Annually, the Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year (OTFY) award recognizes four Regional Outstanding Tree Farmers out of the 74,000 Tree Farmers nationwide. These are private landowners that have done an exceptional job of forest management on their property and are also actively promoting sustainable forestry.  Through this award program, these individuals are honored as leaders in good forestry while their land demonstrates the benefits of good forest management. The AFF governance and the ATFS community then select a national awardee from among the regional awardees.

Since the program began 40 years ago, Oregon tree farmers have been honored with this national recognition five times – more than any other state (a first-place position Oregon shares with Georgia.)

This year, the American Tree Farm System (ATFS) announced the Defrees family of northeast Oregon received the 2016 National Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year award. The Defrees family is a member of the Oregon Tree Farm System, the state affiliate for the American Tree Farm System, whose mission is to promote the growing of renewable forest resources on private lands while protecting environmental benefits and increasing public understanding of all the benefits of productive forestry and to help Oregon’s family forest owners sustainably care for their forests. The mission is accomplished, in part, through a partnership with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), a forest certification standard that promotes sustainable forest management.

The SFI program recognizes fiber from ATFS-certified forests, so forest product manufacturers are able to source logs from tree farmers like the DeFrees to certify content for SFI label use. The SFI label enables consumers a guarantee that their wood and paper products come from legal and responsible sources.

The Defrees Tree Farm is located in Baker County in northeast Oregon and sells its saw logs to Boise Cascade.

“It’s always a pleasure to work with a family like the DeFrees, who are excellent forest stewards and whose values and priorities are directly in line with SFI’s,” said John Fullerton, Wood Procurement Manager at Boise-Cascade. “Boise Cascade has Chain-of-Custody certification from SFI, so we build business relationships with partners that share our commitment to sustainability. We’ve been sourcing logs from the DeFrees for a long time. It’s clear through their management practices that they’re committed to sustaining environmental resources for future generations, so this recognition as National Tree Farmers of the Year is well deserved.”

Father and son duo, Lyle and Dean Defrees, along with their family, Sharon Defrees, Dallas Hall, Riley Hall, Nathan Defrees, Jess Defrees, Tyler Defrees and Max Patashnik, have been protecting their forested land, the wildlife habitat it provides, and the water supply that runs through it, for more than 100 years.

“We’re truly honored to be chosen as the National Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year,” said Lyle Defrees. “Our family has had a passion for our land and conservation for generations. Most everything we do is to protect our land from fire so it can continue to provide for us, the wildlife in our region, and our fellow Oregonians. We joined ATFS in 1980 because we wanted to be a part of a community of other forest owners that share our interest, where we could learn from them, as well as share our own experiences and help others.”

The DeFrees Tree Farm operates in a region of the state prone to intense wildfires that have consumed both forest and homes, and affected the watersheds that supply the communities of the state with their drinking water. The Defrees experienced ones of these wildfires firsthand when the Huckleberry Forest Fire of 1986 burned 500 acres of their 2,000-acre Tree Farm. Devastated by the effects, the Defrees committed to protecting their forest and all that it provides from future loss.  The result of the Defrees hard work and commitment to sound forest practices has had tremendous impact on the ground – a fire resilient forest, needed wildlife habitat, healthy creeks and waterways and more.

“The Defrees family lives a land ethic that predates the 75-year legacy of the American Tree Farm System,” said Scott Hayes, Chair of the Oregon Tree Farm System.  “For over a century they have practiced sustainable forest and cattle management.  Their storybook tale is about pioneering the West, with a foundation built on family and land.  They truly are National Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year.”

The Defrees family will be honored along with the Regional Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year on December 6, at a reception on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the 75^th Anniversary of the program.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 15, 2016

Contact: Sara Duncan, 503-371-2942, sara@www.ofic.com
Cindy Mitchell, 360-791-9372, cmitchell@wfpa.org
Lindsay VanLaningham, 916-899-4517, lindsayv@calforests.org

On April 14, 2016, the United States Fish & Wildlife Service (the “Service”) concluded that west coast populations of fisher are not facing extinction and recognized that collaborative voluntary conservation efforts by state agencies and private landowners are providing conservation benefits for fisher on millions of acres across the range of the fisher in three states. The Service found that the threats to fisher were significantly less than feared, and did not warrant a listing under the Endangered Species Act.

“We applaud the Service’s decision not to list the fisher because it is good for the fisher,” said Kristina McNitt, President of Oregon Forest & Industries Council. “Forest landowners in Oregon are committed to protecting fish and wildlife and preserving habitat for species like the fisher. This progressive development underscores the dedication of the Oregon forest industry and the United States Fish & Wildlife Service to work collaboratively to achieve common environmental goals. We look forward to implementing the industry’s pledged conservation goals to protect and expand fisher habitat and hope this collaborative effort acts as a model for the future.”

The Service recognized that there were a number of federal, state, tribal and private partners that came together in California, Oregon and Washington to conserve fisher habitat and restore the population.

“The work we did together is a testament that landowners, the state, tribal and federal governments can develop voluntary measures that protect wildlife species, and the forestry business at the same time,” said Mark Doumit, Executive Director of the Washington Forest Protection Association.

“I applaud the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for recognizing that the voluntary efforts between California, Oregon and Washington to preserve and enhance the habitat of the pacific fisher are beyond what is needed to maintain a robust population. Our collaborative efforts show our commitment to the long-term stability of the species. We’ve found that these types of successful partnerships are best enhanced through both public and private landowner participation, and we look forward to continuing our efforts across jurisdictional boundaries in the West,” said David Bischel, President of the California Forestry Association.

The fisher is among the larger members of the weasel family that also includes the marten, otter, and mink. It is found in much of the northern United States, including populations in Washington, Oregon, and California. The fisher’s historic range was significantly curtailed toward the turn of the last century due, primarily, to trapping and pest control. Today, healthy populations persist in the southern Sierra Nevadas, in northern California and southwest Oregon, and on the Olympic peninsula in Washington.

Recognizing that abundant fisher habitat exists on private and public lands throughout the Coast and Cascade mountain ranges, landowners have worked with the Service to protect existing populations, and to reintroduce fisher in suitable habitat outside of its current range. In Washington, reintroduction efforts have been underway since 2008, and a programmatic candidate conservation agreement with assurances (“CCAA”) that would protect fisher found on state and private lands for 20 years is nearing completion. More than 25 landowners and 1.4 million acres have enrolled in the CCAA. In Oregon, landowners have indicated their intention to enroll more than three million acres of forestland under a template CCAA that requires fisher protection measures for 30 years. Oregon landowners have also offered significant financial support for proposed fisher monitoring and reintroduction efforts. Similarly, California landowners have successfully reintroduced fisher on private lands, enrolled more than 1 million acres in CCAAs and related projects benefiting the fisher, including efforts to enroll additional lands.
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The Oregon Forest & Industries Council is a trade association representing more than 50 Oregon forestland owners and forest products manufacturers. Our members combine sustainable forest management practices with the latest science and technology to continuously improve the environmental, social and economic value of healthy working forests. We protect and manage more than 5 million acres of Oregon forestlands, employ nearly 60,000 Oregonians, and make Oregon the nation’s largest state producer of softwood and plywood. For more information, go to ofic.com.

The Washington Forest Protection Association is a trade association representing private forest landowners in Washington state. Members of the 100-year-old association are large and small companies, individuals and families who practice sustainable forestry in Washington’s private forests on about 4 million acres of forestland. WFPA is committed to advancing sustainable forestry in Washington to provide forest products and environmental benefits to the public. For more information, go to wfpa.org.

The California Forestry Association is a non-profit trade association representing California’s forest products profession. We are dedicated to ensuring an adequate and sustainable supply of forest products at an affordable cost, while enhancing forest health and safety. www.calforests.org