Scaling issue finally resolved

If the early history of Seeley Lake is intertwined with the lumber industry, the rise of the United States Forest Service is incontrovertibly intertwined with Seeley Lake and in particular with the Big Blackfoot Timber Sale of 1907-1910. Historian and member of the Camp Paxson Preservation Board Gary Williams has been researching that sale. The Seeley Swan Pathfinder will be bringing some of the interesting bits of information he has discovered about logging in the Seeley Lake area and also about the fledgling U.S. Forest Service.

SEELEY LAKE – While letters concerning the scaling controversy were making their way back and forth between Big Blackfoot Milling Company General Manager Kenneth Ross and officials in the Forest service, the Forest Service had other issues it was dealing with. Although in 1891 Congress had given the President of the United States the authority to create forest reserves from land in the public domain, by 1907 complaints from cattlemen, loggers, sheepmen, homesteaders and special interest groups gave Congress reason to rethink that policy.

The Agriculture Appropriations Act was coming up for a vote. To it, an amendment was attached decreeing no new forests could be created nor the limits of current reserves extended in Montana and five other northwestern states. The Act passed in both Houses and proceeded to the Whitehouse to be signed or vetoed by March 4, 1907. Unwilling to veto the entire Act, President Theodore Roosevelt instead conferred with Head of the U.S. Forest Service Gifford Pinchot. Through a herculean effort, the Forest Service identified and completed the paperwork to create 21 new forest preserves and enlarge 11 existing ones. Roosevelt signed them into existence on March 1-2, two days before he signed the Agriculture Appropriations Act. The newly established forests were nicknamed the "Midnight Reserves."

The Forest Service now had 151 million acres of land to manage and an organizational infrastructure to expand. Vast areas were separated into smaller districts, new positions were created, promotions were awarded and men were shuffled around to meet growing needs. In terms of the Big Blackfoot scaling controversy, this meant Ross ended up dealing with a growing number of people within the Forest Service.

In the Washington D.C. offices, Pinchot was Chief Forester, most often called The Forester; E.E. Carter was Acting Forester; William Cox was Assistant Forester and Overton Price was Associate Forester. When Ross' complaint made its way to the D.C. office, Acting Forester E.E. Cox wrote back advising Ross that Assistant Forester William Cox would be in Missoula in October and would investigate the issue.

Ross' impatience was growing. On Sept. 16, the day after receiving the notice, Ross sent a letter directly to Cox urging him to come as soon as possible because the mill was already in the process of sawing the logs and the sooner Cox arrived the better chance he had of inspecting the substandard timber.

In the meantime, Ross pressed the matter with the local Forest Service authorities in Missoula. He insisted Forest Supervisor David Kinney come to Bonner to view some of defective timber the company was being forced to mill. Kinney made three trips to Bonner and put Chief Inspector Sherman in charge of the issue.

Both Sherman and Kinney reported to The Forester in Washington D.C. that their mill visits convinced them Big Blackfoot deserved "some concession on the scale of the defective material."

In October, the time set for Cox's promised visit, Ross received a telegram from Cox regretting he would be unable to come but expert lumberman Eugene Bruce was on his way. Bruce was the forester whom Pinchot had personally asked to evaluate the proposed timber sale area prior to putting out the bid.

Cox's telegram ended, "I feel sure that you, Bruce, Sherman and Kinney can satisfactorily adjust difficulty in scale."

Bruce arrived on the scene with Forest Service photographer W. J. Lubken in tow. Bruce examined logs bearing the U.S. mark in the jumble of logs at the mill pond in Bonner, spent time observing the logs being milled, and went to the cutting site to examine logs left in the woods by order of the Superintendent of Big Blackfoot Milling Company. On Nov. 30 he sent a 14-page letter with explanatory photos to The Forester.

"I am satisfied," Bruce reported, "that the contention of the Company that they have been charged up with and required to pay for a certain amount of timber that was unmerchantable, is true. The amount of unmerchantable timber so scaled, however, is, in my judgment, not nearly so great as claimed by the Big Blackfoot Company."

Bruce attributed the problem to uncertified scalers being used by the Forest Service. Because no qualified scalers were available, Ambrose Norton, the Forest Service's on-site lumberman in charge of the project, had to hire and quickly instruct men in the proper methodology and how to identify merchantable timber. According to Bruce, when they were uncertain, the men generally favored their Forest Service employer and consequently scaled some timber that did not contain even 10 percent merchantable timber.

Incorporated in the credit for the unmerchantable timber the company was forced to take, Bruce wrote, "...should also be included the cost of cutting, skidding, hauling, driving and sawing of such worthless timber. For all this the company should be reimbursed..."

On the other hand, Bruce said the amount of timber culled by the company and left lying in the woods contained almost enough merchantable wood to offset the amount of defective timber the company claimed it was forced to accept.

Bruce also noted, "...it is evident that a considerable portion of this class of timber was hauled to the Lake and driven down the stream, as a large number of 'specimens' are in evidence in the 'jam' in the river and on the shore at Bonner, where they have been, so to speak, close-herded by the company for the purpose of maintaining their contention."

How much compensation should be awarded to Big Blackfoot was a matter requiring much rescaling of culled logs in the lot and still in the field, along with a reasonable estimation of how much had already gone through the mill. As it happened, Bruce and Big Blackfoot's head scaler Mr. Horton were acquainted, having previously worked together on a Minnesota lumber sale.

Bruce wrote, "I consider him [Horton] a fair man and of good judgment... I believe that if Mr. Horton and Mr. Norton were set to work together to jointly arrive at the amount of timber that should be charged up for, that no injustice would be done either side."

On March 8, 1909, slightly over a year from the time Big Blackfoot Milling Company filed its complaint, Supervisor Kinney wrote to company president John R. Toole, "I am glad to inform you that the Forest Service has decided to settle with your company the differences which have existed for some time in the timber sale at Seeley Lake date 5/24/07."

Ross replied to Kinney's letter, "We are gratified to know that the Forestry Department, after investigating the log scale at Seeley Lake, had concluded that we had some cause for complaint and have allowed us credit for 300,000 feet and while we feel that the credit should be more and that 300,000 feet covers only part of our claim, we will accept same as full settlement."

No doubt the Forest Service personnel involved with the transaction were glad to see it finally over.

The next article in this Timber Sale series will discuss the repercussions to Ambrose Norton.