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Forest buildings nominated for historic register By PAUL FATTIG More than a dozen structures in the Rogue River National Forest have been nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. Dutchman Peak lookout, built in 1927 in the Applegate Ranger District, is more than a dozen structures in the Rogue River National Forest nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. The State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation will consider the nominations, including everything from fire lookouts to snow survey cabins, when it meets in Ashland Thursday and Friday. The meetings, which begin at 8:30 a.m. both days, will be held in the Ashland Community Center, 59 Winburn Way. The committee will review the nomination of the downtown Ashland historic district and the Eden Valley Orchard near Medford on Thursday, followed by the national forest sites on Friday. Once they receive state approval for compliance with historic standards, the nominations are forwarded to the National Park Service for listing on the national register. If selected, the structures are protected by national historic preservation laws. "These places in the national forest are important, not just because they are historic Forest Service sites, but also because they were and are an important part of local residents' frame of reference," explained Jeff LaLande, forest historian and archaeologist. "These were places that people knew," he added. "Some of these places were where they camped or hunted." Many also reflect unique architecture that seldom survives long in western Oregon because of its traditionally damp weather, he said. "There are not very many old log cabins left on the west side because of the moisture," he said. The high-elevation snow survey cabins represent changes in human understanding of natural cycles. "It was here in Southern Oregon that the (former) Soil Conservation Service really began its snow survey program," he said of the federal agency now known as the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which keeps tabs on the mountain snowpack that determines summer stream flows. The nominations were prepared for the Forest Service by local historian Kay Atwood. "These structures range from the earliest years of the Forest Service here in Southern Oregon and through World War II," he said. "That was a formative period for the agency." The agency became known as the Foest Service in 1905. The oldest nomination is the old Applegate Ranger District station, circa 1911. The one-room structure, which sits near the current district office, is still used, LaLande said. "It is one of the oldest continuously used Forest Service structures in the nation," he said. Four fire lookouts have been nominated, including Hershberger Mountain lookout, built in 1924, in the Prospect Ranger District, and the Dutchman Peak lookout, built in 1927, in the Applegate Ranger District. Both are unique because they are among the eight cupola-style lookouts remaining in the state. More than 200 cupola-style lookouts were built between 1915 and 1929 in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and western Montana. "There are very few of the cupola-style lookouts left in the nation," LaLande said. Fire lookouts also nominated include the Mount Stella lookout built in the 1930s in the Prospect Ranger District and the Squaw Peak lookout, circa 1943, in the Applegate Ranger District. Other structures nominated include: Honeymoon snow survey cabin, built in 1944, Butte Falls Ranger District. Whaleback snow survey cabin, late 1930s, near Rogue-Umpqua Divide in Prospect Ranger District. McKee Bridge picnic grounds, including rock work and community kitchen built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the mid-1930s. Wrangle shelter, 1936-37, an alpine structure built by the CCC near Red Mountain in the Applegate Ranger District. Big Elk fire guard station near Fish Lake, 1929. CCC shelter at Fish Lake, 1937-38. CCC shelter at Latgawa Camp, 1930s, located on the south fork of Little Butte Creek. Willow Prairie cabin, 1924, Butte Falls Ranger District. Parker Meadow shelter, 1930s, Butte Falls Ranger District. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA