Fire Lookout Viewsheds in the Malheur National Forest

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Fire lookout towers are early 20th century structures built by the U.S. Forest Service for the purpose of early wildfire detection. As the Forest Service moves away from staffing fire lookout towers, some call for the decommissioning and tearing down these structures, including within the Malheur National Forest. However, these historic towers still serve a purpose. Viewshed analysis demonstrates that the combined viewshed of several lookout towers covers more than what a single person alone can see. Therefore, lookouts are an invaluable resource as wildfire danger increases throughout eastern Oregon. Although fire lookout towers are historic structures, they continue to serve a crucial role in early fire detection within the Malheur and thus should be protected and maintained.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39836.0