Fort Clatsop Lewis and Clark Trail from Fort Clatsop to the Clatsop Plains

After an examination of the terrain and a study of the landownerships in the Fort Clatsop vicinity, it appears that the minimum area required to properly preserve the section of the Lewis and Clark trail lying between the recommended monument boundary and the main branch of the Skipanon River, is that shown on Maps 3 and 4 of the present report.

These boundaries are necessary to achieve the following objectives:

1. To make certain that the area traversed by the trail will be preserved in its natural state and that the visitor traveling it will receive the impression of passing through an undisturbed wilderness. For this reason there must be ample land on each side of the trail to shut out the view of logged-over lands which now lie, and which will lie in the future, along the trail route.

2. To acquire sufficient lands on both sides of the present logging road (an established county road) to close it off to access by logging trucks. If the usefulness of the road for logging purposes can be removed, there is a good chance that the county can be persuaded to vacate the road. Unless this road is vacated, there is very little possibility that a satisfactory pioneer experience can be achieved by the visitor attempting to travel the old Lewis and Clark route.

Most of the suggested boundary lines for the proposed trail addition to the Memorial run along established property lines or upon such easily identifiable lines as donation land claim boundaries, township lines, and section lines. The easternmost boundary has been established along a road right- of-way which is only a short distance west of the main Skipanon River. It will be necessary to obtain the small lots along the east side of this road in order that the primitive appearance of this stream, so important to the interpretive program, may be preserved.

The area within the proposed boundaries is approximately 575 acres. All of this land, except for 12 small tracts, is owned by the Crown Zellerbach Corporation. The tracts not owned by Crown Zellerbach total about 100.64 acres. Two of. these tracts, s, with a total area of about 15.02 acres, are owned by Clatsop County; and it might be expected that they could be obtained by donation. The remaining 10 tracts are owned by different individuals.

No attempt has been made in the present study to . estimate the probable cost of acquiring the lands within the suggested boundaries. Since most of this land contains standing timber of commercial value, it would be pointless to estimate its value until the value of the timber has been determined. Also, there appears to be no way to estimate how much of the land might be expected to be received through donation.