Sandford And Company

As one of many denizens of the Aldo Leopold Society, I was hired by the godfather of the Lake Wenatchee Ranger District, Paul Sandford (top row, third from right). Paul, the longest-serving employee on the district at about 40 years, passed away June 5 from the effects of Parkinson's disease.

Born in Manchester, New Hampshire on December 31, 1939, Paul grew up in Tacoma, Washington, and married Zona Odegard in 1962. Paul for numerous employers, including the Boeing Corp., in the Puget Sound region before applying for a position on the Wenatchee National Forest.

As lead Recreation Technician on the Lake Wenatchee Ranger District starting in the early 1960s, he helped establish many new campgrounds with campsites and trails on the district. He was also the snow survey ranger and developed numerous snowmobile trail systems and off road vehicle trails.

Early in his career, Paul helped with maintaining trails, along with wilderness management, on both sections of the Glacier Peak Wilderness and the Alpine Lakes Wilderness residing within the Lake Wenatchee Ranger District. He also worked in fire prevention and suppression and fall burning.

Literally a jack-of-all-trades, Paul assisted in various wildlife management activities with osprey nest surveys, wood duck nest boxes and common loon nesting platforms on Lake Wenatchee, as well as helping staff locate and assess cultural sites of the Wenatchi band of the Yakama Nation.

Paul had a great work ethic, worked well with people and loved the outdoors. Most importantly, he was a great mentor to many of his younger colleagues and being a friend to one and all. He resided for 30 years in Plain, Washington and worked for the USFS for 37 years.

Two among many of my favorite stories of Paul: After four trees had collapsed on a hunter's trailer in Riverside Campground in November, 1978, killing all four people inside, Paul was instructed to fall all potentially dangerous snags within 100 feet of each district campground.

That job would fall to me and a colleague, but Paul -- an expert faller -- would first demonstrate for us how to cut down a large but dead tree in the Grouse Creek Campground on the lower Chiwawa River. The tree with a dead top was 38 inches in diameter at its base, and Paul administered the cut.

Once the face cut was complete, Paul started the back cut, with his trusty assistants applying wedges to help the dead fir fall in the right direction. What nobody anticipated was a rotten core as the tree started to "barber-stool" off course, smashing the outhouse into smithereens.

We all laughed because of the outcome, but nobody, even an expert faller like Paul, could have predetermined the extent of the rot in the core of the tree. With a sheepish grin, Paul recovered from the incident and laughed along with the rest of us. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

On another assignment, we were instructed to bushwhack up the Napeequa River, a river system that lies entirely within the Glacier Peak Wilderness to locate and destroy a squatter's cabin on federal land. The forest was primeval and the going difficult, but Paul led the way.

Later, Paul provided a key recommendation that helped me secure a position as public relations coordinator at McKenzie-Willamette Hospital. Paul was always smiling, and a gentleman to be admired. I always felt better after spending time with Paul (second row, far left), and I will miss him.