SPRINGFIELD – Not long after good news spread, lousy news came knocking.
Just days after the Willamalane Park and Recreation District completed its final stages of replanting 35 acres of blight-resistant filbert trees at Dorris Ranch in February, “a park ranger discovered approximately 50 saplings uprooted from the new orchards,” said Whitney Hoshaw, Willamalane’s marketing and communications manager.
Hoshaw said that there is no suspect nor motive.
“We suspect vandalism, but that hasn’t been confirmed,” she said, adding, “It’s unlikely to be confirmed.”
Howshaw said this type of vandalism is “pretty uncommon” for Willamalane. “We didn’t experience this in previous replanting efforts at Dorris Ranch. Willamalane plants new trees in parks throughout the district throughout the year. Most are left unharmed after going into the ground.”
Hoshaw said Willamalane does not have a total cost for this damage and that tree replacement costs vary depending on the location, time of year, and options for sourcing trees.
“The trees that were removed were lost,” Hoshaw said. “In the greater scheme of the replanting effort – the trees that were not removed – it should not impact the health of the rest of the trees at Dorris Ranch.”
Regarding replanting efforts, “We need to source and purchase new trees, which takes some time,” she said.
The multi-phase project began in 2016 after Willamalane discovered the Eastern Filbert Blight fungus in 2014. The fungus was established in the soil and is impossible to eliminate, and infests the soil in orchards throughout the valley.
Hoshaw requests that visitors respect the newly planted orchards by leashing pets on designated paths.
“For the new filbert trees to flourish, we need help from our community,” she said.
If you see suspicious activity at Dorris Ranch, call the park hotline at 541-736-4104.
