Margaret Tilbury Is Honored for Managing the Ranch Her Family Has Stewarded Since 1863
By Craig Reed
The owner of a donation land claim acquired in 1863 was recently selected and honored as the 2025 Douglas Small Woodlands Association’s Tree Farmer of the Year.
That property, the sesquicentennial-certified Thomas & Dear Ranch, has grown throughout the years and family generations to almost 2,500 acres. It’s a mix of Douglas fir timber, oak savannah, and pasture.
“I don’t think I’m too deserving,” 4th-generation Thomas & Dear Ranch owner Margaret Tilbury says. “It’s been 1 generation after another who have gradually added to the ranch and managed it.”
Margaret inherited the property in 1982, after the death of her father, Maurice Dear. Margaret and her daughter, Elizabeth, were presented with the Tree Farmer of the Year honor before a tour of the property by about 60 members of the Douglas Small Woodlands Association.
An individual or family has been honored annually by the Douglas chapter of the Oregon Small Woodlands Association for exemplary stewardship of the land since 1977, association President Tami Jo Braz said during the presentation.
“Margaret has continued the tradition of family ownership and active management for timber, oak woodlands, and cattle,” Tami Jo said. “Margaret, thank you for your selfless devotion and inspiration.”
The small woodlands’ mission is stewardship, advocacy, fellowship, and education.
“Margaret’s dedication to stewardship is an example of the core values that bring us together,” Tami Jo said.
Margaret’s great-grandfather, Richard Thomas, came to Oregon’s Driver Valley in 1863 from Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Sarah, and their family farmed the land claim and raised sheep, turkeys and horses. Timber was harvested and milled at a small sawmill the family operated.
After Richard and Sarah died, their daughter Mary took over management of the ranch in 1924. The ranch was then bequeathed to Mary’s nephew, Maurice Dear, in 1964. He and his wife converted the ranch from sheep to cattle. 18 years later, Margaret—their only child— inherited the property.
“I was totally unqualified when I got the ranch,” says Margaret, who had married Roger Tilbury, a lawyer, in 1952.
Margaret attended classes on livestock, forages, and grazing to help her make decisions on ranch projects. She had her own cattle for many years, but since 2017 has leased the pastures to a neighboring rancher for his cattle.
In 1984, Margaret met Scott Ferguson of Trout Mountain Forestry at an Oregon Small Woodlands Association event. He consulted with Margaret on management of the ranch’s timber until he retired in 2019. Shane Hetzler of Trout Mountain has been the consulting forester for the ranch since then.
Forest management plans were developed in 1999, 2010, and 2023. Much of the timberland has been thinned over the past 40 years.
“There’s definitely been a balanced approach to timber management with a focus on the long term,” Shane says. “Margaret really does embody a lot of what the small woodlands community is all about. She didn’t know anything about forestry and the ranch, but she met it head-on and didn’t shy away from learning. It’s amazing how far she has come in acquiring knowledge.”
Margaret, now 98, shares ownership of the ranch with her daughter, Elizabeth, but retains the position of sole manager of the land.
“I don’t anticipate a lot of change,” Margaret says. “The land’s been so carefully monitored for the last 40 years or so,” Shane says. Margaret and Elizabeth have the same goal.
“They want the ranch to continue to flourish,” he says. “There’s such a legacy of their family on that landscape. They want that for years to come, and there’s no doubt in my mind that’ll be the case.”
Margaret has been a small woodlands association member for 42 years.
In a written statement, she says: “1 doesn’t need to be born loving a stand of trees. That is a passion that can develop with knowledge and proximity. It also requires some helpful mentoring with family or patient professionals. I was lucky enough to have both, and I am still learning. How blessed I have been.”