Josephine County…also known as the land of a Thousand Valleys. A quick trip to any nearby mountain reveals just how accurate this is with one view of the watershed; each rural valley and bottomland home to a past when pioneers flowed into the Oregon territory with anticipation of all it had to offer. An area rich in history, it is dotted with ghostly reminders of a colorful past filled with violent struggle, gold mining, world re-known timber and building of the famous river bottom farms along the Applegate, Illinois and Rogue Rivers. Local historic family names are not forgotten, memorialized in small ways from road names to the soil types found in the Josephine County Soil Survey.
Today the area enjoys the bounty of its past – now well known for recreation and thoughtful use of its natural resources. Though many well tended woodlots and productive farms are visible and land at a premium, the area suffers from challenges in current timber and agricultural markets and loss of land to development. Areawide goals have been established to protect the area’s natural resources from environmental concerns like catastrophic wildfire and non-point source pollution, the main concerns that come with new pioneers seeking home, solace or adventure in the Rogue Valley. |
