This file was created by scanning the printed publication. Text errors identified 

by the software have been corrected; however, some errors may remain.
Authors

JON M. SKOVLIN was a principal research scientist (retired), Forestry and Range Sciences Laboratory,

1401 Gekeler Lane, La Grande, OR 97850, and now is a consultant on renewable natural resources,

P.O. Box 121, Cove, OR 97824 This publication was prepared under contract with the Blue Mountains

Natural Resources Institute, La Grande, Oregon. All photos not otherwise credited were taken by the senior

author.

JACK WARD THOMAS was chief research wildlife biologist, Forestry and Range Sciences Laboratory,

1401 Gekeler Lane, La Grande, OR 97850, and now is Chief, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,

P.O. Box 96090, Washington, D.C.

 20090.

Cover Photos

1908 (top). Early researcher, James T. Jardine, and Wallowa National Forest Supervisor, Harvey W. Harris

(photographer), rest their horses while riding out of Swamp Creek to Starvation Ridge. They are traveling the

newly constructed Chico Trail connecting Sled Springs Guard Station, 30 kilometers north of Enterprise, with

Billy Meadows Ranger Station where forest grazing experiments were underway.

1992 (bottom). Landscape changes after 84 years include timber harvest of old-growth ponderosa pine on

the distant skyline (left). Selection of only yellow pine during the 1920s along with grazing and fire suppression have converted the parklike canyon (right) to a thick stand of second-growth Douglas-fir and grand fir.

In 1986 all three side canyons (left center) sustained disastrous crown fires Several light colored patches on

the far open slopes have been colonized by cheatgrass brome which invaded about 1920. In the foreground,

vegetative cover may be slightly less in 1992 than in 1908. This could be caused by natural variation in

spring growth since plant composition has remained the same. A climax bluebunch wheatgrass-balsamroot

community occupies this harsh rocky site. Since about midcentury, cattle have made moderate use of this

intermingled forest range. Rocky Mountain elk have made conservative but increasingly heavier use, and

modest deer use decreased.
Abstract

Skovlin, Jon M.; Thomas, Jack Ward. 1995. Interpreting long-term trends in Blue Mountain

ecosystems from repeat photography. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-315. Portland, OR:

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 102 p.

Photographs taken before 1925 were compared with photos taken as recently as 1992 to interpret changes

within ecosystems in the Blue Mountains of Oregon. For discussion purposes, 10 ecosystems were

aggregated into seven broad landscape systems. Nearly all systems exhibited some degree of conversion

from herbaceous to woody forms of vegetation. Nonforested ecosystems improved markedly except in the

riparian-aquatic habitats. Forested ecosystems were stressed from stand stagnation, conversion from pine to

fir, serious insect infestations, and crown fires. This project shows how these ecosystems have changed since

the advent of settlement by nonendemic people. It was carried out to assist land managers and researchers to

develop strategies to improve ecosystem stability and thereby provide for resource sustainability.

Keywords: Blue Mountains, Oregon, photography (repeat), photo history, long-term change, landscape

ecology, ecosystem stability.
Contents

1 Introduction

2 Review of Literature

3 Study Area

5 Methods and Materials

6 Results and Discussion—The Photographic Record

7 Nonforested Landscapes

7 Sagebrush steppe and juniper woodlands

16 Canyon lowlands

26 Valley grasslands

38 Forested Landscapes

38 Mountain forests

52 Mountain grasslands

63 Mountain meadows and riparian habitats

75 Subalpine grasslands

88 Summary

88 Changes in Nonforested Landscapes

89 Changes in Forested Landscapes

91 Acknowledgments

92 English Equivalents

93 Literature Cited

97 Appendix I—Common and Scientific Names of Species

101 Appendix II—Photograph Descriptions

ii
Introduction

The forest ecosystems of the Blue Mountains in Oregon and Washington are unhealthy

This is the diagnosis of those who find the forest no longer producing the raw materials and

other amenities that communities have grown to expect (Quigley 1992) Timber sales have

been halted. Grazing allotments have been curtailed or eliminated. Salmon runs continue

to diminish. The forests are deemed unhealthy because resource production alleged to be on a sustained

yield has proven unsustainable at former levels of extraction.

Recognition of this reality has been slow in coming, although the symptoms have become increasingly evident

in destructive forest fires and insect and disease depredations that have left entire landscapes of standing

dead trees (Wickman 1992). Concern about the declining quality of water, wildlife habitat, and recreation was

increasingly expressed, but not until the economic ramifications of reduced timber production became apparent did people really take notice.

Much research and management effort is now going into developing strategies to turn this situation around

and put the forests back into a healthy condition; that is, one where production from the forest resources is

truly sustainable (Everett and others 1994). The starting point for this restoration effort is to learn as much as

possible about what the forests were like before they were altered by settlement, farming, logging, ranching,

forest management, and associated activities. From this information, appropriate restoration strategies can be

developed (Mutch and others 1993).

One of the techniques useful in analyzing long-term trends in the physical and biological world is repeat

photography (Rogers 1984) Repeat photography is the art of finding the site of a previous photograph,

reoccupying the original camera position, and making a repeat photograph of the same scene.

Whenever such photographs are repeated, they become elements of a continuous record and provide a

quantitative basis for understanding and predicting the natural forces that give a particular landscape its

character. Time-lapse photography is also an excellent tool for monitoring the results of management

activities.

Because early pictures of the Blue Mountains are available, it is possible to use this technique to achieve a

historical perspective on the changes that have occurred in this area. Most of the original photographs were

taken to survey the boundaries of the Forest Reserves or to record U.S. (now USDA) Forest Service research

efforts or the activities of the first range reconnaissance crew.1

 Other pictures were taken to show prospective

buyers the potential of the timber resources of the area.2

Many of the photo sites have been relocated and photographed periodically. The earliest pictures were taken

in 1901; the most recent retakes were done in 1992. Some repeats illustrate over 90 years of change.

The objectives of this study were to rephotograph a representative group of picture points throughout the Blue

Mountains in Oregon, describe the history of use, and analyze the long-term trends based on landscape

ecology (Urban and others 1987). The purpose of this visualization of change since the early 1900s was to

assist land managers in developing strategies to improve long-term sustainable productivity.

1 Photographs taken before 1920 are on file with the National

Archives, Washington DC Photos taken after 1920 are on file with

the USDA-Forest Service Photo Collection, National Agricultural

Library, Beltsville, MD.

2

 Lacey Co 1919 Report on lumbering potential in northeastern

Oregon Pictorial report commissioned by August Stange On file

with Boise Cascade Corp , Forestry Department, La Grande

Division, La Grande, OR 97850.
Review of Literature

The first application of fixed-point time-lapse photography to study changes in landscapes

was in 1888 when Professor S. Finsterwalder mapped glacier changes in the eastern Alps

in Europe (Hattersley-Smith 1966). Perhaps the most exhaustive photo series project was

that of Hastings and Turner (1965), who used 100 old photo pairs and early journals to

reconstruct ecosystem changes throughout the Southwest United States.

Common uses of photos to measure cause-effect events in ecosystems range from short-term to long-term

time-lapse. Lyon (1976) did a short-term study of postfire succession with fixed point photos biannually for a

decade after the Sleeping Child burn in western Montana. Gruell (1980) analyzed long-term habitat changes

in the Jackson Hole area of western Wyoming with a century between photo pairs.

Published time-lapse photography in the Blue Mountains has been confined mainly to the subalpine grassland

ecosystem in the Wallowa Mountains. These studies (Reid and others 1980,1991; Strickler 1961; Strickler

and Hall 1980) analyzed 70 years of the change on the Standley Sheep Allotment and 50 years of change on

the Tenderfoot Allotment.

2
Study Area

The Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington present a highly

diverse physical and biological province. Topography includes the rolling Palouse Hills near

Walla Walla, WA, and the rugged 1.5-kilometer-deep Hells Canyon of the Snake River on

the Idaho-Oregon border.3

 Elevations range from over 3000 meters in the lofty Wallowa

Mountains to less than 300 meters along the Snake River where the three States meet.

Although most of the Blue Mountains are derived from basalt flows, the Wallowas, Greenhorns, and Elkhorn

Ridge Mountains are granite (granodiorite) showing various degrees of glaciation. The Strawberry, Aldrich,

and Murray Mountains are uplifted domes of faulted basalt surrounded by seas of forest and woodlands.

This physiographic province (Fenneman 1931) receives most of its precipitation from Pacific maritime air

masses but is strongly influenced by continental weather systems from the Great Basin and northern Great

Plains. Precipitation ranges from 2000 millimeters near Tollgate to less than 200 millimeters near Burns. This

entire mountain uplift is drained around its perimeter by the Malheur, Silvies, Ochoco, Umatilla, Walla Walla,

Tucannon, and Imnaha Rivers; the John Day and the Grande Ronde and its tributaries, the Wallowa, Minam,

and Wenaha, drain the interior.

About 6,500 years ago the whole of the area had its brown forest soils overlain in places by up to a meter of

grey ash dust from the eruption of Mount Mazama (Crater Lake). This provided for much greater diversity in

vegetation than otherwise would have been possible (Geist and Strickler 1978).

Biological aspects of the Blue Mountains are as diverse as the physical attributes (Omernik and Gallant

1986). In one sense, the Blues are an ecological island with a complex mixture of plants and animals representing both Rocky Mountain and Cascade Range fauna and flora.4

 Given the isle theory, the Blue Mountains

have many plant species endemic to the province (Hitchcock and Cronquist 1973), but in a holistic sense

these mountains are a complex mixture of both regions, which are in turn influenced by closer systems.

The Blue Mountains can be divided ecologically into forested and nonforested ecosystems. Kuchler (1964)

describes eight true ecosystems based strictly on climax characteristics. Garrison and others (1977) added a

mountain meadow ecosystem not recognized by Kuchler and divided the mixed-conifer coined by Thomas

(1979) into separate Douglas-fir and larch ecosystems. Others have variously subdivided these 8 or 10 major

systems into cover types, associations, or plant communities (Eyre 1980, Ganskopp 1978, Hall 1973,

Johnson 1959, Johnson and Simon 1987).

The whole province is bounded by a grassland steppe, a shrub steppe, and a woodland zone (Franklin and

Dyrness 1973), which are mostly below the mountain forest ecosystems. These zones must be considered,

though, for a complete understanding of the functioning of the higher elevation regions. These zones also

occur within the mountain forests as do islands of forest within the steppe, shrub steppe, and woodland

zones.

The Columbia Basin grassland steppe (foothill type) to the northwest (Sheehy 1987) merges with the high

desert western juniper woodland in central Oregon (Driscoll 1962), which in turn joins the Great Basin big

sagebrush shrub steppe to the southeast into Idaho (Tisdale and Hironaka 1981). To the east of the Blue

Mountains across the Snake River are extensions of the vast Idaho batholith not unlike the Wallowa Mountains.

3

 English equivalents are given at the end of the text.

4

 Scientific names for all species mentioned are given in

Appendix I.

3
The open ponderosa pine (pine-bunchgrass) and Douglas-fir ecosystems are the lower forest edge associations; above them is the mixed-conifer ecosystem made up of western larch, grand fir, and lodgepole pine

ecosystems (Seidel and Cochran 1981). Spruce-fir of the "upper slope type" lies below the subalpine fir

ecosystem. The subalpine fir ecosystem is open grassland surrounding islands of mixed-fir forests (Pickford

and Reid 1942a).

The photographs selected for this publication will not be of true ecosystems because the original photographs

were not taken to depict ecosystems as such. In some cases, the photographers were illustrating problem

areas, in others promoting a prolific resource. It would be difficult to take these random photos and classify

them into discrete categories In fact, Hall (1973) introduces his key to the Blue Mountain plant communities

by saying that nearly one-third (30 percent) of any random point will fall into the gray transition zone where

two or more communities merge. The real world of nature is not black or white, but shades of gray.

For this paper, references to ecological landscape systems will use the Australian classification approach

outlined by Christian (1958) and enlarged by Christian and others (1960). In this method, principal emphasis

is on a two-level classification: land systems and land units "Land systems" are areas with a recurring pattern

of topography, soils, and vegetation, "land units" are subdivisions of land systems and display homogeneity

but differences in use potential.

4
Methods and Materials

Techniques for this study were quite simple. As nearly as possible, the exact camera

position was found and a black and white large-format picture was repeated at the same

time of day and year as the original photograph. Field notes were made on changes that

were apparent when the view was compared with copies of the original print- Notes were

made on species composition, cover, production, and use. A 35-mm color slide was taken for future use in

reconstructing details such as variations in plant development. To gain an understanding of the history of use

and recent events that might have a bearing on landscape changes, local users and resource managers were

interviewed.

Interpretation of change was not so simple. A shift in plant composition, for example, can result from many

interacting forces. A conversion from forest or shrubland to grassland can be brought about by weather,

ungulate grazing, fire, insects or disease, rodents, or other agents, singly and in combination. For this paper,

the obvious changes were analyzed based on personal knowledge of the sites. Readers are encouraged to

scrutinize the photographs and make interpretations based on their own knowledge.

All original photos chosen for this report were taken before 1925. This date was selected so that conditions

prior to settlement by nonendemic people would be best illustrated. With the exception of early livestock

grazing, not too much settlement activity had come about during the late 19th century that would influence the

upland Blue Mountain forest and rangeland setting on a landscape scale.

A word on plant succession and trend interpretation is appropriate because changes in concepts and terminology are being proposed and have been partly accepted in some scientific quarters. For example, forested

and nonforested rangeland in poor, fair, good or excellent condition may now be expressed, respectively, as

"early," "mid," or "late" seral stages and "climax" (Range Inventory Standardization Committee 1983, Society

for Range Management 1989). Climax communities recently have been redefined as "potential natural communities evolved in the absence of human influence" (Kuchter 1964). For the purpose of this paper, however,

generic or vernacular terms will be used.

The equipment used was press-type camera bodies of either the Crown Graphic or Speed Graphic series by

Graflex.' Lenses were usually a standard 135 mm. Filters were seldom used except to block haze. Exposure

meters were either General Electric PR-l or Grossen Luna Pro; film was either Kodak PlusX or TriX Pan. The

original and repeat photos were processed in the same format, preferably 12.7 by 17.8 centimeters to assist

in analyzing change.

Photos repeated in the mid 1960s and in 1982 had a survey stake in the foreground at 7.6 meters. Those in

1992 had the stake at 15.2 meters. Intervals of black and white along the slake were 0.3 meter to give the

viewer some appreciation of scale- The camera lens height was kept at about 1.5 meters, and a tripod mount

was used consistently. •

5 The use of trade, firm, or corporation names is for

the information and convenience of the reader Such

use does not constitute an official endorsement by

the U.S. Department of Agriculture of any product or

service to the exclusion of others that may be

suitable.

5
Results and DiscussionTHE PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORD

The photographs used in this report of long-term trends

were selected as representative of the Blue Mountain

province (fig. 1). They have been grouped into landscape systems. The

landscapes are divided into nonforested and forested.6

 The nonforested

landscapes are broken roughly into (a) sagebrush steppe and juniper

woodlands, (b) canyon lowlands and associated foothills, and (c) valley

grasslands and associated foothills. The forested landscapes include

(a) mountain forest, (b) mountain grassland, (c) mountain meadow and

riparian habitat, and (d) subalpine grasslands.

6

 Forested ecosystems are those lands producing more

than 1.4 cubic meters of wood growth per hectare per year,

6

Sagebrush steppe and juniper woodlands

Because these ecosystems are not homogeneous and are influenced by soils, aspect,

topography, drainage, and local climate, they will for our purposes be considered as one

landscape; that is, the sagebrush steppe and juniper woodland. These types are mostly

absent from Umatilla, Union, and Wallowa Counties in the northern Blue Mountains. They

occur, however, in Grant and Malheur Counties and in the drier parts of Baker County.

Common trees are western juniper and ponderosa pine; shrubs are big sagebrush, antelope bitterbrush,

rubber rabbitbrush, and mountain-mahogany. Forbs include western yarrow and Wyeth buckwheat. Grasses

on shallow south slopes are scattered bunchgrasses like Sandberg bluegrass or bluebunch wheatgrass.

Cheatgrass brome is an ever-present introduced annual.

The first grazing pressure in these arid zones of the southern Blue Mountains was concentrated around the

Canyon City and Eldorado mines. Later these areas were taken over by stockmen who left the northern Blue

Mountains after settlers began growing crops on the more fertile valley lowlands and foothills. The shrub

steppe and woodlands were not being fully grazed until the mid- to late-1880s and early 1890s.

7







Much of the former semi-arid grassland steppe in Baker and Grant Counties are today in the sagebrush

steppe and juniper woodland types. The Sheep Creek series (fig. 5) illustrates invading sagebrush and

encroaching juniper that began following heavy livestock grazing in the late 1800s (Burkhart and Tisdale

1976).

Grazing eliminated the fuels that carried periodic fires, which formerly kept the sage and juniper in check

(Shinn 1980). More recently, efforts at Federal, State, and local levels to suppress fires has reinforced the

effects of grazing, and the composition and structure of these ecosystems has been altered

The general sequence of woody plant encroachment was interrupted occasionally when sagebrush and

juniper control programs were undertaken in the mid-1960s. These programs included reseeding crested

wheatgrass and other species. This seeding, which was also practiced after wildfire, has tended to duplicate

the grassland steppe Watershed and forage conditions benefit from this practice, but extensive monoculture

does not provide high-quality wildlife habitat

On arid south-facing slopes of the "northside range" (north of John Day River), much of the former bunchgrass types have given way to cheatgrass, which is able to endure the hot summer drought in the form of

seed

Deer concentrated on the south-facing slopes in winter and spring, which further depleted the remaining

stands of bitterbrush This condition was aggravated by several eruptions in mule deer numbers before the

middle of the 20th century (Cliff 1939, Einarson 1947) Since mid-century, grasshopper outbreaks have

occurred on these and northern foothill rangelands in the Blue Mountains. The insects have migrated on

occasion to nearby forested areas and damaged trees by eating foliage and tender shoots (Furniss and

Carolin 1977).

15
Canyon lowlands

Canyon lowlands and foothills constitute the dissected landscapes along the Snake River

between Oregon and Idaho (Tisdale 1986) and its major tributaries, such as the Imnaha

and lower Grand Ronde Rivers. Deep canyons, often with sharp intervening ridges and

steep slopes, make up much of the north and east rim of the Blue Mountains uplands.

Depending on their orientation, side canyons and draws often will have north slopes of woody vegetation and

south slopes of grasses and forbs. Scattered woody vegetation at elevations above 500 meters usually is

ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir. Shrubs can be ninebark with occasional common snowberry or rose. Grasses

are usually Idaho fescue and perhaps Sandberg bluegrass.

South-slope grasslands are usually bluebunch wheatgrass, Sandberg bluegrass, cheatgrass brome, and rattle

brome. Forbs often are western yarrow, balsamroot, and Wyeth buckwheat. On very steep or rocky south

slopes, one might find Lewis mockorange (syringa), chokecherry, or serviceberry and perhaps some of the

other above-mentioned shrubs.

The introduction of cheatgrass brome to this region probably occurred between 1905 and 1910. In 1914, in the

first range survey of the Imnaha National Forest, cheatgrass was mapped in parts of only 12 sections.7

 Within

25 years it had spread throughout the lowlands, occupying depleted areas once sparsely covered with native

rattle brome. Today cheatgrass brome is very common on all areas below 1000 meters. In recent years, two

warm-season perennials common to the southwest (red threeawn and sand dropseed) have effectively

occupied many sites below about 500 meters.

These deep valleys were once the winter quarters of the Nez Perce Indians. The first grazing of domestic

ungulates in the canyon lowlands began with horses of the Wallowa band of Nez Perce Indians, probably in

about 1750. By the time Young Chief Joseph was forced from the Wallowas in 1877, his band was running

between four and five thousand head of cattle and horses.8

Much of the friction between Indians and settlers centered on grazing trespass on winter range in this landscape system. Settlers were grazing cattle and horses along the Snake River and lower Imnaha River as early

as 1875. Sheep use began here in about 1890 and peaked in about 1920. At one time, Leonard Johnson

wintered 200,000 sheep in these canyons (Wentworth 1948). Homesteading activity included farming the

benches and flats along the river.

Since creation of the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area (NRA) in 1975 and the purchase of isolated

deeded ranch land enterprises, sheep and cattle grazing have diminished. Presently no domestic sheep graze

these lowlands and only three cattle companies are active. A number of private cattle operations still use

these lowlands in fall, winter, and spring, however. This is also winter and spring range for many thousands of

elk in the Snake, Chesnimnus, Sled Springs, and Wenaha wildlife units managed by the Oregon Department

of Fish and Wildlife (ODF&W).

7

 Burke, M H 1937 Memorandum dated November 19 to the

Forest Supervisor In-Tucker, Gerald J 1963. History of the

Wallowa National Forest Unpublished document On file with'

Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, PO Box 907, Baker City,

OR 97814.

8

 Reid, Kenneth C 1985. Horses "as fat as seals" the ecology

and economy of Nez Perce herding in the nineteenth century.

Paper presented at the 38th annual Northwest Anthropological

conference, April 18-20, Ellensberg, WA 13 p.

16








By and large, the bottoms of the canyon lowlands, which were mostly private land, suffered the most from

early, uncontrolled, season-long livestock grazing. Today, because of stocking reductions, fencing, and other

management practices, private bottomlands are probably not degenerating but have improved or remain

static. Federally managed canyonlands have improved in the past 30 years but still show some effects of

early grazing, logging, and reading abuses.

Based on aquatic or wetland habitat standards, many riparian zones in the canyons are in poor condition, a

problem that has begun to be addressed only since the 1970s. White-tailed deer, which were nearly extirpated

in these habitats, have now recolonized their old ranges. •

25
Valley grasslands

where valley grassland bottoms have been undisturbed, they have a rich mixture of

grasses and forbs. Because water tables normally are high, vegetation stays green well

into midsummer. In meadow bottomland, grasses include prairie Junegrass, California

oatgrass, many sedges, and perhaps some rushes. Common forbs are cinquefoils, clovers,

biscuitroot, and groundsels. Alluvial outwashes were originally thick stands of giant wildrye grass.

On well-drained adjacent foothills, bluebunch wheatgrass and Idaho fescue are interspersed with forbs of

sulphur lupine and arrowleaf balsamroot. Shrubs are uncommon in these communities. The associated

foothills often are partially forested with scattered stands of ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir on north slopes.

Valley grasslands were the areas first occupied by nonendemic settlers in the Blue Mountains. Examples of

these larger valleys are the Grande Ronde, Powder, Indian, and Wallowa. Because they contain deep alluvial

soil, most larger valleys are now in permanent crop production. The smaller, slightly higher valleys, as shown

in this photo series, usually are left for native hay production or spring-fall grazing by livestock. Within these

valleys, weather conditions, except for short periods of extreme cold or deep snow, often are mild enough to

provide winter range for wild ungulates and livestock.

These grasslands have undergone drastic alterations, mostly the result of agricultural development. One

example in this photo series is near the town of Unity, OR, in the Burnt River Valley where a semiarid valley

bottom of sagebrush was converted to hay and permanent pasture.

Some prime ponderosa (yellow) pine was cut from the surrounding foothills before the start of the 20th

century for the needs of settlers. The lesser quality second-growth pine often was harvested just before or

after ranch property was sold. The prescribed harvest method was to take every tree over a 28-centimeter

diameter.

26










All photo points in this landscape system are in private ownership. Although these holdings are on more

productive land, they probably were mismanaged for a longer period than either the upper mountain forest

range or the grassland inclusions. All the sites have shown improvement in watershed quality and forage

production. Much of this is due to intensive agricultural practices.

The productivity of the surrounding forest resource has declined, possibly reflecting lack of interest or information to manage for timber production. There is little evidence of any effort to rehabilitate these nonindustrial

private forests after the selective cutting practices of the past 80 years.

This landscape with its surrounding foothills is traditional spring-fall cattle range and winter deer and elk

range. Some private landowners are allowing fee hunting to diversify their economic opportunities. •

37
Mountain forests

Mountain forest exists wherever soils are deep enough to hold sufficient moisture for tree

growth. Included within this mountain forest zone are islands of mountain grassland and

stringers of mountain meadows. At lower elevations, the forests consist of ponderosa pine

and Douglas-fir grading into mixed-conifer forests, which also support western larch and

grand fir. Upper slope spruce-fir forests may be interpersed with monotonous stands of lodgepole pine.

The dense stands, with 70 to 80 percent crown cover, support few understory grasses but may have low

shrubs and forbs. Vegetation of the understory ranges from the pine-bunchgrass type to the shrubby huckleberry under a lodgepole canopy. Certain closed forest communities, like grand fir, contain little or no understory vegetation.

A large part of the mountain forest zone came under USDA Forest Service jurisdiction in 1906 after being

designated part of the Blue Mountain Forest Reserve. Effective fire suppression started about 19109

 just as

livestock grazing was being reduced after the destructive days at the start of the 20th century. Wildlife numbers were at an all-time low about this time.

Lumbering had begun but was not on an industrial basis on public lands until midcentury. Although Blue

Mountain saw-log production remained about the same between 1955 and 1970, that from private lands fell

off by over half and that from National Forests increased by over 40 percent (Bolsinger and Berger 1975).

9

Tucker, G.J 1968 History of the Wallowa-Whitman

National Forest. 3 vol. Unpublished document On file with

Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, P.O Box 907, Baker,

OR 97814 [Not paged]

38












The mountain forests have undergone drastic changes since the arrival of nonindigenous settlers. Most

striking has been the tremendous increase in regeneration of understory trees, which old timers refer to as

"brushing up." The understory of current forests is heavily stocked with saplings and poles of the shadetolerant species, Douglas-fir and grand fir. This thickening of young forests (Weaver 1949) has been caused

by a combination of factors (Pearson 1949).

Overgrazing by cattle and sheep removed fine fuel, destroyed ground cover competition, and created bare

soil seedbeds (Rummell 1951). Widespread tree establishment was intensified when horses were replaced by

tractors for logging, which scarified the forest floor thereby exposing mineral soils and creating ideal seedbeds

(Garrison 1964). Efficient fire suppression especially after midcentury further contributed to heavy fuel accumulation (Arno 1976). Without fires, shade-tolerant firs replaced fire-resistant pines.

Another apparent change shown in photo comparisons is that the old-growth ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir

are gone. Also, snags that are necessary for cavity-nesting birds and eventually large woody debris for insects

have been eliminated through fire protection policies. Snags once were common, but are now found mostly in

areas of recent fires.

The practice of selecting only prime ponderosa pine and western larch has left inferior trees to regenerate.

Other radical changes in species composition have occurred besides the conversion from pine to fir. Several

lodgepole stands, such as the one at Billy Meadows (fig. 18), have changed to mixed-conifer stands, which

illustrates the serai nature of lodgepole pine (Trappe and Harris 1958) Some tree stands on semiarid marginal sites (for example, Target Springs, fig 20) have not and probably will not regenerate naturally.

Several series in the mountain forest landscape show insect infestations The most common was the mountain pine beetle outbreak of the mid-1970s. In the Upper Grande Ronde River area, the mountain pine beetle

affected mature lodgepole pine in Fly Valley (fig. 16) and Trail Creek (fig. 24). Douglas-fir tussock moth

outbreaks occurred in the Tollgate area (fig. 19). Much of the western spruce budworm and Douglas-fir bark

beetle infestation has recently occurred in the thick, shade-tolerant stands (Wickman 1992).

Early attempts to control insects began in mid-century when the chemical DDT was tested and applied to local

forest lands infected by western spruce budworm (Eaton and others 1949). Millions of acres of Blue Mountains forest were sprayed with this long-lived pesticide during the next 25 years, until it was confirmed that

tissues from lambs grazing sprayed range near Tollgate (fig. 19) showed concentrations of DOT far exceeding

limits for agricultural commodities (Strickler 1975). This finding had serious marketing implication for ranchers,

and it implied that the meat from deer and elk taken by hunters also would be contaminated (USDA Forest

Service 1981)

Clearcutting and road building are two development activities that have accelerated over the past 25 years.

Studies show that when properly executed, small unit Clearcutting (<10 hectare) tends not to degrade the

environment but can be used to mimic small fires (Skovlin and others 1989, Tiedemann and others 1988).

As a result of the build-up of understory fuels, standing dead trees, and ladder fuels accumulating in brushedup stands, large and destructive crown fires have occurred over the past 10 years. The photo series in the

mountain forest landscape shows evidence of six large fires averaging over 10 000 hectares each since 1986.

The total area burned was about 59115 hectares.

There were large and destructive fires in former times also; for example, Lookinglass in 1889 (fig. 19) and the

Sleepy Burn in 1910 (fig. 7). By midcentury these forested areas had largely regenerated through natural

succession. •

51
Mountain grasslandsMountain grasslands occur interspersed within the mountain forest. Grasslands usually

occur on sites with soils too shallow to support trees, such as the rockier ridge types or

steeper south-facing slopes. They are normally small (2.5 to 25 hectares) nonforested

openings surrounded by more-or-less continuous forest. They often represent only

one-fourth or less of the upland forested area but are very important to grazing ungulates (Skovlin and

others 1976).

These grasslands are characterized by prairie Junegrass, bluebunch wheatgrass, and Idaho fescue. Forbs

are mostly palatable to all ungulates and include lupines, balsamroot, and various early succulent lilylike

plants, such as camas root. Scattered pines often invade the mountain grasslands but usually succumb to

drought before maturing.

These areas are choice summer range for all forms of livestock and big game if higher elevation range is not

available. Because these areas provide diversity and contain desirable grass and forb species, deer and elk

prefer them in spring and early summer, and livestock prefer them over the forested grasslands except in late

summer. Because of this, they historically have sustained heavier use than has the surrounding forest understory.

These grasslands supported the livestock of the early ranchers and homesteaders beginning in the early

1880s. Cattle and extra horses were turned out to mountain pasture in the spring. There was a community

beef gather in August and a fall roundup in October. Herded sheep often grazed throughout traditional cattle

range until creation of the Forest Reserves, which divided these mountain pastures by class of stock. Except

for the occasional drift fence, fencing was not customary until the 1930s and 1940s. Systems of management

did not come into being until after 1950.

52









On the whole, mountain grasslands have improved one full ecological condition class, from poor to fair at the

start of the 20th century to fair to good at present. Of the five photo pairs comprising this landscape type, only

the first three represent the true mountain grassland situation. The remaining two were selected by range

examiners soon after the turn of the century to illustrate recognizable problem areas; in this case, stock

driveway condition and trespass through abuse of crossing permits.

Much of the forage base for Forest Service allotments in the Blue Mountains is derived from mountain grasslands with smaller contributions coming from the understory of the mountain forest zones (Sanderson and

others 1990).

Management has brought about improvement because stocking numbers have remained relatively static in

spite of factors that tend to diminish the forage supply, such as logging slash and soil disturbance, brushingup of thickets, or crown canopy closure. Early management focused on better distribution of stock through

fencing, water development, and salting After midcentury, systems of grazing management for improving the

forage supply were introduced (Skovlin and others 1976). Seeding for range improvement also was attempted

(Rummell and Holscher 1955).

Elk that once were migratory through this zone during spring and fall now have become resident and appear

to thrive throughout the summer Deer long have been resident in this zone •

62
Mountain meadows and riparian habitatsungulate forms.

Mountain meadow and riparian habitat are two companion types and often occur together

within the mountain forest landscapes. One is a wet meadow consisting of heavy clay and

alluvial-type soils usually waterlogged during spring months (Hall 1973). The other is a dry

meadow on well-drained loamy upland soils. Both types of meadow are sought by all

In the Blue Mountains, meadows occupy only 1 or 2 percent of the forested area but can account for upwards

of 10 to 20 percent of the summer-range ungulate forage One hectare of mountain meadow can provide as

much forage as 10 to 15 hectares of surrounding forest range (Reid and Pickford 1946). Meadow plants are

very palatable and remain succulent long after plants in the nearby forest uplands have dried. One-half

hectare of meadow in fair condition should support several elk or a cow for a month.

In meadows of good condition, perennial grasses, such as tufted hairgrass, and grasslike plants, such as

Nebraska sedge, cover half the ground surface. Indicators of degraded meadows include Kentucky bluegrass,

western yarrow, false he I Ie bore (more commonly called skunk cabbage), cinquefoils, and common dandelions.

63









Throughout this series of photos, improvement in the ecological status of meadows was apparent. Several

mountain meadows had lost weedy and noxious species such as skunk cabbage and western coneflower,

while at the same time gaining in climax grass and grasslike composition.

In forage resource value for wild or domestic ungulates, Blue Mountain meadows have improved markedly

from conditions early in the 20th century (Pickford and Reid 1942a). But, the aquatic habitat and much of the

streamside riparian habitat are in unacceptable condition for salmonid production. Along wet meadows and

stream banks, many of the woody species important to wildlife and fish have been eliminated through reading,

drainage, logging, clearing, or grazing.

Roads and railroads in mountain meadows and along their edges tend to disrupt drainage patterns and to dry

out natural wetlands. Longley Meadows (fig. 34) shows a succession of these changes. The woody shrub

component that shades waterways often suffers when construction is in meadow bottoms, such as along the

upper Grande Ronde River (fig. 32}.

Perhaps the most contentious rangeland problem in the Blue Mountains centers on controlling ungulate

grazing to improve the streamside habitat and thus restore the aquatic conditions. Mountain meadows respond quickly to grazing management systems but are slow to recover from season-long grazing (Bohn and

Buckhouse 1985).

Several photos, such as Lyman Meadows (fig 36), show reductions in woody shrub vegetation as a result of

grazing by ungulates, probably cattle Other photos show woody coniferous vegetation encroaching into new

locations, such as Rock Creek Meadows (fig. 33) and Bear Creek Guard Station (fig. 39) If this conifer

invasion is permitted to continue in mountain meadows, their recreational appeal and usefulness for ungulate

grazing are diminished. •

73
74
Subalpine grasslands

This landscape is characterized by stringers of subalpine fir and patches of whitebark pine

interspersed throughout rather expansive open grasslands. Under pristine conditions and

perhaps until as late as 1870, nearly solid stands of green fescue grass prevailed over this

high country.

Later, thousands of cattle and hundreds of thousands of sheep grazed the restricted subalpine ecosystem

heavily for over 50 years. For example, in about 1910 Leonard Johnson of Wallowa County ranged 200,000

head of sheep, most of which were trailed to high.mountain pastures (Wentworth 1948) Jay Dobbin operated

21 bands (1,000 sheep to a band) at the west end of the Wallowa Mountains, and Pete Beaudoin had 29 at

the east end. Besides these large operators, there were hundreds of small operators.

Sheepgrowers were known as woolgrowers because, at that time, there was a ready market for wool. Almost

all progeny were retained as there was little demand for lamb as meat. Regulation and grazing fees in 1906

eliminated heavy transient herds and cut grazing pressure by half. That first year, only 250,000 head of sheep

were permitted on the Wallowa National Forest (see footnote 9). Subsequent reductions have eliminated

nearly all flocks from these landscapes

Heavy stocking resulted in the removal of large amounts of herbage cover and eventually loss of soil.'" With

heavy grazing came a degraded weed stage of bare soil, erosion pavement, and pioneer species like

pokeweed fleeceflower, western coneflower, western yarrow, penstemon, and sometimes mountain big

sagebrush. This later gave way to a mixed grass-weed stage. Here subalpine needlegrass and bottlebrush

squirreltail along with weeds like tailcup lupine and gland cinquefoil predominated for. an extended period.

Grasslike plants such as Hood sedge and Parry rush may also occur. Under light ungulate grazing, subalpine

ranges can eventually be restored to mainly green fescue and a few sedges (Reid 1941).

Subalpine grasslands probably suffered greater depletion than any other rangeland type. One reason was the

great demand for green feed relative to supply. These high-elevation ranges are at their best for grazing when

other lower ranges are seasonally exhausted of nutrients or available forage.

The subalpine ecosystem has only about 90 days of adequate growing season. The winter snowpack remains

late into springtime, and killing frosts arrive in early autumn. Soil moisture, however, remains ample to maintain green succulent plants into late summer, and this is highly sought by domestic livestock and wild ungulates alike.

Bark beetle infestations were widespread at high elevations with serious damage occurring to whitebark pine

between 1910 and 1920 and between 1975 and 1985.

10 Pickford and Reid (1942a) found that 1180 metric tons per

hectare was the average loss of soil from subalpine grasslands on the Tenderfoot Sheep Allotment study area of the

Wallowa Mountains

75











Figure 45c—1992 There are thousands of acres of dead, standing trees (mostly lodgepole) encircling Black Butte due

to the Clear fire, 1986 The significant die-off of whitebark pine on the butte (right center) was caused by bark beetle

damage, possibly an extension of the same mid-1970s western and mountain pine beetle outbreak that affected Black

Butte (fig 24c) Grassland cover has increased, and the weedy pokeweed fleeceflower (foreground) has diminished

slightly Signs of elk and deer are again plentiful Grazing on abundant forbs and elk sedge has increased from light in

1974 to moderate use in 1992.

A vivid recovery in plant density has occurred on nearly all the Blue Mountain subalpine ecosystem. Grassland recovery came about mostly through a massive reduction in sheep numbers; however, improved range

management also contributed. An appalling loss in topsoil resulted from the early abuse as evidenced by the

Lakes Lookout photos (fig. 45). Some badly degraded areas like the Standley Trail area (fig. 42c) have not

gained cover in over 80 years. Despite heavy soil losses, these ranges began showing considerable improvement by the mid-1900s (Reid and others 1980, Strickler 1961).

Subalpine ranges were at one time, perhaps in the late 1930s, in poor to very poor condition and since have

improved at least one full condition class. Improvement has restored much of the former plant diversity and

stabilized erosion through increased plant cover. Most of the depleted areas have progressed from pioneer

weeds to reestablishment of green fescue. Where woody mountain big sagebrush was present, however, it

has expanded coverage.

The forest has been quick to regenerate after fire such as on the Imnaha North Fork (fig. 40b). Encroachment

of subalpine fir into these natural grasslands is apparent under some conditions, such as the Standley Allotment (fig. 41 b) where historically fire, in the absence of abusive grazing, probably reduced tree invasion. •

87
Summaryone of the most noticeable long-term trends in Blue Mountain ecosystems, and one transcending all landscapes, has been a gradual but wholesale shift from herbaceous communities to communities of woody

shrubs and trees. This has taken place across all zones, from the arid grassland steppe being invaded by big

sagebrush and western juniper to the subalpine grasslands being colonized by subalpine fir and whitebark

pine.

In many ways, change in the nonforested landscapes is more striking than in the forested landscapes,

especially in the drier zones. Much of what is today a shrub steppe-juniper woodland was grassland

steppe before settlement. The Sheep Creek series (fig. 5) in Grant County provides a classic example of

this wholesale ecological conversion from a herbaceous to a woody community. These conversions that

began 100 years ago resulted from heavy, often year-long grazing accompanied by the elimination of

wildfire.

Encroachment of sagebrush, rabbitbrush, and juniper also is evident in western Malheur County in the

Little Malheur River Panorama (fig. 2) and the Ironside Mountain series (fig. 3). Here soils and aspect

are different from those of Sheep Creek, but the outcome and prospects are identical. All these comparisons show encroachment of sagebrush and western juniper along with a decrease in bunchgrass and an

increase in cheatgrass and weeds. The latter indicates a loss in ecological stability, watershed, and

ungulate grazing values.

Canyonlands and associated foothills have not been altered greatly in terms of hydrological or ungulate

grazing values. On a case-by-case basis, some sites like Branson Creek (fig. 11) have deteriorated

slightly, whereas Chico Trail (fig. 10) is static and Cemetery Ridge (fig. 8) improved somewhat.

Except for a few private holdings, canyonlands are in fair condition ecologically and appear stable in

terms of erosion hazard and ungulate forage output. There are, however, symptoms of instability from

recurring invasions of alien plants and rodent outbreaks. Canyonlands provide excellent winter habitat

for wild ungulates.

Valley grasslands and associated foothills have improved in general and are stable. Surrounding foothills

are only in poor to fair condition but are trending upward in ungulate forage values and watershed

stability. Foothills have produced a low but sustained output of forest and range resources. Nonforested

landscapes have been converted from range grazing to more intensive land use in several instances.

McKay Creek canyonland (fig. 12), Unity Valley lowlands (fig. 13), and Longley Meadows (fig. 34) were

converted from deteriorated grazing land to productive pasture. In one case, however, a former hayfield

along Branson Creek (fig. 11) reverted to pasture.

88
The most obvious trend in the forest landscapes has been toward an increase in density of coniferous stems.

This began nearly a century ago when destructive grazing broke up the protective soil cover and in the

process prepared a bed for tree seedling establishment and survival. Heavy grazing also reduced the dry

grass that provided fine fuels for fires that once eliminated the undergrowth. This was best evinced by the

afforestation of Fly Ridge (fig. 22) and the Standley Sheep Allotment (fig. 41). This process later was

intensified by fire suppression efforts beginning early in the 20th century.

Along with the increase in competing stems there was a rapid increase in crown closure of the conifer cover

types. This change reduced light received on the forest floor, thus favoring shade-tolerant fir and inhibiting the

regeneration of intolerant pine, best shown in the McGraw Springs photos (fig. 25). Crown closure also

reduced herbaceous cover that fueled cooler burning fires, which once killed the thin-barked fir seedlings. It

also increased the risk from crown fires due to lateral spread of canopy fuels.

Timber harvest practices based on removal of all maturp trees were most apparent in the forest profiles of the

Bear Wallow (fig. 31) and Upper Grande Ronde River (fig 32) photo series. Old-growth trees are missing from

all the forested photos except for pockets on the steep slope of Lookinglass Creek (fig. 19) and Sluice Creek

(fig. 9). Logging by crawler tractor replaced horse logging in the 1940s, thereby causing additional ground

cover disturbance, which contributed to the growing problem of overstocked timber stands.

The combination of timber harvest selection for prime species (ponderosa pine and western larch) together

with overgrazing and fire suppression led to stand conversion on many sites. The Pelican Creek overview

(fig. 21) presents a good example of stand conversion in the mountain forested zone.

Following these early phases of forest management came the era of clearcutting with its associated

shelterwood and seed tree entries. Between 1982 and 1992, this form of silviculture became increasingly

common across the forest landscapes monitored in this report. In 1982, only one photo sequence showed

these activities; in 1992, there were six.

Destructive insect damage became evident in the photo series in the mid-1970s, and by 1982 three photo

points showed salvage operations had been underway. Three more were completed by 1992. These operations were mostly clearcuts and mainly in lodgepole pine. Another change shown by several photo series was

the reduction in large snags. Twenty-five years (1950 to 1975) of fire control policies and timber management

practices called for the elimination of snags.

Mountain grasslands, though being encroached by forest regeneration such as on Fly Ridge (fig. 22), are in

fair condition and are stable in hydrological terms. Stock concentration areas and old driveways like Bear

Wallow (figs. 30 and 31) have not rebuilt their soil A-horizons and may remain scab flats for decades with only

tarweed for cover. Most cultural practices, such as reseeding or fertilization, have been failures.

Mountain meadows generally have improved in species composition bufsome drier meadows, such as West

Lyman Meadows (fig. 37), have not improved in over 75 years. Riparian habitats are not improving on mountain meadows. In fact, they have been degraded in areas such-as the Upper Grande Ronde River (fig. 32) and

in all other locations depicting original wetland characteristics.

Subalpine ecosystems have improved in watershed and forage production capabilities without exception;

however, a loss of grassland to forest encroachment has occurred. Losses of grassland or meadow in areas

dedicated to recreation eventually will diminish the aesthetic value of these landscapes Forage for recreational livestock is also at risk.

89
The striking disturbance between 1982 and 1992, however, was the vast acreage of forest devastated by

wildfire. Evidence of six fires showed in the 1992 photos and they averaged nearly 10 000 hectares each.

These resulted from drought conditions, insect damage, fuel buildup, and ladder fuels enabling crown fires to

start.

If there is one single trend that stands out in all these long-term photo comparisons, it is that of an

everchanging landscape. Various stages of succession have moved across the landscapes transforming plant

composition, density, and structure. These modifications were in response to disturbances causing a change

in secondary succession.

Presettlement ecosystems had a unique set of landscape patterns and successional processes based on

natural disturbances. Postsettlement ecosystems have, during the 20th century, been subjected to humandominated disturbances. More recently, modern-day management practices have been overlayed on these

disturbances, thereby creating a complicated mosaic of landscape patches in fragmented stages of succession.

Some of the ecosystem trends are viewed as improvements overtime; others are considered degradations.

We based our interpretation of these trends on resource conditions as they related to ecological stability and

not to economic commodity outputs. Others who study the pictures may reach different conclusions based on

their knowledge, experience, or inclination.

This document is an illustrated guide to landscape ecology of Blue Mountain ecosystems. It is a visual aid in

understanding how the ecosystems have changed and are changing. It provides a record of how natural and

human forces have given particular landscapes their character. A record such as this can be a model component of the monitoring used to assess the effectiveness of strategies implemented to restore productive,

healthy ecosystems for the 21 st century. •

90
Acknowledgments

This work is dedicated to the photographers who took the time and effort to capture an instant of early-day

history in graphic form and record the event such that the picture point could be reestablished. These individuals are listed in the chronological order of their photo contributions: Gifford Pmchot, William 0. Dayton,

George B. Sudworth, Arthur W. Sampson, James T. Jardine, D.C. Ingram, Harvey W. Harris, J.L. Peterson,

F.B. Kellogg, M.R. Filloon, Walter L. Dutton, L.E. McDaniel, E.W. Stevenson, R W. Harris, M.K. Kennedy, W.K.

Farrell, Olie Cliff, J.M. Trappe, N.M. Miner, G.S. Strickler, and Wade B. Hall

Lee Prater of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, photo archives, Washington, DC, was most

helpful in recovering original photographs.

Special acknowledgment goes to Wade Hall who repeated 23 of these photos in 1974 and shared his recollections of events and knowledge of management practices occurring during his 45-year career with the

Forest Service in northeastern Oregon.

Much information on photo location and use history came from Gerald J. Tucker, Vaughan Livingston, Don

Miller, Spike Armstrong, John Clouston, Ed Abbott, and Al Oard. Recent information on management was

provided by Bud Ball, Al Brown, Arlen Chenault, Charles Colton, Guy Davis, Charles Johnson, Jr., Red

Justice, Ernest Kerburg, Barry Lyon, Bob Murray, Charles Quimby, George Winegar, and Jerry Winegar.

Valuable material and statistics were furnished by many people from various offices of fire control, cultural

heritage, range, wildlife, and forestry.

To Donna Skovlin goes our appreciation for sharing from start to finish the pleasure and pain of this field and

office venture.

Finally, we wish to thank Dr. Thomas M. Quigley, Director of the Blue Mountains Natural Resources Institute,

for assistance in funding this project and for his recognition of the contribution this document will make in

better understanding and in future management of these and similar ecosystems throughout the West.

91
English Equivalents

1 kilometer (km)

1 meter (m)

1 centimeter (cm)

1 millimeter (mm)

1 square kilometer (km2

)

1 square kilometer (km2

)

1 hectare (ha)

1 liter (I)

1 ton (metric)

1 kilogram (kg)

1 ton (metric)/hectare

0.62 mile

1.09 yards

0.39 inch

0.04 inch

0.39 square mile

247.1 acre

2.47 acre

1.06 quart (liquid)

1.10 ton (English)

2.20 pounds

0.45 ton (English/acre

92
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Shinn, Dean A. 1980. Historical perspectives on range burning in the inland Pacific Northwest. Journal of

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96
Appendix I—Common and Scientific Names of Species

Plants'

Trees—

Alder

Cottonwood, black

Douglas-fir (interior)

Engelmann spruce

Grand fir

Lodgepole pine

Ponderosa pine

Subalpine fir

Western juniper

Western larch

Whitebark pine

AInus spp.

Populus tnchocarpa Torr. & Gray

Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca (Beissn.) Franco

Picea engelmannii Parry ex Engelm.

Abies grandis (Dougl.) Lindl.

Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud.

Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Loud.

Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt.

Juniperus occidentalis Hook.

Larix occidentalis Nutt.

Pinus albicaulis Engelm.

ShrubsAntelope bitterbrush

Big sagebrush

Common snowberry

Chokecherry

Hawthorn, black

Huckleberry, big

Mountain big sagebrush

Mountain-mahogany

Lewis mockorange

Ninebark

Rose

Rubber rabbitbrush

Serviceberry

Stiff sagebrush

Sumac

Willow

Purshia tridentata (Pursh) Oc.

Artemisia tridentata Nutt.

Symphoricarpos a/bus (L.) Blake

Prunus virginiana L.

Crataegus douglasii Lindl.

Vaccinium membranaceum Dougl. ex Hock

Artemisia tridentata vaseyana (Rydb.) Beetle

Cercocarpus ledifolius Nutt in T. G.

Philadelphus lewisil Pursh

Physocarpus malvaceus (Greene) Kuntze

Rosa spp. L.

Chrysothamnus nauseosus (Pall) Brit.

Amelanchier ainifolia Nutt.

Artemisia rigida (Nutt.) Gray

Rhus diversiloba T. & G

Salix spp. L.

' Nomenclature for plants, forbs, shrubs, and trees follows

Garrison and others (1976).

97
Grasses and grasslike—

Annual hairgrass

Bluebunch wheatgrass

Bottlebrush squirreltail

California oatgrass

Cheatgrass brome

Columbia needlegrass

Crested wheatgrass

Giant wildrye

Green fescue

Idaho fescue

Kentucky bluegrass

Onespike danthonia

Prairie Junegrass

Red threeawn

Rattle brome

Sand dropseed

Sandberg bluegrass

Smooth brome

Subalpine needlegrass

Timothy

Tufted hairgrass

Western needlegrass

Deschampsia danthonioides (Trin.) Munro ex. Benth.

Agropyron spicatum (Pursh) Scribn. & Sm.

Sitanion hystrix (Nutt.) J.G. Sm.

Danthonia californica Boland.

Bromus tectorum L.

Stipa occidentalis Thurb. ex Wats. var. minor (Vasey)

C.L. Hitchc.

Agropyron cristatum (L.) Gaertn.

Elymus cinereus Scribn. & Merrill

Festuca viriduta Vasey

Festuca idahoensis Elm.

Poa pratensis L.

Danthonia unispicata (Thurb.) Munro ex Macoun

Koeleria cristata Pers.

Aristida longiseta Merrill

Bromus brizaeformis Fisch. & Mey.

Sporobolus cryptandrus (Torr) Gray

Poa sandbergii Vasey

Bromis inermis Leys.

Stipa columbiana Macoun

Phelum pratense L.

Deschampsia caespitosa (L.) Beauv.

S//pa occidentalis Thurb. ex Wats

Grasslike—

Elk sedge

Hood sedge

Nebraska sedge

Parry rush

Rush

Sedge

Carex geyeri Boott

Carex hoodii Boott

Carex nebraskensis Dewey

Juncus parryi Engelm.

Juncus spp. L.

Carex L.

98
Forbs—

Balsamroot, arrowleaf

Barrel cactus

Biscuitroot, American

Browns peony

California falsehellebore

Camas root

Clover

Common dandelion

Douglas blue-eyed grass

Geranium

Gland cinquefoil

Groundsels

Gumweed, low

Hawkweed

Lupine

Mules ears wyethia

Oregon checkermallow

Penstemon

Plains pricklypear

Pokeweed tieeceflower

Red besseya

Rush pussytoes

Sulphur lupine

St. Johnswort (goat weed)

Tailcup lupine

Tarweed, cluster

Thistle

Western coneflower

Western yarrow

Wyeth buckwheat

Balsamorhiza sagitatta (Pursh) Nutt.

Pediocactus simpsonii (Engelm.) Britt. & Rose

Potygonum bistortoides Pursh

Paeonia brownii Dougl. ex Hook.

Veratrum cal'ifornicum Durand

Camassia quamash (Pursh) Greene

Tnfo/iumspp L.

Taraxacum officinal Weber

Sisyrinchium douglasiif^. Dietr

Geranium spp. L.

Potentilta glandulosa Lindl.

Senecfo spp. L.

Grindelia nana Nutt

Agoseris spp. Rat.

Lupinus spp. L.

Wyethia amplexicaulis Nutt.

Sidalcea oregana (Nutt.) Gray

Penstemon spp. Mitch.

Opuntia polycantha Haw.

Polygonum phytolaccaefolium Meisn. ex Small

Besseya rubra (Dougl.) Rydb.

Antennaria /uzutoi'ctesT. & G.

Lupinus sulphureus Dougl. ex Hook.

Hyper/cum perforatum L.

Lupinus caudatus Kell.

Madia glomerata Hook

Cirsium spp. Adans.

Rudbekia occidentalis Nutt.

Achiliea millefolium var. lanulosa Piper

Eriogonum heragieoides Nutt.

99
Animals

Mammals2

—

California bighorn sheep

Mice

Rocky Mountain elk

Rocky Mountain mule deer

The Dalles pocket gopher

White-tailed deer

Ovis canadensis californiana (Douglas)

Mycrotus spp.

Cervus elaphus (Linnaeus)

Odocoileus hemionus (Rafinesque)

Thomomys spp.

Odocoileus virginianus ochrourus (Bailey)

Insects3—

Clearwinged grasshopper

Douglas-fir beetle

Douglas-fir tussock moth

Goat weed beetle

Mountain pine beetle

Western pine beetle

Western spruce budworm

Camnula pellucida (Scudder)

Dendroctonus pseudotsugae (Hopkins)

Orgy/a pseudotsugata (McDunnough)

Chrysolina gemellata (Rossi)

Dendroctonus ponderosae (Hopkins)

Dendroctonus brevicomis (Le Conte)

Chonstoneura occidentalis (Freeman)

2

 Nomenclature for animals follows Nowak and Paradiso

(1983).

3

 Nomenclature for insects follows Furniss and Carolin

(1977)

100
Appendix II—Photograph Descriptions

Place Name Figure' Page Legal Description County O w nership

TSR S QTR B G M UN UM W PVT PUB TRI MIX

Bally Ridge 6 14 2S 37E 18 NW NW X X

Bear Creek Guard

Station

Bear Wallow

Bear Wallow

Driveway

Bennett Peak

Billy Meadows

Branson Creek

Burnt River Valley

Cemetery Ridge

Chico Trail

Chico Trail Closeup 10

Crane Prairie

Fly Ridge

Fly Ridge

Afforestation

Fly Valley

Hidaway Prairie

Homestead Ridge

Ironside Holding

Pasture

Ironside Mountain

Lakes Lookout

Little Malheur River 2

Longley Meadows

Lookinglass Creek

39

31

30

43

18

11

13

8

28

17

29

22

16

15

7

4

3

45

34

19

72

60-1

58-9

82-3

39

22-3

27

18-9

55

21

36

56-7

44-5

34-5

32-3

17

11

10

86-7

8-9

66-7

40-1

2S

38

3S

6S

4N

2S

13S

4N

3N

3N

16S

5S

5S

5S

5S

1S

14S

15S

7S

16S

3S

3N

42E

32E

32E

43E

46E

47E

37E

48E

45E

44E

34E

35E

35E

35E

33E

49E

38E

37E

36E

37E

36E

38E

2

26

27

13

15

23

16

34

30

25

24

15

15

20

18

12

19

32

13

6

11

10

SE

SE

SE

SW

SW

NW

NE

NW

NE

NE

SE

NW

SE

SE

NE

SE

NW

SW

NW

NE

SW

NE

SW

SW

SE

SE

SE

SE

SW

NW

SW

SW

SW

SE

NW

NW

NW

SE

NW

SW

SE

NW

SE

NE

X

X

X

X

X

X X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X X

X X

X

X X

X

X

X X

X X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X X

X

X

X

X X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

' Abbreviations are defined as follows

TS, Township, R, Range, S, Section, QTR, Quarter Section,

B, Baker; G, Grant, M, Malheur; UN, Union, UM, Umatilla,

W, Wallowa, PVT, Private, PUB, Public, TRI, Tribal;

MIX, Mixed

101
Appendix II—Photograph Descriptions (Continued)

Place Name Figure* Page Legal Description County Ownership

Lyman Meadows

(East)

Lyman Meadows

(West)

Mammoth Springs

McGraw Springs

McKay Creek

Monument Ridge

Mormon Flat

Mosie Pasture

North Fork Imnaha

Olmstead

Meadows

Pelican Creek

Richardson Hill

Rock Creek

Meadows

Rock Creek

Bed Ground

Sheep Creek

Sluice Creek

Standley Lookout

Trail

Standley Sheep

Allotment

Target Springs

Trail Creek

Upper Grande

Ronde River

36

37

44

25

12

26

27

14

40

38

21

23

33

35

5

9

42

41

20

24

32

69

70

84-5

50

24

53

54

28-31

76-7

71

43

46-7

65

68

12-3

20

80-1

78-9

42

48-9

64

TS

12S

12S

6S

4S

1S

1S

2N

5S

4S

12S

2S

3S

8S

8S

12S

1S

2S

2S

4S

7S

5S

R

35E

35E

43E

48E

33E

49E

50E

32E

45E

35E

37E

36E

37E

37E

26E

49E

42E

42E

46E

35E

36E

S

13

13

13

35

4

17

30

17

35

14

18

11

26

26

10

36

16

21

9

11

31

QTR B G M UN UM W PVT PUB TRI MIX

NE

SW

SE

NE

SW

NE

NE

NW

NW

SW

NW

SW

SE

SE

SE

NW

SW

SE

NW

NE

SW

SE

NE

SE

NE

SW

NE

NE

SE

SW

NE

NW

SE

SE

SE

NW

SE

SE

SW

NE

SE

NE

X

X

X

X X

X X

X X

X X

X X

X X

X

X X

X X X

X

X

X

X X

X X

X X

X X

X

X X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

1 Abbreviations are defined as follows: TS, Township, R, Range, S, Section, QTR, Quarter Section,

B, Baker, G, Grant, M, Malheur, UN, Union, UM, Umatilla,

W, Wallowa, PVT, Private, PUB, Public, TRI, Tribal,

MIX, Mixed

102
Skovlln, Jon M. and Thomas, Jack Ward. 1995. Interpreting long-term trends in Blue

Mountain ecosystems from repeat photography Gen Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-315

Portland, OR US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest

Research Station. 102 p

Photographs taken before 1925 were compared with photos taken as recently as 1992 to

interpret changes within ecosystems in the Blue Mountains of Oregon For discussion

purposes, 10 ecosystems were aggregated into seven broad landscape systems. Nearly all

systems exhibited some degree of conversion from herbaceous to woody forms of vegetation. Nonforested ecosystems improved markedly except in the riparian-aquatic habitats

Forested ecosystems were stressed from stand stagnation, conversion from pine to fir,

serious insect infestations, and crown fires. This project shows how these ecosystems have

changed since the advent of settlement by nonendemic people It was earned out to assist

land managers and researchers to develop strategies to improve ecosystem stability and

thereby provide for resource sustainability

Keywords' Blue Mountains, Oregon, photography (repeat), photo history, long-term change,

landscape ecology, ecosystem stability.

The Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture

is dedicated to the principle of multiple use management of

the Nation's forest resources for sustained yields of wood,

water, forage, wildlife, and recreation. Through forestry

research, cooperation with the States and private forest

owners, and management of the National Forests and

National Grasslands, it strives—as directed by Congress—

to provide increasingly greater service to a growing Nation.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest

Service is a diverse organization committed to equal

opportunity in employment and program delivery. USDA

prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national

origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political affiliation, and

familial status. Persons believing that they have been

discriminated against should contact the Secretary, U.S.

Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250, or call

202-720-7327 (voice), or 202-720-1127 (TDD).

Pacific Northwest Research Station

333 S.W. First Avenue

P.O. Box 3890

Portland, Oregon 97208-3890