Fit for the Future: Expanding Influence to Improve Oak Regeneration

Introduction

The white oak (Quercus alba) is abundant across Eastern North America and makes the list of the 10 most commonplace native trees in the U.S. White oak grows in a wide range of habitats from coastal forests to midwestern woodlands. While white oak is not listed as a threatened or endangered species, this ecologically significant tree faces an uncertain future due to oak regeneration failure. 

Shifts in forest composition—attributed to factors such as fire suppression, climate change, land use changes, and management practices—have led to a rise in shade-tolerant or mesophytic species like maples. These shifts have implications for biodiversity and ecosystem function as oaks are gradually replaced by species that have different ecological roles. Moreover, it has been estimated that as few as 4% of oak-dominated forests in the Eastern U.S. have sufficient oaks to replace the current canopy.

Ensuring the long-term stability and resilience of oak ecosystems is a complex process, and effective leadership is essential. To create a path forward in oak regeneration—thereby protecting this keystone species and the hundreds of species and communities that depend on it—we need to employ vision and collaboration. 

In this two-part “Land Ethic in Action” story, we use the lens of oak regeneration to explore how leadership principles are applied in private land management and in cross-sector collaborations to effect positive change. 

(Sources: Private Lands Hold the Key to Oak Sustainability in Eastern U.S. Forests; The Future of Our Oak Forests: Can Fire and Fences Sustain Oak Forests for the Future?)

Part One: Duren Family Farm and "Doing the Right Thing"

Richland County, Wisconsin—Doug Duren is a lot of things: he’s a retired landscape designer, a farmer, hunter, conservationist, and land manager, as well as an advocate for land ethics. He is a person who takes the long-view to his work on the land. Doug’s conservation philosophy is succinctly captured in a poignant turn of phrase: “It’s not ours, it’s just our turn.” 

The 400-acre Duren Family Farm has been in the Duren family for more than 120 years. Doug is the fourth generation to manage the woodlands on the farm. About 15 years ago, Doug and his family were faced with a hard decision as to whether or not to harvest a 30-acre area of even-aged, mature oak trees that were saplings when his great grandparents acquired the property. As the family weighed the options, Doug sat with his aging father who shared how he felt about harvesting the family’s legacy trees. “I know it has to be done; I just didn’t want to be the one who does it.” 

After much soul-searching, research, and consultation with the WI Department of Natural Resources, Doug decided to employ the silviculture shelterwood technique to improve oak regeneration. The shelterwood process requires a commitment to a multi-stage approach over many years, during which time one carefully manages the amount of sunlight and competing vegetation to support seedling growth. 

A keeper of the land ethic flame, Doug continually asks, “Are we living with the land? Are we factoring in the future beneficiaries when we make our decisions today?” Doug possesses a clarity of purpose in conservation pursuits: he is driven to ensure that in the next 100 years, the oak will once again tower in the woodland. 

“One of our goals is to do the right thing,” says Duren. “We should have a responsible relationship between people and the land and the members of the biotic community."

Doug successfully manages several different conservation projects on the Duren Family Farm. With his first-hand experience of learning with the land over the past 25+ years, Doug is a trusted leader who speaks out with the aim of sparking care and concern for the land in others. He founded Sharing the Land to help reconnect people with the land and network with each other.

For more information on Sharing the Land, a Conservation Cooperators Network connecting landowners with hunters and private land access seekers for the purpose of stewarding and enjoying healthier lands together, visit: sharingtheland.com.

Whether he is greeting a visitor to the family property or making a guest appearance on the popular outdoor show “MeatEater,” Doug is activating his values, influencing others, and getting and maintaining attention for what land ethics in action looks like. 

Read on for more examples of influential leaders who are acting to improve the oak’s prospects regionally and nationally. 

Click HERE for an 11-minute video entitled “The Duren Family Farm,” which was filmed at the Leopold Shack in Baraboo, WI and produced for Savage Journeys.

Protecting the Future of Oak

Go HERE for a two-minute video, "Protecting the Future of Oak." This animated video shows why young oak trees need more sunlight and what woodland owners can do on their own land to protect the future of oak trees. My Wisconsin Woods is a collaboration between the Aldo Leopold Foundation and the WI Department of Natural Resources.

Part Two: Pulling Together on Common Ground for White Oak

In the native plant world, Doug Tallamy is a professor for the people. 

You don’t have to be enrolled at the University of Delaware, where the doctor in entomology teaches, to benefit from Tallamy’s expertise. Lucky for learners of all ages everywhere, Tallamy is also a New York Times best-selling author. In his 2021 book, The Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Tree, Tallamy takes a stand on the exceptional power of the oak tree. 

In a 2022 talk with the Aldo Leopold Foundation, Tallamy said, “There’s no better way to share our spaces with nature than to plant an oak.”

For example, white oaks support 537 species of butterfly and moth caterpillars, which are critical food for songbirds. Tallamy holds that if you can plant only one plant for wildlife or the environment, the oak should be your top choice.

The Economic Value of Oak

In addition to the myriad ecological reasons to ensure the future of white oak, the keystone species is crucial for economic reasons. 

In the 1980s, researchers at the University of Kentucky documented the decline of white oak forests. In 2015, leaders from interested and influential organizations met and agreed that the current white oak supply was unsustainable in the long term—and that something needed to be done. They gathered a team, formulated a plan, and by the fall of 2017, the White Oak Initiative was formally established by the American Forest Foundation, the University of Kentucky, and the Dendrifund. 

White oak provides a wide range of ecosystem services and benefits to people, far beyond its use as a building material.  For example, white oak is highly sought after in the food and beverage industry: the acorns are edible, the cutting boards are superior, the wood chips are used for barbeque smoking, and a typical tree yields one to two whiskey barrels. 

Because oaks provide so many benefits to plant, animal, and human ecosystems, unlikely partners from diverse sectors—industry, conservation, state forestry divisions, and academia—came together to define success by 2070: achieving a healthy balance of white oak across 100 million acres in the Eastern U.S.  

“If you think of white oak as the center of a wheel, the spokes that come out of that center are numerous and varied,” says White Oak Initiative Board Chair Elizabeth Wise. “For example, if you look at the industries that white oak touches, the sheer number of jobs it creates is countless.”

Wise is with The Sazerac Company, one of the world’s largest distilled spirits companies, headquartered in Kentucky, where the bourbon and spirits industry ecosystem encompasses distilling, warehousing, cooperages, bottle making, packaging, and distribution.

The White Oak Initiative’s work on oak regeneration revolves around three key activities: convening, connecting, and collaborating. Most of the white oak timberland or white oak-dominated timberland is on family- or privately-owned forests. White Oak Initiative’s work focuses on supporting the professionals, organizations, and agencies that engage with family forest landowners—ensuring they have the tools, research, and policy alignment needed to encourage sustainable upland oak management.

“Walking in the woods today, I hear this all the time, ‘It looks like there are plenty of white oak trees out there,’” says Jason Meyer, the executive director of the White Oak Initiative. “Data shows that in these areas where there are mature white oaks, there are very few seedlings coming up behind them. That's an interesting place for us to be, and we have an opportunity to be proactive.”

The leaders featured in this “Land Ethic in Action” story are supporting the sustainability of white oak regeneration. They demonstrate key leadership principles such as connecting the social and ecological aspects of conservation, employing ethical decision-making, engaging key stakeholders, working across divides, activating shared goals, gaining and maintaining attention, and mobilizing resources for long-term change. In conclusion, the health of oak forests influences the health of other species and highlights the importance of holistic ecosystem management–an approach that requires leadership, vision, and collaboration. 

Links‍

• ‍“Thinking Like a Forester in Our Changing World” story which discusses how oak wilt and oak decline are affecting public lands such as in Hoosier National Forest in southern Indiana. 
• To watch a replay of the 2022 talk by Doug Tallamy with the Aldo Leopold Foundation entitled “Restoring ‘Good Oak’ Communities, register here. 
• The White Oak Initiative developed a number of resources for private land owners. Go HERE for more information and to read the Landowners for Oaks Series of fact sheets.
• This story features key topics and concepts in conservation. To explore more, click on a link below for an explanation and additional examples.

(Sources: Private Lands Hold the Key to Oak Sustainability in Eastern U.S. Forests; The Future of Our Oak Forests: Can Fire and Fences Sustain Oak Forests for the Future?)