Umpqua National Forest, in southern

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

's Cascade Range, covers an area of in

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civi ...

Lane In road transport, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads (highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each ...

, and

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

counties, and borders

Crater Lake National Park Crater Lake National Park is an American national park located in southern Oregon. Established in 1902, Crater Lake is the fifth-oldest national park in the United States and the only national park in Oregon. The park encompasses the caldera of ...

. The four ranger districts for the forest are the Cottage Grove, Diamond Lake, North Umpqua, and Tiller ranger districts. The forest is managed by the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...

, headquartered in Roseburg.

Geography

Stands of

western hemlock ''Tsuga heterophylla'', the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern Sonoma ...

, true fir,

Douglas-fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...

and cedar transition to lower-elevation forests of mixed conifers and hardwoods. Timbered valleys of old-growth ponderosa and groves of oak separate mountains like the Mount Thielsen and the Mount Bailey. Notable geologic features include volcanic basalt and andesite monolithic spires with descriptive names like Eagle Rock, Rattlesnake Rock, and Old Man.

History

Ancestors of the Umpqua, Southern Molala, Yoncalla, and

Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, known to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) as the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians of Oregon is a federally recognized Native American tribal government based in Roseburg, Oregon, United States. T ...

lived here before

Mount Mazama Mount Mazama (''Giiwas'' in the Native American language Klamath) is a complex volcano in the state of Oregon, United States, in a segment of the Cascade Volcanic Arc and Cascade Range. Most of the mountain collapsed following a major erupt ...

erupted forming

Crater Lake Crater Lake ( Klamath: ''Giiwas'') is a volcanic crater lake in south-central Oregon in the western United States. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The lake partly fill ...

nearly 7,000 years ago. The Indians were moved to reservations in 1856. As Europeans bought reservation lands, the tribes further fragmented to become farmers and ranchers in the Umpqua Valley. Two translations of the word "umpqua" are "thundering waters" and "across the waters". The Umpqua National Forest was created 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 ...

on July 2, 1907. The Forest Service staff soon began building trails, constructing bridges, fighting fires, monitoring grazing, and erecting lookouts. Logging and mining began in 1925. The

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

was active in the Umpqua National Forest by building roads, bridges and recreation facilities in the 1930s.

Points of interest

The Umpqua National Forest is home to more than 250 wildlife species. Large mammals such as elk,

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

, and cougar, as well as the smaller residents,

squirrels Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...

, fox,

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...

s, and

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...

s are supported by the diverse forest habitats. Raptors such as owls,

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

, and even peregrine falcons can occasionally be seen in the forest.

Coho The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". The scientific species name is ...

and

Chinook salmon The Chinook salmon (''Oncorhynchus tshawytscha'') is the largest and most valuable species of Pacific salmon in North America, as well as the largest in the genus '' Oncorhynchus''. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other ...

and steelhead, rainbow, brown and cutthroat

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salm ...

swim, feed and spawn in the rivers and streams of the forest. A 1993 Forest Service study estimated that the extent of

old growth An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

in the forest was , of which were

mountain hemlock ''Tsuga mertensiana'', known as mountain hemlock, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, found between Southcentral Alaska and south-central California. Description ''Tsuga mertensiana'' is a large evergreen conifer ...

(''Tsuga mertensiana'') forests. Recreational activities in the forest include camping, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, hunting, mountain biking, rock climbing, and boating. Winter activities include both Nordic and downhill skiing, as well as snowshoeing and snowmobiling. In 1988, the Oregon Omnibus Wild and Scenic Rivers Act designated a portion of the

North Umpqua River The North Umpqua River is a tributary of the Umpqua River, about long, in southwestern Oregon in the United States. It drains a scenic and rugged area of the Cascade Range southeast of Eugene, flowing through steep canyons and surrounded by larg ...

as Wild and Scenic. Twenty-six miles of the river run through the forest. The Rogue-Umpqua National Scenic Byway extends through the Rogue River–Siskiyou and Umpqua national forests, as well as the Medford and Roseburg districts of the Bureau of Land Management and private lands.

Wilderness areas

The Umpqua National Forest contains three wilderness areas: Boulder Creek, Rogue-Umpqua Divide, and Mount Thielsen.

Boulder Creek

Boulder Creek is a wilderness area located east of Roseburg. One popular area in Boulder Creek is Pine Bench. A flat area overlooking Boulder Creek, Pine Bench is home to a grove of majestic old growth ponderosa pines. In 1996 the Spring Fire burned in the Boulder Creek Wilderness.

Rogue-Umpqua Divide

The Rogue-Umpqua Divide is a wilderness area, of which is inside the National Forest. (About 17% of it lies within Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest.) Located east of Roseburg, the Rogue-Umpqua Divide ranges in elevation from 3,200 to and separates the drainages of the Rogue and Umpqua rivers. The wilderness includes

sub-alpine Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

meadows and

old-growth An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological feature ...

forests.

Mount Thielsen

Mount Thielsen is a wilderness area, of which is located inside the National Forest. (The rest lies in either Winema National Forest or

Deschutes National Forest The Deschutes National Forest is a United States National Forest located in parts of Deschutes, Klamath, Lake, and Jefferson counties in central Oregon. It comprises along the east side of the Cascade Range. In 1908, the Deschutes National F ...

.) Located east of Roseburg, this wilderness area is the largest in the Umpqua. The Mt. Thielsen was born of the same volcanic activity that created

and some trails pass over deep pumice that was deposited when Mt. Mazama erupted. The

Pacific Crest Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie ...

passes through the middle of the wilderness area.Mount Thielsen Wilderness
from the US Forest Service

References

External links

Forest Service page on Umpqua National Forest

{{Authority control Protected areas of Douglas County, Oregon Protected areas of Jackson County, Oregon Protected areas of Lane County, Oregon National Forests of Oregon 1907 establishments in Oregon Protected areas established in 1907