Our ENVS 310 field trip began on the Oregon coast just north of the mouth of the Umpqua river. The Umpqua watershed is roughly coterminous with Douglas County.
This coastal area included both snowy plover habitat to the south, and dune buggy trails to the north!
Here we are at the Umpqua Discovery Center in Reedsport. The exhibits were a bit juvenile for us, but many enjoyed the tunnel slide!
The Umpqua River
Just up the Umpqua a few miles from Reedsport is a Roosevelt elk viewing area. The elk started using this area when it was converted from floodplain to agricultural uses.
Lunchtime at Arlene's Cafe in Elkton on the Umpqua.
By the mid-afternoon we had made it to Roseburg, and did a tour of the Douglas County Museum with Director Gardner Chappell.
Now we've reached Canyonville, stopping at Promise Natural Foods for provisions for our upcoming hike.
Dinner at El Paraiso in Canyonville.
An evening campire.
Off we go on the hike up Canyon Mountain with Ken Carloni, professor at Umpqua Community College and fire history expert.
We chose a lovely wet day for the hike: here we are near Alder Creek prior to ascending the mountain.
Ken located a stump to describe how one would read the fire history of an area; this one had several fire scars (see next slide).
When we got up further on the mountain we discovered steep terrain and many old stumps with buckboard notches in them, all from a bygone era of logging.
A group of us clambered down the mountainside to check out an area that was bare in the 1939 as well as 2004 air photos. The reason? A steep, bare rock face.
We took numerous stops with Ken along the way to describe forest conditions, fire susceptibility, and his recommendations for management.
Finally at the top of the mountain!
Lewis & Clark students on the summit of Tellurium Peak in April, at the top of the Alder-Jordan watershed surrounding the Proctor forest in southern Oregon.
Much of the upper stand of forest looks like this: all large trees were removed some 60+ years ago, and natural regrowth is thick though small diameter, perfect for another fire.
Back in the trailer to recuperate before heading up to Portland on Saturday afternoon!
