New president looks back and forward as well

By Tim Otis

Linn County Chapter incoming president

As we, who live in western Oregon, look ahead to 2021, we should probably look back at the last year for what may help us move forward. I know, I didn’t want to either.  

First, Covid 19.  For those who have lost loved ones to this, there are really no adequate words.  Remember that your family and friends care about you, want to support you in any way they can.  If you were ill and recovered, as my niece and my son were and did, you are truly a fighter.  If you were an “essential worker”, bagging groceries, driving trucks, or caring for patients in the hospital, as my daughter was, we salute and thank you.  I know this is not over, but hopefully it will be soon.  Here are the lessons I have tried to learn from this time:

• Hiking in the woods is a treasure.  Last week we hiked a beautiful urban forest with my family, wearing masks and separated on the trail.  It was a complete joy.
• Take the long view.  Generations before us have been through struggles with disease.  Many diseases were battled up through the 19^th century, Influenza during WWI, Polio throughout the 20^th century until the vaccine in the 1950s.  We are the latest chapter.  I was reminded of these generations once when using an increment borer to get a core sample from a huge Ponderosa pine tree.  It was almost 300 years old and still growing.  It had multiple burn scars.  The forest, and our human family, are resilient.  We must remember that no matter what, the trees will outlive us.  We do the best we can to care for them and each other while we are here.
• Value the time alone.  As much as being alone is a challenge, it is also a gift.  You can never predict what you may learn.  This year I walked to corners of our tree farm that I had not seen in decades.  As I was walking, I first heard, then saw, a Pileated woodpecker.  Shockingly large, white stripes on the neck, sharp red crested head, he continued pecking as I just stood and stared in awe.

Next, Fire.  For those of us who tend trees, fire is always in the back of mind.  This year it was in front. Here in Linn County, as September wore on, we were all watching the Lionshead, Beachie Creek, and Holiday Farm fires, then trying to survive the smoke for weeks.  In Southern Oregon and along the North Santiam, thousands of homes were lost.  Some of you have lost your trees to fire.  The take-aways are much harder to talk about than I thought as I began this writing:

• Fire has always been a part of the landscape here.  We know that, intellectually.  Emotionally, though, it makes no sense as you look at the ash and metal that was your home.  Time, the great healer, may offer some peace.
• The trees will grow back.  We can now have some perspective on the Tillamook burns in the 1930’s and 40’s.  Those 80-year old trees are now some of the most magnificent forests in Oregon.
• Going forward, we can, to a degree, prepare for catastrophic fires.  We can create defensible space around our dwellings, build with non-combustible materials, remove ladder fuels, maintain wider and better roads, create water sources.

Finally, Us.  I would encourage each one of you to reach out and call someone who may be alone or discouraged.  Whether Zoom, or FaceTime, or simply the sound of your voice on the phone, it would, I’m sure, be appreciated.