Calendar

Past Activity

Zena Forest Hike and Mill Tour

  • Start date: 10/15/2020

  • Start time: 12:00 AM

  • End date: 10/15/2020

  • End time: 11:59 PM

Description:

We will be visiting the Zena Forest (1300 acres) and Mill in the Eola Hills NW of Salem. This is a family owned business and they have managed the forest since 1987 with a focus on maintaining a healthy and diverse forest ecosystem. The owners’s mother, Sarah Deumling, who manages the forest and oversees all restoration, logging and planning, will lead our hike for at least 2 hours around the woods and talk to us about forestry and conservation, etc. (The above mileage and feet gained is approximate.) She says, “Sustainability is the most important part of what we do.” We will lunch at their pond on the way back from the woods to the mill. At the mill, there will be a little tour of what Zena does there, their products, philosophy, etc.
Please read the COVID-19 Protocols on the Obsidian website prior to this activity. Participants will manage their own transportation. At Zena, they are still working, albeit with extra safety precautions. We need to follow their COVID-19 guidelines: https://www.zenaforest.com/covid19.

  • Event Leader: Rolfe Jorry

  • Assistant Leader: Coots Kay

  • Event category: Trips

  • Area Type:

  • Departure Location: See Trip Description

  • Rating: Easy

  • Roundtrip total drive miles: 150

  • Season: 2020

  • Permits Required:

  • Event Status: Passed

  • Supplies and Equipment Required: Face covering, water, lunch. Dress for the weather.

  • participant prerequisites:

  • Conditions:

  • Total Distance: 3

  • Member Fees: 1

  • Elevation Gain: 50

  • Non-Member Fees: 5

  • Committee: Trips

  • Junior member fees: —

Trip Report

On a beautiful autumn day, we were escorted lovingly through the 1,300-acre sustainably-managed forest in the Eola Hills by one of the owners of Zena Forest Sarah Deumling, followed by a visit to their sawmill with employee Paul. Since 1984 this family business has been run under a different conservation and management model with these values: no chemicals, no clear-cutting and no compaction (no equipment used on the forest floor). They specialize in the hardwoods (Oregon white oak, western maple and Oregon ash) and are FSC-certified, meaning they are dedicated to promoting responsible forestry. With the change in climate, more pine and incense cedar are being planted as these trees are more drought tolerant. There are parcels of land at Zena under conservation easements, one with Willamette University and the other with Bonneville. The latter is part of a mitigation obligation; as a result, funds from Bonneveille helped with costs to remove undergrowth, like blackberries. The Deumling family also values connection to their community. We saw a very small area with a natural spring within the forest itself that belongs to a neighbor for her own source of water; and Zena participates in the Access and Habitat Program to allow public hunting on their land. It was such a satisfying and deep pleasure for us all to see this healthy ecosystem and to witness the care Zena is taking with trees and people.

Members & Guests signed-up & waitlisted

  • Number of spots on trip: 10
  • Number of spots available: 0
No. Status Full name Phone Transportation Needed? Trip Fee # Can Take?
1 Signed-Up Rolfe, Jorry 541-206-9501 N 1
2 Signed-Up Coots, Kay 541-729-7215 N 1
3 Signed-Up Nagy, Evelyn 541-514-4110 N 1
4 Signed-Up Wheat, Diana 541-335-1319 N 1
5 Signed-Up Alexander, Joanna 458-209-7798 N 1
6 Signed-Up Carpenter, Kathie 541-505-2370 N 1
7 Signed-Up Randall, Kathy 541-844-5916 N 5
8 Signed-Up Straub, Peg 541-514-7298 N 1
9 Signed-Up Hoecker, Nancy 541-217-8453 N 1
10 Signed-Up Esch, Patricia 541-338-8280 N 1
11 Signed-Up Sinnott, Randy 541-915-0234 N 1
12 Signed-Up Emlen, Clara 541-746-2181 N 1
13 Signed-Up Parks, Linda 607-244-4194 N 1
14 Signed-Up Anderson, Laura E 770-367-6580 N 1
15 Waitlist Martz, Helen 541-345-6229 N 1
16 Waitlist Curtis, Alan 541-345-2571 N 1
17 Signed-Up Woodman, Carol 541-520-4830 N 5
18 Signed-Up Woodman, Carol 541-520-4830 N 5