Historical Timeline
1900’s
1904
Nelson P. Wheeler and James P. Soper form the Soper-Wheeler Co. and purchase 14,000 acres of forested land on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada between the Yuba and Feather Rivers.
1910’s
1920’s
1930’s
1940’s
1942
The Soper-Wheeler Co. signs a contract with the Sacramento Box and Lumber Company (Sac Box). The contract called for the construction of a modern sawmill at Woodleaf, California that would process all of Soper-Wheeler’s timber. Eventually, it was assumed, that the logged off Soper-Wheeler lands would be exchanged to the Forest Service for further Sac Box cutting rights on the National Forest.
1943
James P. Soper Jr. authorizes Reginald R. Chaffee, managing director of the Soper-Wheeler Co., to proceed with the building and equipping of a company office in Strawberry Valley.
1944
William H. ‘Bill’ Holmes, a 1944 Yale graduate with a degree in Forest Management, is hired by the Soper-Wheeler Company. Working closely with Mr. James P. Soper Jr., the President of the Company, Holmes begins to develop a long-term plan to manage the private timberlands of the Soper-Wheeler Company on a permanently producing basis.
1950’s
1952
The Soper-Wheeler Co. purchases a custom-made portable sawmill from the Calvert Machine Service Co. of Oregon. The goal of “Operation Salvage” is to harvest and make use of marginal, but marketable, timber that otherwise would create a fire hazard or be left behind in the forest to rot.
1958
Soper-Wheeler Co. joins forces with the United States Forest Service to develop a 2,000-acre Experimental Forest in Challenge, California. Their goals include conducting research on tree growth and diseases, as well as developing a managerial program to support timber cutting on a sustained yield basis.
1960’s
1965
Soper-Wheeler’s contract with the Sacramento Box and Lumber Company, which was transferred to the Woodleaf Timber Company, and eventually to Georgia-Pacific finally ends. Soper-Wheeler is now free to determine its own destiny.
1970’s
1978
Soper-Wheeler plants over 300,000 trees – its largest planting to date. Soper-Wheeler Co. at this time owns about 60,000 acres of forestlands holding approximately 700 million bf of uncut timber with an annual growth rate of 24 million bf.
1980’s
1986
Strong winter storms drop over 35’ of rain in Strawberry Valley washing out roads and culverts. A levee on the Feather River fails forcing the evacuation of 24,000 people from Marysville.
1990’s
1999
Devil’s Gap fire burns over 1,600 acres of federal land and threatens Soper-Wheeler forests. Only a small area of Soper-Wheeler property is damaged.
