Bill and Joan Arsenault named Oregon Tree Farmers of the Year

CRAIG REED/The News-Review Bill and Joan Arsenault have managed their Paradise Creek Ranch west of Elkton for 40 years with a sustainable concept regarding trees, water, fish and wildlife. The couple's efforts earned them the 2012 Oregon Tree Farmers of the Year award.

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CRAIG REED/The News-Review Bill Arsenault says that boulders placed in Paradise Creek have improved the fish habitat and fish numbers in the waterway west of Elkton. Efforts to improve fish and wildlife habitat on their Paradise Creek Ranch helped the couple earn the 2012 Oregon Tree Farmers of the Year award.

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Courtesy photo by Bill Arsenault An excavator places boulders in Paradise Creek several years ago on the Paradise Creek Ranch west of Elkton. The boulders improved the fish habitat and eventually helped increase the fish numbers on the creek.

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Courtesy photo by Bill Arsenault A log truck rolls off the Paradise Creek Ranch west of Elkton several years ago. There have been about 17,000 Douglas fir trees logged off the ranch in the last 22 years, but 38,000 seedlings have been planted. The management of the ranch has earned Bill and Joan Arsenault the 2012 Oregon Tree Farmers of the Year award.

ELKTON — The name Paradise Creek Ranch is truly fitting for Bill and Joan Arsenault. The couple own and live on 277 acres in the Coast Range eight miles west of Elkton. The two say they believe they live in paradise. The way they’ve managed the land — its trees, wildlife, fish, water and pasture — since purchasing the land in 1971 has earned them the Oregon Tree Farmer of the Year honor for 2012. The selection is made by the Oregon Tree Farm System, a nonprofit group that promotes the conservation and growing of forest resources in a sustainable …