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OWC Member Offers Log Splitter Tips

7/24/2019

 
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By Karen Karger

In 1992, while looking for a small acreage on which to live and raise a horse or two, Sandy and Lyal Purinton stumbled across 41 acres of severely over-cut forest with a run-down farm house. Reminding Sandy of her childhood home, the purchase of the property was inevitable. The first few years were spent reforesting the property and making the house livable. The farm has grown over the years and now encompasses 120 acres. With the help of their sons, Justin and Collin, the farm has been managed with a desire to create a sustainable forest that will provide wildlife habitat and a legacy for their grandchildren.

Lyal has belonged to OWC for over ten years and has always appreciated having access to consultants and other knowledgeable individuals who provide forest management skills to help new members. The OWC is now a distributor for practical forest tools from LogRite® and SuperSplitter® and offers a substantial discount for members.

Lyal runs a custom sawmill business and sells firewood through the OWC. "Now that the kids are grown, it's often a one-man operation," says Lyal, "so finding tools and equipment that can make the process more efficient is really important." For example, a log arch enables Lyal to haul larger logs- up to 4 feet in diameter- with a tractor. "With the log arch I can pick up the front end of a log and pull it straight through the woods. It takes less power, the log is more stable, and it doesn't drag the log through the dirt, which would dull my saw. When I have clean logs, I can cut all day- otherwise I have to sharpen every couple of hours." LogRite also has smaller arches that can be pulled by an ATV or by hand.

Lyal also uses a LogRite peavey and hookaroon to speed his operations. 'The peavey has a longer handle and is made of lighter but stronger aluminum so I can throw bigger logs around on the sawmill. Something about the angle on the hook makes it bite better than any other peavey I've used -just one whack and it's solid. With the hookaroon, I can reach out and grab a board on the sawmill and pull it toward me. I can pull rounds of firewood to the splitter, too. It saves me miles by not having to walk around my equipment all the time."

Lyal uses a gas-powered SuperSplit kinetic splitter to process logs for the firewood business and his family's personal use. "The SuperSplit works at least three to four times faster than a hydraulic splitter," remarks Lyal. "The wide work table holds the split wood and the pusher clears it into the bin, which means I don't have to manually pick it all up and move it. That saves me a lot of time." Lyal says the SuperSplit is remarkably frugal on gas, too. "I can split two and a half to three cords of wood on a tank full of gas," he adds, "and that's only three quarters of a gallon." An electric version of the SuperSplit is also available.

"I like that all of this equipment is made in the U.S., too," says Lyal in conclusion.
​
(Originally published in Forest Forum, newsletter of Washington Co. Small Woodlands Assoc.) 

Wide-Plank Hardwood Flooring from Zena

7/2/2019

 
PictureOregon White Oak wide rustic flooring by Zena Forest Products shows fewer seams.
Zena Forest Products is announcing the availability of a new engineered hardwood floor product that is sourced from our own Oregon forests, providing a beautiful, local alternative to imported hardwoods.
​

Zena Forest Products’ new, wide rustic engineered hardwood flooring offers Oregon builders, architects, designers and homeowners a new, locally-sourced option that is appropriate for installation over a wide range of applications including radiant heat and concrete. Zena’s locally grown and manufactured flooring is available in Oregon White Oak, Western Bigleaf Maple and Oregon Ash, and is designed to last for generations due to its high quality construction and thick hardwood wear layer.

Through rigorous research and development, Zena Forest Products’ new flooring design blends durable construction with local materials from ecologically sound sources and is aesthetically “show-stopping.” Both fashionable and functional, Zena’s engineered hardwood floors also provide a more sustainable flooring option because they use nearly three times less lumber than solid hardwood flooring, allowing Zena to stretch the precious resource of our local trees.

“Our model is unique,” said Ben Deumling, owner of Zena Forest Products. “We’re the only company in Oregon that has integrated all aspects of the timber process, using sustainable forest management and harvesting practices to create a beautiful, local, one-of-a-kind alternative to imported hardwoods for local building projects.”

Solid wood floors do not provide enough dimensional stability in wider planks to ensure the floor will stay tight over time. Too much seasonal movement can cause gaps in the seams, roughness and squeaky floors. One of the primary benefits of Zena’s site-finished, engineered flooring is the seams between the boards disappear, leaving a monolithic and mostly impermeable surface.

Zena’s engineered floors have a 3/16” hardwood wear layer that is laminated to an 11-layer plywood core on the back. The plywood provides the necessary stability in the floor, and the extra thick wear layer means the floor can still be sanded and finished just as many times as a traditional solid floor. In addition, the tongue and groove profile on the ends of the boards, also called an endmatch, gives the floor even more stability.

Availability
This locally-sourced, rustic wide-plank hardwood flooring is available directly through Zena Forest Products at 503-687-2626. Zena’s engineered flooring comes in 4.25, 5.25 and 6.25 inch widths, and lengths ranging from 12 inches to eight feet long.

Zena Forest: Sustaining a Productive Forest

6/6/2019

 
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Zena Forest Products is a family-owned business located in the Eola Hills of Oregon's Willamette Valley and is home to both the largest White Oak stand in Oregon and the largest contiguous block forest within the Willamette Valley. Home to threatened and endangered animal species, the 1,300-acre forest includes areas of endangered Oak Savannah and Oak Woodland ecosystems as well as headwaters of the Rickreall, Yamhill and Spring Valley watersheds. 

The Zena Forest, protected by a conservation easement that stipulates the forest will remain a working forest in perpetuity, has been managed by the Deumling family since 1987. No development is allowed. In addition, strict harvest levels, habitat preservation and enhancement are mandated by the easement, yet they have a successful hardwood flooring, lumber and millwork business. 

The Deumling family is leading their industry by example in the management and preservation of the forest's ecological and historical values. Zena is finding ways to make their valuable resources go further, sustain a living forest that will thrive now and into the future, and help other land owners learn how to keep their forests intact through sustainable management practices. Zena Forest Products exemplifies how value-based, rural entrepreneurship can fuel business growth while preserving the quality and character of the forest it depends on.
​

The Deumlings’ focus is on creating a robust and sustainable forest ecosystem supported by the craft production of local Oregon hardwood flooring, lumber and millwork. Zena produces both solid and engineered hardwood flooring in Oregon White Oak, Western Bigleaf Maple and Oregon Ash. The company also produces custom hardwood stair parts, heat registers, countertops, paneling, lumber and more. For a full list of products and more about Zena Forest Products, visit www.zenaforest.com or call 503-687-2626.

Firewood production diversifies forest income

4/15/2019

 
PictureEve Lonnquist with a pallet of bundled firewood
The following story was recently posted on the Northwest Natural Resource Group blog. For the full text of the blog including a story on tapping big leaf maple trees, click here.

Lynn Baker and her partner Eve Lonnquist are members of the Oregon Woodland Co-Op, a group of over 70 private family forestland owners in Oregon. They’ve been selling bundled firewood through the Co-op since 2012.

Lynn and Eve, along with Eve’s brothers, steward Cedar Row Farm—a 160-acre forest nestled in the Nehalem River foothills. The forest was purchased by Eve’s grandmother in 1919. Now, the family is returning their stretch of the Nehalem floodplain back to shade-providing conifers as part of a Natural Resources Conservation Service project.  

The firewood comes from Cedar Row Farm’s thinning projects and fallen trees from snow and wind storms. It’s turned into three types of firewood bundles: “Regular,” which is a mix of fir, alder, and hardwoods; “Kindling,” which is smaller pieces of cedar and fir; and “Premium,” which is a mix of hardwoods including oak, maple, and cherry.

Lynn handles all of the firewood orders. Right now, about 20 grocery and hardware stores are stocking their bundles. Their vendors include New Seasons, Green Zebra, Gaston Market, and some Ace Hardware stores. 8.5% of the wholesale price of the firewood goes to the co-op for management and marketing, and the rest is passed on to the farmer. The regular bundle retails for about $7.

“Our customers really like our firewood,” Lynn says. “If you look at our bundles next to other bundles, it’s really beautiful, high-quality product.” The quality of the wood isn’t the only attractant: the label on the bundle explains that Cedar Row Farm is certified through NNRG’s FSC© group certificate, which sets it apart from most firewood sold at grocery stores as being from a responsibly-managed forest. The label also includes the story of the farm, so buyers know exactly where the wood comes from, how it’s harvested, and who manages the forest.  

These humble chords of wood represent a win-win-win situation: wood buyers feel good about the responsibly sourced and hyper-local wood warming their homes and camp fires, Eve & Lynn take home around $7000 a year in profit, and their stewardship of the forest balances the multiple goals of recreation, income from timber harvest, and wildlife habitat in their forest. 
​

A full list of stores carrying Eve and Lynn’s firewood is available here. Eve & Lynn also sell chiminea firewood, available through Little Baja. Other products sold through Oregon Woodland Co-op include evergreen boughs, Canopy Essential Oils (created by another NNRG member, Jim Merzenich of Oak Basin Tree Farm, and Co-op members Neil Schroeder and Richard Hanschu at Oregon Forest Canopy) and Oregon Heartwood. 

Raincloud Tree Farm Hosts 2019 Annual Meeting

3/12/2019

 
​OWC Annual Meeting
Saturday, April 13, 2019
Rain Cloud Tree Farm
44848 SE Warriner Road, Corbett, OR
9:00 AM - 2:00 PM, potluck at noon 
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​The Stewart family will host the 2019 OWC Annual Meeting at their Raincloud Tree Farm south of Sandy, Oregon on Saturday, April 13. All OWC members and others interested in joining OWC are welcome to attend.
 
Program Highlights
  • Carbon Sequestration. What it means for small woodland owners
  • Truffle hunting demonstration
  • Agroforestry
  • SuperSplit and Logrite equipment demonstrations
  • Business meeting over lunch.
 
Raincloud Tree Farm
Raincloud tree farm has been in the Stewart family for over a century.  It was first homesteaded in 1889.  It has been managed by Jon Stewart since 1973 utilizing a series of three carefully developed management plans.  Over the past 63 years, the family has harvested over 2.6 million board feet from the 120 acre parcel. They currently have over 3.3 million board feet of timber growing on the tree farm.  It consists of a variety of species including Douglas fir, western red cedar, western hemlock, broadleaf maple and red alder that range from four to 104 years in age. 
 
Relatively level, the tree farm is located on the Aims plateau above the Bull Run Watershed.  It receives approximately 120 inches (or ten feet) of rainfall a year and is drained by two year round fish bearing streams.   There are two family homes and a small log cabin on the property.  They and the tree farm's timber stands are accessed by an all-weather road.  
 
Most importantly, Raincloud is the first small woodland property in the nation to be certified for carbon sequestration payments under California's new cap and trade legislation.  Its owners are currently developing a new management plan in cooperation with the Pinchot Institute and Ecotrust to integrate carbon storage into its long term management objectives.
 
Potluck Lunch
We will enjoy a potluck lunch at Noon. Please bring a generous side dish, salad or dessert to share. OWC will provide pulled pork sandwiches for the main course.
 
Directions
The property can be reached either via I-84 or Hwy. 26. The distance from Highway 26 in Sandy is approximately 7 miles. From the I-84 exit, it’s about 15 miles. For folks coming from Washington County or downtown Portland, the route via I-84 is faster. See the Google map link here https://goo.gl/maps/KfA4ETEFnM42
 
From I-84
Take Exit 18 Delta Park immediately after crossing the Sandy River
Turn S on Historic Columbia River Hwy.
Turn R on SE Hurlburt Rd
Turn R on SE Gordon Creek Rd. It becomes SE Bull Run Rd
Turn L on SE Warriner Rd
Look for the Tree Farm sign on right.
​Then continue a short way before turning left at the driveway immediately after the entrance to our tree farm. 
 
From Hwy 26
At the east end of Sandy, turn L on SE Ten Eyck Rd
Cross the Sandy River
Turn R at the fork with Marmot Rd
Turn L to continue on Ten Eyck Rd
Turn R on Bull Run Rd
Keep L at next fork to continue on Bull Run
Cross the Bull Run River
At T intersection, turn R on Bull Run Rd
Keep straight. It becomes SE Warriner Rd
Look for the Tree Farm sign on right
Then continue a short way before turning left at the driveway immediately after the entrance to our tree farm. 
 
We are hosting the event across the street on a neighbor’s property that has a barn and fields for parking. There will be folks directing arriving visitors.
 
Please join us for what promises to be a most interesting and informative meeting.

Harvesting Boughs for the Holidays

11/23/2018

 
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By Miles Merwin, Ridgeback Tree Farm

The winter holiday season is busy not only for those Co-op members working hard to meet the demand for bundled firewood, but also for those of us who sell evergreen boughs. During November and December, we harvest boughs from our own forests and sell them wholesale to florists in the northern Willamette Valley. Our customers in Portland and Salem use our boughs to create table decorations, centerpieces and special arrangements for holiday decorations.

Planning for the upcoming season starts in Sept. and Oct. as we gather orders, which are then divided among the Co-op members supplying boughs. This year we have seven Co-op families involved in our bough program, which began 10 years ago.

To insure that we supply our customers with fresh, high quality evergreens, OWC follows a detailed protocol for harvesting and packing. We currently supply eight different species of native Oregon conifers, including Noble fir, Western red cedar, and Ponderosa pine. We don’t harvest boughs more than a week ahead of delivery and keep them cool to maintain freshness. Our members bring all their boughs to our barn as a central collection point. Then we assemble the species that each customer has ordered, load it all in the trailer, and hit the road to deliver. This process is repeated every week during our short but intense bough sales season.

Through our sister company, Oregon Heartwood, we can also supply retail customers with fresh evergreen boughs for home decorations, wreath making, etc. We can ship boughs anywhere in the continental US. Learn more about retail bough sales.

Things That Can Go Wrong With Growing Trees

10/7/2018

 
By Marc Ahrendt

Amongst the many things that can go wrong with growing trees, I would like to take the opportunity to highlight two.

​The first photo above shows a dead Noble fir (NF) seedling alongside its replacement. I planted about 50 NF seedlings early in 2017 with the intent of having a small patch of Christmas Trees for family and friends in several years. They all seemed to take well to their new home. Hence, I assumed they would need no attention over the relatively hot summer. However, they all died before summer’s end. My neighbor’s feedback was, “why didn’t you water them?”. I never have watered my Douglas fir (DF) and western red cedar (WRC) seedlings over my first few rookie years as a small woodland owner. With a wealth of resources as a member of both WCSWA and OWC, and with immediate neighbors having decades of experience, I failed to use those resources by falling into a mental trap of thinking 3 years of seedling planting made me an expert. In early 2018 I replanted 50 NF again, but now with the expectation to likely need to water them every week or so though the summer. If they survive the summer, then I may mount mesh tubes around them to improve their chances against the deer and elk.

​The second photo is a 12 inch diameter DF that snapped in heavy winds 15 feet above the ground. I am really good with the chainsaw …but this time better recognized the benefit of asking a few people with much more experience felling trees than me. My neighbor’s feedback was, “don’t take the risk …it will come down at some point on its own”. Another’s feedback was, “easy, do X, Y, and Z”. As much as I want to do X, Y, and Z, I decided that since this snag will fall in an area rarely accessed, and recognizing that I have never felled such a tree, to just give it time to come down on its own.

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Noble fir seedling mortality
Picture
Doug fir snag

Sharing the Tree Farm with Nature's Creatures

8/14/2018

 
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By Marc Ahrendt

There are aspects that are understood by all within my family about our property. Some came to us early. For example, it takes a great deal of work to even just keep things maintained, let alone addressing any desired enhancements. Another would be the trade-offs between modern conveniences, like Internet access speeds, and the rural life, like the amazing quiet. Yet one aspect that took some time to fully understand/appreciate was that we do not live on our property alone.

We found bats living in the attic of our home, mice in all the outbuildings, elk amongst all the seedlings, back bear in trail camera photos, and coyotes breaking the evening silence. Early on we saw this as “man vs. nature”, but it has become “man with nature”. Wanting to be good stewards of the property has forced us to respect the overall health of the land …not just our future timber.

Instead of picking photos for this brief article from a good stash of trail camera photos, I simply walked out of the house and over to one of our older tree stands and quickly/easily took the above photos. Amazing to be able to so easily observe so much life in/on/above the ground.

Our compromise with nature so far has been to do what it takes to keep nature outside of our structures and from hampering our future timber from acquiring high market value, while letting them figure out the rest amongst the areas we do not disturb. One such area is along the creek the runs through our property, and another area is an old stand of trees from which we will never remove any wood. Another bonus for them is that we do not litter, burn, or use chemicals.

The family member that takes over our forest management plan in the future will hopefully continue or better implement a “man with nature” perspective.

Video Tells the Story of Cedar Row Farm

7/4/2018

 
PictureEve & Lynn bundling Co-op firewood.
Eve Lonnquist can often be found working in the woods, just like her grandmother, who bought Cedar Row Farm in 1919 for $2000 and planted its namesake row of cedars. Nestled in the Nehalem River foothills, the 160-acre forest is stewarded by Eve, her two brothers and her partner Lynn Baker.
 
The family enjoys taking care of the land and balances multiple goals, including recreation and income from timber harvest as well as providing wildlife habitat. They are FSC-certified through Northwest Natural Resource Group’s group certificate and are members of the Oregon Woodland Cooperative, selling bundled firewood to grocery stores around the Portland area.
 
Eve and Lynn have honed techniques to protect young seedlings from the voracious deer and elk that often rest in their pasture. They’ve become practiced in DIY seedling survival while returning their stretch of the Nehalem floodplain back to shade-providing conifers as part of a Natural Resources Conservation Service project.
 
Eve and her brothers thin young trees in their red alder stands to help the remaining trees have the space to grow and improve wood quality. “Because our grandparents were here and we are tied to the property, we have an inter-generational connection with the property that we want to maintain,” says Eve. “And we want to do right by the property.”
 
Last year, Cedar Row Farm was Columbia County's Tree Farm of the Year. This 4-minute video by the American Tree Farm System and U.S. Forest Service celebrates the forest’s history and management. To Eve, being a certified tree farm “means that I’m managing the property for the health of the property and for income.”
 
Originally appeared in Northwest Natural Resource Group Newsletter, June 8, 2018

Researching the Past to Plan for the Future

5/31/2018

 
Picture
By Marc Ahrendt

We recently completed our first forest management plan. Initially, our focus was just to get a better understanding of the trees. Getting assistance from a professional allowed us to time to also get a better understanding of other property aspects, and how those aspects relate to each other and the trees. I will highlight two of the “other property aspects” that we did not anticipate would get much attention in our plan.

The first was doing research on the dam pictured above. It was surprising to be able to download (from www.oregon.gov/owrd) the original permit application for the dam and associated water rights! The 1928 permit included the estimated construction costs ($1250), project timelines (built within 2 years and water use within 3 years), and some physical dimensions (diameter of outlet/supply pipe at 1.5 inches). Learning about the dam has led to learning/thinking about other water related aspects, like water quality and testing.

The second was identifying our primary objects for the property …why did we buy? We had to turn our feelings/dreams/ambitions into several sentences. One interesting component of that was setting property restrictions (no hunting, no littering, no burning, and no chemicals). The twist of thinking not just about what we wanted, but what we did not want, helped us greatly with our overall forest management plan.

​And yes, I spend much time pulling Scotch Broom and cutting back Himalayan blackberry …yet that makes me take a closer look at the ground (found old logging cables but no luck finding antler sheds).

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