The Willow-Witt Ranch, 450-acres of diverse conifer forest, streams, and extensive wet meadows, had been their home since 1985. It also has an organic vegetable farm, goat herds and an environmental education non-profit. Situated at the headwaters of Frog Creek and Babe Creek, Willow-Witt Ranch occupies a pivotal ecological position adjacent to the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument (CNSM) where PFT has done extensive forest conservation and management.

Prior owners degraded these lands through overharvesting and overgrazing. Willow and Witt had carefully restored and stewarded the forest, working with Marty Main, a renowned forest manager in southern Oregon. With Lanita’s health failing, conserving their legacy became more urgent as all three knew that the many ecological and community values of the property could be lost when the couple no longer owned it.
The ranch serves as a microcosm of the diversity that characterizes the region, a continuation and direct connection to CSNM’s globally outstanding biodiversity. Lanita and Suzanne recognized this, and wanted the multiple, compatible uses of the land continued. They decided to work with PFT to conserve this working landscape.

This project is a significant step in building a resilient, well-managed landscape across ownerships within the Klamath-Cascade region. The CSNM and its surrounding areas are amongst the most biodiverse and climate-significant land in the United States, making its connectivity even more imperative for wildlife, plants, and people. Those values cannot be protected solely within the boundaries of the Monument, and thus connecting with conserved private lands is a key tool to building landscape resilience, especially under climate change.

While Lanita passed away in 2022, Suzanne has continued the easement’s development. This cherished property will join a growing number of private landowners committed to protecting the ecological integrity and amazing diversity of the region. The Willow-Witt Ranch will be another piece to the puzzle of conserving this vital landscape, alongside other PFT- conserved properties, such as the Mountcrest Working Forest and PFT’s Mt. Ashland Demonstration Forest.

The story of Willow-Witt Ranch is not just one of forest conservation and stewardship, but of human connection: to the land, to each other, and to a shared vision of a sustainable future. Through partnership with PFT, Suzanne Willow is ensuring their legacy of community engagement, care, and forest stewardship endure forever—a beacon of hope in an increasingly uncertain world.