Selma’s Camp lets Nature rehab forest
Photo provided
Growing up in a timber family, Selma resident Orville Camp was accustomed to the world of mills and tree harvests.
But somewhere along the line, he had a change of heart and decided to embark on a different path.
“We were destroying our own forests. I didn’t like that,” Camp said. “I thought there had to be a better way, but I didn’t know what that was.”
Photo provided
Camp’s family first came to the Illinois Valley in 1909, residing in the Thompson Creek area. While attending school at Illinois Valley High School at its original site, which now is Lorna Byrne Middle School, Camp and his uncle built and ran a lumber mill.
After graduating from high school in 1953, Camp joined the U.S. Navy, where he specialized in electronics.
Camp served his four-year military commitment, and then headed to Corvallis to attend Oregon State University. While still a student, he started an electronics business, which grew rapidly and prompted him to abandon his studies.
It was during this time that Camp was invited to a “sensitivity group” by a friend who worked as a clinical psychologist. Discussions with that group taught Camp about Charles Darwin’s theories on natural selection, which he began applying to forestry.
“That became a changing experience in my life,” Camp said.
He returned to Selma in 1967 and bought a 180-acre parcel of property. At the time, Camp said, the landscape left much to be desired, due to years of aggressive logging practices.
“I started with nothing,” Camp said. “This place was wiped out.”
Camp began designing and building his house in 1969 and set about rehabilitating the property.
Photo provided
Instead of following conventional wisdom regarding forest management, Camp applied his philosophy of natural selection to the land. He built several ponds, and set up 10 miles of looping roads.
Over time, Camp found that the once-barren landscape had become a thriving forest. Several of the ponds he created have become a habitat for endangered Coho salmon.
Camp’s philosophy involves combining resource and recreational uses of
forestland, with a focus on naturally selected dead tree extraction.
According to Camp, the best way to manage a forest is to simply let Nature take its course.
“I don’t know of a forester in the world who’s made a sustainable forest,” he said.
Camp has a phrase for his brand of forestry -- “ecostry,” which he defines as “the art of seeing through Nature’s eyes.”
Tours and workshops had been held at the Camp Forest during the past three decades. Camp, 72, said that he often puts in 10 to 12 hours a day maintaining the property.
“There isn’t anything out there like this,” Camp said. “It has been a demonstration project and an education project.”
In an attempt to spread his ideas, Camp published The Forest Farmer’s Handbook in 1984. He’s currently working on finishing another book.
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