For more than 100 years, the Defrees family of Baker City, Oregon, has been raising beautiful ponderosa pine. The horses have given way to four wheelers, but not much else has changed. Even though the latest generation of Defrees went off to become doctors, lawyers and scientists, the ranch draws them all back home whenever they can get there. It’s what they do together. It’s who they are together. It’s more than the family business. At the Defrees’ ranch, the business is family.
I certainly have fallen in love with this place, and I want to honor it.
Lyle Defrees, 3rd Generation Forester
A family ranch in Northeast Oregon, Sumpter Valley has been in the family for over 100 years.
A family of foresters who take pride in caring for their land.
Proper forest management leads to healthy trees, good ground cover and forage on the ground.
