The Oregon Tree Farm System (OTFS) is announcing that Pam and Jock Dalton of Polk County have been selected Oregon’s Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year for 2024. Pam and Jock received the award at the Oregon Family Forest Convention in June. That convention was jointly hosted by the Oregon Tree Farm System and the Oregon Small Woodlands Association (OSWA).
Pam Dalton has deep roots on the family’s 700+ acre tree farm near Dallas, Ore. The farm has been in her family since 1917. Jock plays an integral role in actively managing the forest with Pam.
The Oregon Tree Farm System emphasizes the values of wood, water, wildlife, and recreation. Pam and Jock epitomize the attention tree farmers give to the sustainability of all four values. “People should not be intimidated by the challenges of managing a tree farm; just take it one bite at a time,” Jock Dalton advises, adding, “Pam and I are honored to be chosen Oregon’s 2024 Tree Farmers of the Year.”
The Daltons harvest timber and replant, as well as promoting forest health and growth through a pre-commercial and commercial thinning regime. They maintain and protect two springs on their forest, as well as a pond, replacing the dike as necessary using their own heavy equipment. Bear, cougar, deer and elk have happy homes on their forest, along with a host of birds and smaller mammals. The Daltons host campouts at their family gathering spot in a shelter built by an earlier generation, complete with a dinner bell that Pam enjoys ringing.
Pam and Jock are proud of their Tree Farm Certification and the hard work they do that shows they are managing their forest by American Tree Farm System’s International Standards of Sustainability, and the part they play in fulfilling the purpose of the Oregon Tree Farm System: Making Oregon a Better Place, One Acre at a Time.
“OTFS’s Tree Farmer of the Year program celebrates the sustainable forest practices all our members espouse, and we are proud of the Daltons and all the County Tree Farmers of the Year,” says Steve and Wylda Cafferata, Co-Chairs of the Oregon Tree Farm System.
For 58 years, the Oregon Tree Farm System has recognized family forest landowners who provide forest benefits and products using sound forestry management.
The American Tree Farm System and its state chapters operate an internationally recognized forest certification program overseen by and for family forest landowners to promote sustainable forest management through education, recognition, and assistance.
