Ronald D. Douglas, Edward C. (Ted) Gardner, and Bruce A. Jenkins died tragically August 28, 1981, in the crash of a light plane shortly after takeoff from the Seiad Valley Airport in the Klamath National Forest. They had just completed an archaeological and historical survey of an area along Grider Creek in the Klamath wilderness area prior to a planned timber sale and were returning to their homes in southern California when the accident occurred.