Scott Swanson
Last Thursday, March 4, a quartet of men busily planted potted pines on a knoll just north of the ponds at Sunnyside Park.
Their activity was the culmination of a years-long effort by local forestry enthusiasts, designed to highlight reforestation of the tree they were planting, the Willamette Valley ponderosa pine.
The Sunnyside project, which will be named the Robert H. Mealey Pine Grove, is composed of 50 young trees that will honor former resident Bob Mealey, who worked to restore the native species of trees to the valley until his death in 2007.
The project is a collaboration of efforts by many organizations, said Larry Mauter, a board member for the local Linn County Small Woodlands Association, a member-based organization that represents small woodland owners in Linn County, who own between one and 5,000 acres of land with trees growing on their property. The LCSWA was founded by Mealey in 1989.
“For many years, Linn County Small Woodlands has been looking for an appropriate way to both honor the memory of Bob Mealey, and stay true to his desire that the funds he set aside be used for community forest education,” said Tim Otis, incoming president of the organization. “To this point, none of the projects we had considered really fit those goals.
“When the board considered this opportunity to plant Willamette Valley ponderosa pines in a Linn County park, along with a kiosk describing the history of their preservation and development by Bob, we knew we had found a great project.”
County Parks Director Brian Carroll called the effort “a great project.”
“They initially contacted us, looking for a site to do some planting of ponderosas,” he said. “The area we’re planting them really could use some additional shading out there, and we’re not planning to do any development there in the future.
“It’s a natural fit. It’s a great way to recognize the work the Small Woodlands Association does and we have a special tree here in the Willamette Valley with the valley pine.”
A committee of retired forester Jim Holmberg, Melcher Logging Co. partner Jim Cota and Mauter have coordinated the project most recently, but Mauter said many other LCSWA board members and OSU Extension personnel have been involved over the years. County Parks staffers Lonnie Wunder and Blake Nightingale worked with them to get things rolling, Carroll said.
“There’s dozens of people who have worked on this project through the years, going back 15 years, which is when Bob Mealey died,” Mauter said. “This is the big start on it.”
The Mealeys are one of Sweet Home’s founding families and Bob Mealey was born here in 1912. He graduated from Sweet Home Union High School in 1932 and from Oregon State College (now OSU) in 1936.
Mealey, who was honored as the Oregon and Western United States Regional Outstanding Tree Farmer in 1989, was a fellow of the Society of American Foresters. Prior to his death, the Robert H. Mealey Willamette Valley Ponderosa Pine Native Gene Conservancy Orchard was established at the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Schroeder Seed Orchard near St. Paul.
Funds for the Sunnyside grove came from pine fund investments through the orchard.
The Sunnyside grove will include interpretive signage that will provide education about the ponderosa pines planted there, between the ponds and Quartzville Road. The signs will be installed later in the spring near the park ranger’s residence, Mauter said.
Carroll said he thinks the valley pines could “do well” at Sunnyside, where other tree species have “struggled.” He noted that the property on which the grove is planted used to be a Morse Bros quarry, which the county procured “way before” before Carroll arrived, nearly 24 years ago.
“I’m hoping, with that long taproot they send down, they will be able to get some water.
LCSWA’s agreement with Linn County includes a memo of understanding allowing organization members to maintain the Sunnyside signs and pine grove in the future.
Carroll said the fact that LCSWA is willing to maintain the project is a plus.
“I thought it was a great opportunity for us to collaborate with them.”
On Thursday, Cota used a small backhoe to dig holes for the trees on an exposed hillside after LCSWA and other volunteers cleared it of cottonwood trees and a thicket of Himalayan blackberries.
Lee Peterman and Bill Bowling, both past presidents of LCSWA, and Mauter lugged pots to the holes and planted the 50 trees.
Mauter said the Sunnyside project is expected to be a pilot for others: at Cheadle Park in Lebanon and, organizers hope, at the north- and south-bound rest stops on I-5 in Linn County.
“We’re looking for high-traffic areas,” Mauter said. “A lot of people come to this park. The ODOT rest stops get gadzillion cars a day.”
For more on the project and the Linn County Small Woodlands Association, visit http://www.lcswa.com.