Built to Last
Enriching Community Through Craft
If you have been to Bald Hill Farm for one of our bigger events like Music on the Land or Fall Family Fun Fest, you have probably been inside “the Farmhouse” and seen the small meeting room there We use it for meetings with partners and staff, and we also invite community groups that we work with to gather for their own trainings and meetings.
It’s a nice place to get out of the office with trails right outside the door, but for years we’ve had a bigger vision – a space for Greenbelt events, for busloads of grade schoolers coming out to plant Camas bulbs in the winter, for OSU undergrad classes getting their feet wet (literally and figuratively) in field work to look at the data they collected, and for other community groups to have a place to meet and work and enjoy the land.
This vision brought us into the orbit of the Timber Framers Guild, a non-profit dedicated to the art of timber framinga traditional and distinctive style of construction using heavy timbers joined together by mortises and tenons and secured with wooden pegs The Guild teaches timber framing through
We're very fortunate to have Bald Hill Farm as an outdoor classroom so close to campus. We are thrilled to have a covered outdoor space to gather in before and after our sessions” Jonny Armstrong, OSU Professor
workshops and classes and also through their Community Building Program, which partners the Guild with nonprofits and localities across the US and Canada to host weeklong gatherings of teaching, learning, and building together as they raise a timber frame structure for the community.
We wanted a gathering place that was imbued with a sense of community, and that reflected the place where it stands.. What better way than for the structure to be built by community volunteers, using locally sourced timbers from two of our most iconic trees?
Pavilion Build, 2025
Like an old fashioned barn raising, our two communities came together over eight days in September to hand cut and assemble a timber frame pavilion 56 build crew volunteers and instructors came from as far away as the Yukon, Texas, and New Hampshire, and as close as a bike ride down the Mulkey Ridge trail.
They camped on site and worked over 2,000 hours transforming 13,500 board feet of local Douglas Fir and Oregon White Oak timbers into a 216-piece timber frame that can last for centuries
The union of conservation is built right into the pav was carefully crafted by s their time and love int beautiful she Jessica McDonald,
The build crew was supported by the Greenbelt volunteer community, with 43 volunteers giving 347 hours cooking and serving meals, cleaning, running errands, sanding and staining wood, and keeping everything running smoothly.
The final pieces and pegs were put in place on the last day of the build week and we celebrated with a delicious dinner and drinks provided by local business sponsors.
The frame is up, but the work to realize this vision continues. As of this writing the roof is going on, and construction of a small bathroom next to the pavilion is underway. Hardscaping and native landscaping will follow We are so grateful to the many donors who have already given - if you’d like to join the community making this dream come true, we would love to have your support in funding the completion of the project!
Preparing the site, drawing up plans, obtaining the permits, and housing and feeding the build crew was a big challenge that we were only able to accomplish with the help of our many individual and business in-kind donors:
Alpine Crane
American Dream Pizza
Bake for Kids - Laurie Rapoport
Bartlett Tree Experts
Block 15 Brewing
Broadleaf Architecture
Corbin Bed & Breakfast
Eats and Treats Cafe
Green Cascades Civil Design
Green Girl
Grummel Engineering
Heritage Natural Finishes, LLC
Honeybrine Catering
Lucca Taverna
Market of Choice
Mid Valley Food Hub
Peoria Farms
Sabor Tamales
Sheila Johnson
South Fork Water Company
Special Occasions
Summer Beam Bookstore
Sunbelt Rentals
Tyee Wine Cellars
Tax-Wise Giving
Age 70 ½ or older?
Did you know that you can make a gift from your IRA to support Greenbelt this year without having to pay income taxes?
This popular gift option is called an IRA Charitable Rollover, sometimes referred to as an IRA Qualified Charitable Distribution, or QCD.
How it Works:
You must be age 70½ or older at the time the gift is made.
For those age 73 and older, Qualified Charitable Distributions from IRAs count toward satisfying your required minimum distribution for the year of the gift. The 2025 limit for giving in this way is $108,000 per individual. For couples, each spouse may give up to $108,000 from their respective IRAs.
Your IRA administrator must transfer the distribution directly to Greenbelt. It is important not to withdraw funds payable to yourself
You pay no income taxes on the gift The transfer generates neither taxable income nor a tax deduction, so you benefit even if you do not itemize your deductions
Ask your financial advisor if a gift from your IRA this year makes sense for you!
For further information about QCDs and other ways to support Greenbelt, contact David Gant, Development Officer, 704 517 2033 or david @greenbeltlandtrust org
Local Color
Oak restoration begun at Bald Hill Farm in 2016 and continued in the adjacent Mulkey Forest in 2021 has been a big hit with two colorful woodpecker species Several new breeding colonies of Acorn Woodpeckers are now thriving in the Mulkey Forest, and in 2020 a Lewis’s Woodpecker was observed in the restoration area at Bald Hill Farm – a first sighting by Greenbelt staff In 2023, dozens of these striking pink and green birds spent the fall and winter foraging through the restored oak savanna.
Acorn Woodpeckers live in family groups that raise the young together and create “granaries” – rows of holes drilled in dead branches and filled with the perfect sized acorn. Lewis’s Woodpeckers also stash acorns, but they chop them up and stick them in crevices under bark and natural cavities in trees.
Both species also feed on insects they catch on the wing. In years when the two species share the same winter habitat, there's a lot of boisterous activity as the they defend their acorn caches and compete for the best flycatching sites
Is this restored habitat big enough for the two of ‘em? It’s okay, we’ll make more!
Let’s meet and talk about your plans!
David Gant, Development Officer david@greenbeltlandtust.org 704.517.2033
Lewis’s Woodpecker
Acorn Woodpecker
David Gant, Greenbelt Development Oficer
Greenbelt Land Trust PO Box 1721
Corvallis, OR 97339
greenbeltlandtrust.org (541) 752-9609
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Thursday, December 11th
The Confluence Open House
Meet the partner organizations and future tenants of The Confluence building, see the progress on the ultra-sustainable structure, and enjoy refreshments as we reflect on 2025 and look ahead to the new year!
MIGHTY ACORNS
Greenbelt’s Club for Kids
Kids of all ages welcome, free to join!
Club members will receive a welcome packet, invitations to Greenbelt’s family-friendly events and special Mighty Acorns events.
Details: www.greenbeltlandtrust.org/events
Thursday, March 5th
Greenbelt Annual Meeting
Save the date for our 37 annual meeting! Enjoy conversation with our conservation community and hear from Greenbelt staff and volunteers th
