Camp Adams

Camp Adams is a 216-acre camp established in 1938. In addition to hosting camps, retreats, and environmental education programs, Camp Adams manages 180 acres of multi-species, mixed-age forestland with a conservation easement held by the Clackamas County Soil and Water Conservation District. Easement terms prohibit subdivision of the property and any activity that degrades natural conditions of the forests. 

Director Natalie Becker established rights under the easement for part of the camp’s forestland to be a “working forest” managed for both economic and ecological value. The working forest was important to Becker because it recognizes and honors the importance of timber to the local economy and acts as a physical demonstration of the healthy balance possible between nurture and use of the natural world. The camp has partnered with local scientists, local conservation organizations, local schools, and local towns and cities to protect and share the special resource. 

For more than a decade, Trout Mountain Forestry has provided a unique forestry service for youth camps in Oregon and Washington. Forest health and timely removal of dead and dying trees in areas with camp infrastructure and activities is an important part of camp safety, and they provide the following special services for camps:

• Hazard tree identification and removal through contract loggers and arborists

• Timber harvest in a way that is compatible with camp uses

• A forestry connection with environmental education curricula

Trout Mountain Forestry provides a full range of planning and land management services for forest owners in NW Oregon and SW Washington. They emphasize creating unique management plans that work for each family or forest owner. As they put it: "We believe that the long-term ability of forests to provide for families and communities depends on harvesting trees in a manner that respects all of the values of the forest."

Trout Mountain planned and implemented the harvests for the Hanschu Family Forest, Camp Namanu, Camp Adams, and Willamette University to supply logs for the lattice roofing in the PDX-NEXT Airport remodel.