All,
Thanks for a bit more insight, Wayne. I suggested the planting strategy
I did based on the wording of Dr. Anderson's original message, which
seemed to suggest cultivating oaks for landscaping purposes, rather than
for landscape restoration/afforestation. Perhaps so that citizens of
Boise could plant descendants of these Heritage trees on their
property? This could be my own bias, as I'm an urban forest kind of
guy. This is also why I didn't mention transplanting field grown trees,
as it incurs additional expense, need for labor, etc, if they are
allowed to get to any appreciable size, not to mention requiring a
property to grow them on before transplantation.
Idaho apparently has no native oak species (the only state in the Lower
48 that does not!), so knowing the species of the trees in question
would be useful. I'd recommend consulting the USDA plants site, and
looking at the plant guide for the species in question as a starting
point. These usually provide information for establishment of
seedlings, stratification requirements and so on (they are somewhat
erratic in quality, unfortunately). A search of the states surrounding
Idaho yielded this list of oak species
<http://plants.usda.gov/java/stateSearch?searchTxt=Quercus&searchType=Sciname&stateSelect=US30&stateSelect=US32&stateSelect=US41&stateSelect=US49&stateSelect=US53&stateSelect=US56&searchOrder=1&imageField.x=55&imageField.y=0>,
though I am sure many other cold tolerant oaks would do fine in Boise,
and have been planted there.
Without knowing the exact intent of the OP, it's difficult to recommend
a particular strategy over any other. If his intent is as I intuit, it
might be very practical to simply gather a few acorns and a small plug
of soil in the fall and place these in a plastic bag that can be given
to any interested party with planting & care instructions.
-matt
