The Juniper Working Group
The Juniper Working Group (JWG) is a collection of private landowners, resource managers, conservation groups and businesses that are concerned about the expansion of western juniper and its impacts on local watersheds, and local economies in Central and Eastern Oregon. Their mission is three fold:
- Restore healthy watersheds.
- Create family wage jobs.
- Develop juniper products
This will be accomplished by mobilizing local forest products knowledge and skills and by partnering with researchers and community members who are concerned about juniper expansion and are willing to address the problem. By developing commercial markets for products made from Juniper removed from the local landscape, the group hopes to restore the health of local watersheds and create opportunities for family wage employment. Developing these markets will also help to create new long-term sources of finance for juniper treatments on public and private lands.
Outcomes
- Educated the community about the impacts and opportunities associated with Western Juniper expansion
- Conducted studies to increase the efficiency of juniper harvesting and transportation
- Developed a strategic plan to guide their work
- Assisted public and private landowners in developing the partnerships needed to implement juniper treatments
The JWG also initiated the Western Juniper Commercialization feasibility study for the Prineville area and to communicate opportunities and key considerations to business people, community leaders and public lands agency personnel. The cored tasks of the study were to:
- Define the supply of juniper material for the Prineville area
- Prioritize areas for treatment based on anticipated ecological benefits
- Analyze costs and considerations of harvesting and transporting juniper material
- Characterize and map the road network available for performing juniper operations
- Identify public finance available to share costs of supply provision and business start-up
Data is from Oregon Gap Analysis 1998 Landcover for Oregon. Landsat TM Imagery acquired between 1991-1993
More Information
Contact the Crook County office of the OSU Extension at 541-447-6228
Organizational Resources
OSU Extension - Crook County
OSU Western Juniper Website
Central Oregon Partnership for Wildfire Risk Reduction
OSU Juniper Newsletter
“Western Juniper Commercialization Feasibility Study for the Prineville Area”
Western Juniper Manufacturers
Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board
Crooked River Watershed Council
Testimony on western Juniper
State Review of Program Issues Related to Western Juniper
Juniper Research
Juniper Debarking Research
Proceedings: Western Juniper Forum 1997
Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project-Bibliography
Managing Western Juniper to Restore Sagebrush Steppe and Quaking Aspen Stands
Juniper Control Using Combinations of Cutting and Prescribed Fire
Published Resources
“Biology,Ecology and Management of Western Juniper”
OWEB Western Juniper Field Management Guide and Monitoring Results
USFS Western Juniper in Eastern Oregon
OSU Extension Western Juniper: Its Impact and Management in Oregon Rangelands
