From Forests & Fields
A cornerstone of LFFF is to provide a platform for land stewards to speak for themselves. No one knows farming better than farmers. No one knows how to care for a forest better than a forester or forest landowner. And no one tells the boots-on-the-ground story better than those with boots on the ground.
Here is a sampling of our view from forests and fields.
2026
Huh. When it comes to natural resources, there’s always more to learn.
Theresa Hausser / The Chronicle
Many years ago, I walked home irritated with my spiritual director (my professional training is as a minister). Her sin? She had said that she thought I’d be a lot happier if I were a little less judgmental.* [read more]
2025
What we see depends on where we stand
Kate McMichael | The Chronicle
Have you ever watched strangers interacting outside a bus (or train or car) window and found yourself creating a story in your mind to explain their conversation? Or wondered about the lives of people in the houses you pass as you drive along I-5 … [read more]
2023
Caring for our planet is easy; taking care of it? Not that simple
Theresa Hausser | The Chronicle
It’s one of those early mornings, and I’m hoping my ablutions are uneventful. I pull my scleral contact lenses, insertion device, and lens solution, decide to open an additional bottle of solution (nothing like not enough saline to make lens insertion go horribly awry), and get to work… [read more]
Mismanagement of lands causing grief in wildfire season
Melinda Montgomery | The Chronicle
As I sit here writing this, the hazy air brings up anxiety reminiscent of September 2020. It also brings up frustrations over the continued mismanagement of our federally managed state lands… [read more]
A forest-and-fire journey: not the retirement I’d ever imagined
Kate McMichael | The Chronicle
I’m standing along the wall at the Walterville Grange, looking out over 40-some people gathered for a Lane Families for Farms & Forests tour up the McKenzie, focused on working forestry and ag lands and their relationship to watershed health. I hear my name and refocus… [read more]
Caring for woodlands had steep learning curve
Theresa Hausser | The Chronicle
In 2019, my wife and I took retirement money to purchase 39 acres of F2 woodland in Vida. Kate was relishing a return to the PNW; I was both eagerly and anxiously anticipating our departure from my native California. To say we were unprepared to care for a woodland property would be an understatement… [read more]
Working lands yield essential resources, habitat, jobs
Pami Monnette | The Chronicle
Based on recent local discussions and issues, it is apparent that many people in Lane County think that all our natural spaces would be better off without active management. Somehow, we can go back in time, take people out of the equation, and let these spaces go back to their “natural state.” Seems silly, right? [read more]
Generational knowledge, passion for farming
Tiffany Monroe | The Chronicle
With time and, most honestly, after painful seasons of maturity, we learn that there is a divine moment for every purpose, embracing silence or choosing to speak. After being married, I agree that there is a time for everything and that mindful communication is a skill and a blessing. But this is something I have struggled with in my life… [read more]
2018
Farmers, Foresters seek common ground with neighbors
Marie Bowers and Gordon Culbertson | The Register Guard
As residents of Lane County, we are fortunate to live where the scenery is green and pristine, the air is fresh, and the water is some of the purest in the country. Within minutes of the city we can be out exploring the forests or driving through the fields… [read more]
2017
Farmers, foresters seek urban allies in Oregon’s Lane County
Mateusz Perkowski | The Capital Press
With roughly 60 percent of its population living on 1 percent of its land base, Lane County typifies the disconnect between Oregon’s urban and rural areas. However, residents of the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area can hardly be blamed for misconceptions they may have… [read more]