Dorris Ranch Oak Restoration

Located at the  confluence of the Middle and Coast Fork Willamette Rivers, Dorris Ranch Living History Farm is one of Springfield’s treasured open spaces. In partnership with Willamalane, we released 15 acres of oak woodland and are restoring 33 acres of prairie. Historically, this woodland was dominated by Oregon white oak but over the past century Douglas fir, bigleaf maple, Oregon ash, and cherry have taken over. These trees were outcompeting the oak trees for sunlight and other important resources and reducing key habitat for species like the acorn woodpecker, nuthatch, northern pygmy owl and western gray squirrel. To remedy this problem, in fall 2017 we released the oak trees by thinning out the majority of the non-desirable trees. The result is a much more open woodland that will allow the Oregon white oak to receive sufficient sunlight and grow to be healthy, majestic trees. In the savanna, contractors have been removing invasive species since 2016 and will continue to do so for several years in order to restore its historic condition and benefit wildlife that rely on it.