2015 celebrates 50 years of the World Forestry Center!
The World Forestry Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to educating people about the world's forests and environmental sustainability.
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On the evening of the third Monday of every month, the Oregon Chapter of the Society of American Foresters meets in the David Douglas room here at the World Forestry Center. After spending an hour informally talking to each other, followed by a standing dinner, the group sits down for a presentation from a leading expert in current forestry issues.
At the last meeting, Yale Professor Chad Oliver shared some of his research and observations about the future of forestry and the emerging trends that will shape the worldwide practice of growing and harvesting trees. In his talk, Dr. Oliver spoke of an opportunity to diversify the wood products industry into a more resilient mesh network that incorporates many specialized small mills, in some cases processing trees right on site. A distributed network of harvest and processing can quickly incorporate technological improvements and allow opportunities to capture additional value for the tree grower from each tree... something much needed if we are to encourage people to grow more trees. It also provides added benefits to consumers by offering them an even wider choice of wood products, customized for individual needs. Fascinating!
These gatherings of the SAF members highlight one aspect of a much larger goal that the World Forestry Center has set for itself - that of convening thoughtful, intellectually honest conversations which will lead people to reconnect with the importance of forests. Keep your eyes open. There are good things happening in the forestry world. It feels like we are on the verge of a renaissance.
Eric Vines Executive Director |
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Leadership Hall Spotlight
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Charles C. Patrick: A True Oregon Pioneer
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Just after the dawn of the 20th century, Charles Colin "Pat" Patrick left Amherst College without graduating and headed back home to Iowa to make a life for himself. The 21-year old soon became restless and decided to head west with Oregon and all its promise in his sights.
Despite his success in lumber sales, young
Pat Patrick was persuaded to try his hand at banking and in 1907 he took a job
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with First State Bank in Independence, Oregon. When this venture proved a failure, he went back to selling lumber, first for the Bridal Veil Lumbering Company and later for a selling cooperative known as the Douglas Fir Sales Co.
This combination of work experience-lumber sales, banking and cooperative selling-- helped Charles realize that an opportunity existed in the concept of wholesale lumber trading. In 1915, he and a colleague named William Brushoff founded The Patrick Company, a lumber wholesaling firm that helped pioneer the trading practices that still dominate how lumber makes it to market today. Not only did C.C. Patrick help invent a new way of selling, he also established the mores of integrity and honor that are behind every handshake deal in the business.
Read his full biography
here.
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Patrick Lumber Company Marks 100th Anniversary
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There aren't many companies in the forest products business that can say they've survived two world wars, The Great Depression, The Great Recession, 16 other "normal" recessions, a federal trade investigation, and the spotted owl controversy. But Patrick Lumber Company can.
Patrick was founded in Portland in 1915 and is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The company was one of the first lumber trading firms, helping to pioneer a way of business that was unheard of back in 1915 but which dominates the lumber business today.
Just three years after the company was founded, Patrick's two principals (and the only active lumber traders at the company) left to serve in World War I, handing the reins to a few administrative assistants and a general manager who passed away unexpectedly just a few weeks after taking the job. C.C. Patrick, the company's primary founder, stayed in touch from his Army post in Washington, D.C., via overnight telegram, helping to keep the company afloat until he and his partner, William Brushoff returned after the war.
With a combination of hard work, principled business practices, and good fortune, Patrick and Brushoff grew and strengthened the company even as the overall economy see-sawed through the boom times of the Roaring '20s, The Great Depression, and ultimately through the government-imposed price controls of World War II.
While traditional wholesale lumber trading remained at the company's core, Patrick began to diversify and become vertically integrated by offering remanufacturing capabilities, managing timberland, and adding a retail lumber yard to its holdings. It frequently would finance timber purchases on behalf of its suppliers and built a real estate portfolio by buying up cutover timberlands, which at the time were considered virtually worthless after they had been logged. Patrick Lumber played a significant role in helping Roseburg Forest Products get off the ground during The Great Depression when it would pre-purchase Roseburg's planned production, providing Kenneth Ford the capital necessary to buy logs to feed his fledgling mill.
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In addition to supplying domestic customers such as the Pullman Car Company and other industrial purchasers, Patrick was also active in export markets as early as the 1930s. By the late 1950s this export business was gaining significant momentum and in the 1970s and '80s, under Bob McCracken's leadership, Patrick was one of the more dominant players in North American lumber exports. The company opened subsidiaries in Australia and the United Kingdom and by the early 1990s Patrick had captured some 25% of the Australian export market and the company was dominant in the U.K., Spain, and Italy. Sales had reached over $100 million annually and well over 80% of that was in the export business, thanks to the hard work of McCracken and his partners, Tom Cartensen and Ron Yeager.
Unfortunately the heady times didn't last. Just as the spotted owl controversy was impacting timber supplies in the U.S., Australia's own plantations of Douglas fir and Radiata pine were about ready to harvest and Patrick's export sales plummeted. A bad trading decision led to a federal investigation and it looked like the wheels were about to come off completely.
A new generation of owners purchased the company in 1999 and began to turn things around by getting back to basics-sound business practices and a keen focus on the firm's core competency, lumber trading. This new ownership team was able to stem the negative tide and turn the company back into a position of strength as it looks ahead to its second century. Remarkably, Patrick Lumber has had only six presidents over the course of its first century.
As part of its anniversary celebration Patrick Lumber has published a book, Business is Good: Stories of Patrick Lumber Company's First Century, 1915 - 2015. The book provides the context and stories behind the company that helped pioneer lumber trading and still helps define the practice today. For a copy, contact the company directly at 503-222-9671 or visit Amazon.com.
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The World Forestry Center and The Geezer Gallery are jointly presenting a three part exhibition:
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| Forestial May 1-31 |
Salvage June 5 - July 5 |
Inhabit
July 10 - August 10
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| The works that you see are created by The Geezer Gallery's acclaimed artists. A wise person once said we can't learn everything for ourselves in one lifetime, but we can learn from each other. The Geezer Gallery artists share with us their wisdom, the result of experience accumulated through years well-lived, and through their creative expression. These three shows remind us of the link that we have to the forests of the world. Forestial, means "see forest". The works |
in this first installment focus on flora evoking a woodland experience. The second part of our series is Salvage. The World Forestry Center is committed to environmental sustainability. Salvage displays works born from reclaimed and reused materials. Inhabit implies occupy, dwell, and reside. The works in this last part of our series highlights the relationship between people and forests.
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Treemendous First Thursday
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Visit our Discovery Museum today, May 7th, and take advantage of $3.00 admission for everyone ages 3 & up!
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New Reduced Admission Prices!
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In celebration of our 50th Anniversary, we have reduced our admission rates to $5.00 for everyone 3 years and older!
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Education Department Happenings
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This year was the 22nd annual Children's Clean Water Festival on Tuesday March 10, 2015 at the University of Portland.
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Education Director Rob Pierce presents to children
from local elementary schools
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This year was the 22nd annual Children's Clean Water Festival on Tuesday March 10, 2015 at the University of Portland.
The Children's Clean Water Festival is a one-day environmental education event for 4th and 5th grade students from around the Portland Metro area. The Festival reinforces STEM, Common Core and Next Generation Science concepts through water-focused classroom presentations, exhibits and stage shows. Each year more than 1,400 students from local schools come to a college campus for a day of learning and fun!
For the past several years the WFC Education Department has participated with the Children's Clean Water Fest by hosting a table for information. This was a more casual, drop in format for students that took place in the main hall with other organizations.
This year, however the WFC Ed Dept took on a leadership role as a classroom presenter. Classroom presentations lasted about 30 minutes and had approximately 35 students per session.
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The program was titled Totally Tubular Trees and was presented by WFC Education Director Rob Pierce and Nathan Boles, Assistant Tree Farm Manager. It focused on how trees and plants use water and how it moves through the tree itself. We looked at xylem to see if it looked like what we assumed it would after explored its function. Students used a teaspoon of water on a horizontal whiteboard to see who could stretch it the farthest before it broke representing water being pulled through a tree through transpiration. Students also used Bubble Bazookas obtained from OSU's Wood Magic program. This tool shows students that wood is comprised of many tubes that bring water from the roots all the way to the leaves. One end is dipped in bubble solution or soap. Then the student blows through the opposite end creating a cascade of tiny bubbles.
The WFC Ed Department presented to students from Witch Hazel, Oliver, Mill Park, Glencoe and Tom McCall Elementary school.
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World Forest Institute News
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New WFI Fellows Manager
Shadia Duery
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Alumni News
John Turland
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The World Forestry Center has just hired new staff member Shadia Duery to manage the World Forest Institute International Fellowship Program. Shadia comes to us with a double Master's degree in Forestry and Environmental Science and nine years of experience working in forestry. She was most recently with Mt. Hood Community College as a natural resources instructor in their Scholarships for Education and Economic Development (SEED) program, where she developed and taught curricula for international students. We are very excited to welcome Shadia to the World Forestry Center team!
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John Turland (WFI Alumnus 2006-7) is now a Senior Economist on International Timber for RISI. John will be giving a talk at our Who Will Own the Forest? conference, September 15-17, on Southeast Asian plantations. He is also finishing an update on RISI's "Global Tree Farm report." |
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WFI Fellows
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| One of three new Fellows to start this month, Ms. Stuty Maskey joins us from Kathmandu, Nepal. Stuty is an economist who is studying forest marketing trends, especially as it relates to the commercial timber trade. She hopes to understand various different marketing mechanisms with a focus on those that may have elements applicable to community forestry in Nepal. |
We have two Fellows from Nepal this year! Ms. Sarita Lama will joins us from a remote area in southeast Nepal where she works as a coordinator for the Multi-Stakeholder Forestry Program. This is a community forestry program that she has been developing and leading for many years in that region. She comes to WFI to learn about broader concepts of community involvement in forestry practices and forest management in the US. |
From the other side of the world, we welcome Mr. Miguel Sanchez Fajardo from La Paz, Bolivia. Miguel is an agronomist and is interested in learning about best practices in forest nursery operations. He plans to take a close look at seed management in particular and optimal growing conditions for nursery stock. Also, be on the lookout for Fellows arriving from Ghana, Malaysia and Taiwan in the next few months. Information about current WFI Fellows can be found on our website. |
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A Gracious Thanks to All 2015 Donors
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It is with their support that we are able to carry on with our mission here at The World Forestry Center.
Please visit
this page to view all of our 2015 donors.
If you would like to be a supporter, please feel free to make a donation
here.
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Managing Change in Our Community Forests: A Toolkit for Action
Thursday, June 4, 2015,
World Forestry Center, Miller Hall
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Invasive pests, changing climate regimes and increased urban density will cause changes in our urban forests in the coming years. What tools and strategies can managers use today to help our community forests adapt? This one-day conference will provide participants with a toolkit full of possibilities, based on the most recent research in our field. Join your colleagues for a lively discussion of the challenges and opportunities coming to a community forest near you.
Early bird discount registration open through
April 15. See full program and
register here.
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Northwest Community Forest Forum
Monday, May 11 to Tuesday, May 12, 2015,
World Forestry Center
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| The 2015 Northwest Community Forest Forum is the only regional community forest conference and networking event focused on community forests in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and northern California. The Forum brings together community-based organizations, land trusts, national and regional non-profits, landowner, legal and financial advisors, funders, and local, state and federal government representatives to elevate understanding and awareness of community-owned forests as a model to sustain working forest lands and communities that depend on them. Check out our agenda here.
We Thank our Sponsors for supporting this event:
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Learn More About The World Forestry Center
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Connect With Us!
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Visit Us:
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We are located in Washington Park at:
4033 SW Canyon Rd
Portland, Oregon 97221
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GENERAL INFORMATION
Michelle Coumarbatch,
Office Manager
503-228-1367 x100
OFFICE OF DEVELOPMENT
Wendy Mitchell, Director
503-488-2111
Amber Morrison, Manager
503-488-2111
Zak Roundy, Membership & Database Specialist
503-488-2134
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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Eric Vines
503-488-2119
Rick Zenn, Sr. Fellow
503-488-2103
EVENT SERVICES
Jennifer Kent, Director
503-488-2117
Jessica Love, Liaison
503-488-2101
Chuck Wiley, Facilities & Maintenance Mgr.
503-488-2138
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FINANCIAL DIRECTOR
Darlene Boles, C.P.A.
503-488-2112
WORLD FOREST INSTITUTE
Sara Wu, Director
503-488-2130
Chandalin Bennett, Sen. Programs Mgr
503-488-2137
Shadia Duery. Programs Manager
503-488-2110
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PUBLIC PROGRAMS
Mark Reed, Director
503-488-2102
Rob Pierce, Education Dir.
503-488-2118
Louise George, Visitor Services Mgr.
503-488-2114
Reade Weber, Curator
503-488-2017
Bill Woods, Tree Farm Mgr
503-625-7471
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