View our full schedule on the 2025 OSWA Convention Page

Lodging

A variety of hotel, guest house, and campground options are available in the corvallis area.

Tour # 4

Crestmont Farm: Ecologically Enhanced PCT (Pre-Commercial Thinning)
Thursday, June 19 • 1 PM - 4:30 PM

Meet at Philomath Scout Lodge.
Carpool for tours. Short walks. Dress for the weather.

Travel to the award-winning Crestmont Farm property with owner Ed Easterling and his team for this special tour. Traditional Pre-Commercial Thinning (PCT) operations leave stands with dense slash, limited wildlife habitat, elevated fire risk, and challenging firefighting conditions. Crestmont’s creative Plantation Transformation Strategy (PTS) addresses those issues and more. This tour contrasts PCT and PTS with hands-on demonstrations of cost-effective practices to deliver highly valued ecological, fire-resilient, and aesthetic results, proven with adapted variations over hundreds of acres.

https://www.crestmontfarm.com/

Tour # 6

Oregon State University Research Forest Hiking Tour
Thursday, June 19 • 1 PM - 4:30 PM

Meet at Philomath Scout Lodge.
Carpool for tours. Forest Trails. 2 miles. Dress for the weather.

Join Dr. Mark Swanson, OSU’s Starker Chair of Family Forestry for an insider’s guide to field research conducted at the world-famous McDonald and Dunn Forests and the Peavy Arboretum…

https://extension.oregonstate.edu/people/mark-swanson

https://cf.forestry.oregonstate.edu/our-forests/mcdonald-and-dunn-forests

Tour # 3

Starker Forests: Successful Reforestation
Thursday, June 19 • 1 – 4:30 PM

Meet at Philomath Scout Lodge.
Carpool for tours. Short walks. Dress for the weather.

Travel to the nearby Starker Forests properties with the company’s professional foresters to see recent plantings, site preparation, learn about tree selection and proper tree planting techniques, protecting trees, conducting inventories, and complying with Oregon’s reforestation rules.

https://starkerforests.com/

Tour # 5

Foraging Your Woodlands Walk
Thursday, June 19 • 1 PM - 4:30 PM

Meet at Philomath Scout Lodge.
Carpool for tours. Short walks. Dress for the weather.

Explore the Oregon State University Peavy Arboretum with local Extension Forester Lorelle Sherman. Summer is a season of abundance in our Oregon woodlands. From wild herbs and salad greens to berries and shoots and edible blossoms, this is an amazing time to learn about the diversity of wild foods around us. This hands-on workshop is designed for those who love exploring nature but are new to foraging. We will cover the core aspects of plant identification, ethical harvesting practices, and how to safely prepare your wild harvest. 

https://extension.oregonstate.edu/people/lorelle-sherman

https://cf.forestry.oregonstate.edu/our-forests/arboretum-facilities

Tour # 2

Wren Hill Lumber Company & Patrick Lumber Manufacturing Mill Tours
Thursday, June 19 • 7:30 AM – Noon.

This tour can be paired with Thursday afternoon tours.
Carpool from Philomath Scout Lodge. Wear closed-toed shoes or work boots.

The Patrick Lumber Manufacturing facility is a local resaw operation specializing in Oregon hardwoods and making a wide array of products for many different industries. Patrick Lumber is expanding into new markets and adding a new sawmill to their operation. Wren Hill Lumber Company opened in 2023 and is a fairly new arrival in the sawmill industry. They are installing a larger system to handle logs up to 31” diameter. They buy many conifer species.

https://www.patlbr.com/

https://www.wrenhilllumber.com

Tour # 1

Lamers Forests: Discover Coast Redwoods
Wednesday, June 18 • 2-5 PM

Note Wednesday date. Meet at Lamers Forests near Monmouth. Short walks, dress for the weather.

For 44 years, Lamers Forests have experimented with planting numerous tree species. Their Coast Redwood experiments go back 37 years, and the plantings were so successful they are now planting only Coast Redwood. Lamers Forests now has more than 20,000 Coast Redwoods planted on their property. You will see Coast Redwood planted on varying sites from near swamp to dry upland sites from 200’-600.” You will also see their extensive road network, thinned stands of Douglas fir, several ponds they built, and much more.

Columbia County Chapter Board Meeting

June 10, 2025

7:00pm

Fern Hill Grange, Fern Hill Rd, Rainier OR

Neighbor to Neighbor Tour

Visit the Stimson sawmill and the Matteson Demonstration Forest

Yamhill County Small Woodlands Association Annual Meeting

Elections, Member Meeting, Optional $20 meal

Speaker TBD

Join the Benton Small Woodlands Association members at an informal gathering at Greg and Marilyn Palmer's tree farm near Monroe.

We will meet at 6 pm on Thursday, May 22.

The 34-acre property has diverse forestry features, including:

•    3 acres of meadow and 1/4 acre of vineyard

•    23 acres of older, naturally seeded forest. Part of this area was logged in 2022. The larger trees (24" DBH) were removed. The remaining forest contains multiple species.  Clusters of oak trees have been preserved.

•    8 acres of young stand (15 to 30 yr) that was formerly Christmas trees. This is being thinned annually for firewood.

•    A small clear cut of 2 acres that has been replanted

•    Electrical power sources other than conventional grid

•    A very welcoming pond

Our special guest will be Brentley Hartman, who is a Community Wildfire Forester for ODF. He will share advice about home hardening, water for fire control, evacuation routes, and other considerations for those living in forested rural areas.

We will be walking will be across a meadow with hidden ruts and logging trails, with approximately 200 feet change in elevation.

Address:  23981 Hawley Creek Road, Monroe

Date and time:  Thursday, May 22, 6 p.m.

 Carpooling is encouraged - bring a friend!  If you have questions, call Sarah at 541-231-7829 or send to sedwardsson@sbcglobal.net

See the conifer removal and oak restoration project in action at the Lookingglass property of

Steve Denney, former director of the Umpqua Oak Partnership.

MEET AND PARK AT THE LOOKINGGLASS FIRE DEPARTMENT, 7173 LOOKINGGLASS RD.

We have arranged A VAN SHUTTLE to TRANSPORT attendees to the interior of Steve's project area.

Shuttle stops at 1:00 SHARP!

Questions? or to Register by Monday May 12 douglaschapteroswa@gmail.com

541-459-1402

https://oswa.org/douglas

Enhancing pollinator habitat on your forest property

Saturday May 10, 2025. 10 am-2pm. South Slough Estuarine Research Reserve. 61907 Seven Devils Rd. Charleston, OR 97420. $10 per person or $15 for two.

Learn how your forest property can contribute to pollinator habitat. We will discuss approaches you can use to enhance pollinator forage and nesting habitat features. We will take a short walk and view a forest pollinator enhancement project and discuss the habitat characteristics pollinators need to thrive. Register here: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/coos/events/enhancing-pollinator-habitat-your-forest-property

Norma

Norma Kline (She/Her)

Forestry & Natural Resources Extension Agent

Serving Coos & Curry Counties

Oregon State University

Hopkins Demonstration Forest, 16750 S Brockway Road, Oregon City
$5 per forest/farm (2 people maximum)

Join Oregon State University Extension Service and the Hopkins Demonstration Forest for an introductory workshop covering the basics of producing shiitake mushrooms on logs, either as an enterprise to add to your farm's crop lineup, or as a small side business. The workshop will have a hands-on and interactive component: Each registered forest/farm will get to inoculate a log during the workshop to take home.