Press Release
November 29, 2005

Contacts:

Dave Odgers
Oregon Forest Resources Institute
(503) 229-6718 (Ext. 26)

Chip Jenkins, Superintendent
Lewis and Clark National Historical Park
(503) 861-4401

Delivery of donated logs marks the start of Fort Clatsop rebuild project

The National Park Service (NPS) will take delivery of about 420 donated Douglas fir logs this week for the rebuild of Fort Clatsop.  The new fort will replace an earlier replica, built near Astoria 50 years ago and destroyed by fire October 3.

Lewis and Clark and members of their Corps of Discovery built the original Fort Clatsop for quarters during the winter of 1805-1806 after completing their expedition to establish a route west to the Pacific Ocean.

Area forest products companies contributing and delivering logs for the rebuild are Stimson Lumber Company, Longview Fibre Company, Hampton Affiliates and Weyerhaeuser Company.

The companies will deliver the logs to the Clatsop County Fairgrounds near Astoria on Thursday (December 1) between 10 and 11 a.m.  The Oregon Forest Resources Institute organized the contributions using log specifications provided by NPS.

"We promised that the rebuild of the fort will be done with the community," said Chip Jenkins, superintendent of the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park where Fort Clatsop is located.  "We are doing this through donated materials, time, services and funds.  These logs will form the core of the new Fort Clatsop."

As with the first replica of Fort Clatsop, the logs will be notched and fitted together off site-this time at the main arena at the Clatsop County Fairgrounds.

"We are following the model created by community volunteers for the construction of the first replica," Jenkins said.  "But first the logs must be stripped of bark."

Debarking will begin at the fairgrounds on December 10 following a ground-breaking and flag-raising ceremony at Fort Clatsop.  Construction of the original Fort Clatsop began on the same date 200 years ago.

The logs will be debarked by hand to create a rustic, rough-hewed appearance not achievable with modern mechanical debarking systems.  Community volunteers will assist with the debarking.

"Students from the Oregon State University College of Forestry will come up on their holiday break to help start this work," Jenkins said.

Once fully assembled at the fairgrounds, the fort will be taken apart, undergo a treatment process to inhibit deterioration from weather and then be transported to the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park for reassembly.   The assembly is expected to be completed in March.

Jenkins invites the public to come and watch the assembly work at the fairgrounds, located four miles south of Astoria on Highway 202.

NOTE TO MEDIA:  Interview and photo opportunities related to the following news release will be provided at the main arena of the Clatsop County Fairgrounds on Thursday, December 1, between 10 and 11 a.m

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Dave Odgers
Director of Communications
Oregon Forest Resources Institute
317 SW Sixth Avenue, Suite 400
Portland, OR 97204
(503) 229-6718, Ext. 26
odgers@ofri.com