Report on September 2023 Tour
Long-time member Duane Weston hosted a tour on his tree farm Stilly View Forest near Arlington.
Duane told about the history and plans for his 46 acre property where he has performed most of the work, and shared some of the knowledge and experience that he accumulated during his extraordinary career as a forester and tree farmer.
In an article in a recent Forest Stewardship Notes, UPS member Dave Ingebright told about two ways to earn extra income from your tree farm. His was used to shoot a movie, and also he rents a campsite on his property. Read the article here, or read it and more information about the Valhalla Tree Farm here.
On September 18, 2021, the Upper Puget Sound Chapter of the Washington Farm Forestry Association hosted a Tree Farm Tour on the property of WFFA member Ken Osborn's Devils Creek Road Tree Farm. His forest ownership is under Nookachamps Forest, LLC and he has owned this 120 acre parcel since 1992.
Forty attendees braved the predicted rainy windy weather and were rewarded with a rain-free day!
Ken gave an excellent explaination his tree farm management, which included several ages of stands from newly planted up to one that was planted in 1968 and commercially thinned twice. Ken mostly replants with Douglas fir, but also mixes in some Western Red Cedar and Hemlock. He discussed the advantages of doing site preparation before the new seedlings are planted. We also saw a 1987 unit planted with Cedar in root rot areas and another where Cedar was under planted after a commercial thinning. WFFA Executive Director Elaine Oneil spoke about carbon storage and markets, and Dave Peterson talked about managing for a resilient forest.
Contact the chapter president for more information: ups@wafarmforestry.