm continually impressed with how much the public wants to be involved in what we decide. The eyes of the nation are on Region Six as we address several vital issues at the heart of the economy and ecology of the Pacific Northwest. Our issues have not only national but global significance. I'd like to share some highlights of what's going on during these turbulent times. First Round of Forest Planning Coming to an End After nearly a decade of hard work, all 19 National Forests are completing and beginning to use final forest plans. The first finals have already hit the streets. These plans will serve as a road map for the future of the 24.5 million acresofNational Forestsin Oregon and Washington. The next step will be monitoring, a built in process for making sure we do what we say we will do in our plans and for identifying when an update will be necessary. Monitoring is the key to the flexibility of our plans. Everyone in the Pacific Northwest can have a role in monitoring. Jini Torrence Old Growth Forests Draw National Attention started were much bigger than average, burning a total of 159,309 acres. That's about75 percent more than our Nothing that we face today has more emotional powerrecent average. We had eightproject sized fires this year than the debate over what we do with our old growthranging from 600 to 59,000 acres. None, fortunately, was forests. Old growth in Oregon and Washington has cap-as large as the nearly 100,000 acre Silver Fire of 1987. tured national attention. We had two firsts for the Region in fire this year. On We are working toward a clear policy on how we willour first nationally, we sent one of our National Incident treat our old growth forests. But before that we need toManagement Teams and several crews and equipment to know how much old growth is left. And before we canassist with a Canadian fire. They returned with thank address those questions we have to come to an agreementyous, a Canadian flag, and good memories. among agencies, legislators, industry and other groups on This yearwas our first yearof operation for the a definition for old growth. We have met several times andNorthwest Interagency Coordination Center, located near are progressing toward a mutually acceptable definition. the Portland airport and representing five federal land We estimate that about 6.2 million acres of old growthmanagement agencies in the Region. The center had over covered our National Forests in the mid 1980's. We do not18,000 dispatches in and out of Region. yet know what the final forest plans will look like, but if This year we established a multi-agency coordination the preferred alternatives were chosen, half of the 6.2group to set priorities for allocating scarce fire fighting million acres would be harvested in the next 50 years.resources to combat the many simultaneous fires that However, only 1 million acres would have been harvestedwere going in late summer on both Federal and State by the time the plans are updated, so the long term pictureprotected lands.