Forestry matters — Part 5
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, August 5, 2026
As mentioned in Part 4, the 1825 Native American population already diminished by smallpox, measles and influenza was faced with an estimated 400,000 emigrants starting across the Oregon Trail in 1843; it was the end of the traditional Native American Culture. Some estimate that by the 1860s only 5% of the Native American were living compared to pre-contact levels. The Native Americans were on the losing end of virtually every negotiation regarding treaties, native lands, fishing, shellfish rights, and in many cases were made prisoners on their own reservations. Their very capable land management practices that had maintained a delicate balance between forested areas and those environments that provided the food and material needed to survive using fire ceased. Burning practices were heavily used by essentially all Indigenous People throughout the U.S. Under their stewardship, the incidence of fire was much, much higher, but the fires were much less intense than recent levels. (please refer to the graph on page 4 the source paper)
Since about 1850, land management has been guided by us, the recent immigrants, and in 176 years we have vacillated from massive clearcutting operations to the opposite extreme of practicing no management whatsoever. To make sense of this, I’ve divided the time from 1850 to the present into three eras. The Exploitive Era, The Modest Management Era, and the No Management Era:
The Exploitive Era, 1850 to 1930: To the settlers, the forests were an obstacle to development and the 1849 Gold Rush in California created a massive demand for lumber. The Puget Mill Company, a subsidiary of Pope and Talbot first attempted to benefit from this opportunity by sending ships from their mills in Maine around Cape Horn which proved too risky. In 1853 they built their first mill at Port Gamble, followed by a second at Port Ludlow. In 1860, what is now Snohomish County was still the eastern portion of Island County, with Coupeville as the county seat and the only towns in our region bordered Puget Sound or the Snohomish River. Because there was no road system, residents and freight travelled between Edmonds, Everett, Snohomish and Seattle by boat on the “Mosquito Fleet.”
In 1861, the mill companies started buying up land in the area between Seattle and Everett for possible future supply as they devoured the available timber on the Peninsula. The Puget Mill Company purchased 8000 acres and Merrill-Ring owned “extensive tracts” including the Paine Field location. There was virtually no development in inland Snohomish County until 1893 after Everett was incorporated. In 1900, Snohomish County decided to raise revenue to develop our local area. Snohomish County levied a high tax on standing timber so Merrill Ring, the Puget Mill Company and numerous other timber companies responded by clearcutting the entire area from north of Seattle to Everett then pushed inland up the river valleys and into the foothills, deforesting areas around Carnation, Snohomish and the Stillaguamish Valley. This was not a light selective operation. This was total clear cutting and in that era only those portions of the log free of knots were of value leaving behind 15 feet of debris. In McCollum Park and on the trail down to Meadowdale Beach you can still see the springboard holes cut into the large stumps that are gradually decaying. By 1910 there were over 20 sawmills and shingle mills on the Everett waterfront. This exploitative approach was common throughout the Western U.S. and was fueled even more with the completion of the Great Northern Railroad Line in 1893 allowing better access to eastern markets.
This exploitive approach was common throughout the Western United States. The concept of forest management was not even a consideration. The timber companies worked through the entire countryside, punching in railroad lines to the logging site, hauling logs out to the mill, then pulling up the ties and rails and re-laying the track to the next location.
By 1920, there were many thousands of acres left devoid of vegetation and covered with logging debris; what a contrast with the personal, devoted attention given to the land by the Native Americans. Please see marthalakehistorysaz.com for a more detailed record and pictures of this area.
Note: The website theforestmatters.com provides access to the source document for these pieces and the charts, graphs and references that support the positions made in them.
Don Healy lives in Lynnwood. He graduated with a B.S. Degree in Forest Management from Oregon State University in 1968, spent 10 years in the field and has followed forestry matters avidly during retirement.
