Wind River Nursery — Historic Wind River

An important issue for the fledgling Forest Service was reforesting the burned areas left by the large forest fires of the early 20th century. With this goal in mind, work on Wind River Nursery was begun in 1909. Adjacent to the Hemlock Ranger Station, on land burned by the 1902 Yacolt Burn and logged by the Wind River Lumber Company in one of the first USFS timber sales, the first five acres were cleared. The first crop was sown in 1910.

The initial purpose of the nursery was to grow trees to replant the Bull Run watershed, which served as the water supply for the City of Portland. But Wind River grew into one of the largest federal tree nurseries in the nation, and seedlings grown here were planted on national forests throughout the Pacific Northwest. Growing techniques and equipment developed at Wind River, such as the Wind River Seed Drill, were adopted by both public and private nurseries across the region.

Generations of local residents worked at the nursery, and many local families can list several relatives who worked there over the years. The nursery closed in 1997, and the historic fields have mostly been used for cattle grazing in recent years.