The Fir Grove
The SLC had the amazing privilege to purchase the Fir Grove property our community worked so hard to save!
Now comes the part we need the most support for…
How do we move forward with the Grove?We recently hired a Project Manager that is building a restoration plan while working to explore options on what to use the Grove for that will benefit the environment, the community, and the SLC’s financial future.
Our Next Steps
-
Community Survey
We want to hear what the community’s values and visions are for the Fir Grove. This includes Pringle Creek Community Residents, Salem Residents, Indigenous Communities and Nations, and anyone else interested in the restoration of the land.
Complete the linked community survey to share your input on what we should prioritize as we develop and restore the Fir Grove.
-
Restoration Planning
No matter how we move forward with the property, we are ensuring that some form of conservation/restoration takes place. Ideally, the SLC would have enough community support to fully restore the land to as close to it’s precolonial state as possible as Native Prairie or Riparian.
-
Ensuring Eduation
The SLC’s focus is on sustainable education. We want to ensure that this property continues our mission and provides an educational focus for the community.
-
Sustaining the Property
The financial stewardship to restore, develop, and sustain this property is a huge burden on a small nonprofit like the SLC. We are leaning on our community’s support to carry this weight together.
The 2026-2028 Plan
The “Fir Grove” consists of three main areas:
The main “Fir Grove” (An area with canopy consisting of Douglas Fir and Lodgepole Pine)
The “Prairie” (An open area consisting of grass and introduced/invasive species)
The “Riparian Area” (The already existing riparian corridor following Pringle Creek)
These three areas are to be restored to:
Keeping all native trees/plants
Expanding and strengthening the already existing Yellow Riparian Area into Riparian Woodland
1
An expanded riparian area
Because Willamette Oak Prairies are endangered, this available land makes it especially important to expand habitat
It will be filled with native wildflowers and grasses, making it the perfect space for native species of the valley
2
A native Oak Prairie
Through our partnership with the Riparian Restoration Committee with Pringle Creek Community, we are working together to help remove invasives, plant natives, and overall strengthen the habitat surrounding Pringle Creek adjacent to the “Fir Grove”
Strengthening the existing riparian habitat
3
Help us Restore the Grove
The Fir Grove is rich in history. While it is currently fallow land sprinkled with Fir and Pine trees located adjacent to the beautiful Pringle Creek Riparian Corridor, it used to home and feed many indigenous people as they both lived in and traveled to and from Chemeketa (Meeting Place- Salem) before being stolen and built upon eventually resulting in the Fairview Training Center.
We seek to honor this history, restore it’s ecology to what it once was, and build new opportunities with it that will support our communities through knowledge and reciprocity.