From the Blog

Fire is as natural a part of Pacific Northwest forests as the rain and sun. ​And while the type and frequencies of wildfire differs east and west of the Cascades, landowners everywhere can prepare their homes and forests for wildfire if it arrives.

Tree by tree, Tierra Learning Center is coaxing 250 acres of dark dense woods into open forests with room for larger trees and resilience to wildfire. Tucked amid the picturesque hills of Sunitsch Canyon, just a few miles up the Chumstick Valley outside of Leavenworth, there is a collaborative community of artists, educators, learners, farmers, and […]

Imagine stepping into your forest at night and being utterly swarmed by flies, mosquitoes, beetles, and moths. Glad that’s not the case? Thank a bat. Bats flit through our Pacific Northwest forests every night, but it’s easy to forget they exist. After all, we almost never encounter them (except on October 31st, when they appear […]

As the climate changes, it isn’t enough to think about the species that make up the tree canopy. [Editor’s note: This post first appeared on *wink* April 1, 2019.] We must consider the understory as well — currently composed of a variety of species in western Washington, from devil’s club and skunk cabbage on the […]

These days, typical New Year resolutions include exercising more and making time to be outside with nature. It’s also common for forest owners to have a “been meaning to do” list for their land. Thus, forest owners are especially fortunate as they can accomplish three goals in one effort by getting out for a walk in their woods to spend time in nature and observe their forest. All the better that they can prioritize forest stewardship activities for the new year.

Conducting a timber and woody biomass inventory of a forest may sound complicated. But as a forest owner, it’s one of the first steps you’ll need to take before diving into the substantial decisions of how to steward your forest.

Even as the area of Forest Stewardship Council®-certified forestland in Washington and Oregon has grown, it hasn’t become any easier to find certified building materials in the Pacific Northwest. That difficulty was undermining one of certification’s main goals: to enable wood buyers to send a market signal to forest owners and foresters that says, “We […]

Each season presents the best time to conduct different stewardship activities. Timing your forest management for the ideal season will help you achieve success and avoid setbacks. This page provides tips to help you make the most of autumn out in your woods.

Many public agencies offer funding to help forest owners pay for stewardship activities and realize their woodland goals. Whether you envision a habitat-rich stand bursting with forage shrubs and large snags; a business plan for timber harvest on your land; or an aesthetic retreat replete with meandering trails, there’s funding available to help you get there.

Our dedicated, knowledgeable staff. If you own a small- to medium-sized forest and want to manage your land for more than just the almighty dollar, it helps to have someone in your corner with the wisdom and experience to help achieve your ecological, economic, aesthetic, and even spiritual goals for the forest. That’s the staff of […]

NNRG’s group certificate for forests meeting the Forest Stewardship Council® standards covers more than 190,000 acres in 86 different ownerships across Oregon and Washington. The forests certified by NNRG are depicted as dark blue circles in the map above. In addition, another 420,000 acres in the two states are certified under other auspices, including the South […]

Many forest owners want to reap a diverse harvest from their land: ecological, social, and financial benefits, all from the same forest. The question they ask: How to achieve these good intentions? Fostering a future grove of old-growth or restoring an oak woodland may mean thinning out extra trees through commercial harvest.  Creating a home for pileated […]