This visit is also part of a SAF tour. A porta potty will be on-site and SAF members will be provided lunches. WFFA members can bring their own sack lunches if desired. This is a repeat of an WFFA tour at the same location held on 18 Sept 2021. The focus will be on species selection and understory planting with cedar.
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.