Oregon Timber Tax Maps, 1950-1996

Predominant Dates: 1955-1977

The Oregon Timber Tax Maps consist of more than 4,000 maps and related documents detailing appraisal information for forest taxes. The collection includes annotated township maps, data sheets on timber volume, as well as many other pieces of information regarding the valuation of timbered lands in Oregon during the 1950s-1970s.

Creators

ID: MAPS TimberTax

Extent: 28.0 cubic feet

More Extent Information

Scope and Content Notes

Biographical / Historical Notes

The timber and forest industry have long been crucial to the economic and environmental health of Oregon. As a key land use and production of the state, the forest industry has been subject to several taxation system changes.

One of the most rudimentary and earliest taxations of private timberland was the property tax; however, it posed an issue when compared to the income generated through private forests. By the 1920s, Oregon had a major problem with tax delinquency among forest landowners with many forest landowners simply abandoning their ownerships due to the high property tax rates. The Oregon Legislature then chose to try and encourage the ownership and reforestation of recently harvested lands by creating the optional Forest Fee and Yield Tax Law in 1929. Under this system owners could opt into the system and were able to exempt all their timber from property taxes. Instead they were levied an annual fee on a per acre of ownership rate with a yield tax placed on the value of forest products once they were harvested.

Although this offered owners a different option for forest taxation, many did not choose to opt into this Fee and Yield Tax and the rate of tax delinquency continued to increase into the 1940s and stayed relatively high into the 1950s. In order to address this situation and develop a long-term solution, 33 forest tax bills were introduced to the Oregon Legislature between 1921 and 1959.

One of the important issues tackled in these bills was the lack of uniformity in timber assessment procedures between the counties who were responsible for levying the property taxes. In 1955 the state legislature directed the then State Tax Commission to assist the counties by developing a consistent timber inventory and valuation methodology. By 1961 the Tax Commission was the sole party responsible for forestland valuation for taxation purposes.

The Tax Commission conducted a number of studies to try and calculate a reasonable valuation of old growth timber in each county. However, there was so much variation that their plan was never adopted. In 1961 the legislature enacted new forest taxes for all lands except those in the Forest Fee and Yield Tax system. Under this new tax system landowners were subject to either an Ad Valorem Tax, Small Tract Tax, or the Fee and Yield Tax. The Ad Valorem Tax operated very similar to a property tax, with a clause that all forest land could be taxed at a lower rate to encourage forestland ownership. In addition to this, the timber was then taxed, with no annual tax on young timber, unless harvested, and older timber was taxed at 30 percent of its immediate harvest value. For the Small Tract Tax the land and timber valuation was combined into a flat true cash value per acre based on site class. Only those owning less that 1000 acres were able to opt into this program.

This new taxation system called for renewed efforts to gather information on property value and timber assets in order to implement this system. It was through these changes in the legislature that the Tax Commission took considerable time in gathering valuation data across many Oregon counties. These efforts to document and map their findings and valuation information comprise the maps and related documents in the Oregon Timber Tax Maps.

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Arrangement

Preferred Citation: Oregon Timber Tax Maps (MAPS TimberTax), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Acquisition Note: These materials were transferred from the Oregon State University Libraries' maps collection to the Special Collections & Archives Research Center in 2014.

Languages of Materials

English

Other

Container List

Series 1: County Forest Cover Maps, 1956-1978 Add to Shelf

Series I consists of township maps for many Oregon counties. The maps range in detail depending on the county although all of them depict section boundaries, roads, streams, rivers, landmarks, and some sort of information on ownership or forest stand boundaries. A majority of the maps include annotation and drawings delineating stand types, ownership, and land use. Information on stand acreage, volume, planting year, and harvest year is also included. The maps in this series are arranged by county and thereunder by range.

Extent: 1331 maps

UnitID: Series I

Folder-Item 2.1 - 2.37: Benton County Add to Shelf: Extent: 37 sheets
Folder-Item 7.1: Benton County - Oversize Add to Shelf: Extent: 1 sheets
Folder 3 - 4: Clatsop County Add to Shelf: Extent: 22 sheets
Box-Folder 5.1 - 5.2: Clatsop County Add to Shelf: Extent: 73 sheets
Folder 6: Columbia County Add to Shelf: Extent: 8 sheets
Folder 7, 8: Coos County Add to Shelf: Extent: 29 sheets
Folder 9, 10: Crook County Add to Shelf: Extent: 96 sheets
Folder 11, 12: Curry County Add to Shelf: Extent: 32 sheets
Folder 13, 14: Deschutes County Add to Shelf: Extent: 26 sheets
Folder 15: Douglas County Add to Shelf: Extent: 34 sheets
Folder 16: Hood River County Add to Shelf: Extent: 10 sheets
Folder 17-19: Jackson County Add to Shelf: Extent: 64 sheets
Folder 20: Jefferson County Add to Shelf: Extent: 12 sheets
Folder 21-30: Klamath County Add to Shelf: Extent: 307 sheets
Folder 31-34: Lake County Add to Shelf: Extent: 147 sheets
Folder-Item 70.2: Lake County - Oversize Add to Shelf: Extent: 1 sheet
Folder 35-40: Lane County Add to Shelf: Extent: 136 sheets
Folder 41-43: Lincoln County Add to Shelf: Extent: 117 sheets
Folder-Item 44.1 - 44.2: Marion County Add to Shelf: Extent: 2 sheets
Folder-Item 44.3 - 44.5: Morrow County Add to Shelf: Extent: 3 sheets
Folder 45-46: Polk County Add to Shelf: Extent: 43 sheets
Folder 47-49: Tillamook County Add to Shelf: Extent: 40 sheets
Box-Folder 5.3: Tillamook County Add to Shelf: Extent: 36 sheets
Folder 50, 51: Wasco County Add to Shelf: Extent: 12 sheets
Folder 52: Washington County Add to Shelf: Extent: 9 sheets
Folder 53: Wheeler County Add to Shelf: Extent: 4 sheets

Series 2: County Township-Range Quadrant Maps, 1960-1978 Add to Shelf

Series II consists of maps depicting a quadrant of each section in a township. Most of the maps are composed of a base sheet with information similar to that on the forest cover maps plus a transparent overlay sheet that contains annotations and stand boundaries. The maps document stand delineations, ownership boundaries, acreage, volume, value associated with given stands, and harvest and planting dates as well as road systems, physical landmarks, public lands, streams, and other features.

Extent: 2073 maps

UnitID: Series II

Box-Folder 54.1 - 54.2: Benton County Add to Shelf: Extent: 96 sheets
Box-Folder 54.3 - 54.5: Clackamas County Add to Shelf: Extent: 132 sheets
Box-Folder 55.1: Clatsop County Add to Shelf: Extent: 16 sheets
Box-Folder 55.2 - 55.3: Columbia County Add to Shelf: Extent: 64 sheets
Box-Folder 56.1 - 56.4: Coos County Add to Shelf: Extent: 161 sheets
Box-Folder 55.4: Curry County Add to Shelf: Extent: 55 sheets
Box-Folder 57.1 - 57.5: Douglas County Add to Shelf: Extent: 243 sheets
Box-Folder 59.1: Hood River County Add to Shelf: Extent: 37 sheets
Box-Folder 58.1 - 58.5: Jackson County Add to Shelf: Extent: 188 sheets
Box-Folder 59.2 - 59.3: Josephine County Add to Shelf: Extent: 120 sheets
Box-Folder 60.1 - 60.2: Lake County Add to Shelf: Extent: 80 sheets
Box-Folder 61.1 - 61.7: Lane County Add to Shelf: Extent: 237 sheets
Box-Folder 62.1 - 62.3: Lincoln County Add to Shelf: Extent: 114 sheets
Box-Folder 63.1 - 63.5: Linn County Add to Shelf: Extent: 190 sheets
Box-Folder 64.1 - 64.5: Marion County Add to Shelf: Extent: 171 sheets
Box-Folder 60.3: Multnomah County Add to Shelf: Extent: 29 sheets
Box-Folder 62.4 - 62.7: Polk County Add to Shelf: Extent: 71 sheets
Box-Folder 60.4 - 60.6: Washington County Add to Shelf: Extent: 69 sheets

Series 3: County Volume per Acre Listings, 1977 Add to Shelf

Series III contains information gathered through the timberland's appraisal process on the volume estimates for several counties. The data is broken into regions by the sections of each township in the county. For each entry there is data on the cruise date, net volume per acre, basal area per acre, volume to basal area ratio, and adjacent stand age. In addition there is information on estimated percentages of volume in seven different log grade categories, total merchantable timber volume, and information on when the stand was depleted.

UnitID: Series III

Box-Folder 65.1: Benton County, December 1977 Add to Shelf: Extent: 1 binder
Box-Folder 65.2: Coos County, December 1977 Add to Shelf: Extent: 1 binder
Box-Folder 65.3: Curry County, December 1977 Add to Shelf: Extent: 1 binder
Box-Folder 65.4 - 66.5: Douglas County, January 1977 Add to Shelf: Extent: 20 binders
Box-Folder 66.6 - 66.8: Jackson County, December 1977 Add to Shelf: Extent: 3 binders
Box-Folder 66.9: Josephine County, December 1977 Add to Shelf: Extent: 1 binder
Box-Folder 66.10 - 66.12: Lane County, December 1977 Add to Shelf: Extent: 3 binders
Box-Folder 67.1: Lincoln County, December 1977 Add to Shelf: Extent: 1 binder
Box-Folder 67.2: Linn County, December 1977 Add to Shelf: Extent: 1 binder
Box-Folder 67.3: Polk County, December 1977 Add to Shelf: Extent: 1 binder

Series 4: County Timber Reduction Maps, 1950-1977 Add to Shelf

Series IV consists of information describing a positive or negative change in timber volume on forest cover base maps for certain sections in townships. The volume changes are on a relative basis with a ranking system for the regions. The majority of depletions occur due to timber harvest; however, depletions also result from natural events such as wildfire or wind storms. For some counties, township maps reflect the actual harvested areas for that township.

Extent: 326 maps

UnitID: Series IV

Box-Folder 68.1 - 68.3: Clackamas County, 1965 Add to Shelf: Extent: 86 sheets
Box-Folder 68.4 - 68.5: Clatsop County, 1964 Add to Shelf: Extent: 78 sheets
Box-Folder 68.6 - 68.7: Klamath County, 1950 Add to Shelf: Extent: 79 sheets
Box-Folder 68.8: Marion County, 1967 Add to Shelf: Extent: 34 sheets
Box-Folder 68.9: Multnomah County, 1965 Add to Shelf: Extent: 12 sheets
Box-Folder 68.10: Tillamook County, 1977 Add to Shelf: Extent: 37 sheets

Series 5: County Account File Information, 1977 Add to Shelf

Series V contains detailed information for various ownership accounts in Coos, Curry, and Douglas Counties. They are listed by township sections and include information on account numbers, value zone, year compiled, area of ownership, and valuation data which assigns a dollar value to the land base being described.

UnitID: Series V

Box-Folder 67.4: Coos County, December 1977 Add to Shelf: Extent: 1 binder
Box-Folder 67.5: Curry County, December 1977 Add to Shelf: Extent: 1 binder
Box-Folder 67.6 - 67.7: Douglas County, December 1977 Add to Shelf: Extent: 2 binders

Series 6: Reference Information and Additional Maps, 1960-1996 Add to Shelf

Series VI consists of reference information and additional maps, including cruise data for several counties, timber values assessed in areas, and a general appraiser reference binder. Information for Clatsop, Coos, Curry, Douglas, Klamath, Lake, Lane, and Polk Counties is included. Of special note is a 1996 report describing the history of the collection and how it was obtained.

Extent: 303 maps

UnitID: Series VI

Box-Folder 69.1: Report on 1996 Inventory of the 1955-1977 Oregon Timber Tax Maps, September 1996 Add to Shelf

Describes the scope of the timber tax maps collection as of 1996, and details the history in how the maps were determined to be archival material and some background information on the collection. Also lists the maps that were included in the collection as of 1996.

Extent: 1 folder

Box-Folder 69.2 - 69.3: Timber Appraiser Reference Binder, 1972 Add to Shelf

Offers diverse information on the protocols followed during cruises, mapping, and data compilation. Also provides information on the base values used in calculating land value. Includes many other phone numbers and key personnel records that would be beneficial for appraisers to have access to.

Extent: 2 folders

Folder 1.1: Western Oregon Timber Value Areas, 1979 Add to Shelf

Shows the timber value area boundaries from the coast to the Cascades at a 1:500,000 scale.

Extent: 1 sheet

Box-Folder 69.4: Timber Cash Valuation Reference Material, 1966-1977 Add to Shelf

Includes information on acres of classified land by county for 1962-1969, and forest products value by species and product grade. For instance, value for poles, saw-lumber, fence posts, and firewood.

Extent: 1 folder

Box-Folder 5.4: Northwestern Oregon Section Volumes per Acre, circa 1965 Add to Shelf

Contains information for each section in townships 1 North to 6 South on the section's volume per acre estimates, top species, and average board feet (BF) per acre.

Extent: 110 sheets

Folder 1.2: Klamath Indian Reservation Cut by Fiscal Year, 1961 Add to Shelf

Depicts ownership boundary lines and areas where timber was harvested in 5 year intervals between 1916 and 1960 around the region.

Extent: 1 sheet

Sub-Series 7: Clatsop County Information, 1960-1978 Add to Shelf

Folder-Item 1.3: Major Ownerships Across Clatsop County, 1978 Add to Shelf: Depicts major ownerships across the county at a 1" to 2 mile scale. Shows federal, state, and county lands as well as property owned by Boise Cascade, Crown Zellerbach, Longview Fibre Co. and others. Produced by the Department of Revenue.; Extent: 1 sheet
Box-Folder 5.5: Township Ownership Maps, circa 1965 Add to Shelf: Contains information for townships in Clatsop County and depict approximate ownership boundaries within sections. Also contains some information on ownership acreage and some value annotations.; Extent: 25 sheets
Box-Folder 60.7: Township Maps with Public Ownership, circa 1960 Add to Shelf: Contains information on public lands boundaries within each township of Clatsop County.; Extent: 27 sheets

Sub-Series 8: Coos County Information, 1961-1977 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 69.5: Cruise Data, 1971-1973 Add to Shelf: Details out the approximated site class (which predicts the productive abilities of the land) for each value zone. Includes information for sampled trees on species, diameter at breast height (DBH), age, 5 year diameter growth, tree height, crown class, location and its calculated site class value.
Box-Folder 69.6: Check Cruise Data, 1977 Add to Shelf: Recalculated values for certain townships that include grade percentages, basal area per acre, volume per acre and species present.; Extent: 1 folder
Box-Folder 69.7: County Assessment and Tax Roll, 1961-1975 Add to Shelf: Information on the tax rate system for various land classifications. Also includes the assessed value for various land uses and property. These include timber land value, machinery and equipment value, livestock value, and other personal property items.
Box-Folder 69.8: Timber Valuation Data, 1964-1977 Add to Shelf: Includes data detailing the total volume in thousand board feet (MBF) of townships in Coos County differentiating between young and old growth. Also includes calculations for the estimated timber volumes by grade and species in the county. Includes data on the cash value of timber by the linear foot and per MBF based on grades and species. Also includes individual timber appraisals, estimated logging costs in Coos County and the bare land value per acre.; Extent: 1 folder

Sub-Series 9: Curry County Information, 1962-1977 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 69.9: Site Cruise Data, 1973 Add to Shelf: Cruise sheets that detail out the approximated site class (which predicts the productive abilities of the land) for each value zone. Includes information for sampled trees on species, diameter at breast height (DBH), age, 5 year diameter growth, tree height, crown class, location and its calculated site class value.
Box-Folder 69.10: Tax Rate Summary, 1962-1971 Add to Shelf: Includes information on the tax rate system for various land classifications. Also includes the assessed value for various land uses and for property. These include timber land value, machinery and equipment value, livestock value, and other personal property items.
Folder-Item 1.4 - 1.7: County Value Zones, 1966-1972 Add to Shelf: There are 5 maps depicting the value zones across the county and information on the land true cash value per acre in each of these zones from 1965-1977.; Extent: 5 sheets
Box-Folder 69.11: County Value Zones, 1977 Add to Shelf: Maps depicts the value zones across the county and information on the land true cash value per acre in each of these zones from 1965-1977.; Extent: 1 sheet
Box-Folder 69.12: Timber Value Data, 1962-1973 Add to Shelf: Includes information on the total volume in thousand board feet (MBF) per township in young and old growth timber, and the total volume in Polk County. Also includes the volume composition by grades and species in each township.; Extent: 1 folder

Sub-Series 10: Douglas County Information, 1961-1993 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 69.13: Cruise Computations, 1977 Add to Shelf: Detailed cruise information including basal area per acre, year cruised, and estimated grade break down of standing volume for each section and ownership.; Extent: 1 folder
Box-Folder 69.14: Log Grade Distribution, 1973 Add to Shelf: For each cruise zone in Douglas County, this shows the volumes by log species and log grade, and also shows the total graded volume in thousand board feet (MBF).; Extent: 1 folder
Box-Folder 69.15: Low Volume Cruise Analysis, 1974-1976 Add to Shelf: Includes data on the location of low volume areas in the county, the volume and species composition of those areas, and computations in analyzing the value associated with areas.; Extent: 1 folder
Box-Folder 69.16: Hardwood Analysis, 1976 Add to Shelf: Cruise data for hardwood species in each section of cruise zones in Douglas County.; Extent: 1 folder
Box-Folder 69.17: Classified Reforestation Lands, 1993 Add to Shelf: Offers information on the reforestation status (planted, harvested, or not planted) of land areas in each township's section.; Extent: 1 folder
Folder-Item 1.8 - 1.14: Crown Zellerbach Mazama Tree Farm Cutting Maps, 1961-1967 Add to Shelf: Show timber types across the Crown Zellerbach ownership in Douglas County, with emphasis on showing land recently cut or depleted. Distinction of species by lodgepole pine, ponderosa pine, and Christmas trees.; Extent: 7 sheets

Sub-Series 11: Klamath County Information, 1965 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 5.6: Township Ownership Maps, circa 1965 Add to Shelf: These maps contain information for townships in Klamath County and depict approximate ownership boundaries within sections.; Extent: 31 sheet

Sub-Series 12: Lake County Information, 1965 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 5.7 - 5.9: Ownership Maps, circa 1965 Add to Shelf: These maps contain information for each township in Lake County and depict approximate ownership boundaries within sections.; Extent: 99 sheet

Sub-Series 13: Lane County Information, 1969-1977 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 69.18: County Timber Values, 1969-1977 Add to Shelf: Includes information on the total volume in thousand board feet (MBF) per township in young and old growth timber, and then the total volume in Lane County for 1976, 1977. Also contains timber volume inventory by zones in MBF for 1969. There is also information on estimated appraisals for exempt forestry ownerships such as the BLM, state, county, city, and school owned lands. In addition contains the actual appraisal value for all of the county's timber from 1969-1975.; Extent: 1 folder

Sub-Series 14: Polk County Information, 1973-1974 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 69.19: Value Tabulations by Township, 1973-1974 Add to Shelf: Includes information on the total volume in thousand board feet (MBF) per township in young and old growth timber, and then the total volume in Polk County. Also includes the volume composition by grades and species in each township. Includes species like Douglas-fir, hemlock, red cedar, noble fir, silver fir, white pine, and some hardwoods.; Extent: 1 folder

People, Places, and Topics

Forms of Material

Related Materials

Timber tax map segment for Benton County, Oregon, Undated.

Information and Credits