Oregon Reports Nearly 2 Million Seedlings Already Planted This Year

On Tuesday, the Oregon Department of Forestry reported that replanting of state forest timber harvest areas is ahead of schedule, with approximately 2 million seedlings already planted this year.

The agency attributed the early progress to a mild winter and spring-like weather conditions, which allowed uninterrupted planting across most districts. All regions have either completed planting or are expected to finish this month, with the exception of the Klamath Lake district, where about 60,000 seedlings remain and planting typically continues into May.

State Forests Silviculturist John Walter said, “This has been a great planting season with no shutdowns due to weather. All our districts are done or will be this month. The only exception being Klamath Lake—they typically plant into May and have about 60,000 to get in.”

Walter added that species distribution this year included approximately 74% Douglas fir, 17% hemlock, 2% each of western red cedar and noble fir, and 1% each of grand fir and Sitka spruce, with the remaining 3% ponderosa pine.

Seedlings were supplied by nine contracted nurseries across the Pacific Northwest, which provided a total of 2.3 million trees for the planting season.