If Trees Could Talk by Michael Payne

ISBN: 9780962754702  EBN: 5800119698250

Binding: Paperback

Pub Date: 2016, self published

Physical Description: 0.43 lbs, 120 pages

In this book you will join a tree farmer and his dog, Buck, as they take a morning hike around the family tree farm. As they experience the various scenes along the path of their morning walk, stories will be told and memories will be revealed, demonstrating the almost spiritual connection this tree farmer has to his forest. You may gain insight into the life of a forest landowner, and enjoy some of the humorous predicaments that his canine companion gets into.

It's the author's desire that readers will take away a sense of the closeness and stewardship that tree farmers and foresters have for their land, and wonder as well, "If trees really could talk, what it it they would say?"

Michael Payne, the son of an Oregon logger, spent his youth climbing trees and roaming the game trails of the family tree farm in Yamhill County, forming both emotional and spiritual connections to the forest, plants, animals, and land his family owned. Studying Forestry at Oregon State University led to a 40 year career in the mountains of Western Oregon. Working with other timber folks, as well as his timbering family, helped to reveal the strong ties people have with their forests. Whether their land is passed down through the family ancestral tree or purchased outright, tree farmers share a responsibility and connectedness to those who walked the same trails in previous generations.