Inventory of the Willamette Valley Tree Farms Records, 1934 - 1962
What is this document?
Descriptive Summary
| Abstract: | Willamette Valley Tree Farms, later Tree Farm Management Service, was organized in 1941. This non-profit corporation, headquartered in Eugene, Oregon, represented area lumber companies interested in researching forest management practices useful to tree farmers. |
| The collection consists of correspondence, minutes of meetings, annual and quarterly reports, topical subject files, and publications dating from 1934 to 1962 that were either generated or collected by the organization while it was known as Willamette Valley Tree Farms and later as the Tree Farm Management Service. The records focus on forestry issues, primarily in the state of Oregon, of concern to the organization. Topics discussed in materials comprising this collection include: forest taxation; forest management; forestry research; insect control; grazing on forest lands; forest fire control; wood preservation; forest health; and tree farming. Verne D. Bronson, chief forester for the organization, is the primary correspondent represented in the collection. | |
| Title: | Willamette Valley Tree Farms Records, 1934 - 1962 |
| Creator: | Willamette Valley Tree Farms |
| Repository: | Forest History Society Library and Archives |
| Call Number: | 7283 |
| Language of Material: | Material in English |
| Extent: | 2.5 linear feet (5 archival boxes) |
Historical Note
In 1941, representatives from five lumber companies established Willamette Valley Tree Farms, a non-profit corporation headquartered in Eugene, Oregon, jointly owned by member companies. Its purpose was to investigate forest management practices that could be applied to their individual land holdings. The company changed its name in the summer of 1950 to Tree Farm Management Service. At the end of 1955, the member-owned company dissolved when several of its leaders purchased ownership rights and incorporated a private consulting forestry business under the same name.
Collection Overview
The collection consists of correspondence, minutes of meetings, annual and quarterly reports, topical subject files, and publications dating from 1934 to 1962 that were either generated or collected by the organization while it was known as Willamette Valley Tree Farms and later as the Tree Farm Management Service. The records focus on forestry issues, primarily in the state of Oregon, of concern to the organization. Topics discussed in materials comprising this collection include: forest taxation; forest management; forestry research; insect control; grazing on forest lands; forest fire control; wood preservation; forest health; and tree farming. Verne D. Bronson, chief forester for the organization, is the primary correspondent represented in the collection.
Collection Arrangement
1. Minutes of Meetings, 1941-1956
2. Topical Files, 1944-1960
3. Publications, 1934-1962
Subject Headings
- Bronson, Verne D.
- Forest management
- Forestry consultants
- Forests and Forestry -- Oregon -- History
- Tree Farm Management Service
- Willamette Valley Tree Farms
Detailed Description of the Collection
1. Minutes of Meetings, 1941-1956.
Includes minutes from meetings of the organization known as Willamette Valley Tree Farms and later as the Tree Farm Management
Service.
Folder 1.1Minutes of Meetings, 1941-1946
Folder 1.2Minutes of Meetings, 1947-1950
Folder 1.3Minutes of Meetings, 1951-1956
2. Topical Files, 1944-1960.
Topical subject files relating to such topics as: forest taxation regulations; forestry research; forest fire prevention;
forest management; and forestry regulations in the Oregon counties of Douglas, Lane, and Polk. Some records are national in
scope, but most relate to issues directly impacting forestry in the state of Oregon.
2.1. Public Relations, 1945-1957.
Includes correspondence, copies of advertisements, article reprints, reports, and newspaper clippings pertaining to efforts
of Willamette Valley Tree Farms/Tree Farm Management Service, especially chief forester Verne Bronson, to promote favorable
journalism about forestry and conservation issues. Folders in this subseries are arranged alphabetically by title; records
within folders are arranged chronologically.
Folder 1.4American Forests, 1953-1957
Includes positive and negative comments about article features and editorials published in American Forests magazine expressed by Tree Farm Management Service chief forester Verne Bronson in his correspondence to the magazine editors.
Folder 1.5The Lumberman, 1955
Includes correspondence between Verne Bronson and Albert Arnst, managing editor for The Lumberman, concerning input from Bronson for feature articles pertaining to forest management published in various issues of the publication
during 1955. Some of the correspondence also pertains to article reprint orders solicited from and purchased by the Tree Farm
Management Service.
Folder 1.6Random Lengths, 1945
Includes photocopies from three issues of Random Lengths (vol. 1, no. 5; vol. 1, no. 6; and vol. 1, no. 7), a serial published by Willamette Valley Lumbermen's Association in Eugene,
Oregon. These issues contain articles describing the services and mission of the Tree Farm Management Service.
Folder 1.7Oregon State College, 1953-1955
Includes correspondence, notes, and a typed speech drafted for presentation by Verne Bronson during a panel discussion titled
"What Shall We Do With Our Understocked Forest Lands and Brush Lands" at a foresters' banquet held February 21, 1953 at Oregon State College in Corvallis, Oregon.
Folder 1.8Tree Farm Management Service, 1951-1956
Includes correspondence, reports, and a newspaper clipping pertaining to the work of the organization.
Folder 1.9The Timberman, 1953-1957
Includes correspondence between Verne Bronson and the editors and advertising representatives of The Timberman magazine relating to advertisement orders, purchase orders for article reprints, and positive and negative feedback from
Bronson pertaining to articles and editorials published in the serial.
Folder 1.10Television, 1955
Includes newspaper article, letter, and report relating to the 21 June 1955 broadcast of NBC's "Home" television show, which included interviews with employees of Valsetz Lumber Company, Verne D. Bronson of the Tree Farm Management
Service, and a timber cruiser. The show was produced by the local NBC station in Portland, Oregon, and was broadcast nationwide.
Folder 1.11Western Conservation Journal, 1954
Includes correspondence primarily between Verne Bronson and Albert Arnst, consulting editor for the journal, concerning forestry
issues covered by the journal. Includes a copy of an advertisement for the Tree Farm Management Service that appeared in the
March-April 1954 issue of the journal.
Folder 1.12Western Forest Industries Review, 1954
Includes letter dated April 13, 1954 written by Verne Bronson and addressed to R. T. Titus with the Western Forest Industries Review in Portland, Oregon, in which Bronson comments on the editorial "Proposal for the Big Burn" published in the April 9, 1954 issue of the Review.
Folder 1.13Miscellaneous, 1955-1957
Includes letter announcing the incorporation of the Tree Farm Management Service as a consulting firm to operate under the
same name by new owners Verne D. Bronson, Lyle H. Seymour, and Robert G. Kintigh, and providing the address of the company's
new office in Eugene, Oregon; a sheet providing biographical sketches of Tree Farm Management Service personnel Verne D. Bronson,
Lyle H. Seymour, Robert G. Kintigh, H. N. Cory, John W. Davis, and Betty Whitlatch; a black-and-white photograph depicting
Tree Farm Management Staff members Bob Kintigh, Morris Anderson, Verne Bronson, Fred Pheif, and John Davis; and a copy of
an article published in the January 10, 1957 issue of the Springfiled (Oregon) News (pp. 1, 8) discussing recent efforts of pulp and paper industry organizations to reduce odiferous emissions from pulp mills.
2.2. General Taxation Records, 1944-1960.
Includes correspondence, minutes of meetings, article reprints, reports, conference programs, newspaper clipping, pamphlets,
and copies of bills relating to taxation impacting forest management in the United States.
Folder 2.1Miscellaneous, 1944-1960
Includes federal and Oregon state publications on taxation, correspondence, and reports.
Folder 2.2Timber, 1953-1955
Includes correspondence, pamphlets, reports, and a newspaper clipping pertaining to forest industry organizations' positions
on timber taxation in the state of Oregon. Verne D. Bronson of the Tree Farm Management Service is the primary correspondent;
includes letters he wrote to timber executives, forestry consultants, foresters, and members of the Oregon State Tax Commission.
Folder 2.3Logs and Lumber, 1954-1960 and undated
Includes schedules of values for logs; minutes of a joint meeting of the Industrial Forestry Association and the Associated
Forest Industries of Oregon held to discuss ways to determine the true cash value of logs for assessment rolls; documents,
memorandum, and correspondence relating to the activities of both groups' tax committees.
Folder 2.4Forest Fee and Yield Tax, 1953-1955
Includes excerpts from forest taxation laws, correspondence, and articles reprinted from magazines.
Folder 2.5Federal Income Tax, 1954-1963
Includes correspondence and reports of the Forest Industries Committee on Timber Valuation and Taxation; Internal Revenue
Service Forest Industries Schedule; program of seventh Industrial Forestry Seminar of Yale School of Forestry; other reports,
correspondence, and articles reprinted from magazines.
Folder 2.6House Bill No. 14, 1959 and 1961
Includes a copy of Oregon House Bill No. 14 introduced by representatives Barton, Bristol, Haight, and Kerbow and senators
Pearson and Sweatland at the request of the Legislative Interim Tax Study Committee dated January 14, 1959 and regarding taxation
of timber and forest lands; statements by Verne Bronson concerning the bill's provisions presented at congressional hearings
held on February 4, 1959 and March 13, 1961; correspondence regarding the bill.
Folder 2.7Bronson's Proposed Bill, 1959
Includes a copy of a bill proposed by Verne Bronson as a compromise measure between Oregon House Bills 14, 288 and 518 concerning
taxation of timber and forest lands to take effect in 1961; list of advantages of the bill; correspondence between Bronson
and industry representatives and politicians regarding the bill.
2.3. County Taxation Regulations, 1948-1957.
Includes correspondence, newspaper clipping, minutes of meetings, and notes concerning forest taxation regulations that apply
to forest lands owned by Willamette Valley Tree Farms/Tree Farm Management Service clients with operations in the Oregon counties
of Douglas, Lane, and Polk. Folders in this subseries are arranged alphabetically by county name; records within folders have
a chronological arrangement.
Folder 2.8Douglas County, Oregon, 1950, 1957, and undated
Includs correspondence and papers relating to methods of determining the tax value of timber stands.
Folder 2.9Lane County, Oregon, 1945-1953
Includes newspaper clipping and county tax rate sheets.
Folder 2.10Polk County Timber Owners Committee, 1945, 1954-1955, and undated
Includes meeting minutes of Forest Taxation Committee of the Polk County Timber Owners of Oregon as well as formula calculations
on timber assessments.
2.4. Society of American Foresters Tax Committee, 1954-1960.
Includes correspondence, speech transcript, newspaper articles, reports, booklets, and article reprints concerning efforts
of the committee to understand and influence national forest taxation regulations. Verne Bronson of the Tree Farm Management
Service was a member of the local Oregon committee that reported findings to the national organization.
Folder 2.11Correspondence, 1953-1954
Includes correspondence, tax assessment data, summary of federal forestry taxation laws, notes on Oregon forestry taxation,
committee reports, suggestions/proposals for tax policies, and drafts of bills.
Folder 3.1Correspondence, 1954-1955
Includes correspondence, recommendations on tax policy, minutes of committee meetings, reports, and newspaper clippings.
Folder 3.2Correspondence, 1955-1956
Includes correspondence, meetings minutes, copies of tax laws, newspaper articles, and reports.
Folder 3.3Correspondence, 1957-1960
Includes correpondence, transcript of speech given on taxation, explanation and analysis of revisions to taxation laws, and
report of the committee.
Folder 3.4Publications, 1953-1956
Includes reports, booklets, mimeographed materials, and magazine article reprints.
Folder 3.5Tax Recommendations, 1954-1958
Includes reports and correpondence.
2.5. Miscellaneous Management, 1945-1960.
Includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, article reprints, advertisements, and planning notes concerning miscellaneous
issues relating to forest management.
Folder 3.6Christmas Trees, 1952-1960
Includes industry standards, newspaper clipping, and correspondence.
Folder 3.7Lodgepole Pine, 1957
Includes article reprint: McMahon, "R. O. Lodgepole Pine Forsakes Cinderella Role."Timberman (18 October 1957): [1-5].
Folder 3.8Plans: Outlines, 1945
Includes an outline for a working plan and intensive management plan for cutover areas.
Folder 3.9Portable Sawmill, 1945-1949
Includes correspondence, handwritten notes, newspaper and magazine articles, and advertisements.
Folder 3.10Windthrow, 1956
Includes article reprint: Gratowski, H.J> "Windthrow Around Staggered Settings in Old-Growth Douglas-Fir."Forest Science 2 (March 1956): 60-74.
2.6. Research, 1945-1960.
Includes article reprints, minutes of meetings, reports, correspondence, speech transcript, pamphlets, research notes, and
bulletin publications concerning research materials gathered by Tree Farm Management Service staff pertaining to a wide range
of forest management issues, including: brush control, forest genetics, insect and disease control, grazing, seeding, pruning,
and wood preservation.
Folder 4.1Brush Control, 1950-1959
Includes reports, reprints of articles from magazines, address given by Verne Bronson; brochures on products, and correspondence.
Folder 4.2Cascade Head, 1949-1950
Includes 23-page guide published in 1949 by the United States Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment
Station describing the Cascade Head Experimental Forest, located on the Oregon Coast Highway near Otis, Oregon, and managed
by the experiment station. Also includes an 8-page supplement to the guide prepared for a Society of American Foresters field
trip tour of the forest scheduled for May 13, 1950.
Folder 4.3Chemical/Mechanical Debarking, 1952-1953
Includes data sheets and pamphlets on different types of debarkers.
Folder 4.4Cover Crops, 1953 and undated
Includes hand-drawn grids showing cover crop experimental plots and correpondence.
Folder 4.5Cuttings: Rooting, 1953
Includes an article on rooting of Douglas-fir cuttings and handwritten note.
Folder 4.6Decay, 1947-1954
Includes magazine articles, United States Forest Service research papers, and progress report of the Oregon Forest Products
Laboratory on Douglas-fir rot.
Folder 4.7Direct Seeding, 1950-1955 and undated
Includes reports, research notes, publications, and some correspondence.
Folder 4.8Exotics: Loblolly Pine, 1958-1960
Includes correspondence regarding acquiring loblolly pine seedlings for experimentation.
Folder 4.9Fertilizers, undated
Includes Mora Chemical Corporation data on fertilizers and an order form.
Folder 4.10Fibre Glass Tanks, 1953
Includes correspondence and handwritten notes and calculations about the purchase of fibre glass spray tanks and new linings
for existing metal tanks from Beaver Drainboard Company.
Folder 4.11Forest Genetics, 1954-1960 and undated
Includes research notes, reports, surveys, and correspondence.
Folder 4.12Forest Seed Committee, 1953
Includes minutes of meeting held December 11, 1953 at the Olympic Hotel in Seattle, Washington; correspondence related to
the work of the committee; memorandum dated December 11, 1953 from the chief forester of Manning Seed Co. sent to the committee
concerning a forest tree seed storage project. Verne Bronson of the Tree Farm Management Service was a member of the committee.
The committee members voted unanimously at the December 11, 1953 meeting to become affliated with the Western Forestry and
Conservation Association.
Folder 4.13Grazing, 1956-1957
Includes typed notes on range management, seeding and costs associated iwth grazing. Also includes two publications.
Folder 4.14Hardwood Control
Includes handwritten and typed versions of a progress report titled "Chemical Control and Eradication of Undesirable Hardwoods on Logged Over Areas." Also includes photographs.
Folder 4.15Insect Control, 1952-1960
Includes United States Forest Service forest pest leaflets regarding the sitka-spruce weevil and the Douglas-fir beetle; research
bulletin listing achievements in professional entomology; summary reports on a bark beetle survey of Oregon and Washington
forests; transcripts of two speeches on insecticide hazards and crop dusting given at the second annual short course for Oregon
agriculture chemical operators held January 5-7, 1953 in Corvallis, Oregon, at Oregon State College; article reprints from
the March 1952 issue of the Western Conservation Journal on the topics of Douglas-fir bark beetles and the beneficial impacts
of woodpeckers on western pine forests; and a letter from Verne Bronson dated December 29, 1952 in which he requests bark
beetle infestation information from the United States Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station.
Folder 5.1Pruning, 1945-1956
Includes article reprints and a research note from the United States Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment
Station.
Folder 5.2Rust Inhibitors, 1953-1954
Includes correspondence, magazine article, and pamphlet about Vapor Phase Inhibitor (a chemical vapor that protects metal
against rust and corrosion in storage areas with low ventilation) developed by Shell Oil and Monsanto Chemical.
Folder 5.3Seed Storage, 1955-1956
Includes two reports: (1) Lavender, Dennis P. Ponderosa Pine Seed Germination After Exposure to Varying Temperatures and Humidities. Research Note No. 24. S.l.: Oregon State Board of Forestry, 1955. 4 pp.; and (2) Lavender, Dennis P. Western Hemlock Seed Germination After Exposure to Varying Temperatures and Humidities. Research Note No. 26. S.l.: Oregon State Board of Forestry, 1956. 4 pp.
Folder 5.4Tree Poisoning, 1951-1953
Includes correspondence, magazine articles, program of Oregon agricultural chemical applicators short course, and reports.
Folder 5.5Wood Preservatives, 1951-1955 and undated
Includes correspondence and brochures on Osmosalts produced by the Osmose Wood Preserving Company.
Folder 5.6UBC Research Notes, 1953-1955
Includes newsletters of the University of British Columbia Forest Club Research Committee containing information on such technical
forestry topics as: slash-burning, bark thickness, and determining moisture requirements. Includes a listing of newsletters
published in 1954 and abstracts of theses of the graduating class of 1959.
Folder 5.7USDA Research Notes, 1945-1957
Newsletters published by the United States Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station containing
information on a variety of topics related to technical forest research, including: reforestation, danger from fire, soils,
mortality in Douglas-fir forests, lumber grade recovery from 110-year-old Douglas-fir thinnings, volume tables, and others.
2.7. Fire, 1946-1954.
Includes correspondence and reports relating to forest fire control.
3. Publications, 1934-1962.
Includes publications relating to private forest management, tree farm management, taxation, and timber volume.
Folder 5.10Leaving Cutover Lands Productive, 1934
Folder 5.11Forestry in Farm Management, 1944
Folder 5.12An Introduction to American Forestry, 1944
Folder 5.13Institute of Forest Products, 1950-1953
Includes five bulletings published by the Institute of Forest Products.
Folder 5.14Insect Enemies of Western Forests, 1952
Folder 5.15Progress in Private Forestry in the United States, 1961
Folder 5.16Oregon Business Review, 1962
Folder 5.17Volume Tables, undated
Includes two copies of the booklet and a memorandum from D. G. McKeever of Weyerhaueser Timber Company dated April 29, 1944
in which he discuess how and why the tables were compiled.
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
No restrictions.
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Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Willamette Valley Tree Farms Records, Library and Archives, Forest History Society, Durham, NC, USA.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Martha Bronson, wife of Verne Bronson, in May 2003, and Bob Kintigh in November 2003.
Processing Information
Processed by Rachel Speer, July 2003
Encoded by Amanda Ross, March 2009
Funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission supported the encoding of this finding aid. Support for digitization and outreach provided by the Alvin J. Huss Endowment.