Advocates have long maintained that removing Western juniper trees improves rangeland and can provide jobs in rural areas.

A Spray, Ore., landowner was awarded the state’s first loan under a program intended to jump-start the removal of Western juniper trees.

Jim Epley, who is restoring 1,500 acres of long-held family property to be a cattle operation, will use the $39,000 loan to continue cutting and milling juniper trees. He’s bought saws, a trailer, a portable mill and a skid-steer Bobcat to move logs. In addition, he’s hired two people and had a third coming on before recent bad weather force a temporary shutdown.

The state loan program, known as the Western Juniper Industry Fund, was established by the Oregon Legislature in 2015. Advocates have long held that removing intrusive juniper trees from Eastern Oregon rangeland has multiple benefits. Juniper is a “water thief,” as one rancher called it, that can use up to 30 gallons or more of water a day and rob native grasses of moisture.

A study by Oregon State University showed that removing juniper almost instantly improved watersheds and stream flows, and Epley said he’s seen that on his own property.

When he was growing up, the property had multiple springs that bubbled up to the surface in springtime. He left home to do other things, and when he moved back in 1996, juniper trees had crowded in and the springs had dried up.

He decided to clear 10 to 15 acres around one of the springs, cutting the juniper trees and hauling them out.

“The next day, the ground was wet,” he said. “In a week, water was running.”

Stories like that are why researchers, politicians, various government agency experts and environmental groups have pushed for juniper removal. In addition to improving rangeland, they believe juniper logging and milling could revitalize the economy in parts of rural Oregon.

Believing it and making it come about are two different things, however. Juniper is gnarly wood that is tough to cut and mill into lumber, and requires extensive de-limbing. Unlike fir and pine trees in national forests, it grows in areas of the state that often lack logging roads and other infrastructure. In the past, ranchers simply piled it and burned it, because doing more with it was time-consuming and expensive.

However, a small but strong market has emerged for juniper landscape timbers and posts, and some furniture makers seek it out as well. Juniper posts are naturally rot-resistant and don’t have to be treated with preservatives, making them attractive for use in organic vineyards, for example, and in playgrounds.

The Legislature approved the $800,000 juniper industry fund to support removal programs. Of that, $500,000 was intended as loans to increase harvesting and manufacturing; $200,000 was for technical assistance; and $100,000 was for workforce training.

Epley said there is enough juniper on the family property and adjoining neighbors to keep him busy for two or three years, and after that may explore logging elsewhere.

Eric Mortenson | January 18, 2017 | Capital Press | Original Source