When a forester arrives at work around 7 a.m. and the fire truck bay doors are open, they know it’s going to be a long day.

A lightning storm in the middle of a dry summer is a recipe for wildfires and that’s exactly what happened the early morning of Aug. 25, 2023. Oregon Department of Forestry, West Oregon District reported there were 11 fires in the area caused by lightning strikes. ODF West Oregon District protects 1 million acres and has only 10 fire engines at their disposal. That’s why private landowners and those contracted to work those lands are an important part of any firefighting effort.

Starker Forests forester Stephen Coskey, awakened by the lightning, arrived at his office at 4:40 a.m. to assess the situation. By 5:26 a.m. he had sent lighting strike maps to the rest of the Starker Forests’ staff. By 5:50 a.m. Coskey had discussed strategy with Jeff Minter, Starker Forests timber manager, also roused early by the flashes, and by 5:55 a.m. left the office to drive and check Starker Forests properties and surrounding areas for lighting strikes. At the third tree farm he visited, Stephen observed a tree struck by lightning.

Meanwhile, at his house at about 4 a.m., Starker Forests CEO Randy Hereford received a text from Lee Miller, president of Miller Timber Services, offering a crew from his office to assist if necessary.

“Lee is pretty quick to get hold of us and put his crews on notice,” Hereford said. “He’s a good neighbor, community member and always willing to step up.”

At 8:43 a.m. Coskey was back at the office to coordinate response with additional foresters.

Then, a call came in from a Weyerhaeuser forester on patrol who spotted smoke on what would become the Madsen’s Knob Fire. Mike Gassner, a longtime contract logger for Starker Forests, was in the area and went to work right away to open an access road for responders. Independent contractors are required to have their own fire equipment on hand in case of machine fire or spot fires in the area they work. Gassner was key in getting ahead of the situation. Several Starker Forests personnel arrived and helped cut a line around the fire with hand tools and chainsaws.

Another call came in asking for assistance on the Starr Creek Fire, where smoke could be seen but access was nonexistent. Starker staff split up. Some remained at Madson’s Knob to help mop up while others returned to the office to get additional equipment. With more staff and another fire truck, they headed to the Starr Creek Fire, where they joined a variety of other landowners and neighbors to work to control the fire.

Mike Shaw, Oregon Department of Forestry chief of fire protection, said in his report to the ODF board, that the key elements for success to fighting fires this year have been early detection, aggressive initial attack, and aggressive use of aircraft.

Over 24 hours, the dry lightning event in Oregon included 1,030 cloud to ground lightning strikes; 452 of those were on ODF protected land.

This was a dry lightning event predicted to take place west of the Cascades, which Shaw said is unusual. Over his 24-year career, he has never seen dry lightning from the California border to Washington west of the Cascades as it typically is accompanied by rain.

The South Mountain Fire in Benton County was on very difficult terrain Shaw said. However, it was caught at 12 acres. Which was amazing with everything else going on. Shaw credited the response of private landowners and a helicopter placed in the area ahead of events.

When it comes to hand crews and machinery, ODF relies heavily on the contractor and landowner community. They call this the complete and coordinated system, which is part of ODF’s core mission. It is unique to Oregon as no other state utilizes fire resources this way.

“They continually come to the table and bail us out,” Shaw said.

ODF cannot cover every place alone. During the Aug. 24 and Aug. 25 lighting strikes, Shaw said, there were fires that ODF never went to. Landowners were out there and put it out.

“And then we went out to make sure and got it cleaned up and got it into the system so we can track it from a statewide perspective,” he said. “That really is how the system works.”

Gary Springer, an integral part of Starker Forests from early 2003 to his retirement in fall of 2019, has left his mark upon earth with healthier forests and heartier friendships.

The late Barte Starker knew Gary would be great addition to the Starker Forests team because of his commitment to sound forestry practices and his knowledge about Oregon forest policy.

In recent years, many people remember Gary for always volunteering to drive the “Starker bus” for forestry field trips for both forestry groups and the public.

We at Starker Forests, Inc. will greatly miss Gary’s frequent visits, in spite of his being “retired.”

More than 70,000 acres of Starker Forests’ land are available for hunting and recreation in Linn, Benton, Polk, Lane and Lincoln counties. Our lands are great for hiking, hunting, fishing, cycling and nature lovers. We issue access permits for all our property open to the public. In return, we ask that you respect the land and follow our regulations. No ATVs or motorcycles are allowed in our tree farms. Please drive only on logging roads.

Gary Blanchard of Starker Forests has been presented the Oregon Society of American Foresters’ Lifetime Achievement Award. This award is presented to persons to recognize their lifetime contribution to SAF and lifetime achievement in the forestry profession by an OSAF member.

Blanchard has worked for Starker Forests for nearly 59 years.  Although semi-retired, he still comes into the office an hour or so every day as he works on two projects: 1) a book to document the history of the company’s lands, and 2) conducting video interviews of people who have been integral to the growth and success of the company.

Blanchard grew up in the small town of Mosier, Oregon, at the east end of the Columbia River Gorge. He went to college at Oregon State University, graduating in 1961 with a BS degree in Forest Management.

Blanchard worked for Starker Forests while in college. Upon his graduation, and with his wife pregnant with their first child, Blanchard was given a permanent position by TJ Starker and Bruce Starker, the first two generations of Starker Forests’ owners. He was the first non-family employee of Starker Forests. When Bruce died in an airplane accident in 1975, Blanchard became the company’s chief forester, a position he held until he “retired” at the age of 70 in 2009. Until 1972, he was the company’s only employee. Since then, another dozen or so foresters have come on board.

For all new Starker foresters, Blanchard has been a mentor. When Bruce Starker died, TJ Starker had given up his active role in the management of the company.  The leadership of the company fell to Bond and Barte Starker, the third generation of Starker Forests’ owners – both still in their 20s.  Blanchard’s leadership at the time was crucial in helping Bond and Barte successfully take on their roles as the company’s owners and managers.

Under Blanchard’s guidance, thousands of acres of Coast Range forests have been converted from underproductive brush lands into highly productive conifer forests. Many of those forests have now reached the age where they are being commercially thinned for the first time.

Blanchard was especially valuable to the company when it came to neighbor relations. He frequently stopped for lunch at small, rural cafes where he became acquainted with a lot of neighbors. In addition, he served on watershed councils.  These outreach efforts created good will with neighbors that continues to this day.

Blanchard has been a strong supporter of the Oregon Tree Farm System. For many years, he worked with a tree farm committee to choose the recipient of the state’s Tree Farmer of the Year. He also inspected and certified/re-certified several tree farms.

A mentor to every one of the company’s foresters, Blanchard encouraged them all to become active members of SAF.

To that end:

• Gary (2003), Mark Gourley, Marc Vomocil, and Jennifer Beathe have all received SAF’s Presidential Field Forester Award
• Gary (1988), Dick Powell, Marc Vomocil, and Gary Springer have been honored as SAF Fellows
• Gary (1987), Bond Starker, Barte Starker, and Dick Powell were selected as OSAF Forester of the Year
• Gary (1981), Marc Vomocil, and Dick Powell were elected as OSAF chairs
• Gary (late 1970s), Randy Hereford, Marc Vomocil, Dick Powell, and Jennifer Beathe served as Mary’s Peak Chapter chairs
• Dick Powell was given SAF’s Outstanding Communicator Award
• Gary Springer and Mark Gourley (twice) were selected as recipients of OSAF’s Tough Tree Award

These awards and service to SAF culminated in Starker Forests receiving OSAF’s inaugural Heritage Award in 2016 and earned the company the national SAF Employer Support Award later that same year.

In addition to SAF leadership roles mentioned above, Blanchard served as the general chair when the Mary’s Peak Chapter hosted OSAF’s annual meeting in 2010. In 1992, he helped develop the OR Forest Industries Council’s Stream Classification and Protection System proposal. Then, in 2004, the dean asked him to serve on the OSU College of Forestry’s McDonald-Dunn Planning Team and where he helped develop the long-term management plan for the University’s forests.

Bob Alverts, Jim Rombach, and George Brown each submitted letters of support for Gary.

Nicole Wallace is the new chief financial officer at Starker Forests, Inc. in Corvallis.

Wallace graduated Oregon State University after earning a degree in accounting and has worked as a certified public accountant in public accounting until moving into the private business sector.

She came to Starker in October from Kernutt Stokes.

Wallace replaces Steve Wyatt, who retired in April after 33 years with Starker.

We are gearing up for one of our most fun events of the year, Tree Planting Day. This year, Tree Planting Day is scheduled for February 29th. The trees that grow in western Oregon are dormant in the the winter and that makes this time of year perfect for planting seedlings. At Starker Forests, we plant nearly 500,000 seedlings each year. Tree Planting Day was established in the early 1990’s to offer young Scouts the opportunity to plant seedlings and earn a merit badge. The event is open for registration to boy scouts, cub scouts, girl scouts and brownies and other friends of Starker Forests.

Each participant is given ten trees to plant. We have helper tree planting instructors from the Philomath High School Forestry Class. Groups of tree planters will be paired with a high school student “professional” tree planter. The species of trees are mixed but the most popular is the Douglas fir, Oregon’s state tree. Douglas fir grows well in western Oregon and is a preferred species for structural lumber and wood frame building. We also plant other species, such as western hemlock, grand fir, western red cedar and spruce.

To make sure we have a really fun event, our friends from Boys Scout Troop 2 in Corvallis build a “kitchen” where they prepare hot chocolate and hot dogs. After planting their seedlings, tree planters can come to the kitchen to enjoy a warm drink and some food. Finally, participants can stop at our t-shirt table to pick up a Tree Planting Day t-shirt.

We cross our fingers for good weather, but we remember that real tree planters plant trees in all kinds of weather, including rain. After this day, everyone can agree that they are real tree planters now.

Have you wondered how private forests in western Oregon are managed to provide timber, wildlife habitat, recreation and clean air and water? Join us for a free, guided forest tour! The 2019 Starker Forests Summer Tours begin on Wednesday, July 3rd. Each Wednesday in July and August, we will host a tour to the forests of the Oregon Coast Range. Additional Georgia Pacific Sawmill Tours are on July 10th and 24th and August 7th and 21st. For more information and to sign up go to: www.visitcorvallis.com/articles/2019-starker-forest-tours.

Starker Forests, Inc. announced today the appointment of Randy Hereford as President and Chief Executive Officer. Formerly VP Timber & Chief Forester, Hereford has served the forest management company in increasingly responsible positions since he began in September 1978.

Hereford holds Forest Engineering and Forest Management degrees from Oregon State University. He serves currently with state and national forestry organizations including National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO), Oregon Forest & Industry Council (OFIC), and OSU Institute on Working Forest Lands. He is also a board member of three forest protective associations – West Lane, Linn, and West Oregon (past president). He is a member of the Council on Forest Engineering (COFE).  In addition, he is a member of Society of American Foresters (SAF) and is an SAF Certified Forester

According to Bond Starker, Chairman of the Board, “Randy has been a dedicated and valued member of our forestry staff for over 40 years. He has served as a senior member of our management team, and we are especially impressed with his ability to inspire and develop our younger foresters.”

Hereford replaces Jake Gibbs who resigned in early May.

Starker Forests, now in its fourth generation of family ownership, will continue to be guided by our core values – environmental, economic and social sustainability – and by our strong commitment to community service, ethical conduct and the advancement of forestry education and research. We are Forest Landowners and Managers since 1936.