Oregon Small Woodlands Association

09/29/2026

It’s always a good time at Kubota. OSWA’s Columbia chapter got to go play and see some equipment demonstrations.

09/23/2026

OSWA Events This Week 🌲

09/23/2026

Yamhill County Small Woodlands Association Scaling tour on Saturday, September 19.

09/21/2026

Saturday Lane County chapter had a beautiful walking tour and picnic lunch to celebrate Elmer Shew and his daughter, Lonna. Congratulations to the Lane County Tree Farmers of the Year! 🌲

09/16/2026

OSWA Events this week

09/14/2026

Some photos of Saturday at the Douglas County Small Woodlands Tree Farmer of the Year Tour. Huge Congratulations to the Beckley Family!

09/11/2026

Reducing fuels and limiting ladder fuels are critical steps in preparing your forest for an eventual wildfire. A few important points to keep in mind:

1.) Wildfires come at you in the worst of conditions, not the best. Your eyes need to be focused on a windy, low-humidity, dry-fuel and higher-temperature day. Lower-intensity fires can and will occur, but just like having insurance, you need to plan for the worst days.

2.) Breaking up the continuity of fuels is vitally important. This is both horizontal as well as vertical.

a. Trees are best when they are not touching each other. Ideally, a crown-width gap between tree crowns helps break up the continuity of fuels that a crown fire depends upon to “get up into the canopy.”

b. Removing ladder fuels that allow a fire to get up into a tree crown is essential in keeping fire on the ground, where it is less likely to do as much damage.

c. Keeping brush and grass down so there is not a vertical component for fires to feed on is critical.

d. Your neighbors’ actions may have consequences for you. Encourage neighborhood participation in a FireWise Community—or start one. It’s a great way to get to know the neighbors while having a positive impact.

Many of us live on forested acreage and are a part of the fire equation. Our homes and infrastructure hold great value to us, and we need to spend time looking at and impacting the fire preparedness of our homes. In a forested environment, our homes are most vulnerable to wind-blown embers. Embers landing on dry fuels and starting new ignitions is predominantly how fires progress. We need to reduce the likelihood that this occurs.

1.) Clear all flammable debris from around the house, including the roof.

2.) Have defensible space around your home.
Depending on the vegetation adjoining your structure, you may need to go further than the recommended distance, particularly with very flammable brush species such as manzanita.

3.) There needs to be clear ingress and egress paths secured so firefighters can be comfortable making a stand at your property. No belongings or material things compare to the safety and life of those that we are asking to defend our properties.
4.) Yearly take a critical eye to your properties and assess the need to maintain your defensible spaces and our forest structures. Things grow, accumulate and we become complacent – don’t be that person.
Finally realize that Mother Nature is insensitive to our needs and our actions. There are times when given all of the right decisions and action we still may lose our prized possessions to the elements. What we can do is REDUCE that risk by following basic fire preparedness guidelines.

09/08/2026

OSWA Events This Week

09/06/2026

If you are near the Austin fire, here is a page with the most recent information.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1JxgEPk4iV/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Official fire information for the Austin & The Narrows Fires in Clackamas County, OR.

09/01/2026

If you are down in Klamath County, or have friends who are woodland owners there, we are having a small woodland event this Thursday.

This will be an informal evening to meet other woodland owners, share experiences, talk about the challenges and opportunities of managing forest properties, and learn more about OSWA.

Thursday, September 3
4:00–6:00 p.m.

Sage Business Center
3250 Lakeport Blvd
Klamath Falls

Please RSVP to [email protected] so we can be sure to have enough dinner for everyone. Mike and Karl would love to meet some new faces, and hope to see you there!