Hancock Timber Resource Group

IMG_2747
Originally uploaded by World Forest Institute

Fellows visited with HTRG to visit their Cathlamet properties. Click on Cristopher for more photos.

Belton Tree Farms

IMG_8333
Originally uploaded by World Forest Institute

Family forest owner Mr. John Belton, hosted Fellows for a tour of his 200 acres near Mt. Hood. The land has been in his family for over 100 years, when one of his relatives was a Portland doctor and patients occasionally paid for services with a variety of items, including land. John discussed his management philosophy and objectives with Fellows, which is quite different from other ownership groups that Fellows have visited. John focuses on niche markets for his products, which besides logs, include cherry bark for basket making, alder chips for smoking, and finished products such as picnic tables. Click on John and the salal for more photos.

Oregon SAF State Meeting

IMG_2671
Originally uploaded by World Forest Institute

Fellows participated in the Oregon SAF state meeting in Bend, Oregon. In addition to hearing speakers and networking, the state meeting included a field tour of east-side fire issues involving stewardship contracting, restoration, and a variety of treatments to reduce fire risk. Click on the photo of the Black Crater Fire map for more photos.

Cascade Timber Consulting

President Dave Furtwangler and Silviculture Director Bill Marshall toured the Fellows around Cascade Timber Consulting in Sweet Home, Oregon. The company manages 145,000 acres, 95% of them belonging to the Hill family trust. We spent the day learning about the company, which has about 40 employees, and their work managing forestlands. We were able to visit an active cable logging operation and meeting with the forester in charge of the timber sale. This was the first logging operation for most of the Fellows. Cris was amazed at the engineering efforts on steep slopes and decided that he never wants to be the choker setter. The company prides themselves on their ability to get a good dollar for their logs, by maximizing their sorts and logging in the wintertime when prices are at a premium (and they prepare for this by having an excellent rock road system and giving extra care to environmental concerns). The afternoon was spent seeing some of their research in their Douglas-fir seed orchard – the oldest in the PNW, started in 1961. We also were able to see some of their vegetation management plots that were set up in conjunction with OSU. The plots show varied treatments for competing vegetation in young plantations over 5 years – now I think that Ma finally understands why we use herbicides in establishing stands! Dave and Bill were gracious hosts, and were very knowledgeable and patient with all of our questions. They even brought out some great props – including Giusseppi the stuffed Mountain Beaver – to illustrate their points. Click on the photo for more pics.