Southern Oregon Small Diameter Collaborative
The Economizer conversts harvested small diameter timber into useable product on site in the field.
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Mission:
to remove small diameter trees from dense forests in order to improve forest health, reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire, and strengthen the contribution of forest workers and industry to community well-being.
Southwest Oregon RC&D Council provides support to the Southern Oregon Small Diameter Collaborative project in the form of coordination, grant writing and grant administration.
About Us
History
Our Partners
Landscape Assessment
Project overview
The Southern Oregon Small Diameter collaborative brings together loggers, agency, foresters, environmentalist and active community members to promote the removal of small diameter timber for healthy forests, economics and fire suppression.
Forest ecosystems in southern Oregon have been altered through a long history of logging practices and fire exclusion, which has lead to uncharacteristically high densities of small diameter trees and brush. This results not only in a greater likelihood and severity of wildfire, but has altered the function of these fire-adapted ecosystems, often with negative consequences.
In the last several decades, the communities of the Rogue Basin have also undergone profound social and economic changes. Most sawmills that proliferated in the region are gone, along with much of the social and economic infrastructure that supported the timber industry.
In the midst of these changes, residents in the Rogue Basin continue to be actively interested in forestry activities that can reduce the risk of catastrophic fire, promote ecological health, and provide employment opportunities.
Field workers climbing a yarder to minimizes the impacts of small diameter thinning.
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Progressive and increasingly accepted methods of ecosystem restoration are being developed to restore forests to healthier and more vigorous conditions. However, social, economic and technical limitations have prevented large scale harvest and utilization of small diameter trees, both traditionally commercial and non-commercial.
The Small Diameter Stewardship Collaborative has come together to encourage landscape level attention to these conditions and to work for collaborative solutions. Our success will be measured by an increase in small diameter material removed, leading to reduced risk of unusually severe fires, improved ecological health, and an increase in jobs and economic activity.
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