News
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Contributions 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.
Freres tour features mass plywood panel innovations
Approximately 30 family forest landowners toured two of Freres Engineered Wood’s six milling facilities recently. Their mills are located in Linn County’s Lyons-Mill City area. Freres, family owned and operated since 1922, produces veneer, plywood, sheathing, lumber, and Mass Plywood Panels (MPP). Third generation owners, cousins Rob and Tyler Freres, spent the afternoon Jan. 31…
Linn seedling sale success continues
Record number of orders, seedlings notched at 28th annual event Record efforts produced record results for the 2023 Linn County Small Woodlands Association seedling sale. Almost 14,000 seedlings were purchased at the Feb. 4 sale, with pre-orders totaling 238 customers. Another 150 sales came from walk-ins at the 28th annual event. The sales allow the…
Foresters, loggers find happiness in their work despite hazards
Washington Post data crunchers have reached some conclusions that should put a smile on faces of woodland owners. Workers in agriculture – including logging and forestry – rate their work as meaningful and bringing happiness to themselves more so than any other major U.S. industry. At the same time, these workers reported the lowest level…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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…