Mike Kerrick Oral History Interview

Mike Kerrick had a career with the National Forest system that had him deeply involved with the Andrews Forest periodically from the beginning to the end of his career, culminating in being Supervisor of the Willamette National Forest where the Andrews Experimental Forest is located. Kerrick begins the oral history recollecting his upbringing in Minnesota with a gang of brothers and plenty of exposure to the outdoors, especially canoeing. He goes on to describe life as an undergrad in forestry at University of Minnesota and balancing work to support his education and then marriage and parenthood. A self-proclaimed “urban kid,” he was surprised to have deep interest in natural resources. He first came to Oregon with some college buddies in 1951 and resided in Eugene. He goes on to describe returning to western Oregon in subsequent summers, including work and social life in the upper McKenzie River area. At this point the conversation doubles back and he describes his forestry experiences in Minnesota before moving to tell more about the Forest Service of the 1950 as timber harvesting picked up in the region.

One of his duties as a student intern in 1953 was to help prepare the site and build the stone monument at the ceremony renaming of the Blue River Experimental Forest in honor of H.J. Andrews. He goes on to describe the mindset of the day to convert the “biological deserts” of old growth to plantations, and he helped with timber sale and road layout on the Andrews to achieve that end. The training and activities he experienced include fire and forest regeneration. In 1956 he and his wife moved to Blue River and his neighbor was Jack Rothacher, a leader of watershed research on the Andrews Forest, and this began a long collaboration and friendship. However, he moved from Blue River in 1959 before logging in the experimental watersheds, but the Rothachers and Kerricks remained friends. Kerrick goes on to describe the Mt. Baker National Forest where he spent 7 years, including issues with management of the old hemlock forest there and the landslide issues related to the glacial history. After a two-year stint as Ranger at Blue River Ranger Station beginning in 1968, he moved to the Six Rivers National Forest in northern California just as Andrews Forest component of the International Biological Program work began and Congress began passing the series of major environmental acts, which he comments on. He discusses all the moves he made, the impacts on family, the processes for getting a new position, and how the land was changing though logging and construction of reservoirs. He also recounts the controversy related to expansion of the Three Sisters Wilderness Area and dealing with environmentalists in the late 1960s, which he found quite challenging – and a precursor of yet bigger challenges to come.

Kerrick speaks at length about dealing with forestry conflicts from the perspective of a Willamette National Forest leader – the laws, environmentalists, politicians, squeezing timber cut out of a declining land base. He describes his efforts to navigate the forest planning process to comply with the laws of the 1970s, and how the local issues seemed so hot, but changed so rapidly, as reflected in his experiences over many years in the McKenzie River area. He also saw that during his time in Arizona. The conversation turns to reflections on the multiple-use concept and the shift from emphasis on timber cutting to an ecosystem view and how the Andrews Forest program was a big part of that for the Willamette and more broadly. He comments on the importance of staffing the research-management interface with the research liaison position and a silviculturist on the District, and the many ways that science from the Andrews influenced land management and how he felt the management side of the partnership affected the scientists, including into the Northwest Forest Plan. He comments about the limited timber harvest and fate of the spotted owl under the Northwest Forest Plan, the costs of forest planning, his views of Jerry Franklin’s New Forestry, and the shift from logging and milling old growth to second-growth from plantations. He goes on to make some complimentary comments about several Andrews Forest folks and Zane Smith, supervisor of the Willamette National Forest in the 1970s.

Drawing on his long experience on the Willamette, Kerrick proceeds to describe the history and geography of the National Forest district-by-district, including its history of expansion and contraction of the number of districts, and how some land exchanges altered the extent and configuration of ownership. When asked about his favorite posting, he discusses life in Eureka, California, and the relation of the National Forest and Redwood National Park. He finds logging of old-growth redwood “gut wrenching.” He goes on to comment on many researchers and selection of rangers to work with the research community in uniformly complimentary terms. He closes by saying that ethical management is to leave the land in good shape for the next generation and he proudly reflects on being part of a group of forest supervisors who came up with the Forest Service motto, "Caring for the Land and Serving People."