OFRI's K-12 programs rely on literacy plan
T
oday's classroom teachers have a mandate to teach state standards in math, science, literacy and social science. Many of them want to use Oregon's forests as context to teach these standards, but don't have the time to prepare natural resources-related lesson plans.
That's where OFRI can help. About 25 percent of OFRI's overall budget is dedicated to K-12 programs, and a large focus is training teachers how to integrate forestry and natural resource concepts into their classroom.
To do this, we needed to provide educators with a road map for teaching students in different grade levels about forestry. So we created the Oregon Forest Literacy Plan in 2011, and just revised it for 2016. Like the 2011 version, the updated plan is a collaboration between educators and forest professionals that offers teachers a line of sight on how to use concepts related to forests and natural resources to teach to state educational standards.
The 2016 Oregon Forest Literacy Plan brought together a diverse, statewide group of forest resource specialists, educators and academics to help develop it. The result of this collaboration is a document that gives teachers in our forest-rich state a strong foundation to incorporate forests and natural resources into their classroom programs.
For the forest,
Paul Barnum
Executive Director
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Grant supports unique educational program
An educational program that provides Oregon schoolchildren with the opportunity to observe the salmon life cycle and learn about the connections between healthy forests and fish is expanding with the help of a $5,000 grant from OFRI.
The Oregon Hatchery Research Center's Educational Outreach Program supplies specially equipped aquariums and salmon eggs to elementary schools in Albany, Corvallis, Lebanon, Philomath and Waldport. Students help raise the fry that hatch in the aquariums before the young fish are transported to the Oregon Hatchery Research Center, jointly run by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and Oregon State University's Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. The process concludes with a field trip to the center near Alsea to learn more about salmon, their life cycle and the forests that surround the hatchery.
The educational outreach program currently serves about 500 students, but the list of participating schools continues to grow. Organizers also hope to serve high school students.
The nonprofit Alsea Sportsman's Association started the program last year, and it is entirely funded by donations and grants. The OFRI grant will help with the association's plans to expand and offer professional development at the hatchery for teachers who participate in the program.
"The teacher training aligns closely with OFRI's goal of equipping teachers to educate students about Oregon's forests and natural resources," says Norie Dimeo-Ediger, OFRI director of K-12 education programs. "The connection between forests and fish is well known but not well understood. This program can help connect the dots."
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OSAF honors OFRI wildlife contractor
The Oregon Society of American Foresters has awarded its inaugural Young Forester Award to Hillsboro-based wildlife biologist and OFRI contractor Fran Cafferata Coe (above, center).
The award is given to an OSAF member who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in the development and promotion of an individual program or project, or has sustained a leadership role that benefits the practice of forestry.
Coe, who owns the natural resources consulting firm Cafferata Consulting, received the award at the OSAF annual meeting April 28 in Coos Bay. Her firm specializes in helping forest landowners and managers understand how to effectively manage their forests for both healthy wildlife populations and sustained timber production. She graduated from Oregon State University with a bachelor's degree in fisheries and wildlife sciences in 2000, and has more than 13 years of experience completing environmental surveys for sensitive, threatened and endangered plant and animal species.
For the past four years, Coe has been a contractor with OFRI. She leads the Wildlife in Managed Forests program, which educates forest landowners, managers and others about protecting wildlife living in Oregon's forests. Her work with OFRI includes helping write five educational booklets about different species of forest wildlife such as songbirds, fish and deer. A sixth book on the American beaver is in production and will be available this fall.
"This award recognizes the outstanding contributions of a young person to the Society and the profession at large," says OSAF awards co-chairman Tim Keith. "Fran has a passion for connecting the fields of wildlife biology and forestry."
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Forest Literacy Plan extensively revised
In collaboration with a diverse, statewide group of teachers, academic professionals and forest resource specialists, OFRI has updated a set of guidelines that help K-12 educators teach about Oregon's forests.
Educators and forestry professionals have extensively revised the Oregon Forest Literacy Plan, which OFRI first created in 2011. Published in May, the new plan is available to order or download through OFRI's educator website, LearnForests.org.
The 24-page booklet provides educators with a conceptual framework for teaching about Oregon's forests that aligns with the latest state curriculum standards for math, science, social science and literacy. The framework is organized around answering four main questions:
- What is a forest?
- Why are forests important?
- How do we sustain our forests?
- What is our responsibility to Oregon's forests?
Representatives from educational organizations, school districts, universities, community colleges and government agencies helped develop the updated plan. It will serve as a valuable resource to educators across the state, says Randy Schild, superintendent of the Tillamook School District and OFRI board member representing the general public.
"Schools and communities in Oregon have a responsibility to teach the next generation of Oregonians about the crucial role forests play in our state," he says. "Sharing this knowledge with students will enable them to be educated users and future decision-makers for Oregon's greatest renewable resource: forests."
Among the partner organizations involved in the new plan were: Keep Oregon Green Association Inc., Talk About Trees, Forests Today and Forever, the
Oregon Department of Forestry
, the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, the Oregon Coast Aquarium, the World Forestry Center, Oregon State University Extension Service, Central Oregon Community College, Associated Oregon Loggers, the Oregon Department of Education and the U.S. Forest Service.
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Wood Innovations grants awarded
Nearly a dozen Pacific Northwest projects that promote the use of wood have received federal grant funding.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture last month announced the 2016 Wood Innovations grant recipients, including six from Oregon and five from Washington. More than $8.5 million in funding will be distributed nationwide through the program this year to accelerate technologies and strategies that promote the use of wood in commercial construction, heat and power generation, and other wood product innovations that also benefit forest health. The 42 grant recipients include businesses, universities, nonprofit organizations and Native tribes from 19 states.
Oregon grant winners include Carbon12, a proposed eight-story mass timber building in Portland, in addition to biofuel and biomass projects led by Forest Energy Group LLC, Ochoco Lumber Co., Wallowa Resources and Oregon State University. The Beck Group, a Portland-based forest products consultant, also received grant funding. The firm has investigated the feasibility of a proposed Northern California plant that would produce oriented strand board.
A Wood Innovations grant OFRI received last year allowed the Institute to hire Director of Forest Products Timm Locke and expand efforts to promote the use of Pacific Northwest wood in commercial construction.
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The Oregon Legislature created the Oregon Forest Resources Institute in 1991 to advance public understanding of forests, forest management and forest products and to encourage sound forestry through landowner education. A 13-member board of directors governs OFRI. It is funded by a dedicated forest products harvest tax.
Copyright © 2016, Oregon Forest Resources Institute. All Rights Reserved.
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Recently on the blog
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Fire prevention site revamped
Keep Oregon Green Association Inc. has redesigned its website to better serve as a hub of information about preventing human-caused wildfires.
Keeporegongreen.org, features educational materials and videos to inform the general public about preventing wildfires. It also hosts a resource library and toolkit to help fire service agencies with wildfire prevention education. To reach more users, the site is now mobile-friendly.
Keep Oregon Green, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, launched the new site last month.
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ATFS celebrates
75th anniversary
A June 18 anniversary celebration will take place in Montesano, Wash., where America's first tree farm, the Clemons Tree Farm, was established. Speakers include Patricia Clemons, the granddaughter of Clemons Tree Farm founder Charles Clemons, American Forest Foundation President Tom Martin and various elected officials.
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Hardwood group to host convention
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This year's convention takes place Aug. 9-12 at the World Forestry Center and offers networking opportunities for hardwood producers, wholesalers, distributors and importers, along with representatives of other associated industries. The convention features a golf tournament and manufacturer tour.
The convention registration cost is $295 for Western Hardwood Association members and $475 for nonmembers.
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Conference to explore 'biochar'
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Registration is now open for a conference in Corvallis that will focus on biochar.
The Biochar 2016 conference on Aug 22-25 at Oregon State University will address the advantages of biochar, a charcoal made from biomass that is used as a soil amendment, and its connections to ecology soil, food and energy.
The cost of attending the conference is $325 prior to July 16 and $375 for later registrations.
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Get Outside:
Lava Cast Forest
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