Proclamation reason to be "forest proud"
Gov. Kate Brown's proclamation designating this week as Oregon Forest Products Week is yet another reason I'm proud to work in the forest sector.
Our state has abundant forests, sustainable forest management, and is the nation's leader in wood products manufacturing, forest productivity, forestry education and research. All of us who work in the forest sector - from the small woodland owner to the industrial land manager to the wood- and paper-product manufacturer - should feel proud about our contribution to this treasure we call Oregon.
In addition to the economic contribution, Oregon's sustainably managed forests provide countless non-timber benefits, including clean air and water, fish and wildlife habitat, and recreation and scenic beauty, to name but a few.
Sustainably managed forests are one of the main reasons we love Oregon. We may have disagreements over policy, but for one week out of the year let's raise a collective cup, perhaps one with our state tree, the Douglas-fir, engraved on the side, and join the governor in a toast to Oregon's forest products.
For the forest,
Paul Barnum
Executive Director
|
Legislators tour mass timber building
State legislators and county commissioners from across Oregon were among the nearly 60 people who attended an OFRI board-sponsored tour of Portland area mass timber buildings in early October.
Other participants on the full-day tour included State Treasurer Tobias Read, Beaverton Mayor Denny Doyle, representatives from Oregon's congressional delegation, state legislative staff, city planners, building code officials and reporters from the Capital Press and Business Tribune.
This year's tour centered on the theme of OFRI's latest special report Forest to Frame, which focuses on how Oregon is leading the way in mass timber manufacturing, design and construction. Stops included the construction site for First Tech Federal Credit Union's new Oregon headquarters in Hillsboro. When complete, it will be the largest cross-laminated timber (CLT) building in the U.S.
The fact that wood stores carbon was among the reasons for choosing it as the main structural component for the project, said Scott Barton-Smith, an architect with Hacker, the Portland-based firm that designed the building. But aesthetics were also a key consideration.
"The best reason to use wood on a project like this is, it's really beautiful," he told tour attendees. "Every time I come out here, I feel like I really want to work in this building. It's hard to imagine a single decision you would make about a material in a building that's as impactful as using wood."
In addition to the First Tech project, the tour visited the Leland James building, an office reconstruction with a new heavy timber penthouse addition in northwest Portland. The two other stops were Ankrom Moisan Architects' offices in the mixed-use mass timber building 38 Davis in Portland's Old Town neighborhood and Carbon12, an 85-foot-tall CLT condominium building in north Portland that's nearing completion.
|
Former state legislator joins OFRI board
University of Oregon administrator and former state legislator Chris Edwards has been appointed to the OFRI board of directors.
Oregon State Senate President Peter Courtney and House Speaker Tina Kotek jointly appointed Edwards
, who is the assistant vice president for strategic initiatives at the University of Oregon
, to serve as the board's public representative. He replaces Tillamook School District Superintendent Randy Schild, who choose not to seek reappointment after serving
three
years on the board.
Edwards'
role
at the University of Oregon includes involvement with the creation of the new
Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact
. Before joining the university's administration in 2016, he served in the Oregon State Senate for seven years, representing District 7, which covers north and west Eugene, Santa Clara and Junction City. While in the senate, Edwards chaired the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. He also served in the Oregon State House of Representatives before his appointment to the senate.
The 13-member OFRI board includes representatives of forest products producers of varying size that pay harvest taxes to support OFRI's programs. The board also contains one member representing small woodland owners and one representing forest-sector employees. Ex officio members include the public representative and the dean of the Oregon State University College of Forestry.
|
The Future of Tall exhibit opens at WFC
A new World Forestry Center exhibit offers a glimpse into the design process and performance testing for Framework, a planned 12-story building in Portland that will be the tallest mass timber high-rise in the country.
The Future of Tall
opened last month at the World Forestry Center's Discovery Museum at 4033 S.W. Canyon Road, Portland, and will be on view through next summer. Using visual display panels, videos and hands-on pieces, it introduces visitors to the mass timber movement that's leading to tall wood buildings such as Framework rising up not just in Portland but across the United States and the world.
"With its innovative spirit and sustainable forest resources, Oregon has become the epicenter of the most significant disruption of building technology since steel and concrete altered urban skylines," says OFRI Director of Forest Products Timm Locke, who helped develop the exhibit.
The Portland-based firm LEVER Architecture, which designed the Framework building, created The Future of Tall with support and funding from OFRI. The exhibit was originally housed at LEVER's office in the Albina Yard building before being expanded and moved to the World Forestry Center. It explains the sustainability, strength and versatility of mass timber products such as cross-laminated timber (CLT) that are being used to construct multi-story wood buildings. Portions of the exhibit also delve into mass timber fabrication and installation processes.
Among the samples of mass timber products on display is a 13-foot-long mass plywood panel bench made by Freres Lumber Co. that was originally part of the Portland Art Museum's recent exhibit on the influential Oregon architect John Yeon.
More information about The Future of Tall is available on the World Forestry Center website.
|
Veg management conference planned
An upcoming conference for foresters and forest landowners will focus on forest vegetation management and best practices for herbicide application.
The theme of the inaugural Pacific Northwest Forest Vegetation Management Conference is the "Evolution of Science and Emerging Technology of Herbicide Application." It is scheduled for Nov. 29-30 at the Holiday Inn Portland South,
25425 SW 95th Ave., Wilsonville.
Hosted by the Western Forestry and Conservation Association, the conference will offer presentations and panel discussions featuring academics, practicing foresters, applicators and chemical company representatives. There will also be vendor displays and networking opportunities.
Conference registration is available online.
|
Study: Wood use reduces emissions
Substituting wood for concrete and steel in the structural systems of commercial buildings would reduce fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 60 percent, according to a new analysis by Oregon State University researchers.
In a paper published in the professional journal Wood Fiber and Science, researchers from OSU's College of Forestry and College of Engineering reported that much of the emissions savings from using wood instead of other materials are achieved during the manufacturing process. This is because although most of the energy used to produce building materials comes from fossil fuels, wood products tend to be less energy-intensive to make. In addition, wood waste, or biomass, is used to help power mills, which the study authors considered a carbon-neutral energy source.
"The study is just the first step leading to a sustainability metric for use of wood in code-compliant commercial buildings," says Ari Sinha, professor of renewable materials in forestry and co-author of the paper. "Generally, we know wood is renewable, resulting in lower environmental impacts in many cases than other building materials. What was lacking was confirmation and quantification of those benefits."
For the study, researchers analyzed six Oregon structures built with concrete and steel: an office building, exercise facility, medical center, basketball arena, residential building and a warehouse. Using the original architectural plans, the researchers modeled building each structure with wood instead of concrete and steel. They then used life cycle analysis tools to assess the environmental impact of the structural materials used to construct all six buildings.
Had the buildings been built using a wood structural system, the result would have been a large reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, because wood products sequester carbon, Sinha says. "A growing tree removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and when it is used in building products, the carbon is sequestered for the life of the building."
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
On the blog
|
|
|
|
It's Oregon Forest Products Week!
Gov. Kate Brown has declared the third week in October as Oregon Forest Products Week.
In a signed proclamation, Brown encouraged all Oregonians to join in observance of the week-long celebration of forest products grown and manufactured in Oregon. The proclamation recognizes how Oregon for decades has been the nation's leader in wood products manufacturing, forest productivity, forestry education and research, and is now at the forefront of innovation and use of advanced wood products. It also highlights that Oregon's forest sector contributes more than $12 billion annually to the state's economy and employs more than 60,000 Oregonians.
|
OFRI releases 2016-17 Annual Report
|
OFRI has published its 2016-17 Annual Report, which highlights how Oregon is at the epicenter of a growing movement to build more buildings with wood for environmental, social and economic reasons.
"Building Oregon's Future" is the theme of the new eight-page report summarizing the Institute's accomplishments over the past year. It touches on key initiatives and new publications and videos developed in 2016-17 across OFRI's educational programs for forest landowners, the public, architects, engineers and contractors, and K-12 teachers and students.
To read the full report, view or download a digital version. Print copies are also available to order.
|
|
|
|
|
Fields & Forests Gala set for Nov. 2
T
he agriculture and forestry advocacy organization Oregonians for Food & Shelter will hold its annual fundraiser on Nov. 2.
The "Fields & Forests Gala" is scheduled for 5:30 to 9 p.m. at the Eola Hills Winery, at 501 Pacific Highway W. in Rickreall. The event will include beer and wine, dinner and a silent auction with proceeds benefitting efforts to defend the rights of farmers and forest landowners to manage their fields and forests.
Event registration is available online.
|
|
|
|
Order your "Planted" sign now
|
Gearing up for the 2018 tree planting season? It's the perfect time to order a "Planted" sign from OFRI.
Each year, Oregon forest landowners plant approximately 40 million seedlings to replace harvested trees. To help educate the public about this effort to ensure Oregon has abundant forests for generations to come, OFRI distributes free signs to landowners with the word "Planted" and the year seedlings were planted to display on parcels that are visible to passing motorists.
One or more 60-inch-by-17-inch signs are provided for every replanted site that faces a highway or road. The signs are customized with the year of planting, pre-drilled, and shipped with nuts and bolts. Landowners simply need to provide two six-foot-tall steel posts for mounting each sign.
Information about ordering planted signs is available here.
|
|
|
|
|
Get Out:
Harris Ranch Trail
The Harris Ranch Trail in the Drift Creek Wilderness on the central Oregon Coast descends through an old-growth rainforest of towering Sitka spruce and western hemlock to Drift Creek, a spawning ground in the fall for Chinook and coho salmon, steelhead and cutthroat trout.
|
|
|
