From the crest of the High Cascades eastward to the High Desert, the Deschutes National Forest is one of America's great national treasures. Timber, water, and forage were plentiful in Central Oregon and provided the building blocks for the region. Today, the national forest's scenery and year-round outdoor recreational resources play major roles in sustaining a vibrant and diverse modern economy and a unique way of life. Since 1905, these resources have been administered by the US Forest Service, fulfilling its mission to pursue "the greatest good of the greatest number in the long run," as decreed by forester Gifford Pinchot when he led the fledgling agency.

"The first lookouts were rustic camps on mountaintops, where men and women were stationed to keep an eye out for wildfires. As the importance of fire prevention grew, a lookout construction boom resulted in hundreds of cabins and towers being built on Oregon's high points. When aircraft and cameras became more cost-effective and efficient methods of fire detection, many old lookouts were abandoned or removed. Of the many hundreds of lookouts built in Oregon over the past 100 years, less than 175 remain, and only about half of these are still manned. However, some lookouts are being repurposed as rental cabins, and volunteers are constantly working to save endangered lookouts. This book tells the story of Oregon's fire lookouts, from their heyday to their decline, and of the effort to save the ones that are left." --

Once vital to fire prevention and detection, most of the Black Hills National Forest historic lookout towers now serve primarily as hiking destinations. The first crude lookout structures were built at Custer Peak and Harney Peak in 1911. Since that time, more than 20 towers have been constructed in the area. The first lookout towers were built of wood, most replaced by steel or stone. The Civilian Conservation Corps was instrumental in constructing fire towers during the 1930s and 1940s. One of the most famous and architecturally and aesthetically valued towers is the Harney Peak Fire Lookout--situated on the highest point east of the Rocky Mountains. Harney Peak is among a number of Black Hills towers listed on the National Historic Lookout Register. Over 200 vintage images tell the story of not only the historic fire towers but those who manned them. Perched atop high peaks in remote locations, fire lookout personnel spent countless hours scanning the forest, pinpointing dangers, often experiencing the powerful wrath of lightning strong enough to jolt them off their lightning stools.

Over one hundred years ago with the formation of the United States Forest Service in 1905 the idea of the fire lookout network was born. In the 2.3 million acres of land comprised in today's Payette National Forest over one hundred fire lookout locations were used to protect the forest from fires. Recently only thirteen of those lookouts are in use. After many years of research the history of each fire lookout site is reveled through the stories of people who staffed, stocked, and built them. Also included is a general history of the fire lookout network on the Payette as related to Forest Service fire policy in the four northwestern states. Bringing the text to life is an amazing collection of over 270 black and white photographs of this spectacular region, which extends from the depths of Hells Canyon to the remote Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness.