Shared Stewardship- Teamwork Makes the Dream Work!
Investing in the Landscape: Oregon Department of Forestry (see pg 14 for a look at where our trees went!).
Owning a piece of land, close to a city that is forested is a great responsibility. Like farmland, private forest land needs to be managed and cared for. The ranch has a large forested area, and we wanted to consult with a forest manager to help us make a long-term plan to keep the forest healthy and fire safe. Mathias Pearl from the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council had written a grant that included private partners to help with the Whychus Creek Restoration Project and thought since we have great proximity to the Whychus Creek and had forestry needs, we might be a good fit.
Mathias had come to Pole Creek Ranch, and due to the proximity of the ranch to the Whychus, and us having easy access to our forested land, as well as some equipment to help, we were able to keep costs down, and work as a team to do some thinning, that helped with forest health, as well as fire prevention. Everyone on the team, cross-agency, was very professional and took our needs into consideration. We have both an agricultural and soon-to-be guest ranch coming online and wanted to make sure trees were thinned judiciously. They listened to our needs. They did an amazing job aesthetically and took their time to make sure everyone was happy with the result from the beginning to the end of the project. We loved that we could give trees to the restoration project that is beloved in the Sisters community and Deschutes County. We knew that the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council had similar values we did for land management, so we had trust that they would bring aligned partners to the ranch to help with the project. We love trees at Pole Creek Ranch and know that once they are gone, we can't expect a forest to grow overnight, so understanding how forest management works, and taking the time to explain that to us upfront, really helped set the tone and trust with the project.
The outcome: The land and forest look beautiful, healthy, and are breathing again. Having great communication between the multiple parties, and sharing in goals upfront really helped make this run smoothly. It's great to be a part of this because the Whychus and the water for our property come from a similar source, and we love the fact that trees from the ranch can in turn help restoration projects along the creek. It's a win, win for all of us.