Portland, Ore. – Linn County landowner Linda Butts was selected from a group of 10 finalists to receive the “Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year” title at the Oregon Tree Farm System’s annual awards luncheon, held today at Portland’s World Forestry Center.
For 40 years Butts has owned and managed a 145-acre tree farm on McCully Mountain south of Lyons. Linda and her late husband Linn have actively managed the property for wildlife, timber income, recreation and the improvement of threatened habitats.
Since the mid-1970s the Butts have managed their property for a mix of goals and objectives. They’ve hosted tours demonstrating a variety of forest management activities including good pruning practices. Over the years as their collective knowledge of what makes a healthy sustainable forest has grown, they’ve modified their management plans; one example is the restoration of an oak woodland savanna resulting in the conservation of an ecologically unique area.
Linda and her son Gary have both become Master Woodland Managers, donating time to help other landowners improve their forested properties. They annually assist Oregon State University Extension with its sponsorship of the Clackamas Tree School and other projects.
Other major accomplishments include:
* Conversion of 50 acres of old pastures to forests
* Planting of western red cedar, Douglas-fir and Willamette Valley Ponderosa pine in areas previously overtaken by invasive species
* Development of a camping area for family gatherings
* Development of a rocked road system for management and fire protection
“Linn and Linda have been leaders in managing their forests,” says Mike Barsotti, a local forester who has known the Butts since the 1970s. “They’ve hosted countless educational tours to help others, showing other family forestland owners their efforts to restore and maintain an Oregon White Oak woodland savanna, as well as ways to prune and thin young trees,” Barsotti added.
County chapters of the Oregon Small Woodlands Association in partnership with local foresters annually select landowners who promote sustainable forestry management on their land. Other landowners honored for their land management ethic this year include:
* Benton County: Mike and Molly Albrecht
* Clackamas County: John Poppino
* Douglas County: Bob and Naomi Ragon
* Jackson County: Jim and LaVonne Stumbo
* Lane County: Jim Christian
* Lincoln County: Peter and Alice Bregman
* Linn County: Linda Butts
* Union County: Harlan Scott
* Washington County: Chuck Price
* Yamhill County: Brian Doyle
The Oregon Tree Farm System (ATFS), an affiliate of the American Tree Farm System, is a Forest Certification organization that annually recognizes private forest landowners for their forest conservation actions.
For more information: http://www.otfs.org/
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