Bulletin E-Edition:
more photosQuaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) — This aspen is a quick-growing tree with a lot of uses, including for wood products,
fire breaks and potentially as a source for biofuel. COCC’s athletic field is pictured in the background.
COCC’s green side
By Sheila G. Miller / The Bulletin
Published: June 21. 2009 4:00AM PSTOn the Central Oregon Community College campus, the lodgepole pine trees are all about the same age.
That, according to the college’s new arboretum walking tour, is because they started growing naturally on the campus after a fire in 1991 blew the seeds to the area.
It’s just one of the dozens of facts visitors will learn on the self-guided campus tree tour, which will be up and running before the start of fall term. With 61 unique species of trees and shrubs on the COCC campus, the arboretum will show off the college campus and provide useful information for students.
“Over the years, the college has had a number of trees planted on campus,” said Jim Jones, COCC’s vice president and chief financial officer, who brainstormed the project. “Seven or eight years ago, as we were doing work (on the grounds), we decided to be in contact with the natural resources department. We would say, ‘We’re going to be planting trees, what kind do you want us to plant?’ And they would give us a list.”
The two tours, one of the lower campus and the other the upper campus, will feature about 80 trees.
“(We) worked hard to make this something that people could do reasonably and hit as many (trees) as possible,” said Julie Mosier, a purchasing and scheduling coordinator in Jones’ office who oversaw the project.
The college is in the process of finalizing and printing the brochures, which Jones plans to have available at the Boyle Education Center, and installing the plaques at the base of each tree. Also in the works is a Web site for the arboretum tours, which Mosier said may feature an interactive map with pictures and information about each tree.
In 2008, COCC applied for funding from the Central Oregon Community College Memorial Education Fund, which provided up to $5,000 to start the arboretum walking tour.
According to a brochure from the Oregon Department of Forestry, there are at least 14 arboretums around the state, along with eight gardens and parks that feature a variety of trees. Of those, only three are east of the Cascades: in Klamath Falls, La Grande and Echo.
This will likely be the first arboretum in Central Oregon.
“I think it’s important because we have a beautiful campus, and a unique campus in my mind, and this is an opportunity to showcase our campus,” Mosier said. “To be able to bring people on campus who otherwise might not come, people with an interest in trees and plant life and so forth. It can help connect them to campus.”
Mosier called on Christine Ott-Hopkins, a plant biology professor and chairwoman of the science department, for a little help. Ott-Hopkins chose former student and current faculty member Kim Auker and student Jon Wagner to head up the identification of every tree on campus.
“They grabbed it and ran with it,” Ott-Hopkins said. “It was difficult, especially identifying every different tree.”
And Mosier said working with the students was a treat for her, too.
“The students were so passionate. They felt so much enthusiasm for what they’re doing. They would drop by the office to talk about it,” Mosier said. “As much as I love my job, I don’t get to spend much time with students anymore. So it was really nice, and then to just watch their enthusiasm. It wouldn’t have been possible without them.”
Ott-Hopkins said the college’s groundskeepers also lent a helpful hand, having kept track of where they’d planted different trees throughout the years.
“They knew when they’d bought them and where they’d put them,” she said.
Once all the trees were identified, Auker and Wagner helped write the information that will appear on the plaques around campus, and another student, Greg Hooper, used Geographic Information Systems technology to create a map of the trees. COCC staff produced the plaques, and students in the college’s manufacturing classes helped design and make the plaques’ stakes. The staff is now installing the plaques around campus.
Ott-Hopkins still has a board in her office covered in multicolored pins, each marking the location of a unique tree. The information will help students, she said.
“Students won’t always have to range far and wide to find examples of trees when they’re identifying,” she said. “It’s helpful to have something nearby. … And it will show people, with a little care and maintenance, what you can grow up here on this butte. We do have a diversity here.”
Sheila G. Miller can be reached at 541-617-7831 or at smiller@bendbulletin.com.
Photos by Pete Erickson / The Bulletin
Sources: COCC, U.S. Forest Service
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