Category: News

Two Oregon family forest owners know the secrets of Pacific Northwest truffles better than most; Marilyn Richen and Tammy Jackson truffle at their family woodlands—450 acres of woodlands in Columbia County—together with their dogs Blue and Gucci.

In Pacific Northwest forests, dead wood works wonders for wildlife. But when there isn’t enough naturally occurring dead wood around, you might need to do some woodworking yourself. Wood duck carefully inspecting a nesting box. Photo by Mark Biser. Snags—standing dead or dying trees—are important forest structures for cavity-dependent birds and small mammals, food sources for woodpeckers and other foragers, and slowly release nutrients into the ecosystem with the help of decomposers. But second and third-growth forests often lack sufficient snags because they were removed during previous intensive forest management, or the few remaining are in advanced stages of decay.

This January NNRG was lucky enough to add Marcia Rosenquist to its forestry team. Marcia works with forest landowners to create ecological forest management plans based on their goals and objectives. She’s improving the health and resilience of Pacific Northwest forest land one small parcel at a time!

With the turning of the seasons Northwest Natural Resource Group welcomes crunching leaves underfoot, bounties of forest fungi—and two new staff members!

Young-stand thinning (aka pre-commercial thinning or PCT) is a silvicultural practice that entails removing the individual trees that are declining in a forest―often they are smaller and have less robust crowns―and are less than 20 years old.

The Skokomish Indian Tribe has earned Forest Stewardship Council® certification for its 2,100-acre forest at the south end of Hood Canal, making it the first tribe in Washington state to gain that endorsement.The Skokomish Tribe join three other Indian tribes in the United States in maintaining FSC® certification: the Coquille Tribe in Oregon, the Hoopa Valley Tribal Council in California, and the Menominee in Wisconsin.

Snags, large down logs, and big decadent trees provide food and shelter to more than 40 percent of wildlife species in Pacific Northwest forests. They are important structures for cavity-dependent birds and small mammals, food sources for woodpeckers and other foragers, and  slowly release nutrients into the ecosystem with the help of decomposer critters. 

2018 was a productive year for NNRG and the forests our members steward! We are so inspired by the landowners and managers in our community who worked to enhance habitat for threatened and endangered species, removed invasive species, planted a diverse array of native seedlings and shrubs, and pursued new markets for local wood products. These are highlights from 2018.

This month, NNRG wrapped up a project to help landowners in the San Juans improve forest health, reduce wildfire risk, and use the slash and woody biomass byproducts in creative and beneficial ways.

Across Oregon and Washington, more than 600,000 acres of forestland are certified as “well managed” by the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®). And yet, much of the wood harvested from these forests doesn’t make it to the consumer with its certification intact. In many cases, these logs are sold into the generic wood market and don’t receive any special recognition when turned into lumber, plywood, or furniture. For NNRG, with our 190,000-acre group certificate that now covers a larger area than any other in the Pacific Northwest, that is a grave disappointment, and it affects about 90 percent

Three years, five targets, and seventeen measures of success: we invite you to read our Strategic Plan for 2018-2020, released this spring.

2017 was a productive year for NNRG and the forests our members steward! We are so inspired by the landowners and managers in our community who worked to enhance habitat for threatened and endangered species, removed invasive species, planted a diverse array of native seedlings and shrubs, and pursued new markets for local wood products. Many thanks to this dedicated community of ecologically-minded forest owners, land managers and NNRG’s partners who steward biodiverse forests and contribute to the regional economy. Here are some highlights of our year: Accomplishments Hosted 5 workshops on ecologically-based forest management, fuels reduction, biochar creation, and

Eugene Weekly published a wonderful piece celebrating the values behind responsibly sourced timber. Two of our pioneering  members are featured in the story. Both Hyla Woods and Zena Forest are Forest Stewardship Council-certified woodlands that employ diverse silvicultural practices that balance forest health and wildlife habitat with sustainable timber production. Learn more about their stewardship and buy beautiful wood to support ecological forestry!

NNRG is excited to announce Seth Zuckerman as our new Executive Director! Seth brings expertise in sustainable forestry, watershed restoration, salmon runs, and climate change to NNRG’s helm. Seth comes to us from Climate Solutions, where he wrote the weekly column ClimateCast and researched biofuels, among other topics. Before that, he directed a program partnering with private landowners in California’s Mattole watershed to restore riparian ecosystems, reduce fire hazards, control invasive species, and harvest timber. He has decades of experience as an environmental journalist and has a Masters in Energy and Resources from UC Berkeley. We wanted to get to