Wet winter reminds us that trees love it here
Oregon set some records for rainfall in February. After a snow and ice-filled winter, some signs of spring - or at least a dry spell - would be more than welcome.
Despite the dampness, the winter rains remind me why I love Oregon. Our west-side forest ecosystems thrive in the rain. And snow-covered mountains in eastern Oregon will filter snowmelt the remainder of the year to feed our aquifers. The temperate climate and abundant rainfall combine to make the Pacific Northwest one of the best places in the world for timber management - and for all the other amenities we love such as clean air and water, fish and wildlife habitat, and sanctuary from the stresses of daily life.
OFRI's work to advance public understanding of forests, forest management and forest products all hinges on the fact that in Oregon, we grow trees. The rain - along with forest management governed by sound science and strong laws - makes it possible to do so in perpetuity.
So bring it on. Let it rain.
Paul Barnum
Executive Director
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Oregon Forest Facts updated for 2017-18
A perennial OFRI publication, Oregon Forest Facts, has been updated with the latest data about Oregon's forests and forest-based economy.
The 2017-18 edition is now available for digital download and to order online. The pocket-size publication offers a detailed reference guide to Oregon's forest sector, including information, graphs and statistics, from cited sources - about forestland ownership, timber harvest, forest-based employment and wood products production. Other topics covered include water quality in Oregon's forests, investments in protecting watersheds and salmon habitat, and acres of Oregon forestland certified by third-party forest sustainability programs.
"Oregon Forest Facts is one of our most popular publications, and for good reason," says OFRI Executive Director Paul Barnum. "It offers a broad overview of Oregon's forest sector, with compelling graphics that help communicate the important role sustainably managed forests have in our state's economy."
The latest data from the Oregon Forest Facts 2017-18 Edition is also available on a new website, OregonForestFacts.org. The mobile-friendly site includes the option to easily share charts and graphs with information about Oregon's forests via email or social media.
The updated Oregon Forest Facts serves as a companion to OFRI's new special report on advanced wood products, Forest to Frame. Both publications highlight how the state is leading the nation in advanced-wood products manufacturing and mass timber design and construction. They will be mailed out later this month to state lawmakers, policy leaders, educators, industry partners, Oregon media, and architecture, engineering and construction professionals.
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Report on advanced wood products released
OFRI has published a new special report focused on advanced wood products and innovative mass timber construction.
Forest to Frame
showcases the ways in which Oregon is setting the pace for the rest of the country in a growing movement that's reshaping how apartments, hotels and offices are constructed. The 20-page report profiles Oregon developers, architects and contractors who are at the forefront of using advanced wood products such as cross-laminated timber (CLT) to build multistory structures - even skyscrapers - almost entirely out of wood. It also highlights prominent projects in the state that are changing perceptions about wood construction, including a 12-story timber tower in Portland that will be one of the first CLT high-rises in the United States.
Along with examples of pioneering mass timber buildings, the report discusses groundbreaking research at Oregon universities demonstrating that these structures are just as safe as those constructed using traditional methods and materials. Other themes include the many environmental benefits of building with wood, and how its use for construction supports economic development in Oregon's rural timber towns.
"In Forest to Frame, you'll find an overview of mass timber construction and why it holds great promise on a number of fronts," says OFRI Director of Forest Products Timm Locke. "The report demonstrates that it's both possible and practical to meet our growing construction demands with the most remarkable building material we've ever known: wood."
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Help spread the word about reforestation
This year's tree-planting season is a good time to install signs that remind the public that Oregon's forest landowners replant seedlings after timber harvests.
OFRI is encouraging forest landowners and managers to order the free signs with the word "planted" and the year the tree seedlings went into ground, to post along highways or county roads. Signs are available not just for plantings completed this winter, but for any year - even stands of trees planted 20 or 30 years ago.
"Installing these signs is a simple step that a landowner can take to make sure the public sees that replanting is a routine practice in the forest sector," says OFRI Executive Director Paul Barnum. "The signs convey that recent timber harvests have been replanted, or that an area that was once harvested has since grown into a thriving, mature forest."
Signs can be ordered through OFRI's forest landowner website, KnowYourForest.org. When ordering, landowners simply specify the year and provide a shipping address. The durable, 5-foot-wide signs will be shipped free, along with the nuts and bolts needed to install them. Landowners will only need to supply the two metal posts, available at most hardware stores, to erect the signs.
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Grant supports forest restoration outreach
OFRI has awarded a $10,000 grant to the Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project to support community outreach efforts geared toward helping the public understand the benefits of active forest restoration.
The central Oregon forest collaborative group will use the grant funds to provide educational and engagement opportunities to local leaders, policymakers and key community influencers through field trips, events, and print, video and social media outreach. These efforts will build on an earlier community outreach campaign targeted to central Oregon residents and forest visitors.
The grant will also support the collaborative group's plans to install interpretive kiosks in key recreation locations this May, according to Nicole Strong, Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project's outreach and communications sub-committee chairwoman. The kiosks will help locals and visitors interpret the active forest restoration they see on the ground, such as thinning, mowing and prescribed fire. Kiosk messaging will underscore the reasons for collaborative forest restoration, including reducing wildfire risk, improving fish and wildlife habitat, and supporting the well-being of those who work in, live by and love central Oregon's forests.
More information about the Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project and forest restoration efforts aimed at improving the health and fire-resiliency of central Oregon's forests can found on the group's website, deschutescollaborativeforest.org, or on its Facebook page.
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Mass Timber Conference coming to Portland
The
International Mass Timber Conference returns to Portland next month with an agenda that includes a tour of local mass timber projects as well as lectures by international experts in mass timber design and construction.
The conference, which the Forest Business Network organized for the first time last year in Portland, takes place this year March 28-30 at the Oregon Convention Center. Conference presentations will cater to different audiences interested in mass timber construction, such as architects, engineers and manufacturers. Scheduled speakers plan to address ways to advance cross-laminated timber (CLT) and the mass timber industry, and increase the use of wood in mid-rise and tall buildings across the world.
An OFRI-sponsored mass timber building tour for conference attendees on March 28 has sold out. The day-long tour will visit some of Portland's newest CLT and mass timber commercial buildings, including Ankrom Moisan Architects Inc.'s new headquarters in Old Town Chinatown, Albina Yard, a recently completed office building in north Portland, and Carbon12, an eight-story condominium project under construction in north Portland.
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Operators of the Year announced
The Oregon Board of Forestry will honor three Oregon logging companies at its March 8 meeting for responsible, innovative and proactive work that protects natural resources.
To encourage sound forestry, the Board of Forestry annually recognizes operators who consistently meet or exceed Oregon's forest protection laws. Each year, regional committees select the Operators of the Year.
B & C Logging earned the Eastern Oregon Area Operator of the Year award for helping landowners after the Stices Gulch wildfire, protecting fish-bearing streams and removing trees damaged by wildfire from urban areas.
Plikat Logging earned the Southern Oregon Area Operator of the Year award for protecting a fish-bearing stream and its buffer while using a suspended cable system to move logs and minimize ground impact. Plikat's planning and careful work left the land ready for replanting.
Wayne Stone Logging earned the Northwest Oregon Area Operator of the Year award for protecting water quality, taking extra efforts to prevent fires and safely completing a difficult downhill timber harvest.
"These operators set the example," says Oregon Department of Forestry Private Forests Division Chief Lena Tucker. "They show how operators can both manage forests and protect natural resources. We're pleased to honor their exemplary work."
Short videos about each of the Operators of the Year winners can be found on
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Lecture series focuses on forest recreation
The 2017 theme for the free lecture series hosted by the OSU College of Forestry is "Recreation in the Forests: Finding a Healthy Balance." It explores issues surrounding the conflicts that arise when recreational forest users are at odds with one another and with the businesses and agencies responsible for managing forestland.
Upcoming events in the series, which is co-sponsored by OFRI, are planned for March 8 and April 12 at the LaSells Stewart Center on the OSU campus in Corvallis. On March 8, Deschutes National Forest Supervisor John Allen will give a talk titled "Sustainable Recreation on the National Forest - Healthy Balance?" It will be followed by an April 12 lecture by Utah State University economics professor Paul Jakus on the topic, "Is National Monument Designation an Economic Blessing or an Economic Curse?" Both events will be held from 3:30 to 5 p.m.
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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 portion of the forest products harvest tax.
Copyright © 2017, Oregon Forest Resources Institute. All Rights Reserved.
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On the blog
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Silviculture webinars planned
A
four-part webinar series scheduled for next month will feature presentations on different silvicultural methods used for timber harvesting in the Pacific Northwest.
The
live webinars geared to foresters, loggers and woodland owners will be held from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. on March 1, 8, 15 and 22. Panelists include foresters, silviculturists and forest engineers with private timber companies, the Oregon Department of Forestry, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. They will compare and contrast major Pacific Northwest timber harvest methods such as clearcutting, variable-retention and selection harvesting, and share their varying approaches to planning and conducting harvest operations.
The seminar series is sponsored by OFRI along with the BLM, the Forest Service, the Western Forestry and Conservation Association (WFCA) and the Emerging Technology Accelerator.
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Video documents biomass success story
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When a school in eastern Oregon needed to replace an aging boiler, community leaders discovered that installing a biomass heating system would dramatically lower energy costs while also helping keep local forests in a healthier state.
A new video produced by the Oregon Statewide Wood Energy Team, Sustainable Northwest and the Oregon Department of Forestry, with funding from the U.S. Forest Service, documents this biomass success story. It features interviews with the key players behind a project to replace a boiler at Slater Elementary School in Burns with a clean-burning biomass district heating system that runs on wood chips sourced from nearby forests.
View the four-minute video on ODF's YouTube channel.
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Oregon mass timber summit planned
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In conjunction with next month's International Mass Timber Conference, OFRI is assisting Business Oregon in producing a mass timber summit with Gov. Kate Brown.
The "Oregon Mass Timber Summit - A CLT Discussion Presented by Governor Brown" will take place March 27 in Portland. The full-day event aims to give policymakers and other key opinion leaders in the state an overview of the global mass timber industry and efforts in Oregon to accelerate advanced-wood products manufacturing in the state. It will include presentations from a wide range of international speakers with significant mass timber experience in other parts of the globe, including the United Kingdom, Austria, Chile and Japan.
For more information about the summit, contact OFRI Director of Forest Products Timm Locke by email at locke@ofri.org.
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Get Outside:
Wahclella Falls Trail
The 2-mile Wahclella Falls Trail in the Columbia River Gorge is an easy hike to both Munra Falls and the 65-foot Wahclella Falls before looping back toward the trailhead.
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