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 75th Anniversary of the program.
