Tag: sustainable forest

Spring: Forestry through the Seasons

It’s nearly officially spring, so get ready to greet the return of the growing season! 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 stewarding your forest in spring. As a reminder, bird nesting season begins around March 15th, so try to avoid any major timber management until chicks have left their nests around mid- to late-June. By spring, the window for planting is closing: make sure you get your tree seedlings

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Helping Your Forest Through Dry Times

The drier and hotter years ahead don’t have to spell trouble for the forests you steward. From recognizing and responding to drought stress in trees to planting tree species from other regions, there are steps you can take to mitigate the impacts of climate change in your forest.

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By the Numbers: 2016 Accomplishments

2016 was an incredible year for Northwest Certified Forestry members and the forests they steward. Because of the dedicated community of ecologically-minded woodland owners, Pacific Northwest forests are healthier, more resilient homes for wildlife and people alike. Here are some highlights of our year: Accomplishments: We hosted 11 workshops on ecologically-based forest management, precision tree-felling, forest monitoring, and programs for natural resource professionals and engaged 267 participants. We conducted more than 92 site visits to forest landowners – including NCF members and beginning woodland owners. We completed 6 ecologically-based thinning projects across 65 acres We oversaw 4 forest restoration projects involving inter-planting, pre-commercial

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Protecting Forests and Clean Drinking Water along Lake St. Clair

People need forests. They make our oxygen, clean our water, limit flooding, and absorb carbon. They evoke mental well-being and are part of our cultural identities. Protecting the ecosystem services that forests and other invaluable biotic communities provide is integral to our future. Often, we can take for granted the significance of what forested ecosystems contribute to our region. Enter this under recognized niche, are the scientists and economists who are translating the functions of ecosystems into a more comprehensible currency. A 2009 study by Earth Economics found that every year, the Nisqually Watershed provides between $288 million and $4.2

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Member Spotlight: Shiitake Mushroom Logs

In our Member Spotlight series, we highlight Northwest Certified Forestry (NCF) members who have used forest products for unique and entrepreneurial purposes on their land and within their communities. Often these projects help members earn supplemental income. For the second installment in the series, we introduce you to Gopher Valley Botanicals, a Forest Stewardship Council® certified member of our group certificate, who has sourced non-timber forest products from her woods to local markets. Gopher Valley Botanicals   Located amid the rolling foothills of Yamhill County in the western Willamette Valley, Gopher Valley Botanicals (GVB) stewards a 20-acre forest comprised of Douglas-fir, Oregon white oak, and a wooded wetland. The landowners take an active management

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Member Spotlight: Large woody debris & wetland restoration

In our Member Spotlight series, we highlight Northwest Certified Forestry (NCF) members who are improving ecosystem functions and who have cultivated forest products for unique and entrepreneurial purposes on their land and within their communities. In this edition, we introduce you to Digger Mountain Forestry-a Forest Stewardship Council® certified member of our group certificate, and Yankee Creek Forestry-an NCF Preferred Provider. Recently, these members provided woody debris for restoration projects focused on salmon habitat and wetland recovery in the Willamette Valley and the Southern Oregon Coast. Digger Mountain Forestry   Digger Mountain Forestry stewards 650 acres of forest in Oregon’s Coast Range. In recent years Northwest Certified Foresty has put out calls

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Growing biologically rich forests for wildlife and income

On a beautiful summer day in early June, woodland owners gathered inside the library at Sedro-Woolley High School for the Managing for Timber and Wildlife workshop. The more than 20 participants were there to learn from Rolf Gersonde and Ken Bevis, two experts in the fields of silviculture and wildlife biology. Rolf Gersonde, a renowned silviculturist and researcher for the City of Seattle’s Cedar River Watershed presented first, focusing mainly on sustainable forest management practices. He explained that creating stands that are diverse in age, class, and species would not only serve as sanctuary to many different types of wildlife but would also

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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 portfolio. The objective of enhancing forest health can be accomplished in a variety of ways and typically includes: pre-commercial thinning, planting native trees and shrubs, and removing invasive species – mechanically or chemically. For example, forest stand improvement (EQIP code 666), or pre-commercial thinning, entails removing individual trees

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Workshop: Tree Felling & Yarding – September 24-26

Join us on Orcas Island for a unique hands-on training program for small woodland owners who are interested in conducting their own timber harvests. Detailed instruction will be provided on precision tree felling techniques and low-impact log yarding strategies and equipment. Precision Tree Felling – 2-day course Thursday & Friday, September 24-25, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm – each day Cost: $250 for the two-day felling course Location: Camp Orkila   484 Camp Orkila Rd.   Eastsound, WA – directions will be provided Important! All participants will need to bring a chainsaw, gas and oil, personal protection (chaps, gloves, ear & eye protection, hardhat) and lunch. Low-Impact Yarding

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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 suppression and the trees and vegetation that have grown since (more dense, often comprised of more species less resistant to fire). Fire suppression has led to many overstocked forests that become serious fire hazards during the increasingly dry summer season. Methods to reduce fire fuels range from removal

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Point Defiance Park – a living museum

Point Defiance Park is as rare as it is gorgeous. No where else can one find 500 acres of old-growth forest along the shore of Puget Sound and all within the city of Tacoma. The forest is interwoven with walking and running trails, bike paths, and picnic areas that provide a serene reprieve from the urban bustle just beyond its shady canopy. Excellent stewardship on the part of Metro Parks Tacoma is to credit for the forest’s preservation. The agency manages parks all over the city, but Point Defiance stands out within Tacoma – and the Puget Sound region – because it is Forest

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Workshop: How to Manage a Timber Sale – August 15

Harvesting and marketing timber can be one of the most rewarding experiences of owning forestland… it can also be one of the most challenging. On Saturday, August 15, join us for a workshop to learn how to manage a timber sale on your land and effectively market your wood products. This day-long seminar will introduce landowners to the steps involved in setting up and managing a timber sale. Participants will be better prepared to manage a timber sale and more familiar with resources for assistance. All woodland owners are encouraged to attend regardless of past workshop experience. Harvesting timber is an important management tool. When done with care

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The Good Wood Tour – July 30

Interested in building sustainably? Want to know the difference between FSC-certified and conventional forest products? Then come to the Good Wood Tour! On July 30th, NNRG and others will be co-hosting the first of a two-part event that will increase participants’ understanding of sustainable forestry and FSC products as an important component of green building. The event will include day tours to an FSC-certified forest as well as industrial, institutional, and residential buildings that utilized a large percentage of FSC-certified wood in their construction. Strategies to increase demand for sustainable forestry products and promote them as a green building solution will also

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Wetset Enterprises

Wetset Enterprises, Mossyrock, WA By Kirk Hanson Thomas Wolfe once famously stated that “you can’t go home again”.  NCF member Micheal Hurley begs to differ as he gradually exchanges a 30-year career that took him all over the world for the woods of his childhood.  Nestled into the headwaters of Salmon Creek in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains southwest of Mossyrock, Hurley has pieced together over 120 acres of exceptionally diverse forestland from which he is now creating as much of a living as he is a lifestyle. Hurley is a native to southwest Washington.  “I was raised cutting

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