FW: Updated Tree School Details | Oct. 25th
Teresa Matteson
From: Liz Olson <wvoakpra...@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2025 10:18 AM
Subject: Updated Tree School Details | Oct. 25th
Hello all,
I'd like to share this updated announcement with more details about Tree School. Please share this special event with your networks. Hope to see you there!
Join us for Tree School Lane, October 25, 2025, at Churchill High School in Eugene
Tree School is a one-day mini college covering a wide variety of forestry-related topics. New this year, we're teaming up with the Willamette Valley Oak and Prairie Summit for an oak management track, with classes on oak ecosystems, management, and cultural importance. We will also have a lunchtime demo on acorn processing! Whether you’re managing a small woodland, restoring oak-prairie habitat, or caring for trees in your neighborhood, there’s something here for you.
Pre-registration is required, and the fee includes refreshments and a delicious catered lunch. Register by October 8 for the early-bird rate of $65. Fee increases to $75 on October 9. Registration closes October 19.
Register online at https://beav.es/Tree-School-Lane.
Oak class descriptions:
- Morning: Willamette Valley Oak Ecosystems
Oak savannas and woodlands once covered expansive areas of the Willamette Valley. Today, these fire-adapted and vitally important biodiverse ecosystems have been reduced to a fraction of their original extent and are in need of conservation and restoration. Come learn about what makes Willamette Valley oak ecosystems special, including the oaks themselves, oak-associated plant communities and wildlife, their cultural importance, and oak resilience to drought and fire. Presentations will provide a broad background and highlight active, ongoing research into oak recovery in differing habitat conditions, from mycorrhizae to acorns to physiological response to release from competition.
Instructors: Ed Alverson, Natural Areas Coordinator, Lane County and Ava Howard, Professor of Biology, Western Oregon University
- Late morning: ACORN PEOPLE: Culture and Oak Stewardship Through Understanding a Local Native Food
What does it mean to prepare for upcoming climate instability and possible food insecurity as land and tree stewards? Oaks are drought-adapted and serve as a strong foundation for a diverse native ecosystem, providing abundant food for wildlife, as well as for humans. In this workshop, we will explore acorn culture from both a local Indigenous lens and a global one, and discuss the potential and practicalities of incorporating these trees into our personal food sources. We will share examples of ways to eat acorns and methods for increasing oak health and acorn production. Using acorns as food can inspire a shared responsibility for this valuable cultural resource and a resilient landscape.
Instructors: Heron Brae, Educator, Brae Botanical Ways and Joe Scott, Curriculum Director, Traditional Ecological Inquiry Program
- Lunch Demo: Acorn Processing
Discover traditional and modern techniques for acorn processing in this live demonstration. Learn how to prepare acorns as a nutritious and culturally significant food source. This demo will take the full 30 minutes.
Instructors: Heron Brae, Educator, Brae Botanical Ways and Joe Scott, Curriculum Director, Traditional Ecological Inquiry Program.
- Afternoon: Oak Habitat Restoration and Management
Considering an oak restoration project? Wondering where to start, what actions you should take, and how to support oak and prairie wildlife? This session will draw on experiences from local restoration practitioners and naturalists who have been engaging in oak habitat management and restoration for over a decade. We’ll start with an in-depth look at our bee fauna and bee-plant interactions in oak-prairie habitats of the Willamette Valley, then share goals, practical steps, and tools for restoring oak plant communities and wildlife habitat. We’ll conclude with a case study of Jackson Meadow, a 27-acre site within Oregon State University’s McDonald-Dunn Research Forest in Corvallis, where critical oak and prairie habitat was restored while also researching a variety of restoration techniques. Together these talks support our understanding of how to care for these important ecosystems, their flora, and their fauna in today’s landscape.
Presenters: August Jackson, Refuge Program Coordinator and Taxonomist, Oregon Bee Atlas, Emily Steel, Ecologist, Eugene Parks and Open Space, Paul Reed, Ph.D., Restoration Ecologist, Institute for Applied Ecology
- Late afternoon: Prescribed Burning in the Willamette Valley
This session will feature a panel discussion with local prescribed fire practitioners on the ins and outs of burning in the Willamette Valley. Topics will include the reasons to incorporate fire into land management, the steps necessary to safely plan and implement a burn, operational challenges, emergent collaborations for burning on private and other non-public lands, and opportunities for training and getting involved.
This is a panel discussion moderated by Sara Worl, Restoration Projects Manager, Long Tom Watershed Council with panelists
- Katie MacKendrick, South Willamette Prescribed Burn Association
o Sara Fraser, South Willamette Prescribed Burn Association
o Tiffany Perez, Long Tom Watershed Council
o Derek Johnson, land steward in the Long Tom watershed
See the full catalog and register here: https://beav.es/Tree-School-Lane