Dave Sullivan’s Tree Farm near Pedee

Family Working Forest · Luckiamute River Watershed, Polk County, Oregon • Township 9 South, Range 6 West, Section 33

🌲 Step 1: The Land Today & Lidar

Laser ground scans [Lidar] penetrate the tall timber canopy to map Ritner Creek and Pedee Creek tributaries, steep benches, and historic skid trails.

Soil: Deep, well-drained volcanic silty clay loams with a Site Class II timber productivity rating.

✈️ Step 2: The 1936 Sky View

Steam-powered donkey engines winched logs down these steep slopes to railroad cars bound for Willamette Valley sawmills.

Earliest biplane flight: 1936 aerial photography.

📐 Step 3: First Survey & Witness Trees

Surveyed by Thomas H. Hutchinson & D. Murphy using a 66-foot iron chain.

• Red Fir / Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) (12 inches): 22 links (14.5 feet) blazed [Verified GLO/ORWW Record].
• Oregon White Oak (Quercus garryana) (10 inches): 165 links (108.9 feet) blazed [Verified GLO/ORWW Record].
• Oregon White Oak (Quercus garryana) (20 inches): 23 links (15.2 feet) blazed [Verified GLO/ORWW Record].

🏛️ Step 4: First Legal Patents & Schools

First Claim: John W. Tedrow, Donation Land Claim #54 (322.25 Acres, Patented 1877)

School Trust Section: Section 16 & 36 perpetual public education endowment.