Summer 2025
Cerro Gordo Mountain. Photo by Eric Alan.
Times are busy and beautiful on the land at Cerro Gordo, as summer sets in. In this newsletter, we’ll celebrate Cerro Gordo Land Conservancy’s recent progress. We also look forward to sharing it in person at our annual pancake breakfast, on August 24th at Cerro Gordo in the Homestead Hamlet. Below are the details of that, along with several other topics:
Updates on recent and planned land conservation and restoration projects.
Updates on the grant funding necessary to accomplish it.
The ongoing vital need for membership support.
Coast Fork Birders outing at Cerro Gordo.
Science Pub talk on Cerro Gordo’s first 50 years of land stewardship.
Annual pancake breakfast and membership meeting.
Honoring Don Nordin’s fifty years of involvement at Cerro Gordo
Seeking another Conservancy Board member.
Contact and membership detail
Conservation and Restoration Work
Now that Cerro Gordo Land Conservancy’s two conservation easements permanently protect 1,000 acres of precious land, the conservation and restoration work is ever more evident. Central Meadow is thriving, having been returned to its natural size, with invasive firs and cedars removed. Mountain Meadow, on the face of Cerro Gordo Butte, is also beautifully cleaned of Scots broom and blackberries.
Another recent accomplishment is the creation of a 16-foot mowable fire break around the edges of Central Meadow. This is part of Conservancy’s preparation for a prescribed burn on Central Meadow, to remove invasive growth, and reseed with native plants. However, a shortage of qualified burn crews at the US Fish and Wildlife Service may result in significant delays.
Meanwhile, Cerro Gordo Land Conservancy is working with Trout Mountain Forestry to restore Hidden Meadow and the oak woodlands surrounding it, south of where Central Meadow meets Ross Lane. This is a multi-faceted effort, combined with other conservation and restoration work. First is the removal of encroaching conifers. Next, the pervasive blackberries in the understory will also be removed, the land treated to prevent their return, and the impacted areas re-seeded with native grasses, forbs, and pollinator mixes. Conifer removal is being done in coordination with removal of trees along Ross Lane, in the Cerro Gordo Coop right-of-way. In total, this is accomplishing a remarkable restoration of meadow, oak savannas and woodlands, connecting the Hidden and Central Meadow complexes. As Trout Mountain’s lead forester Shane Hetzler says, this will correct 170 years of forest mismanagement in one month.
Fire recovery efforts also continue, in the 24-acre stretch of forest and meadow burned in the September 2023 wildfire. Previous efforts to remove trees burned and dying from the fire have been completed, with the resultant slash piles to be burned this fall. The oaks within the burn largely survived the fire, and their new health has been supplemented by the planting of new oak seedlings. At the foot of the burned maples, new growth is vibrantly sprouting from the roots. Due to previous reseeding of the meadow after the fire, native grasses are growing robustly once more. The wildflowers too have thrived after the burn. Hand crews will later remove the smaller burned trees in Lakeside Meadow, resulting in a natural clearing and expansion of that meadow as well.
All in all, the growth and changes on Cerro Gordo’s beautiful land are an affirmation of the direction Cerro Gordo Land Conservancy and all of its partners and members have taken together, and will continue to take. The project and the land are thriving.
Oak trees released from the conifers. Photo by Eric Alan.
Grant Funding for Conservation and Restoration
A substantial amount of grant funding is necessary, for Cerro Gordo Land Conservancy to reach the land’s desired future conditions, on the 1,000 acres covered by the two conservation easements. Through collaborative efforts, a number of grants are in hand, and others are in process. We have substantial progress to report.
One key grant is from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB), which has granted Conservancy $260,312, to be used between now and June 2028. The money provides the opportunity to prepare Central Meadow for a prescribed burn; restore Hidden Meadow to its original size; restore the area around Hidden Meadow to oak woodlands; and remove Scots broom and blackberry from Mountain Meadow, on Cerro Gordo Butte. Already, this grant has been used to successfully create the mowable fire break around Central Meadow; to grind stumps within Central Meadow, for easier future meadow maintenance; and to remove the Scots broom and blackberry in Mountain Meadow. (The latter will require ongoing treatment.) Right now, this grant is also funding the current large-scale removal of the conifers that have invaded in and around Hidden Meadow.
Another grant, from the Environmental Qualities Incentive Program (EQIP), provides $134,288 for Conservancy to use by the end of 2027. In part, it will be used to provide matching funding for the OWEB grant, in the restoration of Hidden Meadow and the oak woodlands surrounding it, as well as contributing to the ongoing removal of Scots broom and blackberry in Mountain Meadow.
On another front, a grant via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), has provided $204,856 to Conservancy, for the purpose of reducing fire danger by reducing fuel loading. Thus far, Conservancy has used it to pay for fire recovery work on Lakeside Meadow and the surrounding area, impacted by the 2023 Cerro Gordo fire. Most likely, the remainder of the money will be used to restore the oak woodlands to the west of Central Meadow, between the meadow and Doolittle Creek, above Ross Lane. This, too, will further reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire, by reducing the understory’s overgrowth.
One reason for application of BIL grant money to the restoration of the fifty acres of oak woodland west of Central Meadow, is that another targeted grant came in at an amount less than expected. That grant is from the program formerly known as America the Beautiful, now renamed as America’s Ecosystem Restoration Initiative (AERI). The AERI grant will still provide $160,000 towards this effort, with the money available sometime late in 2025 or during 2026.
Shane Hetzler of Trout Mountain Forestry is in the process of applying for other grants to support all this work as well. One is through the Advancing Markets and Producers (AMP) program, formerly known as Climate Smart Commodities. If successfully obtained, the money will cover the cost of removing blackberries, doing tree planting, doing pre-commercial thinning, and road/access improvements on the Healthy Forests Reserve Program (HFRP) easement, which covers the upland mixed conifer forest.
Also sought will be a second EQIP grant, which if obtained, will cover slash treatment, native grass seeding, and management of invasive species in Lakeside Meadow and adjacent woodlands, as part of fire recovery efforts there.
Finally, Conservancy and Trout Mountain Forestry will apply for another OWEB grant, to continue prairie and oak restoration on Lakeside Meadow and adjacent woodlands, and possibly follow-up work on areas already treated.
All in all, the grant funding picture for Conservancy remains strong, but never to be taken for granted. Since grants do not cover administrative expenses or other overhead, Conservancy’s need for your membership support remains vital. We invite you to participate, with membership support details at the end of this newsletter.
Coast Fork Birders Outing at Cerro Gordo
by Pam Reber
On March 12, 2025, the Cerro Gordo Land Conservancy hosted seven members of the Coast Fork Birders for an outing to the land. The goal of the tour was to document the bird species that use the site. It was a cloudy day with light rain, so the visibility was not great. Fortunately, there were four birders in the group who are proficient in birding by ear!
Beginning in Central Meadow, the group navigated around a recently constructed fire break along the edge of the meadow in preparation for an upcoming controlled burn until we met up with the main trail. By way of this meander, the group saw and/or heard fourteen bird species in the property’s largest meadow. As it began to rain harder, the group moved to the Hidden Meadow, which was more overgrown, but also more “birdy” or productive in terms of birds using the site. There was a total of twelve species seen here, including a flock of red crossbills and a rare sighting of a mountain chickadee! The tour continued by exploring another site via Ross Lane, and a bit more orientation of the site from the parking area.
In total, twenty-one species of birds were seen in one or more locations at Cerro Gordo, including: Hairy woodpecker, Pileated woodpecker, Northern flicker, Steller’s jay, California scrub-jay, Common raven, Black-capped chickadee, Mountain chickadee, Chestnut-backed chickadee, Ruby-crowned kinglet, Golden-crowned kinglet, Red-breasted nuthatch, Brown creeper, Pacific wren, Varied thrush, American robin, Red crossbill, Pine siskin, Dark-eyed junco, Song sparrow, and Spotted towhee.
The Cerro Gordo Land Conservancy aims to continue to collect data about the animals and plants that make this place their home. We host individuals and groups by permission and are interested in forming partnerships that contribute to the body of ecological knowledge about these lands. We want to extend a special thank you to the Coast Fork Birders for their efforts!
The Coast Fork Birders in the Central Meadow. Photo by Pam Reber.
The Coast Fork Birders brave rain to identify rare birds in the Hidden Meadow. Photo by Pam Reber.
The Coast Fork Birders visit Cerro Gordo to contribute their expertise to our shared mission of conservation of native species. Photo by Pam Reber.
Science Pub Talk — Fifty Years of Land Stewardship at Cerro Gordo
Every month at the Axe and Fiddle in Cottage Grove, the Coast Fork Willamette Watershed Council hosts Science Pub, an event that explores various aspects of science and nature. On March 25th, the event focused on Cerro Gordo’s milestone of reaching fifty years of land stewardship, since the purchase of the property in 1974. Presenters were Jodi Lemmer, Stewardship Program Manager for McKenzie River Trust; and Eric Alan, a founding board member of Cerro Gordo Land Conservancy and second-generation Cerro Gordo resident. Together, Jodi and Eric traced the vibrant past, present, and future of land stewardship at Cerro Gordo. It was a packed house, full of old friends and new of Cerro Gordo. Though the initial community vision of Cerro Gordo never fully manifested, the land conservation and community that has manifested instead has created something unique, beautiful, and well-positioned to last far into the future. All in all, it was an enthusiastic celebration of how Cerro Gordo has come to be central in the entire region’s vision of caring for the land and our own future upon it.
Annual Cerro Gordo Blackberry Pancake Breakfast and Membership Meeting
Ever since Cerro Gordo’s purchase of the land in 1974, there has been an annual pancake breakfast in late summer, when the property’s profuse blackberry crop is ripe. Over the years, this tradition has expanded to include Cerro Gordo Land Conservancy’s annual membership meeting. This year’s pancake breakfast will be held on Sunday, August 24th from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., with a sliding scale donation beginning at $10. The Conservancy membership meeting will follow at 12:30 p.m. Invite your friends, and RSVP to Charlie Sannes and Suzanne Huebner-Sannes at huebnersannes@gmail.com.
Don Nordin’s Half a Century of Service
Since 1974, Don Nordin has been Cerro Gordo’s pancake breakfast chef. For the fiftieth and final time this year, Don will be reprising that role before passing on the spatula to the next generation. He will also be retiring from his current role on the board of directors of Cerro Gordo Land Conservancy.
Don has been involved at Cerro Gordo since its inception, half a century ago. He and Jan Nordin-Tuininga became interested in intentional communities then, after returning from a trip hitchhiking to Machu Picchu. Both the land and the community at Cerro Gordo appealed to them, and they relocated to Cottage Grove to become a key part of the new community’s vibrant beginnings.
Although they were never able to settle on the land at Cerro Gordo, they remained in the area and stayed deeply involved. Don was active in the Cerro Gordo community’s transportation and economic development aspects, and ended up running a bicycle trailer business from Cerro Gordo. He was also integral in building trails, and in many other roles. He recalls how the first pancake breakfast in 1974, featured a simple steel plate over a campfire. Though the pancakes were burned on one side and not fully cooked in the middle, a lasting tradition was born.
As Cerro Gordo slowly shifted its focus over the decades from community to conservation, Don has enthusiastically supported the changes, and became involved in new ways. After his years of service as a board member of Cerro Gordo Land Conservancy, he will now retire from both of his roles as board member and pancake chef.
Please come join us at the pancake breakfast to give your own thanks to Don for a half-century of service to Cerro Gordo’s many evolving forms, and to wish him the best in his future endeavors.
Chef Don Nordin flipping pancakes. Photo by Jim Stevenson.
Seeking a new board member for Cerro Gordo Land Conservancy
Don Nordin is one of the 5 member representatives on the Board who are elected by the Supporting Members. There are also up to 4 public representatives on the Board who are elected by the Board members. Public representatives have often had expertise in conservation. Public representatives have often had a connection to Cerro Gordo. The most important quality of a member representative, such as a new board member to replace Don, is a passion for conservation.
Membership and Administrative Funding
Cerro Gordo Land Conservancy continues to appreciate and need membership support, to cover administrative expenses and other costs to which grant funding cannot be applied.
Two levels of membership are invited: a Supporting Membership, at $100/year, which includes voting privileges on board of directors’ members, and bylaw changes. The General Membership, at $35/year, includes future newsletters and updates on Conservancy activities. And donations in any amount with or without becoming a member are most welcome.
Cerro Gordo Land Conservancy contact information
The Cerro Gordo Land Conservancy board of directors currently includes: Charlie Sannes (President), Suzanne Huebner-Sannes, Don Nordin, John Koester (Treasurer), Pam Reber, and Rebecca Allen Lamptey (Secretary).
Cerro Gordo Land Conservancy website is www.cglandconservancy.org.
Cerro Gordo Land Conservancy can be reached by mail at P.O. Box 192, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 and by phone at 541-942-2049.