HISTORY COLUMN: Keeping Oregon Green
By Darrell Jabin
Do you remember those paper “Keep Oregon Green” placemats at restaurants? People could learn an abundance of facts and enjoy illustrations of people and places. The placemats could be found at restaurants throughout the state in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
The Keep Oregon Green program began as a permanent campaign with a kick-off dinner and organizational meeting at the Portland Hotel on April 28, 1941. Several hundred public officials, civic leaders and timber industry representatives attended the event. A 65 person general committee and an eight person executive committee were appointed to discuss making an effective program to reduce the number of forest fires caused by people.
The program started by encouraging membership and voluntary contributions, expanded to include a fire prevention program for youth called the Oregon Green Guard and added the creative illustrations of Hugh Hayes in 1946. In 2021 the program celebrated their 80th anniversary and recognition as the oldest and fully active Keep Green program in the country.
This column isn’t about the Keep Oregon Green program, it’s about the person who caused you to remember those placemats – Oregon Forestry Department illustrator Hugh John Hayes, Jr. Hayes was born in Wallowa, Oregon in 1914. He graduated from Wallowa High School and then served in the Civilian Conservation Corps. The Civilian Conservation Corps was a program started by President Franklin Roosevelt during the depression. It employed young men in projects benefiting conservation efforts and the development of natural resources. Hayes worked on projects in eastern Oregon and Multnomah Falls and provided mapping, design and illustrations for bridges and facilities.
Hayes was hired as a draftsman in Salem with the Oregon State Forestry Department before leaving to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II. He earned the rank of Master Sergeant in the 340th Engineer Regiment. He served 16 months in Alaska and the Yukon Territory and helped build a segment of the Alaska Military Highway. He drew maps, surveys, and structure plans. Then he served 21 months in the South Pacific where he drew maps and designed bridges.
He returned to the Oregon State Forestry Department in 1945 and continued with the same department until retiring in 1976. Throughout his career he drew architectural plans, field guides, maps, posters, illustrations, and cartoons. This included creating plans for guard stations and bridges and illustrating a book called Trees to know in Oregon that was produced as a cooperative effort with the Federal Cooperative Extension Service of Oregon State College (now Oregon State University).
Of course, there was Hayes efforts on behalf of the Keep Oregon Green program. There were 7 million Keep Oregon Green paper place mats printed and distributed throughout our state. The place mats included fun facts like Hells Canyon in northeastern Oregon being the deepest canyon on this continent and that one fifth of lumber produced in U.S. came from Oregon at that time. It gave people a chance to learn about our state while making them aware of the need to prevent forest fires.
Hayes also drew thousands of posters and contributed cartoons to the Oregon State Forestry Departments monthly publication, The Forest Log. He created original characters like Rusty Scrapiron, a ranger and fire warden and Sheriff Rimfire to tell the story.
People can still see the artwork of Hugh Hayes at the Forest History Center at 2600 State St. in Salem. The center is dedicated to preserving the history of forestry and related activities and uses Hayes art work to educate and entertain visitors.
