Mealey park plan on the menu for Linn picnic

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Sunnyside Park lived up to its name Saturday Sept. 14 for the annual Linn County Small Woodlands Assoc. picnic.
Temperatures were in the mid-70s on a day sandwiched between two rainy days.
Much of the conversation for the day centered on the Robert H. Mealey pine fund and a proposal to build a demonstration pine grove at the park.
The chapter and Linn County parks are in the early stages of discussion about the proposal. Approvals would have to come from the Linn County commissioners.
Retired Cascade Timber Consulting Inc. chief Howard Dew provided a number of published photos and newspaper clippings highlighting Mealey’s career as a forester and ardent advocation of the Willamette Valley Ponderosa pine.
Mealey has been called the “Johnny Appleseed of the Willamette Valley” because of his efforts to restore the race of pines that were a prominent tree going back thousands of years.
He grew up the son of a mill owner on property now submerged by Foster Lake. He became a forester after graduating from Oregon State College in 1936 and supervised the replanting of the 1930s Tillamook Burn.
After retirement, Mealey’s efforts focused on the Willamette Pine, collecting seeds and establishing a native pine conservancy orchard near St. Paul. That orchard was dedicated in 2000. 
Among Mealey’s many honors he was selected as the Oregon and Western United States Regional Outstanding Tree Farmer in 1989.
Mealey had two sons —one of them Stephen is a friend of LCSWA board member Sherman Weld. At the picnic, Weld recalled hiking and biking in the hills above Sunnyside. Stephen was a Sweet Home High School senior class president, Weld said. The two have stayed in contact through the years.
Though sales of pine seedlings to woodlands owners, Mealey established the RHM Pine Fund. Through investments, that money has grown to the point that the LCSWA is studying options to create educational opportunities relating to the pines.
At this point, the chapter is looking at partnering with Linn County Parks to create a pine grove with interpretive kiosk and perhaps a walking path.
The group is looking at one-acre site along Quartzville Road east of the main entrance near the ranger residence.
Maps showing the location were available for study by the 30 or so attendees at the picnic.


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