Tillamook State Forest | Disappearing Forests of the Oregon Coast 

Three of us traveled to follow the trail at an old steam donkey logging site in the Tillamook Forest in Oregon’s Coast Range. Today clear cutting on public and private lands has reduced these forests to a shadow of their past health and volume. Almost no old growth remains. Over 100 years ago, this hillside was clear cut and then abandoned in the small ravine of Rock Creek. Today, protected as a state roadside rest stop, there is still plenty of evidence of the hard times. Some remaining stumps show the notches used for the cross cutting saws then in use. Now, alder have come in to help mend the creek, fix nitrogen in soil and add detritus and depth to the forest floor. Birds have added conifer seeds of hemlock, fir and cedar over the years since the clear cut. Rains and runoff made way for native flowers shrubs and small inhabitants to return, using the fallen and rotted trees still present as their habitat. Today it’s almost sweet…and also a tiny remaining segment of a much larger mountain forest. We gave back our attention, regard and praise…and a RadJoy Bird as gratitude.