Willamette University Sustainability Institute records

Willamette University purchased 305 acres of Zena Forest jointly with Sarah Deumling in 2008 from the Trust for Public Lands. The University paid $800,000 for the land. The land had been purchased by Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) on September 21, 2007 under a conservation easement as required mitigation for damages created by hydroelectric projects in the Willamette sub-basin. The BPA ceded the land briefly to the Trust for Public Lands for purposes of resale, and the conservation easement, which regulates sustainable use of the land, continued in effect upon purchase by Willamette University. Prior to its purchase by BPA, the land was managed for twenty years by Sarah and Dieter Deumling under German scientific forestry principles, including selective cutting and uneven-age management. During this period it was incorporated into the 1,640 acres that make up the entirety of Zena Forest, the largest remaining contiguous block of forestland in the Eola Hills west of Salem. This tract was owned by Count Hermann Hatzfeldt of Germany since the mid-1980s, and managed by the Deumlings as employees of Count Hatzfeldt. The Count, whose family had owned forested land in Germany for over 500 years, was at that time concerned about the effects of acid rain and bought the Zena property to diversify his timber portfolio. Willamette University’s portion of the property, also designated “Zena Forest,” is located about 11 miles west of Salem. Management guidelines for Zena Forest under Willamette University are the protection, restoration, management, and enhancement of natural resources and ecosystem services of Zena, following an adaptive ecosystem management model. 1 acre of the Zena Forest property is occupied by Zena Farm, an historic homestead. It contains an approximately 100-year-old farmhouse, ½ acre organic vegetable production, and an orchard. Zena Farm hosted the annual Summer Institute in Sustainable Agriculture Program, a residential program that combined farming experience and interdisciplinary academic coursework. Zena Farm operated from 2008 to February 2015, in year-round production, selling some produce to Willamette University’s food services and some through a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program.