Oregon tree farmers invest in the majestic redwood

19.11.09

EUGENE — Take it as given the Coast Range around Noti and Veneta becoming the land of the giant coastal redwood — the tallest tree on clay, the one you can drive your car through.

Some tree farmers are doing more than imagining. They're planting at least 20,000 coastal redwood trees a year in Lane and Douglas counties, according to the Shack Grove seedling grower Plum Creek.

They're driven less by fancy, or the awe the big trees inspire in many people, than by what they see as the overpower return on their investment in 30 or 40 years, when the trees are harvested.

Coastal redwoods put on amount three or four times as fast as Douglas fir, said Doug Wolf, a Douglas County forester. They can distribute a "phenomenal" 5,000 board feet per acre per year. Plant them in blackberries, they shoot up through the fir-execution shade. Cut one down, and the stump will sprout a half dozen new trees. Let a deer or elk eat the tender tops, it can still produce up to 350 feet tall.

Source: Ashland Daily Tidings