History & Culture

The Umatilla National Forest silviculture library has an archive of historical reference materials. With few exceptions, only items produced before 1950 are included in the history archive.

The archive contains materials for the entire Blue Mountains, not just the Umatilla National Forest. This decision was made because national forest boundaries have evolved through time; much of the south end of the Umatilla National Forest was previously included in the Wallowa-Whitman or Malheur National Forests.

Historic Documents

In 1995, the Umatilla National Forest decided to transcribe commonly requested reports so they could be offered in an electronic format. Eventually, all of the transcribed documents will be available from this internet site.

Historic Maps

With the advent of ecosystem management, ecosystem analysis at the watershed scale, the historical range of variability, and related concepts, there is increased emphasis on using historical information. Historical maps depicting vegetation conditions are valuable for comparing current or existing conditions with reference conditions.

Historic Photographs

The Umatilla National Forest maintains a large historical photo collection that dates back to the early 1900's.  These photos depict the lives of forest rangers as well as landscapes of northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington. Photo at left is of the Palace Hotel in Heppner, Oregon, in 1907. See historical photo collection for more.