Climbed Delodo Tree. Had a bad feeling, so dry and
hot. Storm last night brought plenty of lightning, little rain.
Spotted smoke to south, blowing northeast and picking up … Caught
hobbled mare and saddled up. Rode to Little Nelson Lake Tree, saw
smoke again. Looks like a big fire … May need extra folks on this
fire.
* from the journal of a U.S. Forest
Service fire spotter
in July
1935
Before the fire lookout
tower, there was the “lagged” lookout tree – so named for the steel
lags that provided steps to the top of the tree. The Civilian
Conservation Corps created a network of these tall trees that
spanned ridges and mountaintops across the national forests. Nimble
fire spotters climbed to their tops on the spiked steps of tempered
steel or wood ladders, then checked the horizon for smoke. Some
lookout trees, such as the Hull Tank Lookout Tree on the Kaibab
National Forest, still have their wooden platforms. On the Mogollon
Rim of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona, a
60-foot-tall ponderosa pine known as the Overgaard Tree still
stands, its rungs grown high. And on the Kaibab National Forest,
several lookout trees have been listed on the National Register of
Historic Places.
While lookout trees were left
standing across the United States, they were most common in the
Southwest. For more information, contact the Kaibab National
Forest, 520/635-8272, Chevelon-Heber Ranger District of the
Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, 520/535-4481 or the National
Historic Lookout Register, 800/476-8733.
*
Christine Haese
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Lagged not logged.
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