Dec. 11, 2019

Liz Writes Life

The garden is soggy and that looks great! The rain last week was heavy at times and our ground really needed it. This should have made farmers and ranchers happy, except for sloshing through the mud to feed livestock isn’t much fun.

POW

Ray Haupt, Siskiyou Co. Supervisor for Dist. 5, brought-in a slide show from his time working on the USFS Mount St. Helens Ranger District in 1979 and 1980. Ray and his wife, Pat, were newly married and he was working a seasonal reforestation job. His recollections were of constantly hiking extremely steep slopes in freezing cold rain. He worked 13 days straight and the 14^th day was his day off. Yep, pretty tough circumstances. At the time, Gifford Pinchot National Forest was the second highest producer of timber in the nation. There were lots of trees ready for harvest. The Forest was cutting 150 million board feet a year, including thinning stands planted in 1935.

It was in March of 1980, when pretty good sized clouds of smoke started puffing out of the mountain. Ray and Pat lived about 18 miles away at ranger station housing. On his days off, Ray recalls taking a picnic to a spot where they could see the mountain (normally, they couldn’t see the mountain for the trees) and watch the smoke puffs reaching 15,000 feet high. Before the 1980 blow, the mountain was 9,677 feet. Literally, 1,300 feet of the top blew off and it is now at 8,350 feet.

The mountain was being heavily monitored. Forest Service and other government agencies were considering different scenarios of disasters. Which rivers, lakes, roads, highways, railroads and dams would be impacted by the fall-out? There was a possibility Portland could be flooded depending on which area of the mountain blew.

Ray said it was quite unnerving. An eruption was imminent. Everyone was on pins and needles as the Forest Service forced crews to continue working. Safety protocols and constant communications were set up. Some crews could only work two hours at a time in various areas and they had to be able to see the mountain. Once an eruption began, their radios would no longer work because of the atmospheric disruption.

Before the eruption, Ray and Pat had decided to return to the Shasta/Trinity Forest. Ray was already hired. They were loading up their moving van, when a 5.1 earthquake hit on the side of the mountain on Sunday, May 18, 1980. That triggered the eruption.

The day before, Ray and another USFS employee had taken supplies into David Johnston, a dedicated geologist stationed three miles from the mountain. Johnston was being instructed to leave. He did not and was one of 57 known people, who died from the blast. Luck and God was with Ray as he missed the deadly blast by a day!

Actually, at least 250 people were accidently saved. This group was being brought in as a reforestation crew. But the contract didn’t get completed, so they were not allowed into the area. Whew! That was a close one. Spirit Lake and other recreational areas, previously, received warnings and most folks did leave.

As huge smoke clouds encompassed the sky, gigantic lightning bolts struck within the ash. Boulders and ice were seen flying in the churning smoke. Forest Service employees were frantic to find crews that were working and get them out of harm’s way. One of Ray’s friends has an incredible photo taken out the back window of the vehicle as they sped away. Luckily, they made it.

Amazingly, May 19, 1980 dawned to blue skies and a steam vent with calm puffs of smoke out of the much lower mountain. The wind had changed and pushed the mass of ash clouds in the opposite direction. But, there was still much danger as mud flows with pools of lava entered rivers and, along with thousands of trees and debris, filled the rather large Spirit Lake. Huge swaths of old growth timber, six to eight feet across and 200 feet tall, were felled looking like a dropped package of toothpicks.

Ray showed photos of a large bridge totally gone, immense swaths of timber and vegetation had evaporated and rivers of mud running down the mountain into real rivers of water. It was estimated over four billion board-feet of timber was destroyed along with unknown numbers of wildlife including 1,000s of elk. Ash mixed with rain and became sticky globs drying into cement.

And on May 19^th, Ray and Pat were gladly driving away as assessments and rehab work began. In 1981, Ray went back as a consultant and provided information from before the eruption.

He was asked about our own Mt. Shasta. It is well-monitored and actively studied with tilt-meters to show where areas may be pushed up. Currently, he feels much safer here in Siskiyou Co. compared to his time working on the Mount St. Helens Ranger District in 1980.

KNF Fire wood

This is good news for those who cut personal firewood in the Klamath National Forest. Effective Jan. 1, 2020, the price per cord of personal use fuelwood will be reduced from $5 per cord to $2 per cord. Wow, this is really great. Obtaining personal fuelwood will remain at 12 cords per year maximum, but the cost for the permit and tags will be greatly reduced.

A news release explained KNF has experienced devastating effects of wildfires and drought over the last 10 years, leaving hazard trees and excessive fuel loading along the roads and adjacent to private property. Firewood gathering is an effective tool to reduce hazards. It also helps create fuel breaks, so the price reduction provides incentive for the public to help with some forest management needs.

For more information, contact KNF headquarters in Yreka or your local ranger districts.

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past year can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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