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…
State ag board will hear an update on state water policy and juniper control. The Oregon Board of Agriculture will hear about juniper utilization projects, learn about water quality improvements and review agriculture department budget and legislative reports when it meets Sept. 17-19 in Prineville. The need to control or find a commercial use for western juniper, which covers hillsides in much of … Read more
An effort by two Oregon sustainability titans to better harvest and utilize juniper from public lands has earned approval from the state’s top rungs. Gov. John Kitzhaber has designated the Western Juniper Utilization Group as an “Oregon Solutions” project, meaning it will collect $262,000 “to unlock the potential of rangeland restoration and juniper harvested from … Read more
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