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HazelnutContributions to this website from Linn County Small Woodlands Association members and forestry interests are welcome. Submittals will be edited. We are interested in news and meetings relating to Linn County and neighboring counties.

4-H Forestry Group members

LCSWA annual meeting provides updates, new slate of board members

New officers and board members have been selected by the Linn County Small Woodlands Association. The woodlands advocacy group held its annual meeting January 21 in Scio after a three-year hiatus because of the Covid pandemic. The potluck dinner and business meeting were attended by about 100 people. New chapter President Mike Barsotti is taking…

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Veneer and mass laminated plants on display in Jan. 30 tour

Freres Engineered Wood  is a hosting a Linn County Small Woodlands Association tour Monday Jan. 30 from 1-4 p.m.  “This family owned and operated business started with one man and a dream back in 1922. And we’ve kept it going to this day by always looking at things in a new way. From the expansion…

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wabi-sabi table. Photo by Tim Otis.

Japanese style celebrates simplicity, love of old stuff

The Japanese concepts of wabi and sabi are expressed in a table I recently built with meaningful lumber.

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2022 LCSWA seedling sale

Linn seedling sale order forms released

28th annual event coming Feb. 4 to the Linn Fair and Expo Center You can now download and pre-order seedlings or the 2023 Linn County Small Woodlands Association annual seedling sale, using the order form at the bottom of this page. Once again, we have a great selection of bare root and plug seedlings this…

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Annual meeting potluck - Mike Barsotti

Annual meeting slated to return to Scio Z Hall Jan. 21

The Linn County Small Woodlands Association annual membership meeting has been set for Saturday Jan. 21. Since the Covid outbreak, annual meetings have been handled through postcards sent to members. With health restrictions eased, the board of directors decided on Dec. 7  to renew the tradition of holding the meeting at the Z Hall on…

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Sunnyside Park Interpretive Sign

Pine education project comes to life at Sunnyside Park

A Ponderosa pine education project at Sunnyside Park featuring local history was dedicated Saturday Oct. 15. Double-sided interpretive panels explain the history and rebound of the Willamette Valley Ponderosa pine – a separate race of pines from those growing in Eastern Oregon or south. Along with the covered signs, a grove of 60 young pines…

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Presentation of Tree Farmer of the Year award.

Oak Basin lessons learned being passed along

LCSWA tour displays conservation efforts in Linn County Family forestry has flowered at the Oak Basin Tree Farm. The Linn County property is a checkerboard of wildlife habitat, agroforestry and productive timber stands spanning 940 acres in the Coburg Hills. In the fall of 2020 co-owner Jim Merzenich wrote an article about Oak Basin for…

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People on Oak Basin Tour overlooking Willamette Valley

Chats along the trail focus on issues and techniques facing tree farmers.

Here are a few bullet points that popped up with questions and observations during the Sept. 24 Oak Basin tree farm tour: Early on Jim Merzenich said that climate change is having a bigger impact on stand success and planting patterns. “Drought has replaced deer browsing as our greatest threat to plantation success,” he wrote…

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Ferns ready for transplant

28th annual Linn seedling sale coming Feb. 4, 2023

Oregon ash off the table due to emerald ash borer The 28th annual Linn County Small Woodlands Association Seedling Sale is on tap for Feb. 4, 2023 — at the Linn County Fair and Expo Center. We will offer our usual selection of conifers, as well as other native trees, shrubs, and plants. In light…

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Tim Otis

What makes us civil

Opinion: This being my last column, I have chosen to share something not tree-related, but rather offer something I wrote several years ago, but which has recently much on my mind. Here it is. I recently read a New York Times editorial written by David Brooks about the growing lack of civility in public life…

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