Hyla Woods and Ash Updates
Our plan is to use this post as venue for sharing ongoing updates on the challenges related to the discovery of Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) here in our neck of the woods. As the story continues to unfold, updates will be added to the bottom of the post, so feel free to check back. June […]
Accelerating Climate-Smarter Forestry Report
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Learning From Students –
Twenty-five architecture students stood in a semicircle around the tree. They had chosen this tree because, of all the trees in the tightly spaced grove of thirty year old firs, it was the smallest and least vigorous. Losing the competition for sun and other sustaining resources, we all knew that the tree’s decline would continue […]
Starting and Ending With Forests –
Starting and Ending With Forests – It is inspiring and heartening to see the increasing levels of commitment to and investment in climate-smarter forestry (CSF) and climate-smart forest products. Like all who are involved with the work, I am determined to see the energetic talk translate into tangible results. As owners and stewards of a […]
2022 Annual State of the Creek Report – Catlin Gabel Class of 2028
It’s always good to get back in the woods! This was especially the case this year when 7th grade students from Catlin Gabel School arrived at Hyla Woods on an unseasonably warm and dry day. It was early October, time for our annual environmental assessment of Lousignont Creek. Over the course of six field trips […]
Lest We Forget – “Culvert Operations”!
I knew that I was a little too pleased with my accomplishment, but I just couldn’t help it. After two, long days of puzzling, experimenting, fussing, digging and more digging I’d done it. In two road sections that had been perennially wet and muddy year around, the two culverts I’d just installed now provide a […]
In Praise of Ash – In Love with Ash – Hearts and Systems Broken – August 2022:
When Aldo shared his now famous observation “One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives….. in a world of wounds” he got it only half right. In my experience, an ecological education opens the doors to not only the wounds but also to the joys and wonders of the world around […]
Portland State University Students Assess Biodiversity in Mt. Richmond Forest
Hyla Woods offers an immersive experience in a biodiverse forest setting within a 45-minute drive from the Portland State University (PSU) campus. This area was the original homeland of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, Atfalati, Kalapuya and Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians. These woods offer an example of a sustainably managed and ecologically complex […]
Seeing the Airport from the Forest
There are many reasons why the current renovation and reconstruction at the Portland Airport is significant and worthy of attention. As a Coast Range forest owner and steward, viewing the project from a distance, I’m unfortunately not the right person to enumerate all of the reasons why we should take note of and learn from […]
Annual State of Lousignont Creek Report – December 2021
Over the past nine school years the 7th grade class of Catlin Gabel School has embarked on the important (often wet, cold, and muddy) work of assessing the water quality of Lousignont Creek as it flows though Hyla Woods on its way to the Pacific. Students learn the ways of the field scientist and work […]
