Timber
Kathie Durbin, Bridging a Great Divide: The Battle for the Columbia River Gorge
Loggers from the Great Lakes region reached the Pacific Northwest in the late nineteenth century. They logged the virgin forests that blanketed the coastal mountains and the lower valleys of the Cascades. They built sawmills and constructed wooden flumes to carry log sections down the steep cliffs of the gorge. By the dawn of the twentieth century, timber was king.
By then, most gorge communities were served by stearnwheelers, railroads, or both. Due in part to the steep terrain, logging operations in the gorge were smaller in scale than the vast projects in British Columbia, in the Oregon Coast Range, and on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. Commercial logging for export began in 1848 at Oregon City, the overland terminus of the Oregon Trail.
Durbin 17
Robert W. Hadlow, Columbia River Highway Historic District, National Historic Landmark Nomination
When the road was constructed, much of the Gorge had recently been logged of all large trees for timber and small, riparian zone trees for steamboat fuel. Dense ground cover and fast-growing trees soon took over the landscape. But originally, minimal vegetation framed the beautiful vistas seen from the highway. In more recent years, particularly in the waterfall section, trees and ground cover had grown so thick in places that the views were completely obscured.
The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (CRGNSA) Management Plan has vegetation management along the CRH as an objective in its “Scenic Resources Enhancement Strategies.” ODOT and other agencies developed a “Corridor Visual Inventory” in 1990 that addresses vegetation removal and management strategies for the CRH (Historic Columbia River Highway), Interstate 84, and Washington State Route 14 (following the Columbia’s north shore), to recapture the majestic views possible from these highways when they were constructed. Some of the vistas, obscured for decades, have been reclaimed along the highway.
Hadlow, Landmark Nomination 15