A celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Tillamook State Forest will be held at the Tillamook Forest Center Saturday, July 22 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Activities, cake, and photo opportunities with Smokey Bear will be present.
In 1973, Governor Tom McCall dedicated the Tillamook State Forest, then a much younger forest bearing more prominent scars from the series of fires that came to be known as the Tillamook Burn.
In fact, the first Tillamook Burn—three more would follow in 1939, 1945 and 1951—ignited 90 years ago on August 14, 1933 at the headwaters of Gales Creek.
Eventually, much of the burned forest ended up in county and then state hands, with many private landowners letting the taxes they owed on once-profitable scorched land become delinquent.
“Prior to the dedication of the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forest, thousands of people took part in reforesting the Tillamook Burn. The planting effort brought many groups together to plant 72 million trees by hand and over one billion seeds by helicopter,” a web page for the event read.
“We hope that people involved will come, enjoy the company of others in this beautiful setting surrounded by the replanted trees and share their stories,” the forest center said.
A $5 donation was suggested.
The Tillamook Forest Center is located at 45500 Wilson River Hwy, about 25 minutes west of Gales Creek.
More information about the Tillamook Forest Center can be found online at tillamookforestcenter.org.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Gales Creek Journal and sister news publications the Banks Post and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
