Kendrick Forest Farm.com
Forestry Forum


Home
*** SITE NAVIGATOR ***
Management Principles
An Ecosystem Approach
More than Timber Resources
Our Work in Progress
Our story- the Book
Forest Farm Products
Custom-made Wood Products
Native Plant Collectors & Nursery Stock Growers
Ecosystem Services
Our Location
Life on the Forest Farm
Nature's Schedule
Informational Tours
Agencies & Organizations
Contact Us & Links
Natural Resources Consulting
Forestry Forum
Forestry Education Programs
Wildflower Page
Forest Farming- What is It?
Green-tag Certification
         The Forestry Forum:

This is an open forum for forestry issues of interest  or that  serve to bring dialog forward regarding forestry today.  

Send in e-mails or entire articles.  Please be civil.

 Each month we will have a new article,  this month see below: "Why We Grow Trees In This Economy.

Click on the links below for past articles:

viewout.jpg

Why We Grow Trees

 in this Economy

j.a. kendrick

 

Lately, many people have asked us if it is difficult to see our investments in timber land lose so much value as timber prices fall like a rock. Others ask us why we bother growing trees at all since their value has plummeted to levels that make it an unfeasible economic endeavor.  It has set us to wondering about just how we do feel about it and indeed, why we continue to grow our trees and manage our forestland.

 

In dollar value, our trees are worth the current market price, cut and loaded onto trucks headed for the mill to be made into lumber, or only a few dollars in carbon credits if they remain standing in the forest. As I sit here sipping my coffee watching the fir spires pierce the early morning skyline and listening to the many bird species creating their waking cacophony at the different levels of the forest canopy, I realize why we grow trees... because we enjoy doing it and feel a responsibility to do it.

 

Most of the mountainsides for miles around us have been logged at least once-most of them twice, as mills retooled creating markets for ever smaller diameter timber, in the years that we have been working in our forestland.  Some neighbors cashed in when timber prices were at their highest value, stripping out anything that was merchantable, and laughing as they ran to the bank with their fists full of dollars.  They jeered at us for not taking advantage of such an opportunity, but most of them sold their property shortly thereafter because they didn’t want to live with the aftermath.  The land isn’t worth much devoid of trees and they didn’t have the patience or desire to wait fifty years for the trees to grow back.   Generally, so many conifers were removed from the surrounding forests that what grew back was not a forest, but a mixed oak/madrone woodland. The entire character of these cutover lands has changed to a harsher, drier, hotter environment.  

 

Our forest is still a forest. A living breathing entity that provides sustenance and homes for wildlife, cools the earth below the tall trees and pumps oxygen into the air.  In terms of dollars and cents it is not worth many millions and the return on our years of work and money invested into it has been comparatively minimal.  We have taken out some timber as we worked to improve the health of our forest and made bits and pieces of income from it over the years. Nothing major, just enough to make us feel as though we were actually getting some return on the investment.  But our forest is more mature and more diverse than it was before we began managing it for ecosystem benefits. There are values that cannot be tabulated in monetary terms and we value our land in a different way. Money has never been the overriding concern for us.  We enjoy the isolation and the peace and quiet afforded by living here.  We thrive on hard work and responsibility.  

 

Would we do it again if we knew what the balance sheet would look like at this late stage of our lives?  Probably.   I think that it is something that we had to do. It is our gift to this planet Earth.  A quarter of a century of time and nurturing- not much in the scheme of things I suppose, but a lifetime of two people willing to give more than they take.  I can live with that.

 

 

 
 
Please comment on this article:

 
 
Click below to read
 the Credo
 that we live by!



 

E-mail Forum:

This section includes discussion that does not represent our own views. Comments are posted so that you can see the wide array of viewpoints on this one simple issue and the sometimes uncivil attitude expressed by both sides. 

 

Please note that many of the recent comments posted came from people on websites where jak's articles titled:

"Forest Farming- The Ecological Approach to Forest Management"  , An Ecosystem Approach to Forestry" , "Ecosystem Services- Making the Link" and "Ecosystem Services- A Concept Whose Time Has Come" were published online. Follow these links:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Comments & Questions:

( Most recent comments are at the bottom of the page)

 

Question from LB:

Why does it matter what we do with our forested piece of property? What difference can my little spot of ground make in the scheme of the forest as a whole?

 

Answer from jk:

Every acre of forest that is managed in an ecological manner can provide many benefits such as additional oxygen production and homes for wild creatures. We must never have a defeatist attitude and need to understand that we are a part of a greater whole, albeit a tiny part. We are all serving the purpose of nurturing and protecting this Earth for future generations of humans.

 

Comment from Larry B.:

Global warming is a crock. I can't believe that you are buying into it.

 

Comment from RR:

What the hell do you people know! Leave forest management to people who have been in the business and know how to do it. We have done pretty good for along time before you started this crap.

 

Comment from justdoit @ Indymedia:

I and some friends (32 total) have formed a readers/polling group where once a week each person picks an article for everyone to read- yes, that is 32 articles. Everyone in the group reads and is polled about each article. Your article titled  "Forest Farming- The Ecological Approach to Forest Management" is one of them.  Here are the results of our poll:
30 liked the article and two did not. The two thought that the article was just more timber industry propaganda and did not believe a word of it. Of the 30 who liked it, 28 believed that this was written by a person who has a sincere committment to forest health and rehabilitation of the ecosystems that were previously harmed by logging. The remaining 4 who liked the article indicated that they wanted to believe that the writer was sincere in commitment to the earth, but that it was hard to believe that there was such a change in forest management techniques.

Comment from Buzn @ IMC:

When I read the article about forest farming on the Portland Independent  Media Center website, I envisioned a tree plantation with neat rows of trees, but I went to your website and what I saw was totally different- beautiful natural forest, wildlife and lots of native plants!
Now I get it!  Farming is growing things, and what you grow is not just trees-it is an entire forest! very cool. I like it.

 

Comment from "wish I were a tree on KFF" @ Indymedia:

I am amazed at this idea. I never considered that anyone interested in forestry, thought of anything but cutting trees. I am so glad that there are people who care about the forest in terms of ecosystems and the future of the Earth. Some of the photos on the website are incredible. I have ordered the "Alex's Forest Farm" book and cannot wait to receive it. Kudos Kendrick Forest Farm!!! Keep up the good work. Our future depends upon people like you.

 

Comment from Donna H @ IMC:

Although this was an interesting article, you are not the first forest farmers. There was an organization in so. oregon many years ago who were active in managing their forest land according to forest farm management principles. Orville camp headed the organization and wrote a book called "natural selection forestry" which talked about this type of management. I thought that they had all beome extinct, but maybe not.

 

Answer to Donna H. from jak:

Donna you are absolutely correct!. We were one of those very early eco-forestry pioneers and have been involved in the forest farm management movement from the time we met Orville Camp and read his book. It helped us to galvanize our thoughts and determination to manage our forest the way that we felt was right-not according to industry standards. There are not a lot of us around, but we are not "extinct"...more like Bigfoot- only visible if you really look hard in remote and quiet forests.    

 

Comment from Slicker @ IMC:

The general gist of the company *advertised* above is commendable, but the arrogant tone belies the managerial code embedded in its protestant outlook. Take for example the statement, "forest tree stands need to be thinned," a frequently bandied expression. Well, according to who and what circumstances does a forest "need" to be thinned? One would easily agree that the monocropped plantations that cover the state could stand to be "trimmed," but the concept that forests inherently need human management is absurd. I cannot even bring myself to look at the disgusting website showing the cutover forest of stumps.

 

Answer from jak:

You can't please people all of the time and we do not even try. Our focus is our forest. We try to do our best for our forest - not to gain approval from people...especially those who already have their miinds made up and do not even want to look and be certain that their words apply. (!!?)

Comment from "roadside viewer" @ Rogue Media:

I have looked out my car window as I whizzed down I-5 many times, but not once did I ever think about WHO renovates all those logged over lands that I grimace as I look at.

I think that this must be a tremendous undertaking and I salute someone with the interest and wherewithal to do so.

 

Comment from Biologeez:

I found this article interesting-if it is true. Far too many forest managers feed us a lot of BS, when their true intent is just to find an excuse to cut trees. I looked at the website associated with the article and liked what I saw. I have only one question...how is an operation such as this supported? I can't imagine that they would spend their earnings (it does indicate that they work outside the forest farm operation) just to grow trees. But wouldn't it be nice if it were true.

 

Answer from jk:

Alas, 'tis true...we work just to be able to support our forest.

 

Comment from Donald J.:

When I first read your forum article called Cut it,watch it or do not touch it, I thought that it was stupid. But my wife just weren't getting along and did not seem to understand what the other said, so we tried it. You saved our marriage.

 

Answer from jk:

Sometimes the simplest things are the best. Glad we could help.

 

Comment from angie B.:

I  read your forum article "Ecosystem Services- Making the Link" and find the concept very interesting.  I wonder if there are entities who are trying to create a marketplace for these services.  I also wonder if this is going to end up being just another scam by the forest industry? If it can be kept out of their hands perhaps it will be something that people will feel safe to invest in.

 

Answer from jk:

Angie, I understand your concern over this becoming just another industry scam and hope that it can develop into a program that will be functional for landowners like us and rewarding to those folks who want to invest. At present there are only a couple of programs that I am aware of.  We belong to an organization called the Oregon Small Woodlands Association who is interested in this concept. They are working on developing a "carbon aggregator" market for family woodland owners in conjunction with the American Forest Foundation.  Also, the Willamette Partnership is working on creating a market for temperature credits. 

 

Comment from runsilent at RogueIMC:

The conclusions reached in the article "Ecosystem Services- Making the Link" appear to be valid. The concept is intriguing and if it can be implemented could certainly provide a solution to what we are all concerned about- saving our forested ecosystems.

 

 

 

Photos on this website may not be copied, reproduced or otherwise utilized without express written consent and appropriate credits.
Do you have Forum input? Send us an e-mail at:

forum@kendrickforestfarm.com

 

alexander and jeannie

Kendrick Forest Farm

  Wilderville, Oregon  *   97543