Standing in the Gap for Oregon

This family is safe, but lost their home. Molalla, OR When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior ;  Isaiah 43: 2-3   Oh my, where to start?   “Start where you are,” is the common wisdom, and since we are based in the community of Molalla, I will start with our story.   In 1938 when my grandfather bought our farm, now a “tree farm” where we grow trees for timber, it was mostly brush and tall, black snags (dead trees). Just a few years prior to his purchase a forest fire had blazed through the area and blackened hundreds of acres. My father, after he inherited the land, put a lot of time and effort into clearing out those snags and big old burned stumps. The last 40 years the property has been managed as timberland, and is covered with Douglas fir, cedar, hemlock and Ponderosa Pine among other species – a healthy and diverse forest, home to elk, deer, cougar and other wildlife.