History of Starker Forests

Growing Forests, Not Just Trees

A Family History

StarkerForestsHistory_Betty-TJ-Bond-Barte-Bruce

(left to right) Betty, TJ, Bond, Barte, Bruce
Mouse over their names below to read more

Thurman James “T.J.” Starker

Starker Forests, Inc,. is a fifth-generation, family-owned business that began when the family’s patriarch, Thurman James (T.J.) Starker, had the foresight to purchase second growth forests beginning in 1936. At the time, few people placed much value on second-growth parcels since no one envisioned that then plentiful old-growth forests would someday be in short supply.

T.J. was one of the first four forestry graduates from Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University) in 1910. He completed his masters degree in forestry at the University of Michigan and joined the faculty of the OAC School of Forestry in 1922. He was a professor there until 1942, when he left to manage his forest lands. Throughout his career, T.J. stressed the importance of regeneration of timberland. He was highly regarded for his contributions as an educator, forester and active citizen.

T.J. based his land purchases on several criteria: the land had to have no snags on the ridges, gentle terrain, and good drainage. Most important of all, however, was that the land “be a good buy!”

Bruce & Betty Starker

Bruce Starker, son of T.J. and Margaret Starker, was an OSC (now Oregon State University) School of Forestry graduate in 1940 and went on to earn a master’s degree in forest management from Yale University. When he came back from World War II, he joined his father in purchasing and managing their forest holdings. Bruce’s main interest was forest management, by which he hoped to maintain perpetual forest for both public and private use through reforestation and sound forest conservation practices.

Starker Forests was officially formed in 1971, with partners T.J., Bruce, Bruce’s wife, Betty; and their two sons, Bond and Barte (also OSU forestry graduates). Bruce died in an airplane crash in 1975, at which time Betty, Bond, Barte and Gary Blanchard took over management of the company. Starker Forests, Inc. was formed in 1981, and T.J. remained active in the company until his death in 1983.

Barte Starker

Barte Starker graduated from Corvallis High School in 1968 and from Oregon State University in 1972 with a degree in forestry. At age 22, he entered the family business and worked at Starker Forests until his retirement in 2015. Barte served on many forestry boards and committees throughout the state including the Oregon Board of Forestry, the Oregon Natural Resources Education Fund, and the Oregon Forest Resource Institute. He was also involved with the Oregon Coast Aquarium, the Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation, Rotary, and the Boys and Girls Club of Corvallis.

Barte passed away in 2017 of complications from Parkinson’s disease but his leadership in the forest sector in Oregon continues to guide Starker Forests.

Bond Starker

Bond graduated from Corvallis High School in 1965 and is a 1969 graduate of the Oregon State University College of Forestry. He took over leadership of Starker Forests along with Barte in 1975, when their father Bruce was killed in a plane crash. As president of Starker Forests, Bond’s responsibilities included management of administrative and financial matters, tax matters and federal regulatory requirements.

He served on the boards of numerous industry organizations, including Oregon Forest Industries Council, Northwest Woodlands Owners Council and American Forest and Paper Association. He also served on many charitable boards, including the OSU Foundation, and Old Mill Center for Children and Families. Bond retired from the position of president and CEO in 2017. He continues his leadership of the company on the board of directors as chair emeritus.

Then and Now

Foresters use aerial photos like these to help manage the forest. The photos on this page show Blodgett, Oregon, as taken from an aerial view in 1948, 1968, 1986, 1995, 2012 and 2022.

Foresters use aerial photos like these to help manage the forest. The photos on this page show Blodgett, Oregon, as taken from an aerial view in 1948, 1968, 1986, 1995, 2000, 2012 and 2022. The center area is the Starker Forestry Trail off Tum Tum Road. Much of the land on the trail was the site of a homestead in the 1870s and had been burned by the Yaquina Fire in the 1850s. While the land once held cultivated fields and an orchard, it reverted to trees when the homestead was abandoned. Some of the trees on the old homestead have been forested and the land reforested.

1948

1968

1986

1995

2012

2022

Select a year to see the aerial view

The last thing to notice about these aerial photos (and most important from a forester’s perspective) is the change in forest cover over time. The lighter areas in the 1948 photo are non-forested, farmed or cut-over lands. Notice as time goes on, much of the picture becomes darker as trees grow in.

More recently, some of the mature timber that grew between 1946 and 2002 has been harvested. Note also that some of the landscape near Highway 20 is farmland and has remained so over the years.

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