October 2016



Wood - the building material that binds us

T here may be no deeper satisfaction than cleanly driving a ten-penny nail into a two-by-six, knowing you're helping someone achieve the American dream of homeownership.
 
The OFRI team recently spent a day doing just that in Springfield, building walls for a Habitat for Humanity project sponsored by the American Forest Resources Council.
 
In the spirit of an old-fashioned barn-raising, we framed and sheathed two exterior walls. It was hot and sweaty work, but we worked together safely and hard.
 
In our line of work - public education - it can be difficult to see results. They may not be obvious or even measurable right away. Not so with construction. At the end of the day, with one wall completely raised, we saw the results and were proud.


For the forest,
 
Paul Barnum
Executive Director



OFRI staff help build Habitat home

OFRI staffers set aside their regular duties for a day last month to pound nails and help build a new house in Springfield for a low-income family.
 
All nine staff and OFRI board member Quincy Powers participated in a volunteer build day on Sept. 14 for Springfield-Eugene Habitat for Humanity. They assisted with the construction of a new house for a single mother and her daughter who currently live in sub-standard housing.
 
The project is being sponsored by the American Forest Resource Council, and a number of the organization's members have donated lumber and labor to construct the house.
 
W hile volunteering on the construction site, OFRI staff hammered, glued and sawed wood to frame a wall on the second story of the two-bedroom house.
 
"One of the highlights was raising the wall we'd just built," says OFRI Public Outreach Manager Inka Bajandas, who coordinated the volunteer work day. "It felt great to contribute to providing a home to a deserving family, and I'm proud of how the forest sector has stepped up to help make this project a reality." 



"Era of Megafires" film to screen in Bend

A documentary and traveling presentation on "megafires," wildfires bigger than 100,000 acres, will make a stop later this month in Bend.
 
The Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project will host a screening of the 70-minute  "Era of Megafires" film starting at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 26 at the Old Stone Performing Arts Center, 157 NW Franklin Ave. The film screening will be followed by a question-and-answer session led by members of the Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project, and a discussion of topics relevant to the local community on how massive wildfires impact people and ecosystems.
 
The "Era of Megafires" traveling presentation features Dr. Paul Hessburg, who has conducted fire and landscape ecology research for more than 27 years. The presentation debuted in Wenatchee, Wash., last August and is scheduled to make stops in more than 20 communities this fall and winter in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and British Columbia. 

Tickets for the Bend presentation are $5 and can be purchased online.



Join the conversation about OFRI

OFRI is seeking your input, and participation in a survey could earn you a unique box made from Oregon wood.

Feedback from an online stakeholder  survey asking about OFRI and its future will be used to help shape an update to OFRI's strategic plan. The plan sets the organization's priorities for the next five years and beyond.

Every survey participant will qualify for a chance to win a handcrafted wooden box made with Douglas-fir and other native Oregon species.



K-12 forest education website has a fresh look  

OFRI's K-12 forest education website, LearnForests.org, is new and improved.
 
The site has been redesigned to make it easier for teachers to find information and grade-appropriate educational materials for teaching about Oregon's forests and natural resources. This includes a complete list of resources on the home page that highlights all of OFRI's K-12 education programs and materials available to order online. The updated site also includes a quick pathway to forest education resources for each grade level as well as suggested classroom and field activities.
 
"There are many wonderful programs and materials available to educators through OFRI and our partner organizations to help teach students about Oregon's forests," says Norie Dimeo-Ediger, OFRI director of K-12 education programs. "The newly redesigned LearnForests.org makes it easy for teachers to access these resources."



CLT building opens at WOU  

W estern Oregon University's Richard Woodcock Education Center - one of the first multistory buildings in the state to be constructed with cross-laminated timber - has officially opened. 
 
University officials and Gov. Kate Brown marked the opening of the new building with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 23  at WOU's campus in Monmouth. Brown praised the creative uses of wood and CLT in the 58,000-square-foot building, which now houses the WOU College of Education, as an example of innovation and the future of wood products in Oregon. 
 
The $18.6 million building features "creative usage of wood through wood moment frames and timber hybrid structures, and will promote the use of cross-laminated timber," according to the university. The building was designated by former Gov. John Kitzhaber as a demonstration project to encourage the innovative use of Oregon wood products.
 
The CLT panels used to construct the center were manufactured in southern Oregon by D.R. Johnson. A total of approximately 3,032 square feet of CLT was installed in the new building. 

Oregon Forest Resources Institute ·  OregonForests.org 
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 portion of the forest products harvest tax.
   
Click here to add or remove an email address.
Copyright © 2016, Oregon Forest Resources Institute. All Rights Reserved.

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2016 Tree Farmer feted at OTFS meeting 

The Oregon Tree Farm System has scheduled its annual meeting next month at the World Forestry Center in Portland.
 
The meeting will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Nov. 21. It will include a workshop on succession planning for tree farms, and a recognition luncheon honoring the county tree farmers of the year. The 2016 Oregon Tree Farmer of the Year will also be announced at the luncheon.
 
The workshop, held from 9 to 11 a.m., is free; the luncheon is $30 per person. The cost for lunch goes down to $15 per person for additional attendees after two full registrations.  
 
For more information and to register for the meeting, workshop and luncheon, visit the OTFS
website .  

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Herbicides video series offered
A  four-part video series in which senior foresters and other experts share professional advice about applying herbicides to forestland is now available to view online.
 
Each two-hour video is a recording from a series of webinars OFRI helped organize last June in collaboration with the Western Forestry and Conservation Association. The videos feature presentations, field footage and panel discussions. Topics covered include reasons to spray, pre-operations planning, spray management and neighbor relations.  
 
Unlimited access to the videos is available through a one-time registration fee of $100 per viewer. For more information about the web learning series and registration, visit the
WFCA website
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Get Outside:
Salmon River Trail

T he Salmon River Trail near Welches in the Mt. Hood National Forest travels through a mossy, old-growth forest along the scenic Salmon River. In the fall, it's a great place to enjoy the changing of the seasons with colorful displays on the deciduous trees.