The Heart of Big Timber Country Two Day Tour

Hosted by Bob Falkner

Tuesday, October 14- Wednesday, October 15

This tour departs the Hilton at 8am on 10/14 and returns at 5pm on 10/15

Cost: $270 pp/$450 couple

Includes: transportation, lodging, all meals

You’ll experience the heart of big timber country on this two-day tour of Cowlitz, Lewis and Pacific counties, Washington. We’ll cruise along the Oregon side of the mighty Columbia River as we make our way to Longview, Wash., for a tour of the Weyerhaeuser export log facility at the Port of Longview. Here, just 66 miles from the Pacific Ocean, the port exports millions of board feet of logs each year for destinations worldwide.

We can’t eat trees for lunch, so we’ll head north to Centralia for lunch at the historic Gibson House Restaurant. Tree farmers love watching logs milled into lumber, so next we’ll visit the Sierra Pacific Sawmill. This cutting edge, high-speed, automated facility, built in 2005, mills small-diameter Douglas fir and western hemlock logs for maximum cut-out.

We’ll race the sun west as we head for the beauty of western Lewis County and eastern Pacific County. In Frances, Wa sh., 2003 National Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year Bob and Lynette Falkner will take us on a twilight tour of their historic Custer Creek Tree Farm, home to five generations of their family dating back to 1888. Our busy first day winds into evening and to our home for the evening, Falls Creek Lodge, where we’ll be treated to a "Willapa Bay favorites" dinner that includes local delicacies.

After a well-deserved rest and breakfast, it’s time to head east to the town of Doty, where we will visit the Weyerhaeuser Mc Donald Tree Farm. This Mc Donald Tree Farm is part of the original ownership of the Weyerhaeuser Co that was dedicated to Tree Farming 65 years ago under the American Tree Farm System. Then it’s off to a tour of the award-winning Christmas tree farm of Pat Murphy. During a catered lunch served by the Famous Ranch House BBQ restaurant, we’ll hear a presentation by the Family Forest Foundation, a local group of tree farmers, on how small landowners can make a difference on the political and public landscape. For the final leg of our tour, we’ll see 100-plus year-old stands of trees, 25-year-old planted stands, newly planted stands and the on-site sawmill at Dour and FaeMarie Stinson’s Cowlitz Ridge Tree Farm near Toledo, Wash.

Ours heads buzzing with sights, sounds, smells and tastes, we’ll lean back in the bus for the leisurely trip south to our convention hotel in downtown Portland.  Requires moderate walking.  Limited to 55 participants.

Tentative Schedule:

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

8:00 a.m. - Depart hotel

9:30 a.m. - Arrive at The Port of Longview Weyerhaeuser Log Exporting Yard/Tour Facilities

11:00 a.m. - Depart port for Centralia

12:15 p.m. - Arrive for lunch at Gibson House Restaurant

1:30 p.m. - Depart for Sierra Pacific Centralia mill tour

1:45 p.m. - Arrive at Sierra Pacific mill/ tour mill

3:00 p.m. - Depart for Custer Creek Tree Farm

4:00 p.m. – Arrive at Custer Creek Tree Farm/ Twilight tour

5:45 p.m. - Depart for Falls Creek Lodge

6:00 p.m. - Arrive, check-in, Falls Creek Lodge

6:30 p.m. - "Willapa Bay Favorites" Dinner, Falls Creek Lodge

7:30 p.m. - Evening Speaker Topic: December, 2007 Windstorm/Rainstorm and Local Devastation

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

7:30 a.m. - Breakfast, Falls Creek Lodge

9:00 a.m. - Depart Falls Creek Lodge for Weyerhaeuser’s Mc Donald Tree Farm Tour

9:30 a.m. - Arrive at Weyerhaeuser’s Mc Donald Tree Farm Tour- Doty area

10:30 a.m. - Depart Weyerhaeuser Tree Farm for Murphy Christmas Tree Farm

11:15 a.m. - Arrive Pat Murphy Christmas Tree Farm

12:00 p.m. – Lunch: Ranch House BBQ

Family Forest Foundation Presentation: "Grass Roots Involvement and How Small Landowners Can Make a Difference on the Political and Public Landscape"

12:45 p.m. - Depart Murphy Christmas Tree Farm for Cowlitz Ridge Tree Farm

1:15 p.m. - Arrive at Cowlitz Ridge Tree Farm

3:30 p.m. - Depart Cowlitz Ridge Tree Farm

5:00 p.m. – Arrive back at Hilton Hotel in Portland Oregon