Half of Oregon’s landscape was once covered in ancient forests, abundant in their diversity of wildlife, trees and plant species. To the west, lush rainforests full of spruce, cedar, hemlock and redwoods cloaked the coastline, bordered by Douglas fir forests in the Coast Range. Towering ponderosa pine groves thrived across the high desert, and Oregon white oak dominated the valleys.
While 80% of these old-growth forests have disappeared, there remain areas where hikers can still saunter in wonderment beneath woodland giants and through thickets that have been virtually untouched for hundreds of years.
In “Oregon’s Ancient Forests: A Hiking Guide,” conservationist Chandra LeGue highlights 91 hikes across the state that all meander through patches of treasured old growth. The trails range from easy to difficult and are accessible without any special equipment or mountaineering skills.
LeGue will be in Portland to discuss her book at 7:30 p.m. July 22 at Powell’s Books on Hawthorne and at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 7 at REI on Northwest Johnson Street.
It’s her hope that experiencing Oregon’s old-growth forests will inspire hikers to join the fight to save what’s left of them, she said.
LeGue fell in love with Oregon’s forests after moving here from Michigan, where as a self-described “nature nerd,” she grew up rambling through the wilderness, learning how to identify every tree.
Shortly after earning her master’s in environmental studies from the University of Oregon, she was hired at Oregon Wild’s Eugene office in 2003, where she continues to work as a field coordinator. She wrote the majority of the hiking guide while traveling the state during a paid sabbatical, and proceeds from the book will go to Oregon Wild’s advocacy efforts.
Since 1974, Oregon Wild has worked to protect Oregon’s forests, waters and wildlife through policy work and litigation. On July 10, it announced it will gather signatures for three measures it hopes to put before voters in November 2020. Initiative Petitions 35, 36 and 37 would make changes to the Oregon Forest Practices Act in order to protect waterways that run through privately owned working forests.
Street Roots sat down with LeGue at her mother’s home in West Linn to talk about her book and where to find some of the best old-growth hikes in Oregon.
Emily Green: This is a revamp of a book by Wendell Wood (“A Walking Guide to Oregon’s Ancient Forests,” 1991). Did you feel a sense of responsibility in keeping to his philosophy, or did you allow yourself the freedom to really make it your own?
Chandra LeGue: A little bit of both. Wendell’s book was written at a time when we were still clear-cutting our old-growth forests on public lands at a pretty alarming rate. And so his tone was really one of a lot of anger, and the sense of urgency was very real.
IMAGES: A bird's-eye view of Oregon's clear-cuts
A lot has changed in forest policy and protection since he wrote that book, so I didn’t need that sense of urgency in some ways, but there is still advocacy needed in protecting what’s left. The few forests that are left are more important than ever, so I did want to keep that advocacy tone.
Wendell is a great naturalist, and he included some of that in the book, so I really wanted to capture that and help people understand the ecology. There are a lot of new Oregonians that have moved here since the early ’90s, who maybe don’t understand that history and context of the forest protection movement or why they’re so vital, so I wanted to make sure there was that context for people, too.
I did let his book lead me to many of the hikes that are in there. I certainly added some that he didn’t have, and I took out a lot that weren’t as relevant, and I used other guidebooks, but I really let his guidebook tell me where I should go to check out forests.
Green: A lot of people might walk into a tree plantation and not realize it. Can you describe the differences between Oregon’s naturally occurring forests and the type of forest that’s become predominant?
LeGue: I use the term “ancient forest,” which doesn’t have a standardized definition, other than it’s a forest that has been growing and developing naturally over a long period of time without human intervention. That means that there’s really old trees, the ones you can picture not being able to fit your arms around. There are a lot of different layers in the canopy and a lot of different tree species and understory vegetation. There’s a lot of dead trees because trees die and its part of the natural process. You don’t see stumps; you usually don’t see roads that cut through the middle of these ancient forests. When you dig into the soil, it’s full of life – all those sorts of components – as opposed to an area that’s been clear-cut and replanted, usually with one species of tree, like Douglas fir here in Western Oregon. There, you’re going to see stumps; the soil is usually thinner and more disturbed; the trees are all the same size; the canopy layers are all the same; there’s not much understory vegetation. You might not hear as many birds singing. It’s just a very different feel and a very different structure.
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Green: Are all the hikes in the book fully inside ancient forests, or do some go in and out?
LeGue: Many of them are fully in ancient forests, but just because of the nature of trails, some of them go through the edges of clear-cuts, or through old logging areas. Many of the trails also go through forests that are fairly young and recovering from fire. I include those in ancient forests because humans haven’t disturbed them. Fire is a natural process, so if forests are allowed to recover naturally, they still fall in that ancient category, even though most of the trees are young and there might be a lot of dead trees. But, as much as possible, I tried to keep them fully in ancient forests.
Green: What’s your favorite hike in the book?
LeGue: My favorite hikes were ones that surprised me in some way, because I didn’t expect to see the types of trees or the size of trees. There are a few that really stand out: One is Echo Basin, which is not far from Santiam Pass. It has this grove of Alaska yellow cedar – which isn’t a really common tree in Oregon – that will just blow your mind. It’s a really great destination grove.
Another favorite, simply because I had done it once, then saw it with different eyes, is the hike into Drift Creek Wilderness on the coast. It’s just absolutely gorgeous. Depending on when you hike a certain trail, it might be your favorite because the weather is great, or the lighting is just great, or it’s moist instead of dry. I think I hiked that trail in December on a really beautiful day, and everything just lined up to make all the colors really pop.
Green: What’s the best hike for seeing redwoods in Oregon?
LeGue: Most people think of redwoods only being in California, but the coastal redwood species does come across the border into Oregon, on the very southern coast of Oregon. There are two trails in the book. One is called the Redwood Nature Trail, a one-mile loop along the Chetco River, and the other, called the Oregon Redwoods Trail, is in the Winchuck River drainage, just barely over the Oregon border. And that’s an area that Wendell Wood worked to protect. He visited the redwoods many times and saw that they were still being logged and fought very hard to get Oregon’s redwoods protected. The Winchuck redwoods are still standing because of Wendell.
Green: What would you say is the best hike if I want to see gigantic trees?
LeGue: The best hike for really gigantic trees is Crab Tree Valley. It’s located northeast of Albany, and that valley has been protected from fire for a very long time. There’s logging all around it, and there’s a grove of trees that’s probably 600 to 800 years old. There are trees in the area that people estimate to be 1,000 years old. It’s a small grove, but it’s absolutely spectacular.
Green: Here in Oregon, some of our natural areas are being “loved to death.” Were you at all concerned about potentially increasing foot traffic in some of Oregon’s most ancient places?
LeGue: I definitely considered that and left some places out that are either already being thoroughly loved or places that didn’t need that kind of extra attention and foot traffic. All of the hikes in the book are on trails. A lot of the hikes in Wendell’s book were kind of cross-country, and that can lead to a lot of damage, so I didn’t want to include places like that. I include notes about really popular places like Opal Creek, for example. Opal Creek gets a ton of usage, but it’s also one of those iconic old-growth forests that you can’t leave out of a guide like this. Luckily it’s a place that also has a lot of infrastructure – there’s parking, restrooms, a permit system to help facilitate extra use. I definitely hope I don’t ruin any places, but at the same time, I hope that it gets people to new places that they haven’t been to discover and enjoy.
Green: A lot of Portlanders may think of Douglas fir when they think about Oregon forests, but there are quite a few different forest types in the state, as you outline in your book. For ancient forest hikes, what would you recommend for a surprising change of scenery for those who are used to the forests of Western Oregon?
LeGue: A great one to check out from Portland, that has a mix of forest types, is the Fifteenmile Creek trail. It’s on the east side of Mount Hood and includes some classic Douglas fir that we’re used to, but because it’s on those eastern flanks, you’re transitioning into ponderosa pine and there’s even some white oak along the trail that really thrive in those drier environments, so it really passes through a couple different forest types on that one trail.
Green: Are there any precautions a hiker should take in an ancient forest that they might not have to take in a younger forest?
LeGue: It’s always good to be aware of the different potential dangers going on a hike. In an old-growth forests, they are incredible places for wildlife to live, so it’s more likely there will be animals like bears and cougars living in or near ancient forests because there’s better habitat. But, at the same time, you’re probably less likely to encounter them because they have more places to avoid you. A lot of the wildlife conflicts that humans get into are because humans are encroaching into wildlife’s habitat. So being aware of what to do when you encounter large wildlife is important, but probably not a huge concern.
I talk about in the book, how to best enjoy the ancient forest. It’s not so much precautions, but there are special tips. Getting to know edible plants, for example – berries that are tasty are pretty prolific in ancient forests, just because of that diversity of the understory, but, as a precaution, you need to know that what you’re snacking on along the trail is not poisonous. I would also say there are some trails in these forests that might be further afield and aren’t really well maintained, so you’re more likely to encounter brushy conditions or downed logs that haven’t been cleaned up, and so just being prepared with good shoes and appropriate gear is always good.
Green: The ancient forests that remain – how well protected are they?
LeGue: First of all, there’s not a very good inventory of where they all are. There’s no definitive map, so it’s hard to really answer that question. But there’s roughly 9 to 10 million acres that are still in this ancient forest state – some in very small pieces, some in larger chunks – and about 2.5 million acres are found in our wilderness areas. That’s our highest level of protection. Congress designates it, and it’s all on federal, public land – that can never be logged.
Then there are about 2 million acres protected under the Roadless Rule, so that’s recognized as being an intact, large un-roaded area and is protected by administrative rule.
And then there are other various levels of protection found along Wild and Scenic River corridors. That includes almost 500,000 acres in those areas, and then under the Northwest Forest Plan, there are forests that are protected from logging. There are various levels, but – and I try to identify this in the book – there certainly are ancient forests that fall outside all those categories and could still be logged, and we actually see that planned on public lands today.
Green: If people want to get involved in protecting Oregon’s ancient forests, what should they do?
LeGue: They should be in touch with Oregon Wild and support the work that we do. We’re always working to protect more of these places through legislation and policy, and we offer hikes so people can come out on some of these trails that are featured in the book and get to know some of the issues, as well as get to know some of the forests with trained staff.
Visit Oregon Wild's website for more information. “Oregon’s Ancient Forests: A Hiking Guide” is available for purchase on Oregon Wild’s website and at most bookstores, including Powell’s.
IF YOU GO
Book discussions with “Oregon’s Ancient Forests: A Hiking Guide” author Chandra LeGue are planned in Portland and Eugene:
Powell’s Books on Hawthorne
7:30 to 9 p.m. July 22
3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland
REI
6:30 to 8 p.m. Aug. 7
1405 NW Johnson St., Portland
Wildcraft Cider Works
6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Aug. 13
232 Lincoln St., Eugene
Email Senior Staff Reporter Emily Green at emily@streetroots.org. Follow her on Twitter @greenwrites.