Forestry History

Logging Operations

In 1899, when the City of Seattle began to take ownership of the upper watershed, nearly 3000 acres of timber had already been removed near Landsburg. Logging operations were still active, and several sawmills operated nearby. Before logging, most of the lower vegetation was old growth forest consisting of Douglas Fir and a small amount of spruce and cedar.

Evidence exists that a large fire swept through higher elevations (above 1600 feet) between the years 1650 and 1675. This destroyed almost all of the upper timber then standing, except for about 2000 acres along the Rex River. By 1900, the upper forest was a little over 250 years old and consisted of fir and hemlock, with a small amount of cedar, spruce, and fir.

Forestation and Regulation

Between 1900 and 1924, little care was given to the watershed’s forest. Timber removal denuded the hillsides. Nearly 30,000 acres of forest were removed, most of it haphazardly, leading to fire hazards and destruction of second-growth potential. Prior to 1924, attempts at reforestation occurred, but frequent fires, spread in part due to careless logging operations, destroyed almost all replantings. Also, most logging camps and sawmills within the watershed had atrocious sanitary conditions, which added to the environmental destruction.

In 1924, the City hired Dean Winkenwerder of the University of Washington College of Forestry to come up with a plan relating to the removal and replanting of local timber. Following Winkenwerder’s report, the City hired a forester on a permanent basis. The first forester was Allen Thompson. Logging continued, but methods of operation, sanitary conditions, and fire precautions were regulated and strengthened. Nevertheless, by the year 2000, less than 17 percent of the old growth forest remains, although a large portion of the watershed is thick with 80-year-old second-growth forest.

In 1962, landowners signed the Cedar River Watershed Cooperative Agreement, which set up a process of land transfers that resulted in Seattle's complete ownership of its watershed lands. This led to further procedures for fire protection and public access control. In 1996, the USDA Forest Service ceded its watershed land to the City, which gave Seattle final and sole ownership of the entire watershed.