Projects: Family Forests

Artis Schroeder at the family's Logsden tract

When John Berry bought his 250-acre Franklin Butte Tract near Scio in 1969, it was a cutover tangle of logging slash and blackberries. He set to growing a new forest, employing the ready advice of a forester friend, rolling up his sleeves, and even coercing his teenage children to help plant trees in the cold January rain (ski-lift tickets helped sweeten the deal). Since 1987 we have helped John to create his family legacy by thinning plantations and the once “unmerchantable” trees left by the early loggers. With a new stewardship plan we’ll help John involve his grandchildren in this family treasure.

The Tilbury Ranch in Oakland has been in the same family for more than 125 years. While cattle once were the homestead mainstay, mixed conifer and oak forests now cover more than half of the 1,700-acre tract. An annual program of thinning and small patch cuts rotates across the property, returning to each area every 10 years for a permanently sustainable harvest. We have supervised harvests here for 25 years, during which time forested acreage, timber volume, and forest diversity have all increased. We are helping the family plan a conservation easement to continue this stewardship ethic.

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