FFLA Western Regional Conference
Reveling in the Past / Perspectives for the Future
The State of Jefferson, Year 2000 FFLA Conference

This year's western conference was hosted by the Nevada-Northern California and Oregon Chapters of the FFLA in Yreka, California. Yreka is located in northernmost California, about 20 miles south of the Oregon state line. Yreka is surrounded by the Klamath, Siskiyou and Cascade Mountains, and the area retains many fire lookouts operated by the Forest Service and the State fire offices. The Klamath National Forest is headquartered in this small town of about 5,000, with the Shasta-Trinity, Modoc, Six Rivers, Rouge River, and Siskiyou National Forests in the surrounding area. Yreka was a "natural" for the conference on historic lookouts and forest protection. The conference was held at the Siskiyou County Historical Society Museum in Yreka, in their new conference room adjacent to the museum. During breaks, the attendees visited the historic displays. They also viewed the antique fire engine the Yreka Volunteer Fire Department displayed outside the museum. Ray Kresek and a few others were spotted nearly climbing under the hood to check out the antique engine.

The conference was attended by over 50 members and local folks. Displays surrounded the crowd on three sides with Howard Verschoor's display the most ambitious, and Ray Kresek's display the most historical, (including a 1913 firefinder!). FFLA Chairman Keith Argow started the conference with a welcome to all the members and interested public. This was followed by introductions all around, including a statement of what lookouts meant to each of the attendees. It was interesting to note the wide range of backgrounds and interests in fire lookouts. Many staffed lookouts presently or in the past, but others came to an appreciation of lookouts from interests in history, hiking, rental opportunities, and long standing childhood wonder at the towers at the top of the mountains.

Klamath Forest Supervisor Peg Boland followed the introductions with the keynote address. She detailed the various values that fire lookouts provide the Klamath National Forest, and the nation as a whole. The value of fire detection in low population areas such as Siskiyou County was certainly placed high on the list. The rugged terrain of the area also required the use of lookouts for communication links. Value in long term eco-system monitoring, public contact, and recreational use were also identified. The presentation developed a very interesting discussion amongst the attendees and the Forest Supervisor, from which many interesting ideas and suggestions were developed.

Following Boland's presentation, Keith Argow relayed his message for the new millennia. He detailed the accomplishments of the past year, his vision for the future and encouraged us to get more involved in the preservation of, and spreading the appreciation for, our fire lookout system. Keith was followed by a presentation on the fire lookouts of the Sierra Nevada Range by Nevada-Northern California FFLA Director Mark Swift. Mark has spent a number of years visiting lookouts of the Sequoia, Sierra, Stanislaus, Eldorado, and Tahoe National Forests. Historic photos were also viewed, including tree lookouts, early cabins and towers, and later lookout construction photos. Mark's presentation was followed by a most welcome event, lunch at the local pizza parlor!

Following a long lunch break, Don Pass of the Smith River National Recreation Area of the Six Rivers National Forest gave a presentation on the successes and trials associated with the Bear Basin Butte Lookout rental program. Bear Basin Butte was a site of a lookout built in the early 1930s. The lookout did not survive the excess building reduction of the 1960s, a truly dark era for fire towers. The site remained bare until 1997 when the forest and a local building contractor joined forces to moved a dilapidated unused tower from the Camp Six lookout site to the old site at Bear Basin Butte. The contractor also built another building of historic appearance a short way below the summit. Both buildings then became part of the Recreation Rental program of the Six Rivers National Forest. The site has become so popular that the reservations that begin on the first work day of January for that year, are filled within only a few days. Don related some of the interesting stories that were written in a journal left in the lookout for the guests to document their stays. The questions and answer session following Don's presentation led to many interesting ideas, and concerns of the members of the FFLA. There is a concern that those who have enjoyed visiting lookouts in the past, will be restricted to only visiting those on the rental program by renting the lookout. The Six Rivers National Forest does not restrict the public from the lookout site, but only the renters may enter the buildings, unless the renter grants access. A gate is locked a 1/4 mile down the road. Other forests restrict all access to the mountain top that a lookout rental is located while the lookout is rented. This led to a discussion of rights to access public lands. The FFLA plans to develop a position statement on the matter, and present this to the Forest Service.

Jim Doerter followed Don's presentation with the results of research on sightings of unidentified flying objects from lookout sites. Jim presented a wealth of information garnered from personal conversations, and historic reports from newspapers and government records. Jim had documented and analyzed the forms of the sighting, the duration, the shapes of objects, and times seen. Jim's interest in sightings from lookouts came out of his own experiences while staffing a lookout in Southern Oregon. Jim did well with the expectedly skeptical crowd, presenting the data and eyewitness reports without bias and as information to be digested by the listener. If you have an interest in such sightings from lookouts, or have experiences you would like to share, write to Jim Doerter, 80 Scenic Drive, Ashland, Oregon 97520, or e-mail him at oregonotto@aol.com.

The Shasta-Trinity National Forest Archaeologist, Julie Cassidy, then presented a slide show concerning the restoration of two lookout towers near Mount Shasta. Little Mount Hoffman lookout sits on the east side of Mount Shasta, with a fantastic view of one of America's largest volcanoes. The lookout is a ground cabin on a cinder cone, with expansive views of lava flows between it and the ice shrouded summit of Mount Shasta. The lookout cab was built in the 1920's, and used regularly for fire detection until 1978. It was restored in 1994, and put on the lookout rental program in 1995. It has been a very popular lookout rental. Girard Ridge is another historic lookout on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. It was built in the early 1930's. It recently underwent restoration under the Passport in Time Program. This program connects volunteers with historic preservation, archaeology, oral history, or site recording opportunities on the National Forests. In 1998 these volunteers restored the only remaining gable roofed L-4 style lookout in California. Last year was the first year it was under the recreation rental program. The success of the Shasta-Trinity and the Six Rivers lookout rentals, as well as the early rental cabin on the Eldorado National Forest will certainly encourage forests to follow suit, resulting in additional preserved cabins, and appreciation of fire lookouts by the public
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Following a break, Doug Blangsted gave a talk concerning the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF), and the lookout towers that they staff. The state operated over 70 lookout towers at one time in California. It has now decreased to about 40 state-wide. Within the northern end of the state, fire lookouts are still important. Doug explained that fire hazards can be very high, and storms can come up quickly in this mountainous region. The low population of the area results in lower reports of fire from the public. Over-flights do report fires, but there are less of these than near population centers. Doug indicated that lookouts would likely be staffed into the foreseeable future, but not all are now staffed on a continuous basis. Several sites are staffed in emergency periods, one by the rancher that lived just down hill of the tower. Doug was kind enough to take those that wished to one of the state towers on Sunday.

The local flavor of lookout history continued with a presentation by Candace Cook-Selette, an archaeologist with the Klamath National Forest. Candace provided slides of the local lookouts, and information on the history of fire detection, and the structures used. A number of the towers are still used on the Klamath National Forest, for many of the same reasons that state lookouts continued their staffing. Several historic cabins and towers on the Klamath National Forest are still used for the purpose they were built. One such, Herd Peak, was visited on Sunday.

Thus ended the first day of the conference. Later in the evening, the Directors of the State Chapters gathered along with other guests to confer on FFLA business. It was decided that the 2001 meeting would be in Arizona, likely in Flagstaff area. Exact location will be announced later. Dave Lorenz, the Arizona-New Mexico Director attended this years conference, and his presence was greatly appreciated.

Saturday's meeting began with a review of Friday's events, and a call for comments or questions. Plans for the Sunday visits to Quartz Hill and Herd Peak were announced. This was followed by a presentation by Howard Verschoor, Oregon FFLA Director, on Oregon Chapter happenings. Howard reported that a number of forests have been building new towers in the state including the Deschutes, Malheur, and Fremont National Forests. Also, he has been working with the Oregon Department of Forestry, and that agency is now working to restore a number of their lookouts. The Douglas Fire Protection Association has been talking with Howard, with the result that all of their dozen or so lookouts are now undergoing restoration, and will be staffed at 100%. Howard has been visiting fairs and other events with the fire lookout message. At the State Fair in Salem last summer, he greeted over 100,000 visitors over a 7 day period! The chapter is planning state get-togethers each year in various locations in Oregon. He is also constructing a small, portable lookout cab to include in displays. He plans to name the building Munchkin Mountain Lookout, and will photograph the kids inside the cab. The chapter is also active in fund raising, which will help support restoration efforts. The Oregon Chapter plans to adopt two lookouts that are no longer used. The Wildhorse Mountain lookout lies on the Siskiyou National Forest, and was staffed by the State until a few years ago. The other lookout, Mount Stella, lies on the Rouge River National Forest. Chapter funds will help pay for restoration, and the chapter plans to staff the lookouts on a part time basis.

The first Ron Johnson Memorial Awards were presented. to Oregon members for outstanding efforts in the lookout arena. Two awards were presented for 1999; the first to Howard Verschoor for all of his efforts in taking over the leadership of the chapter following Ron's passing, and the second to Bill Friday for his contributions which include the development of the calendars sold as chapter fundraisers.

Jim Rock, Klamath National Forest Archaeologist and local historian, provided a slide show concerning the State of Jefferson movement. Though not associated with fire lookouts, it was a very interesting look at the history and mind-set of the people in Southwestern Oregon and Northern California. Since the 1850, there have been attempts to bring these two areas together to form a separate state. The main theme seems to have been that northern California and southwestern Oregon did not feel represented by the governing of the two states from the distant capitals. The State of Jefferson was the most common name suggested throughout the years. Even today, many businesses use the name, and the local public radio calls itself Jefferson Public Radio.

Carol and Rob Hoeye presented their work on the National Historic Lookout Register web site. They have built this web site as a means of allowing the public to view, learn about, and enjoy the lookout treasures that are listed on the Lookout Register. Carol explained the features of the program, how to open files, and tables with lookout data. The web site is always changing with the addition of newly listed lookouts. Visit the site at http://www.firetower.org.

The San Bernardino National Forest Association's Lookout Host program was addressed by George and Pam Morey. The program has restored to operation eight fire lookouts on the San Bernardino and Angeles National Forests in Southern California. All of these towers had been abandoned a number of years ago. The association realized the value of these lookouts as public contact point, as historic structures, and as a way to get the local public involved in their National Forests. The program now has over 400 volunteers that restore, maintain, staff, and interpret fire lookouts to the large numbers of visitors to the mountains surrounding the Los Angles Basin. Although the program may not work elsewhere, on a small scale, such an effort could be very beneficial to a few local lookouts. With numerous efforts, numerous lookouts could be preserved. George and Pam indicated that the commitment to the program is great, but the satisfaction is definitely worth it.

Glacier National Park was represented at the conference by Lief Haugen who staffs the Numa Ridge Lookout. Lief's slides were breathtaking, with jagged peaks, deep valleys, and large deep blue lakes. He took us on a tour of all of the remaining dozen or so lookouts in the park. Following the tour, Lief showed the audience how the park uses their lookouts. A series of photos of a fire over a week or so were taken while monitoring the fire behavior. The slides told the story of a fire, left to its own devices and the results of wind and weather on the growth of the burn. The Park allowed this fire to continue due to its low hazard to the public and the rocky slopes that naturally would limit the fire. It was a very interesting use of the lookout. Lief was very instrumental in communications, weather monitoring, fire behavior monitoring, and photo documentation, not from only one lookout but two! And all the lookout towers in Glacier Park are walk-in, the shortest only 2 or 3 miles!

The next presentation was from Rob and Carol Hoeye concerning their work with the lookout panoramic photos in Region 6 of the Forest Service. Rob scanned 999 individual photos from over 300 lookout sites in Oregon and Washington. He has placed these onto computer CDs, that he now sells in three volumes. Rob demonstrated his product, showing how to select a lookout site, and enlarge the photo. These will be very valuable to future lookout history researchers. Rob then demonstrated a 360-degree view built from the three panoramic photos from one site. He wove these with computer software into one image. The mouse was used to scroll around the full circle. He also had taken a recent 360-degree view from the lookout site. These were overlapped such that with a click of a button, you could flash from 1933 to 1999 looking onto the same location. A great tool for future ecologists! He also had a 360-degree view from outside of a lookout cab. With the mouse you could rotate the lookout cabin all the way around. With a mouse click on a door, your view entered the cab, and you then had a 360 degree view of the inside of the cab. This was quite a crowd pleaser! Good job Rob and Carol!

Dave Lorenz then presented two short films. One was a portion of a silent film concerning an old time ranger of the forest, his fire guards, his lovely horse-riding, rifle- toting wife, and foul characters careless with fire. A true classic, and good fun! The other film was about the Hall of Flame, a museum in Phoenix dedicated to the history of fire fighting, primarily structural fire fighting by city and rural fire departments. The director of the museum plans to expand to wildland fire with a lookout tower, and all the equipment and outfits of the forest fire fighters.

The final presentation was on Malheur National Forest lookouts in Eastern Oregon. Mark Swift presented a collage of slides covering existing lookouts and historic photos collected from National Forest and private collections. The Malheur still has quite a few standing lookouts, and staffs a good portion of these.

Our conference dinner was held at the Boston Shaft Restaurant. The large banquet room allowed plenty of space to spread out the numerous items donated for auction that night. Nearly everyone from the conference joined at the banquet, with, it seemed, a few extra unfamiliar faces. Following a tasty dinner, Ray Kresek and Chuck Butler auctioned off the items in a lively, rather snake oil salesman-like manner. The restaurant owner, and waiters and waitresses were bemused with our auction antics. It was good fun for all, good buys for some, and a total of over $750 brought in for the 2001 conference. Thanks go to Ray and Chuck and all those that donated, and bid.

On Sunday, the group met in the Penney's parking lot to head to Quartz Hill Lookout. After picking up Doug Blangsted at the Fort Jones CDF office, the group continued to the lookout. Quartz Hill overlooks the mountains surrounding the valley Fort Jones lies in. The drive to the lookout was very picturesque, passing though green pasture and farm lands with oak and pine trees. The lookout is a modern steel cab on top of a 40 foot tower. The tower is enclosed, and straight up and down. The cab is steel with windows slanted in to the bottom like air traffic control towers. The tinted windows and paneled interior gave the feel of modern efficiency. The lookout, Ann Anderson, came with us and told us of her experiences at the lookout. Group photos were taken with Ann and the tower in the background. We left the Quartz Hill mid-morning, returning to Yreka, and then headed off to Herd Peak. Herd Peak is a 1933 L-4 ground level cab. The cab sits on a rock pile at the end of a long ridgeline. Herd Peak has a 270 degree view with much to the north blocked by the ridgeline. To the south is the nearest view of Mount Shasta now obtainable from a lookout building. Rob took a panoramic set of photos with his camera of all the FFLA folks sitting outside the lookout. The visitors enjoyed their lunches in the front yard of the old and lovely cabin, which lies in the front yard of the old and lovely mountain. With lunches finished, and photos taken it was time to disband our conference for another year. Goodbyes were passed around, and handshakes, back slaps and hugs were shared. Until the next time in Arizona!

Mark Swift

Western Conference Group Photo