Global Connections. Regional Roots. October 2018
To Create and Inspire Champions of Sustainable Forestry
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From Joseph Furia, Executive Director
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What a great month! In the last few weeks I have shaken hands with well over 500 people from all corners of forestry. I met forest investors from five continents at our conference,
Who Will Own the Forest?
, foresters from across the nation at the
Society of American Forester’s
National Convention, regional forestry growers and manufacturers at the annual
Oregon Forest Industries Council
meeting, past and present leaders of the forestry industry at our Leadership Hall Inductions, and emerging voices in forestry at The Hagenstein Lectures. I also met many of the non-forestry industry public who deeply care and invest in our sustainable forestry future. Thank you all for your generous welcome.
For a community that measures tree growth in decades, forestry appears to be undergoing changes at an increasingly rapid pace with an increasingly diverse set of stakeholders. The World Forestry Center is committed to continuing to provide the opportunity for this community to engage each other on forestry’s most pressing issues. This month we will be hosting a one-day showcase on “
Cultivating Talent: Workforce Strategies in the Forest and Natural Resource Sectors.
” Our master chef for the event, Senior Fellow, Rick Zenn, has been whipping up a great set of topics for our panel of speakers. If international forestry is more your area of interest, we have uploaded the “
Lightning Talks
” from our WFI fellows hailing from the Netherlands, China, Vietnam, Thailand and Taiwan. And, if you are more into history, we have added four new biographies to the Forestry Leadership Hall in the museum just in the last month. Please join us this fall.
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Forestry Leadership Hall Spotlight
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In 1971, the World Forestry Center began a tradition of honoring those pioneers who have contributed significantly to the advancement of forestry. This month we are honored to spotlight Gordon John King.
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G
ordon with his wife, Dodie, on their tree farm
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Gordon based his life principles on a quote by Mark Twain that carried him through a distinguished and satisfying life-long career in the Northwest’s forest products industry: “
Always do right; this will satisfy some people and astonish the rest.”
Gordon was born in 1929 in the sawmilling town of Raymond, Washington, where he was raised and schooled. Growing up, Gordon spent hours in the sawmills with his father as well as hunting, hiking, camping and fishing. After high school he went off to college majoring in forestry and business administration attending Washington State, Portland University, and St. Martins on a full basketball scholarship. He spent his collegiate summers working with the “River Rat Gang” as a boomman, rafting and sorting logs on the Willapa River.
Gordon served in the U.S. Navy Reserve and married his high school sweetheart Dara “Dodie” Wilson. Together they had 4 sons, Gordon, Jr., Jeff, Steven, and Robert, and one daughter, Sandra Suzanne, who died at age 5. They have been blessed with 7 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.
In 1954 he was hired by Boise Payette (later known as Boise Cascade Corporation) to be its first road lumber salesman. Gordon’s outstanding sales record and achievements gained him the position of national lumber sales manager for all regions.
In 1972 Gordon moved to Hampton Lumber, and began a 19-year career, starting as general sales manager and retiring as president. In June 1991, after a sterling career that spanned more than 40 years, having logged hundreds of thousands of travel miles, and creating countless friendships, Gordon retired at age 62.
In 1995, Gordon was honored at the Portland Wholesale Lumber Association’s annual Christmas party and named “Lumberman of the Year
,
” recognition of his outstanding achievements in the softwood lumber industry in the Pacific Northwest.
In keeping with his outside interests, Gordon currently serves on the board of the Oregon Wildlife Heritage Foundation Board. He has volunteer with many organizations including the North American Wholesale Lumber Association; Parry Center; Temperate Forest Foundation; Claremont Homeowners Association; Oregon Salmon Trout Enhancement Program; Neah Kah Nie Land Use Task Force; and St. Thomas More Catholic Church. He also formed King Resources, a venture that led to consulting assignments and trips to Russia to assess Russian forests and their future.
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Gordon with his 4 sons on a once-in-a-lifetime 5 day fishing trip in Alaska.
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Gordon (center) at his Leadership Hall Induction in 1994, with fellow Leadership Hall Inductees, Paul McCracken (left) and John Blackwell (right).
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We invite you to visit the Forestry Leadership Hall located on the second floor of the Discovery Museum. For more information
click here
.
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World Forest Institute News and Updates
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2018 WFI Fellow's "Forestry Lightning Talks"
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The 2018 WFI International Fellows presented their final independent project findings at the Forestry Lightning Talks hosted at the World Forestry Center on September 13, 2018. The event received great attendance from the local forestry and natural resources community.
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WFI Alumni in Portland, OR
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Our newest alumni at the WFC's annual WWOTF Conference
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1995-96 alumni, Claire Huxtable (Canada) and Claudio Ortolan (Brazil) at the WWOTF Conference.
Mario Angel (Chile, 2001) also attended.
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WFI Alumni, Jagdish Poudel (Nepal, 2009), with his wife, Pratima, 2018 alumni, and WFI staff.
Jagdish presented at
the SAF National Convention. He currently works as a Forest Economist at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
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Calendar of Events and Conferences
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Cultivating Talent: Workforce Strategies in the Forest and Natural Resource Sectors
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Thursday, October 25
7:30 am - 6:00 pm
Miller Hall, World Forestry Center
Cultivating talent in the forest sector is a critical, yet increasingly challenging priority, with various factors driving systemic changes in both the skill sets needed and the workforce demographic. Pending retirements, generational trends, the technological wave, and competition from outside forestry are changing the way we recruit, retain, and retrain our workforce.
This one-day event will showcase a spectrum of successful talent and workforce models from across the sector to connect the dots, narrow the gaps, and assist natural resource employers in securing and retaining the talent they will require in the future.
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This event was made possible through
generous support from The Collins Foundation.
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Fall is a perfect time to swing by the World Forestry Center Discovery Museum! Escape from the rain and explore our exhibits or grab some supplies for a hike. Remember, members always receive 10% off their Forest Store purchases!
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For more information about the World Forestry Center, please contact
Wendy Mitchell, Development and Community Relations Director
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