Ash, the Oregon Ash, is a provider and a stable being who is under attack from a just discovered threat.  Ash bears food and habitat for critters of the forest and binds together the lands near flowing creeks with her mighty roots. The Emerald Ash Borer is a fierce enemy, yet Oregon Ash persists, standing tall with her great wide canopy looking over our very own Cozine Creek. Cozine Creek serves as an important natural area to Linfield University because Environmental Studies students have been working to restore and steward this land. Cozine is home to a camas lily field where we have hosted our annual Camas Festival, celebrating the beautiful camas as well as the rich history of this camas field. While she may be under threat, she is also under the protection of all who love and care for Cozine Creek. 

Location: In Cozine Creek Natural Area

DBH: 77.6cm 

Height 27.9 m

Green Weight: 5,813.04 kg

Dry weight: 2,906.52 kg

Carbon Content: 1,453.26 kg

She provided her abundance of timber to the Kalapuyan peoples long before we arrived, who used her strong branches to create durable tools such as firewood, hunting and fishing decoys, canoe paddles, lumber, and baskets. The Kalapuyan people used curved digging sticks from the Oregon Ash tree to harvest the bulbs of the camas lily, which were among the nost important staple foods. The bulbs of the camas were pressed into cakes and baked for three days in the ground and these cakes helped the Kalapuyan people survive Oregon winters.