Sara A. Leiman, Coast Range Conifers LLC, general manager for our family company and an OSU Extension Master Woodland Manager

I am so happy to be here. My name is Sara and I'm a "Small Woodland Owner". I don't have perfect knowledge of the ins and outs of OSU research, but have a nagging feeling that research has been driven by the funding available and the "policy chase" rather than by foresters in Oregon guiding the research. Policy is moving faster than research - research should be ahead of policy. Good forestry research takes a long time to play out - it shouldn't be pushed by policy every 2 seconds. Thank you now for asking for our guidance. You, OSU and OSU Forestry Extension, are our conduit to the "How-to" and the "What for" and the "How much".

Some of us are motivated to manage by the investment potential, some of us are not motivated by "the bottom line". Motivations can change: that stand of trees you were never going to harvest suddenly means the difference between a comfortable old age and a miserly one. Part of the motivation to do management is trust in sound science, based on good and focused research - we need that to be willing to make the financial investments in intensive management practices. Gosh, the payoff is not next year, but decades away! Many times this money comes from off the tree farm, and requires a financial sacrifice from us in other parts of our lives.

We are all ages, have varied backgrounds, work different jobs, may or may not live on the woodland, and have different goals for the properties. The diversity in our management reflects our individual diversity. Variable management produces a variety of forest conditions. Small Woodland Owners have become very important to Oregon as other forest land owners manage their lands more and more homogeneously: from industry, to public lands, to farming, to urban uses - our variable management is a vital piece in the landscape puzzle.

Used to be intensive forestry research that worked for industry also worked for public lands and for Small Woodland Owners. Nowadays, these sectors manage differently and have different research needs. We favor and can use research focused on private land owner benefits rather than public resource benefits. How can OSU research now meet the needs of Small Woodland Owners? Here are a few ideas. I want to thank some of my fellow members of the Oregon Small Woodlands Association for their input: Jim Denison, Gary Springer, Lynn Butts, Ken Faulk and Ilene Waldorf.

On the subject of MARKETS:
¨ How to market our products? Particularly for owners who sell infrequently, this can be the most important financial decision they ever make.
¨ What is the long-term viability of local markets? We see markets closing down permanently. We see consolidations of local markets lessening competition for our products. Is there any way we can build relationships with local markets to mutually benefit both producer and buyer of timber?
¨ Specifically, will there be markets for the large trees some of us are growing? Will there be a premium for such large trees?
¨ There's got to be better markets for species such as scotch pine, bigleaf maple, cherry and the like than as chips or hog fuel. What are they?
¨ Steel and plastic producers back east are waging a very public campaign against wood products. What can we do about that?

On the subject of SPECIES:
¨ Small owners, in particular, are flexible enough to plant and care for exotic tree species. We need research to tell us what grows well where. In New Zealand, foresters tried many, many species and found the species that could be intensively grown best was, in fact, an exotic.
¨ Mixed species plantations are being planted all over. We need info on specifics of management, for instance, how best to spray over mixed species.
¨ Continue research on the big insect and diseases of the day. This can affect all classes of owners.
¨ On non-commercial animal and plants: we can "farm" these, can we get paid for doing that? One farmer told me he could grow excellent goose habitat, just as he could grow excellent farm crops, if only he could get paid for the habitat farming. Let's investigate "habitat tree farming".

On the subject of ON-THE-GROUND-PRACTICES;
¨ What practices may be do-able and profitable by and for Small Woodland Owner's that aren't for other owners?
¨ Let's start a write-your-own management-plan for Small Woodland Owner's similar to what WA extension is doing: owners get the knowledge and end up with a plan they wrote for their land. Communicate not only the Forest Practices Act but how an owner can go beyond the FPA should they wish to.
¨ Growth and yield information on managed stands that Small Woodland Owner's can use. We need to know how much we are growing. There's a need for growth and yield info on plantations on previously farmed ground, the trees seem to be off the charts.
¨ What are the long-term affects of intensive forestry on the productivity of our lands? For instance, is whole tree utilization depleting the nutrients in our soils?

On the subject of MAKING THE INVESTMENT:
¨ Heck, is forestry still a good investment? If I don't answer yes, I won't invest in intensive management. An easy to understand investment guide, comparing plantation forestry to other long-term investments would be good. Look for solutions to the barriers land owners have to investing in intensive management.
¨ Keeping Oregon Green doesn't just refer to fire suppression and management, it means keeping productive forest land from going under pavement permanently. Let's recognize and quantify the values that small forested tracts bring to their areas. Let's quantify what would be lost if small woodland owners are pushed off the landscape.
¨ A big issue with Small Woodland Owners is passing the tree farm to the next generation. How can we do this successfully?

On the subject of ATTITUDE:

¨ Let's find out why plantation forestry is not accepted by the general public in the way that food and meat farming is accepted as a land use. What are the cultural barriers at work? Figure out ways to publicize why intensive management is good, needed, and important. We need help to explain what we do to the public.

Thank you for your attention.
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[Updated: April 4, 2002]