A free four-day festival celebrating Oregon white oaks opens Thursday, Oct. 1, on the Willamette University campus, marking five years of a student-led push to restore the Willamette Valley's disappearing oak savanna.

OakFest runs through Sunday, Oct. 4, with events spanning the Salem campus, Bush's Pasture Park and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde's native plant nursery in Grand Ronde, about 60 miles west of the city.

Rose Grimson, president of Growing Oaks, the student coalition at Willamette University that organizes the festival, said the valley's landscape was unrecognizable before European settlement.

"There was sprawling grassland, savanna landscapes that were stewarded through the use of fire," Grimson told Salem Reporter. "Since around 1840, when European settlers came to the valley, the landscape has looked a lot different."

The loss has been dramatic.

In Oregon, an estimated 25% of historic oak habitat remains, cleared over generations for commercial tree plantations, pasture and development, The Oregonian reported.

The festival highlights the need to restore what the Pacific Northwest Oak Alliance calls a critically endangered landscape.

Since 2021, Growing Oaks students have collected thousands of acorns from the Salem area and germinated them at roughly an 80% success rate, according to an OakFest news release cited by The Oregonian.

The group has also volunteered more than 500 hours at the Grand Ronde nursery. Separately, students active in the Decade of the Oak initiative have worked with Willamette Valley wineries and the LIVE (Low Input Viticulture and Enology) certification program to restore oaks on vineyard land.

Grimson, a Willamette University student, has led Growing Oaks as it expanded from campus acorn collection into partnerships with tribal and agricultural organizations across the region. The coalition's name reflects its ambition: growing oaks, and growing the number of people who care about them.

Two weekend events are open to the public. On Saturday, Oct. 3, participants can harvest First Foods at the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde's native plant nursery, 47010 S.W. Hebo Road, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. On Sunday, Oct. 4, a guided bird and oak gall walk runs 9 to 11 a.m. through Bush's Pasture Park, 600 Mission St. SE.

All OakFest events are free. A full schedule is available through Willamette University.