The Real Oregon

Old growth forest is kind of like pornography — no one can define it but all Oregonians know it when we see it.

The easy definitions you hear are pretty good but you don’t want to push them to the wall. “A forest that’s never been logged.” “Trees that haven’t been cut for 500 years.” “300 years.” “250 years.”

Problem is, of course, that none of the definitions quite captures what it is that makes old growth so spectacular and so essential. It’s not just that loggers haven’t driven through yet on their D-9s.

When Oregonians talk about “old growth” they’re almost always envisioning the rich rainforest of the western Cascades slopes, low enough in elevation for there to be real big Doug fir trees and high enough to be up off the valley floor.

But there’s more to old growth than just big trees. The handful of uncut patches in the Willamette National Forest, just east of Eugene, have a primeval, ancient quality to them. They remind some people of cathedrals.

The trees are not uniform. A good number of them have fallen down and begun rotting into the forest floor; you’ll find young healthy trees sprouting from the rotten carcasses of old dead trees — “nurse” trees, they’re called. This, of course, drives loggers crazy. They want to sell those old trees — not let them rot.

Old growth makes for great logging. Instead of cutting 20 or 30 or 50 small trees, you cut one giant. The wood is straight and clear because the big trees have few branches to create knots. Those big trees make a lot of money. Correction: They made a lot of money. Problem is, most of them are gone.

Logging aside, traditional old growth forest offers a rich and varied habitat for wildlife. It has multiple canopies in one forest; the holes left when big trees fall allow for lower deciduous trees to spring up. This creates a lot of biological opportunity for, lets saw, the Northern spotted owl, which prefers not to live anywhere else.

To take a look at a traditional Oregon old growth forest that doesn’t take much walking — it’s even wheelchair accessible — try Delta Old Growth Grove, a gorgeous patch of old growth near the McKenzie River less than an hour from Eugene. Head up the McKenzie Highway toward the mountains, turn right on Aufderheide Drive, which is past Blue River but before McKenzie Bridge. Delta Campground is on your right just past the bridge, perhaps a quarter mile from the highway. Drive into the campground, park at the free parking lot and walk. It’s an easy half-mile loop trail.

For a more extensive list try this book:

Best Old Growth Forest Hikes: Washington & Oregon Cascades (Best Hikes)

Wild turkeys have a reputation among hunters as a wary, elusive bird, difficult to stalk and hunt. These hunters haven’t seen the wild turkeys of Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

Stocked by Oregon’s Department of Fish and Wildlife since 1975, these Rio Grande turkeys have become an affable resident in some rural and even suburban neighborhoods, a pest in others. They occasionally frighten small children and challenge passing cars, especially when hormones run rampant in the spring.

But they’re great fun to have around. One year we had a hen who had detached herself from the local flock — perhaps she was banished for some turkey sin? — who hung out under our bird feeders one whole summer. We watched one evening as a coyote (could his name have been Wile E?) tried to stalk her through our orchard and past our back porch until, losing patience with Wile E’s game, she gracefully flew up and roosted in a fir tree.

This time of year the local turkeys have lots of babies. This poult flew up into a tree today when we, too, got a little too close for comfort.