Juniper is a native Oregon species. But decades of fire suppression and grazing have allowed the tree to spread voraciously over Eastern and Central Oregon. That’s a problem because juniper consumes sage grouse habitat and sucks up a lot of water. The Oregon Legislature passed two bills at the end of the session to help boost … Read more
Twisted old Juniper trees can make for a pretty photograph, but they don’t have a lot of commercial uses. And that can be a problem because there are a lot of juniper trees in Eastern Oregon, taking up space and water, and changing the habitat for species like the sage-grouse…
For years, foresters and conservationists have been trying to create new markets for western juniper in Oregon. The species has overrun some parts of the state, and is sucking scarce water from Oregon’s high desert. A handful of custom sawmills that are willing to work with the small knotty tree have experimented with juniper fence … Read more
Sustainable Northwest has secured a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to research the structural characteristics of Western Juniper, which grows across wide swaths of Eastern Oregon. The grant for $64,990, from the U.S.D.A. Rural Development’s Rural Business Enteprise grant program, will help certify the value of Western Juniper for commercial uses…
Oregon’s juniper advocates chalked up a sizable win that validates efforts to cultivate hardwoods from the invasive Eastern Oregon plants. The Oregon State Weed Board has crafted a policy backing “efforts to thin juniper to levels that are historically more in balance with protecting and restoring watershed function.”…
FRENCHGLEN — Rancher and outfitter John Witzel’s boots crunch through 4 inches of snow in a stand of high-desert Western juniper listed on a U.S. Bureau of Land Management cutting schedule. He wonders unhappily what effect all the chopping has on wildlife. One concern this time of year is that juniper collects snow in its … Read more
FOSSIL, Ore. — When you walk into Kendall Derby’s mill, the first thing you notice is the smell. It’s sharp and evergreen, like the high desert after a rain. But Derby doesn’t notice the smell of juniper. ‘People walk in here and they say oh, I love the smell. And I don’t have a sense … Read more
Oregon’s Western Juniper gets a bad rap. Although it’s a native species, juniper forests have spread uncontrollably in the central and eastern parts of the state, threatening sage grouse habitat and sucking the water table dry…