By Larry Mauter
LCSWA member
A full year of activities relating to woodlands management has been scheduled by the Linn County Small Woodlands Association (LCSWA).
Board President Jim Merzenich presented an outline of the calendar events at the Jan. 17 annual membership meeting.
He emphasized the activities are open to all members as well as the general public interested in tree farming.
“Other ideas on tours, workshops, and other topics to cover are welcome,” said Merzenich. “We need members to volunteer for our planning committee.”
He is also scheduling one-hour presentations ahead of the quarterly board meeting — open for all OSWA members and guests.
In February, the scholarship fundraising 31st annual seedling sale and Local Woods Fair is set for Feb. 14.
Other events for the year outlined by Merzenich are listed below.
Pulp Thinning tour: Tuesday, Feb. 24, 1 – 5 p.m.
Jim Cota will demonstrate pulp thinning in a 22-year-old Douglas-fir stand that was planted at a dense spacing. This stand is adjacent to the Fun Forest Barn just off Berlin Ridge Road.
Woodland Information Night (Peavy Hall OSU): Wednesday, March 4: 6 to 8 p.m.
This annual event is sponsored by the Linn and Benton County chapters. Benton will take the lead in 2026. Rachel Baschieri, Technology in Natural Resources Specialist with the OSU Extension Service will present “Technology Innovations in Forestry.” Lorelle Sherman, OSU Extension Forester will give an overview of digital land-mapping tools. AeroTract Commercial Drone Services will discuss high-tech tools and services for aiding in forestry decision-making and practices. The location is OSU’s Peavy Forest Science Center, 3100 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, Starker auditorium/room 117 (next to the Jefferson Street entrance).
LCSWA board of directors meeting: Monday, March 9. Location: OSU Extension office, Tangent. Newly elected board members Greg Harty and Dan Lowrie will be welcomed. There will be reports on the 31st annual seedling sale results and other business. All members and guests are welcome to attend.
Spring Noxious Weed Tour: Saturday, March 21, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Welcome spring by viewing noxious weeds in flower and receiving advice on how to control them. Unwanted spring guests include Italian thistle, tansy ragwort, oxeye daisy, European hawthorne, and shining geranium. Location is Oak Basin Tree Farm, 35200 Northernwood Drive, Brownsville 97327.
Wildflower/Bird Walk: Mid-April Morning Tour
Arrangements are being made to do this at the Finley Wildlife Refuge south of Corvallis. This will be on relatively easy day trails that allow for some disabled person’s access.
Camas Springs Farm tour: Thursday, May 1, 10 a.m to noon
Natural soda springs attract Band-Tailed pigeons to this site. Large Incense cedar are dominant. The tour will occur when pigeons have arrrived for the summer and camas is in bloom.
Host Phillip Callaway’s wife Karyn, who passed away unexpectedly in 2025, will be honored. Location is 38717 Crawfordsville Drive, Sweet Home.
Dragonfly Ranch tour: Saturday, May 30: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Landowners Dan and Sandre Nelson will be our hosts.
We will view restored oak stands abutting managed wetlands on One Horse slough. In these wetlands beavers dams provide habitat for river otters, and native waterfowl. Wildflowers will be in bloom and native birds should be active. Lunch will be provided. Location is 33691 Totem Pole Road, northeast of Lebanon.
LCSWA board of directors meeting: Thursday, June 4. All members and potential members are welcome to attend. Location and time to be announced.
Linn County Tree Farm Of the Year Tour: Saturday, June 20. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Larry and Nancy Mauter will be our hosts. Nancy’s pollinator garden will be featured. The couple rehabilitated a 15-acre site they purchased in 1997. Their forest is diverse but is dominated by Douglas-fir and Willamette Valley Ponderosa pine. Lunch will be provided. Location is 32181 Bellinger Scale Road, near Mallard Creek Golf Course.
OSWA annual meeting and State Tree Farmer of the Year tour: June 25 – 27 Douglas County won the state TFOTY competition in 2024. Their OSWA chapter will host this event at the Bar-K Guest Ranch near Elkton.
Gordon Meadows: Wednesday, July 1, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
These meadows are located at 4,000-foot elevation east of Sweet Home in a Forest Service roadless area. The wildflower tour in 2025 was a success. Lorelle Sherman, our OSU Extension agent, has agreed to do a repeat. A work party to help restore these meadows is also possible later in the summer. We will carpool from the Oregon Department of Forestry office in Sweet Home. High clearance vehicles are needed to access the trail-head. Vehicles and clothing must be weed free to visit this site.
Linn County OSWA Summer picnic and tour: July 18, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jim Cota and Mike Melcher will host this event at the Fun Forest Barn on Berlin Ridge Road. This will include tours on the Fun Forest Tree Farm. This tree farm, managed by the Cota and Melcher families, was the Western Regional tree farm of the year in 2010.
Rogers Mountain Tree Farm Tour: August TBD
We will view a 40-year-old Douglas stand being commercially thinned using cut-to-length methods, a recently built farm pond, and managed conifer plantations. Land use issues affecting tree farms in Linn County will also be discussed.
Reforestation Workshop Tour: Aug-Sept.: This will be an evening classroom event followed by a tour. The target audience are private landowners planning a harvest in the next year, regardless of whether they belong to OSWA or not. We expect to get funds from OFRI for this event and have the support of the executive board.
LCSWA board of directors meeting: Thursday, Sept. 3. All members are encouraged to attend. Time and location will be announced.
Mill Tour: September-October: Location and Date TBD
My preference is to have a tour of the Sierra-Pacific mill on Hwy 99 S of Junction City. I have toured the mill with Lane County members and have sold logs to this mill. It’s the closest mill to our farm south of Brownsville. We ask our members to make more suggestions.
Sunnyside Park pine restoration: October TBD
The Bob Mealey demonstration Ponderosa pine stand near Foster Lake needs our help. This would be a “breakfast” event to clear out blackberries and other noxious weeds while pruning the trees, if necessary. We chose October to avoid creating problems with the Ips bark beetle.
LCSWA board of directors meeting: Thursday, Dec. 3. All members and guests are are invited. Location and time of meeting will be announced later.
For more information, contact Merzenich at [email protected]