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Lookout tree

Tree serving as a watchtower against fires

A lookout tree is a simple fire lookout tower created by attaching a ladder or a series of spikes to a tall straight tree with a view of the surrounding lands, allowing rangers or fire crews to conveniently climb the tree to survey their surroundings. The simplest kind consist only of a ladder to a suitable height: this kind was called a "ladder tree." Some ladder trees had platforms on the ground next to them for maps and a fire finder. A more elaborate version often created a platform on top of the tree trunk by cutting off approximately the last 10 ft of the treetop and building a railed wooden platform on the resulting stump. These "platform trees" were often equipped with telephones, fire finder tables, seats and guy wires. Accommodation for the watcher was provided by a tent or shelter at the bottom of the tree.

Lookout trees were widely used in the Kaibab National Forest of northern Arizona, and Washington, United States as well as in Australia. The Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree in Western Australia reaches 75m, while the tallest lookout in the United States was the Cook Creek Spar Tree near Lake Quinault, Washington, at 179 ft high from 1927 to 1955.

Australia

Eight karri trees were adapted as lookout trees in Western Australia in the 1930s and 1940s. The 72 m Gloucester Tree features a cabin in its top and may be climbed by visitors, as can the even taller 75 m Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree. The Diamond Tree continues in occasional use as a fire lookout.

United States

Lookout trees were used as ad hoc towers throughout the American West in the early 20th century. The most significant concentrations were in northern Arizona and the Coast Range of Washington and Oregon.

Arizona

Many of the surviving lookout trees in Arizona have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Lookout trees in Kaibab National Forest were used from about 1916 until the 1960s. Some of the early trees were replaced by towers built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

Arkansas

The Look See Tree in Coleman, Arkansas was used as a fire lookout for roughly ten to fifteen years from c. 1930 to c. 1940.

Washington

Although the Cook Creek Spar Tree was cut down in 1955 due to rot,

References

Steere, Peter L.. (July 1987). ["Lookout Trees on the Kaibab National Forest"]({{NRHP url). National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Multiple Property Survey, National Forest Fire Lookouts in the Southwest Region, USDA Forest Service.
"Grandview Lookout Tower". U.S. Forest Service.
"Fire Towers of Northern Minnesota (brochure)". Forest Fire Lookout Association.
Bain, Andrew. (21 February 2006). "Jolly green giants". The Australian.
"Pemberton's Climbing Trees". Pemberton Visitor Centre.
"Lookout Tree". Darrington Area Business Association.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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