Trip Report
Obsidian potluckers were treated to a slide tour around Oregon on May 20th by Josh Laughlin. While attending the U of O in the mid ’90s, Josh was so awed by the beauty of our forests that he and a friend founded Cascadia Wildlands Project (CWP), a non-profit dedicated to the preservation of our last old growth forests. He still works full time in CWP, but finds time to explore the other parts of Oregon and has found amazing diversity.
We began in our own Cascadia bioregion. Simply put, the region where the salmon go. Finley Wildlife Refuge still retains oak savannahs and prairie habitat, resembling what much of the Willamette Valley once looked like. It is a prime waterfowl migration stopover. From Finley, you might be able to spot Mary’s Peak, highest point in the Coast Range at 4,000 ft. and home to abundant old growth silver fir. From there, we traveled to the Old Cascades, an area formed from volcanic activity 30 to 40 million years ago. Erosion wore down the volcanic peaks and the Old Cascades bear no glaciers below tree line. Many grassy meadows teem with wildflowers in early summer.
In contrast, the New Cascades around Mt. Jefferson, Three Sisters and Mt. Washington were formed from volcanic activity which took place as recently as 2,000 years ago, as evidenced by lava rocks in abundance. These volcanoes are still active (as recent news of a bulge on South Sister reminds us). Views from Olallie Mountain include Three Sisters Wilderness, Waldo Lake Wilderness and Fuji Mountain roadless area, all of which makes up The Big Wild, over 300,000 roadless acres in the Willamette National Forest.
A very interesting image looked down on Waldo Lake from a high vantage point. It showed the Charnelton Burn and the line between the burned and unburned forest. Forces of fire and wind and topography dictated the clear delineation. The Eugene-to-Crest Trail can be picked up beyond Oakridge. If you take it, you will find yourself in the Waldo Wilderness and in the Warner burn area, where it hooks up with the Pacific Crest Trail. From there, it is only a small leap to the east side of Oregon, an entirely different landscape.
With its Ponderosa Pine forests, the Painted Hills and John Day fossil beds, the diversity of Oregon again astounds. On the east, you also find wildlife we don’t see here: pronghorn antelope at Hart Mountain Wildlife Refuge, Golden Eagles at Malheur Preserve and herds of wild mustangs in the Steens Mountain area. The Kiger mustang is a descendent of the Sorraia, a primeval wild horse native to southern Iberia (established through DNA). Unlike many mustang herds, this one is a pure breed. There is a controversy over how to manage the mustangs. The BLM proposes to capture and slaughter large numbers; but the public voice may change that.
The gray wolf has wandered back into Oregon from Idaho, with more on the way, to be sure. From the high desert, we leapt to the coast. From harbor seals at Cape Perpetua to bear tracks at Tahkenitch Creek, to the “threatened” marbled murrelet (which nests in the old growth forest in Eliot State Forest), an explorer is richly rewarded for his or her trouble. The marbled murrelet spends much of its life out at sea, but will fly as far as 40 miles inland to nest in old growth forests.
We ended our tour back in the old growth forests of Fall Creek and the McKenzie River watershed. Thanks to advocacy by CWP and others, the Forest Service dropped its plans to log in the 5,000-acre Fall Creek old growth reserve and roadless area in the aftermath of the 2003 Clark fire. From ancient forests to mountains to deserts and painted hills, mountain lakes, wetlands and sea, and all that lives therein, we do have diversity and all the beauty that one could need. Thank you Josh! For more information, contact CWP at 434-1463 or see their webpage, <a href="http://www.cascwild.org/"> www.cascwild.org</a.
