A Look Back in Time: Packwood forest rangers at 'war' with porcupines; Hang gliding championship nears conclusion at Dog Mountain; Roy residents need rescue from Riffe Lake after boat sinks

In this installment of A Look Back in Time, the Wednesday, June 6, 1956, edition of The Chronicle featured a story about Gifford Pinchot National Forest Packwood District rangers being "at war" with wild porcupines that were damaging trees in East Lewis County.

Hang gliders were preparing for the final day of competition at the National Hang Gliding Championships at Dog Mountain near Glenoma, according to the Saturday, June 5, 1976, edition of The Chronicle.

And in the Friday, June 6, 1986, edition of The Chronicle, it was reported that a pair of Roy residents received warnings from the Lewis County Sheriff's Office after their boat sank in rough waters in Riffe Lake, leading to another boater running out of gas and being stranded on the lake himself with his 2-year-old son while trying to get help for them.

The Sunday, June 6, 1976, edition of The Chronicle was not in the archives, so stories from the Saturday, June 5, 1976, edition have been featured instead.

A Look Back in Time was compiled using Chronicle microfilm archives along with digital archives on newspapers.com.

Thursday, June 6, 1946

-Centralia City Treasurer and acting Mayor Vernon Fear said he planned on having city staff take full advantage of post-World War II state grant development funds to build a new wastewater treatment facility, The Chronicle reported. "Announcement of the availability of $58,372.26 for the city was made Wednesday from Olympia, with half the specified amount to be obtained as an outright grant, and the other half to be matched by city funds. Fear pointed out the city will expend less than $30,000 and will receive almost $90,000 benefit. He stated the money may be spent for any city improvements, but it has been tentatively earmarked for the building of a sewage disposal plant. State sanitary engineers have ordered all cities to obtain an adequate disposal system and, although the system used in Centralia is said to be satisfactory at the present time, in the near future it will become obsolete, it was stated."

-The strawberry harvest was about to begin in Lewis County and local farmers had hopes for a "bumper crop" - a term for a highly productive harvest - after increasing acreage compared to 1945, The Chronicle reported. "With price ceilings removed for the first time in several years, prices ranging up to 25 cents a pound in the field are being offered to growers, with competition keen among the lark packers for the fruit. Berry acreage in production in the area this year has increased over that of last season, and new acreage planted this spring is expected to double the amount of berries produced next year. Meanwhile, an unofficial check of the strawberry box supply revealed 25,000 have been delivered in this vicinity, whereas there is a demand for approximately 175,000 to handle the present crop."

-A two-bedroom home with a barn, hen house and a young orchard on 19 acres of land "about two miles" from Centralia was listed for sale in The Chronicle's classifieds for $7,500.

Wednesday, June 6, 1956

-Gifford Pinchot National Forest Packwood District rangers were "at war" with "the multi-quilled porcupine" who were damaging trees in federally managed land in East Lewis County, The Chronicle reported. "The war on 'porks' was declared after forestry officials discovered the spiny animals are stripping the bark off young fir trees in planted forestry plots. Bark and a soft, intermediate area between the bark and wood fibre are especially relished by the porcupines. The trees are about eight years old and stand seven or eight feet tall, but the troublesome porcupine can reach to the topmost barked area, aided by the snowpack that remains in the higher elevations. Cal Dunnell, a forester from the Packwood ranger station, and a district forestry official, made a tour of some plantations in the Packwood district during the past few weeks and uncovered the damage. 'Damage to the young trees will amount to many thousands of dollars,' Dunnell said. Foresters found heavy damage among fir plantations in three clear-cuts in the Skate Creek area, seven miles northwest of Packwood. At first, the forestry men thought the damage might have been done by mountain beaver, another pesky mountain animal. But later, the men uncovered enough conclusive evidence to convince them the harm has been done by porcupines. This is the first invasion of the quilled animals into fir trees west of the Cascades, although foresters have been troubled with them for many years east of the mountains, where they attack the soft bark of pine trees. Evidence the spine animals are stripping fir trees indicates two things, the man said: 1. Porcupines are becoming more plentiful west of the mountains, and, 2. Other types of porcupine food are scarce. The foresters have not been able to inspect all snow-covered fir plantings and are fearful they will uncover more tree damage. Stripping the park from the trees usually kills the tree. If that doesn't happen, then the tree is stunted by the damage. To stop the invasion, foresters have set out poison blocks before known porcupine dens and have appealed to the public to kill porcupines wherever they are found. 'We must kill these animals, before they can inflict more harm on our young, growing forests,' Dunnell said."

-A three-bedroom home with a barn, hen house, feeding and machine sheds, a carport, a tractor and other farm equipment on 20 acres of land was listed for sale in The Chronicle's classifieds for $7,750. A "modern" two-bedroom home at 222 River St. was listed for rent for $40 a month.

Monday, June 6, 1966

-Out of 25 Centralia College students scheduled to take a federal Selective Service college qualification test to see if they were draft eligible during the Vietnam War, only 15 showed up for it according to college Dean Art Ehret, The Chronicle reported. "Ehret earlier predicted fewer than were scheduled would show up for the test. He explained that Science Research Associates, Chicago, Illinois, held the government contract for assigning students to test centers, grading results and furnishing those grades to Selective Service officials. Another examination at Centralia College has been scheduled for June 24. The number of students expected has not been assigned by the testing group."

-Centralia police were looking for tips on suspects who might have thrown a pair of military-grade smoke bombs in the downtown area over the weekend, The Chronicle reported. "Police say the first bomb reported was activated and left Friday night at Jackson street and Tower Avenue. There was no damage except a smudge on the street after dense yellow coils of smoke startled persons in the area. A red smoke bomb was thrown into the bed of a pickup truck on the 600 block of Washington Avenue Saturday night, police said. The device landed in a barrel in the back of the truck, owned by Clarence Runyon, 702 West Cherry St. Police said the barrel, which had been especially cleaned and painted for use in butchering, was discolored and nearly burned through. 'Had it not landed in the barrel,' said acting Police Chief James Kendrick, 'it would have been necessary to repaint the truck.' The bombs are apparently intended for military use, according to their olive-drab coloring, and would not be marketable items, police think. Several fingerprints have been lifted from the metal canisters."

-A four-bedroom home with a "new birch kitchen," a barn, silo and garage with "some timber" on 23 acres of land near Adna was listed for sale in The Chronicle's classifieds for $25,500. A "modern" one-bedroom duplex with "automatic heat" in Centralia was listed for rent for $50 a month.

Saturday, June 5, 1976

-The final competition day of the National Hang Gliding Championships at Dog Mountain, located at the east end of Riffe Lake near Glenoma, was scheduled to start on Sunday, The Chronicle reported. "Competition will begin at 9 a.m. Sunday. Awards will be presented to the winning pilots in an evening ceremony. The top three Competitors in each of three classes, plus a team captain, will earn a trip to the world championships to be held in Kessen, Austria, in September. Most of the fliers have been eliminated from competition and only the top scoring pilots will be gliding this weekend. Conrad Agte, Spokane, was the leader in open class competition when the flying ended Friday. Former national champion Bob Wills, Santa Ana, California, was near the top as he scored well in each of his six flights. Agte jumped off of Dog Mountain Thursday evening when favorable wind conditions sent the fliers soaring high above the lofty perch, 1,500 feet above Riffe Lake. Competition ended Thursday evening as about 30 fliers in succession leaped off the mountain in tremendous 40 mile per hour winds coming off of the lake. The winds swept some of the fliers 1,500 feet above the top of the mountain. One flier said afterward that the winds were so strong the pilots were being pushed backward, rather than flying forward. The fliers found it impossible to come down near the landing area. One pilot, Blake LeWark, ended his flight by alighting in a cow pasture near Glenoma. He was returned to the meet area by an obliging farmer with a pickup truck. Another flier alighted in time for dinner at a nearby campground and a third landed next to the White Pass Highway, which afforded easy hitchhiking opportunities. Observers noted the fliers could have easily flown into Morton, seven miles to the west, in time for an evening game night sponsored by a local organization, but they elected not to gamble." While Dog Mountain is still a popular hang glider launch point used today, those venturing out will never see such a large number of hang gliders taking off in succession at one time - as when The Chronicle visited on a 2024 hike, a posted sign stated the maximum amount of fliers allowed to occupy the airspace around the mountain was only five.

-A three-bedroom home with access to two creeks, spring water, a barn and a garage, where someone could "kill your elk out of the kitchen window" on 40 acres of land at the end of a "blacktop road" eight miles from Mossyrock was listed for sale in The Chronicle's classifieds for $50,000. An unfurnished two-bedroom home with a carport and appliances near downtown Centralia was listed for rent for $185 a month.

Friday, June 6, 1986

-A pair of Roy residents were issued warnings from Lewis County Sheriff's Office deputies after their "10-foot pram" they were in ended up sinking in rough waters at Riffe Lake and causing another boater to need a rescue, The Chronicle reported. "Undersheriff Randy Hamilton said a 10-foot pram became swamped in choppy water Thursday evening about seven miles east of Mossyrock Park. The pram carried two men, James Balamith, 34 and Gene R. Miller Jr., 38, both from Roy. Fortunately, Hamilton said, another boater, Charles Hale, 37, Roy, saw the pram swamp and went to rescue and put them ashore. Because Hale's own boat, occupied by Hale and his 2-year-old son, Daniel, was too small to take on two passengers, Hale left them on the shore and started for help. Before Hale reached Mossyrock Park, however, he ran out of gas, leaving his small boat dead in the water. Meanwhile, Hamilton said, a third boater found the Roy men and took them to Mossyrock Park. A little later, a fourth boater found Hale and his son and brought them to shore. The waters of Riffe Lake, Hamilton said, usually become choppy twice a day, in the morning and evening. The choppy water, however, can occur at any time. Small boats, especially flat-bottomed boats, he reminded, are particularly unstable in rough water."

-The Centralia College Board of Trustees were preparing to choose an interim college president out of four candidates who had applied, The Chronicle reported. "Three of the applicants - Henry Kirk and Leonard Grandy, both from colleges in Southern California, and Donald Schoening, from Wenatchee Valley College - were interviewed early last week. The fourth candidate is business instructor Gary Odegaard. His interview with the college trustees is scheduled for 4 p.m. today. The interim president will succeed Jerry Young, who is leaving Centralia College at the end of the month to become president of Chaffey College, a two-year college in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The job would be for one year, until a permanent president can be found ... Odegaard, a college faculty member since 1969 and former Democratic state senator, was the most recent applicant for the interim presidency, announcing his candidacy the day the other three were interviewed. Petitions supporting Odegaard's candidacy were circulating around the college last week and this week, and were presented to board members today, said a student coordinating the signature drive." Despite the petition and support from college students for Odegaard, the interim president job ultimately went to Kirk, according to the Friday, June 13, 1986, edition of The Chronicle.

-A three-bedroom home with a sunroom, a barn and a fenced pasture with fruit trees on six acres of land near the Scatter Creek wildlife area was listed for sale in The Chronicle's classifieds for $89,000. A three-bedroom home with appliances near Centralia College was listed for rent for $325 a month.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.