SELMA — Charles Darwin never worked in the logging woods of Oregon, but Orville Camp figures he would have been a natural with a chainsaw.

Camp, who was already working in the local logging woods before he graduated from Illinois Valley High School in 1953, said it was his discovery of the British naturalist’s theory on evolution in the mid-1950s that changed his views on traditional logging practices.

"I got exposed to Darwin’s theory of natural selection — it hit me that was the key," Camp recalled. "He figured out how species evolved over time. I thought there ought to be a way of applying this so you could take out products to serve humanity."

In 1967, after purchasing the land his great grandfather Willis Garbe homesteaded in 1912, Camp revved up his chainsaw to begin applying natural selection by helping Mother Nature weed out the weak trees while leaving the dominant ones.

"We’re taking the trees out based on whether they are dead or dying," explained Camp, who turns 70 next month.

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"The best trees have to survive long enough to reproduce those traits," he said. "That’s how species are able to adapt to an ever-changing environment."

He will tell you that nature manages the 180-acre forested parcel he and his wife, Mary, live on in the Thompson Creek drainage. The Camps also have another 50-acre parcel nearby.

Camp, who studied electrical engineering at Oregon State University, describes himself as a "maverick" when it comes to traditional forestry. He has written several books about his method of forestry and speaks at conferences about it.

The forested mountain which rises to some 3,500 feet behind their home is Camp Mountain, named after his father.

"My mother’s brother was involved in cutting the old-growth timber off this land in 1938," Camp said of an uncle. "Back in those days, they took the biggest and the best."

After the last cut was made around 1960, little was left of the original old-growth forest, including the canopy which sheltered the younger trees, he said.

"With this program, we have full canopy coverage at all times," he said. "We don’t have any down time."

To demonstrate his natural-selection approach, Camp hopped aboard a golf cart to bounce along one of the many roads he has built on the 180-acre parcel.

He is searching for trees he can cut to fill an order for 2-by-6 lumber. Instead of a gold bag, he has a Stihl chainsaw with a 36-inch bar.

"What I’m looking at is which trees have been naturally selected out," he said, adding, "That means dead or in the process of dying."

However, he checks to make sure removing the tree wouldn’t change the microclimate in the vicinity.

"This one tree has a dead top but if I take it out it will change the microclimate below," he said of one tree. " ... I don’t want to do anything that will keep it from evolving to later successional stages."

He also leaves some dead trees that provide habitat to forest creatures.

"I have four basic needs I want to meet in terms of leaving dead material for the species that have evolved in here," he said. "I have to meet food, shelter, habitat and reproduction needs, for instance, for the woodpeckers."

A nearby standing dead tree meets those needs, he observed.

He eventually selects a tree about two feet in diameter rising perhaps 70 feet above the forest floor.

"This one, the bugs are already taking it out," he said. "And it has trees on three sides. It’s going to produce quite a lot of good wood. And I can take it out without substantially altering the habitat requirements here."

He promptly fires up his Stihl, cuts out an undercut that looks like a wide piece of pie, then slices the tree across the back to send it crashing into a small opening in the forest.

"That’s exactly where I wanted it," he said with a grin.

Later he will buck it up into logs and haul the logs to a nearby road, using a cable attached to a four-wheel Case tractor.

"I don’t run any heavy equipment off the road — everything is done from the road," he said, noting his approach avoids compacting the soil.

A self-loading log truck will haul the logs to a nearby Wood-Mizer portable sawmill he uses to cut the lumber to fill orders for products cut from a sustainable method.

"I’ve never run out of work," he said. "It’s not something you’ll get rich in doing but I wouldn’t trade the occupation for any other occupation on earth."

He also believes it is sustainable, both ecologically and economically.

"We have no management costs," he said. " ... When I look at a balance sheet, I’m not just looking at economics. I’m looking primarily at biological factors, species health and whether they are able to carry out the functions needed to sustain the ecosystem as a whole.

"This is the program that sustains life," he added.

Tour of Camp Forest offered

To reach the forest, located at 2100 Thompson Creek Road, turn east off Highway 199 onto Lakeshore Drive, go one mile past Lake Selmac, turn south on Thompson Creek Road and drive 2.1 miles. For more information, call 541-597-4313.

Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at pfattig@mailtribune.com