Boccard Point is a mountain summit in

Jackson County, Oregon Jackson County is one of the Oregon counties, 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 223,259. The county seat is Medford, Oregon, Medford. The county Oregon Geographic Names, ...

, United States with an elevation of .

Environs

Boccard Point is located in the

Soda Mountain Wilderness The Soda Mountain Wilderness is a protected wilderness area inside the Cascade–Siskiyou National Monument located in the U.S. state of Oregon adjacent to the California state border. The wilderness area was created by the Omnibus Public Land M ...

, which was designated in the spring of 2009 by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

, and is managed by the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

. The surrounding wilderness encompasses a large amount of

biological Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary in ...

and geological diversity, covering the transition between Oregon's eastern deserts, and mountainous

fir Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family (biology), family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North America, North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The ...

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s. The mountain and associated wilderness is located southeast of the cities of Medford and Ashland.

Trails

Since the designation of the Soda Mountain Wilderness, the road leading to Boccard Point had been decommissioned, and deterioration had made it difficult to traverse. In 2014, the trail was restored by the nonprofit Siskiyou Mountain Club.

Name

The mountain was named after the American

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

and

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

Bruce Boccard. Boccard Point was his favorite spot on the mountain and was a point he called "Juniper Ridge". In 1997, the

U.S. Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...

approved naming the point in his honor.Landform given biologist's name
Paul Fattig in '' Mail Tribune'', May 24, 1998

References

{{reflist Mountains of Jackson County, Oregon Mountains of Oregon Ashland, Oregon