By Amy Grotta, OSU Forestry & Natural Resources Extension – Columbia, Washington & Yamhill Counties
Lately on this blog we’ve been discussing ways to grow a diverse forest. Many small woodland owners are interested in maintaining diversity on their land, yet strive to do it in a way that also brings in income from timber or other means. For these reasons, I was intrigued by the work of Julian Geisel, who recently wrapped up his master’s degree in the College of Forestry at OSU. His research topic, “Management Strategies for Small, Income Generating and Structurally Diverse Forests” is particularly relevant to small woodland owners. Julian’s research focused on private woodlands in western Oregon, representative of the vast majority of the owners that we work with in Extension. I interviewed Julian about his work. Continue reading →
By Amy Grotta and Brad Withrow-Robinson, OSU Forestry & Natural Resources Extension
Through a creative and carefully planned harvest, this mature forest has undergone a structural diversity makeover.
Continuing our series, we’ll now look at steps that woodland owners can take to enhance structural diversity in their forests. Recall that “structural diversity” refers to the amount of three-dimensional variation in the forest. In other words, a structurally diverse forest has trees of different sizes arranged in uneven patterns across the site.
Why do we care about structural diversity? Structural diversity is important to creating an “older” or “natural” forest look that many people want on their property.
Structural diversity is also a very important part of wildlife habitat. Continue reading →
By Amy Grotta and Brad Withrow-Robinson, OSU Forestry & Natural Resources Extension
Our previous installment of this series introduced the key elements of forest diversity. Species diversity (a.k.a. compositional or biological diversity) is one of those elements. So how do you achieve it, especially if what you are starting out with is a plantation forest with only a few species? The transition to an older forest with many plant species will not happen quickly. However, at every stage in a forest’s life cycle, there are opportunities and choices one can make to move the needle to a more species-rich forest.
The rest of this article and the accompanying infographic takes us through these choices, stage by stage. Continue reading →
Brad Withrow-Robinson and Amy Grotta, OSU Forestry & Natural Resources Extension.
Many landowners are interested in growing a diverse forest as discussed in the previous post. Their reasons may include having an attractive woodland retreat, providing habitat for wildlife or having a more resilient forest. Whatever the reason, knowing what different parts of forest diversity look like is a key step towards getting it.
There are several key parts to diversity: those things that grow and live in a forest, how those things are arranged and when those things happen. Each is shaped or influenced by the physical environment (like soils or elevation) and natural processes (like competition, storms or fire). Many kinds of diversity can also be enriched by us.
Brad Withrow-Robinson and Amy Grotta, OSU Forestry & Natural Resources Extension.
We often hear from landowners that that they want a diverse, natural-looking forest. Their reasons vary. Some folks are aware of the many ecological benefits that diversity brings to a woodland property, while others may have been inspired by the beauty of an old growth forest.
Old growth forest at HJ Andrews Experimental Forest, Blue River OR
Of course, it takes centuries for an old growth forest to develop and many of our readers have young stands planted within the last decade or two that may look more like this:
Young D-fir plantation in foothills of the Coast Range
So how do you move from one situation to another?
Happily, a landowner has many ways to influence and encourage diversity in their woodlands. Even if you have just bought some recently cut-over land, it does not have to remain a simple timber plantation if you do not want it to be. You can grow a diverse forest. And it can be done within decades rather than centuries. No, it will not be old growth, but it may help reach many of the diversity-related objectives landowners commonly mention, including an attractive forest setting, better habitat for a variety of animals and a resilient forest.
A network of paths leads from any starting point in a woodland’s development. Each crossing is an event or decision that leads in a different direction and towards a different woodland condition.
In this series, we will be exploring the pathways to a diverse forest in western Oregon. These ideas also apply to an oak woodland, a riparian forest as well as an upland conifer-dominated forest. In our next post we look at what makes a forest diverse and why it matters. In later posts we will consider turns you can take throughout the life of the forest to restore, enhance and maintain woodland diversity to match your particular objectives.
Another view of pathways, incorporating competitive zones leading to certain outcomes.
Jen Gorski, OSU Forestry and Natural Resources Extension, Clackamas County
Oregon forest landowners and Christmas tree growers are having difficulty locating seedlings to buy.
In response, the Oregon Department of Forestry, OSU Extension and other partners are working hard to identify and solve the problems limiting the supply. It’s not an easy fix; many pieces account for the problems and the solutions.
OSU Clackamas County Extension hosted a meeting in January to discuss the seedling supply. Landowners revealed that certain species or stock types are not always available within a year of planting. This presents some uncertain choices and potential compromise. One year plugs may be available in lieu of 1-1 transplants (2 year old seedlings). The 1-1 transplants have a fibrous root system and a track record of success in challenging conditions. However, future survival of one year plugs is uncertain. Continue reading →
Brad Withrow-Robinson, Forestry & Natural Resources Extension Agent, Benton, Linn and Polk Counties.
Many landowners depend on professional operators to help get things done on their property. This includes weed control. Finding the right person for the job is important. The process starts with knowing what you are looking for.
Good weed control is a boon to seedling survival
Like most forestry management practices, weed control is actually a mix of different activities. Depending on what you know and can do yourself, hiring a chemical applicator means you are actually looking to hire a mix of knowledge and skill, equipment and labor.
It is important to get this right. Otherwise you may waste money or injure your trees. Worse still, it could mean causing damage to the environment or a neighbors’ crops, either of which would create a liability issue for you.
So how do you go about selecting the right chemical applicator for you? In conversations with some forestry professionals and landowners recently, it all boiled down to communicating about needs and expectations. Here are some key questions and things to discuss before hiring a chemical applicator to work on your property.
Brad Withrow-Robinson, Forestry & Natural Resources Extension Agent, Benton, Linn and Polk Counties.
I was given Norwegian Wood this summer. No, not the Beatles’ famous 1965 single about a John Lennon romance. The gift is a book about the Scandinavian romance with firewood. Its full title is “Norwegian Wood: chopping, stacking and drying wood the Scandinavian way” (by Lars Mytting). I loved it. I would probably hesitate to admit that to most people, but Tree Topics and Compass readers are not most people. You are wood people and will understand.
Norwegian Wood is an embrace of all things firewood. It delves into the historic Scandinavian reliance on wood to heat hearth and home when having enough wood on hand (at far northern latitudes) was a matter of life and death. That dependence seems to still shape the collective Scandinavian psyche. People there respect wood.
Brad Withrow-Robinson, OSU Forestry & Natural Resources Extension
Our final days of the tour included meetings with the local landowners’ cooperative in Telemark County and visits to two specialty sawmills.
The Tinnoset sawmill specializes in shaping large logs for traditional style log homes. Most are sold to builders, but they do some custom building on site too.
Nearly completed home on site.Harald explaining the building process.
Getting a closer look at construction details.
The Svenneby family sawmill has been working with leading architects and looking for less traditional uses of wood, including many exotic (USA) species. We lucked into a presentation by nationally acclaimed architect Einar Jarmund who talked about the expanding role and popularity of wood in both commercial and residential buildings in Norway and showed a number of projects done by his firm ( http://www.jva.no/ ) using materials developed and delivered by the Svenneby mill.
Turid Svenneby discusses weathering of oiled oak siding with tour member Claude Rowley.The Svenneby mill and farm is yet another example of a multi generation, multi-enterprise business. Next to Kirk (ID) are Thorvald, Turid and Ole Svenneby.
We could not help but noticing how common and prominently wood was being used in Norway, and particularly as architectural and visual elements around Oslo. Why does wood seem less used, less celebrated here?
A building on the Oslo waterfront area sided with wood prepared by the Svenneby mill.Another, renovated building on the waterfront.
Large wood laminated structural elements visible in the airport.
Smaller wood furnishing and finish elements abound in the airport
Brad Withrow-Robinson. OSU Forestry & Natural Resources agent, Benton, Linn and Polk Counties.
In the fjord regions of Norway, both forestry and farming are limited to the area between the rock and the water. The bottom of the valley is farmed, and the narrow toes of the valley walls are forested. Many communities were not connected by roads until the 1920s. It is beautiful country, but it strikes me as a beautiful place to starve. It is not hard to see why so many people left for America in the late 19th Century. Those who stayed looked for alternative sources of income to supplement farm incomes/earnings.
Looking up valley and seeing patches of spruce and pine on lower slopes of valley wall.
Local County Forester Rune K. discussing management of Spruce in the Valley.
