This year, we are giving thanks for the forests on which we depend and the stewards who nurture and protect them. Happy Thanksgiving!
From the Blog
Celebrating Success: Improving Skagit Forests for Fish
The iconic Skagit Watershed provides critical resources to the Pacific Northwest region, including timber, food, and fish. Northwest Natural Resource Group (NNRG), Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and our partners are proud to celebrate the completion of a three-year project working with Skagit forest owners to protect habitat for the five salmon species […]
Summer: Forestry through the Seasons
Summer is the perfect time for major forest management activities like thinning trees, controlling weeds, and maintaining roads. Performing these stewardship activities in the dry season when sap flow is low will reduce damage to residual trees while minimizing soil compaction and other effects on forest ecosystems. Steward your Forest Clear winter debris from roads and […]
Resources for Beginning Forest Landowners
In 2016 and 2017, we offered a program for new forest landowners in southwest Washington and northwest Oregon. We produced two handouts specifically for people who recently purchased forestland: Do-It-Yourself Ways to Steward a Healthy, Beautiful Forest – this guide focuses on simple things Northwest forest owners can do themselves to attract wildlife to the land, […]
Earth Day 2016
The theme for Earth Day 2016 is Trees for the Earth. Trees combat climate change, clean air, and provide critical resources to communities. There are so many ways to celebrate our home planet and the trees we all depend on! Join one of the fun, impactful volunteer opportunities below. Check out NNRG’s stewardship program with […]
Stewardship Assistance & Carbon Information for Family Forest Owners
The next application cutoff date is February 17, 2017 Northwest Natural Resource Group is collaborating with The Pinchot Institute for Conservation, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Ecotrust, and other partners on a USDA-funded project to unlock carbon markets for family forest owners. This program can provide landowners with an initial carbon assessment and a carbon inventory. The inventory measures how […]
By the Numbers: 2015 Accomplishments
2015 was a productive year! Northwest Certified Forestry members showed their dedication to stewarding Pacific Northwest forests with ecologically-minded practices that contribute to the regional economy. We are so inspired by the forest stewards in our community who worked to enhance habitat for threatened and endangered species, remove invasive species, plant native seedlings and shrubs, pursue […]
FSC Your Valentine’s Day
However you choose to spend February 14th The Forest Stewardship CouncilⓇ (FSCⓇ) certifies forests and forest products that meet stringent standards of environmental sustainability. What better way to celebrate your loved one than with these luxurious picks? [table id=3 /] Go on a date in an FSC certified forest: Turtleback Mountain | Orcas Island, WA Discovery Park | Seattle, […]
Winter: Forestry through the Seasons
Winter is a wonderful time to be out in your woods! Without leaves, you’ll have visibility to notice summer’s successes as well as potential issues for the coming dry season. By walking your woods and planning for spring, winter can be restorative and productive for you and your forest. Walk your Woods Straighten up tree […]
From stump to Stumptown
The farm-to-table movement resonates with citizens of the Pacific Northwest. We shop at local farmers markets, participate in CSAs, buy eggs from our neighbors who raise chickens. We care so much about where our food comes from – and its well-being – that the show Portlandia pokes fun at us Oregonians and Washingtonians wanting to “meet the […]
Member Spotlight: A few sheep and EQIP help steward the forest
By Christina Davis and NNRG Steve and Linnea Bensel of Nootka Rose Farm steward 32 acres of forest on Waldron Island in the San Juans. In recent years, they accessed cost-share funds through the Natural Resources Conservation Service to develop a forest management plan and do a pre-commercial thinning in their forest. They also channel the appetites of a few woolly ruminants to stymy […]
Funding Forest Stewardship – Enhance Forest Health
For the third installment in the Funding Your Forest series, we’re focusing on ways to improve the diversity and productivity of your forest. Stewarding a forest that is diverse in species, age and size classes, with appropriate stocking densities is beneficial to the entire ecosystem – supporting resilience to diseases and pests, and boosts overall productivity. So to speak – it diversifies your forest’s investment […]
Funding Fuel Reduction and Forest Health Projects
Depending on the state of your forest, fuel reduction and forest slash treatments may be ways you can improve your forest’s health and fire resilience. We’ve identified cost-share programs, funding, and other resources, as well as information on how to do-it-yourself. Forest slash treatment is becoming a necessity in many forests due to historic fire […]
Special Announcement: Funding Forest Stewardship – Make a Plan
NNRG is kicking off a series about cost-share programs and resources available to woodland owners in Oregon and Washington. Over the next six weeks we’ll be sharing information about resources to fund stewardship activities in your forest. We’re focusing on the topics you’ve told us are important to you: developing management plans, improving timber quality, […]
Sometimes a couch tells the story
Over the past year my father built a set of craftsman-style living room furniture for my family – a couch and two Morris chairs. This furniture is particularly significant as it was crafted from white oak that my father and I harvested from my family’s original woodlot in Minnesota many years ago. The logs […]
Partnership in the Skagit Watershed
The iconic Skagit Watershed is important to all of us for its production of timber, food, and fisheries. It is also significant in that it is the only river system in the Puget Sound region to support all five species of Pacific salmon. The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Northwest Natural Resource […]
GiveBIG – May 5
Are you a champion for forests? The Seattle Foundation’s GiveBIG is a one-day, online charitable giving event to inspire people to give generously to nonprofit organizations who make our region a stronger, more vibrant community for all. This year’s GiveBIG event is May 5, 2015. Northwest Natural Resource Group is excited to be a participant in […]
Time to start thinking about 2016 EQIP projects
The Washington State cutoff for 2016 EQIP funding is Friday, July 17, 2015 (Edit: The 2016 EQIP deadline has been extended to October 16, 2015 in WA. The Oregon 2016 EQIP deadline is January 15, 2016.) The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is a technical and financial assistance program managed by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. EQIP […]
Spring time in the San Juans
NNRG returned to the San Juans this spring, this time assisting Camp Orkila prepare for pre-commercial thinning as well as develop a forest management plan for Satellite Island. Kirk Hanson, Director of Forestry, spent the better part of a day on Satellite Island, a 116-acre remote camping island owned by the YMCA that is nestled along […]
Harvest Underway at Roslyn Urban Forest
This month, Northwest Natural Resource Group started the restoration harvest on the City of Roslyn’s Urban Forest. Roslyn’s forest has not been managed for decades and is extremely overtstocked for its age – mostly with Douglas fir that has grown in among the Ponderosa pine in the absence of naturally occurring forest fires. NNRG is […]