Hirst Spring Timber Tract

Description

Found high in the hills of northeastern Oregon and near the headwaters of Coyote Creek by the small town of Tollgate, 30 +/- acres of mixed conifer stands provides a great opportunity to own an excellent timber tract. Owned by the same family for the past 60+ years and professionally managed throughout, this property has provided many hours of leisure mountain recreation while providing a return on investment. Timber management history, provided enhancements, and preservation of wildlife habitat, while logging and thinning, has improved the long-term forest health and vigor. 

Surrounded by Hancock Forest Management land on three sides and by other private and United States Forest Service land on the fourth side, the area is managed primarily for timber production. The tract lies on a relatively gentle west- facing slope above the North Fork of Coyote Creek. The land in this area is a series of low ridges and benches with deep soil and wet meadows. A natural spring provides an elk wallow on the property adding to the wildlife habitat. 

In 2017, approximately 1/3 of the timber tract was commercially sanitation logged for pest or disease control, while another 1/3 of the property was thinned for health management. The remaining 1/3 portion of the property has not been logged since just after World War II and currently has a good stand of merchantable timber. In 2021 approximately 1600 Larch and 700 Douglas Fir trees were replanted and continue to grow with a management plan in place. 

Identification:

3N 3700-00-00300 Account #120636 

Location:  Located near Tollgate, OR in the Coyote Creek Watershed area at the headwaters of Coyote Creek and southeast of McDougall Camp in Umatilla County. 

Access:

The property is accessed primarily by USFS 3719, Coyote Ridge Road, and USFS 3718 Road, and are all weather gravel and rocked roads. There is a locked Forest Service gate that is approximately a quarter to a half mile from the property that stops general access driving into the area/property. 

Distances to other cities: 

Tollgate, OR - 3 +/- Miles 

 Walla Walla, WA- 39 +/- Miles 

Pendleton, OR- 42 +/- Miles 

 Acreage: 30.00 +/- Acres 

Improvements: 

There are no improvements on this property. 

Power-Water: 

There is no power present on this parcel. There is an elk wallow spring on this parcel not for human consumption. 

Terrain: 

The tract lies on a relatively gentle west-facing slope above the North Fork of Coyote Creek. The land in this area is a series of low ridges and benches with deep soil and wet meadows. 

Fencing: 

The property is not fenced. 

Recreation: 

Berry picking, Mushroom hunting, hiking, snowmobiling, camping, and hunting. Nearby there is Spout Springs ski area. Tollgate is known to many in the winter months for the miles of snowmobile trails that are groomed for local pleasure. 

Hunting: 

The varied habitat provides good forage and cover for big game, birds, and small mammals. 

Taxes:

$55.76 

Zoning: 

Grazing, Forest 

Soils:

The major soil type is Limberjim-Syrupcreek complex, 0 to 15 percent slopes. 

 Elevation & Rainfall: 

Elevation: 4,000 to 5,240 feet. 

Mean annual precipitation: 25 to 32 inches. 

Mean annual air temperature: 41 to 45 degrees F. 

 Frost-free period: 70 to 100 days. 

County History: 

Umatilla County was created on September 27, 1862, out of a portion of Wasco County. Umatilla is an Indian term meaning "rippling water" or "water rippling over sand" and has provided the name both for the county and its major river. Lewis and Clark and pioneers traveling the Oregon Trail passed through the area. The gold rush of 1862 brought miners and stock raisers to the mountains and grasslands of Umatilla County. The county expanded after the coming of the railroad in 1881 and the area was open to the development of dry land wheat farming. The fertile land of Umatilla County gives a strongly agricultural base to the county's economy. Fruit, grain, timber, cattle, and sheep are important agricultural products. Recreation, primarily in the Blue Mountains, and tourism, most notably for the annual Pendleton Round-Up rodeo, are also important to the local economy.

Mixed conifers on the property include:  Grand Fir, Engelmann Spruce, Douglas Fir, Ponderosa Pine, and Western Larch.  The 1950’s logging removed most of the Spruce, Douglas Fir, Pine and Larch. The new planting is intended to re-establish the natural balance.