Love the forest; love the people
|
I love Oregon’s forests of all kinds – from freshly planted to majestic old growth – but the biggest attraction for me has always been the people.
Growing up in eastern Oregon, I spent many summers working in agriculture: bucking hay, driving pea trucks and pea combines, operating a grain elevator. And later in Astoria, I worked in fishing: on the docks tossing tuna, in canneries fileting salmon, and in rendering plants making pet food. You really haven’t smelled grossness until you’ve worked in a rendering plant.
With the realization that Oregon is dependent on natural resources, going to work in the forest sector in 1991 for Weyerhaeuser was an easy move. I never looked back.
Throughout my career, including the past 10 years as OFRI’s executive director, I’ve worked with wonderful people: folks who care about the land, its resources and the future of this state. That extends to everyone – from tree planters, to foresters, to scientists, to mill workers – all the way to the leaders in executive suites. All along the way, they have helped me to be a better communicator and ambassador for the sector.
As I turn the page to life’s next chapter, it is the people I will miss the most. Thank you all for your support over the years. I’ll see you on the trail.
For the forest
–
always,
Paul Barnum
Executive Director
|
|
OFRI board names new executive director
|
The OFRI board of directors has named seasoned marketing and communications professional Erin Isselmann to serve as the Institute’s new executive director.
Erin, who was most recently the director of communications for the Portland Business Alliance, joined OFRI July 9. She has held communications and marketing leadership roles at several Fortune 500 companies, including Xerox, Tektronix and Conduent, and has more than two decades of experience in corporate communications, public relations and digital marketing.
The
OFRI board
hired Erin last month after an extensive search for a new executive director to lead the Institute following Paul Barnum’s retirement later this summer. Paul will help with the leadership transition before he officially retires Sept. 1 after 10 years at the helm of OFRI.
“Over the course of her career, Erin has developed expertise in crisis communications, media relations, branding and social media,” says Quincy Powers, OFRI board chairman. “The board has every confidence she has the skills to lead OFRI’s forest-related educational messaging and collaboration efforts in our ever-evolving media landscape.”
Erin has a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism and political science from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree in political science from George Washington University. An Oregon resident since 1996, she and her husband, Jack, live in Portland with their two daughters.
|
|
"Forest Proud" initiative begins
|
A new OFRI educational program aims to help inform the approximately 61,000 Oregonians with forest-related jobs about contemporary forestry practices and instill a sense of pride of their work in the state’s forest sector.
Forest Proud Oregon is designed to reach forest-sector employees who don’t have the opportunity to see what happens in the woods because they work in wood products manufacturing, office administration or another position that doesn’t involve time in the field. The program offers a range of educational materials for sector employers to distribute to their workforce that highlight current forestry practices through a campaign that focuses on 12 themes.
Forest sector companies can use the online
Forest Proud toolkit
to order or download a variety of materials free of charge to share with their employees. These materials include fact sheets, a booklet for employees who are new to the sector, posters and slideshows for display in work areas, and
infographics
for sharing on social media. There’s also a
Forest Proud Oregon webpage
and
Facebook page
.
All of the Forest Proud materials reinforce key reasons employees can be proud to work in Oregon’s forest sector, helping give them the confidence to represent the sector to friends and neighbors and recruit new employees into the sector.
|
|
Workshop covers herbicide basics
|
State legislators, county commissioners and media were among the 25 participants in a recent OFRI workshop about aerial herbicide application that included a mock demonstration at Western Helicopter Services in Newberg.
Hosted by the OFRI board of the directors, the June 22 workshop highlighted important facets of aerial herbicide application to forestland that have potential policy implications. Staff from
Western Helicopter Services
, which primarily provides aerial application services to private timber companies, walked workshop participants, including a reporter from the
Capital Press
, through the process of planning and executing an aerial application of herbicides. Then a pilot demonstrated how herbicides are applied to forestland by flying one of the company’s helicopters back and forth across their airstrip using water as a substitute for herbicides.
The workshop also included experts who discussed topics such as how aerial herbicide use in Oregon’s forests is
regulated
and the digital mapping technology that makes it possible to precisely apply herbicides to forestland. Among the speakers were representatives from the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the Oregon Department of Forestry and foresters from Hampton Family Forests, the Oregon Society of American Foresters and Weyerhaeuser.
Workshop participants were given a copy of the
Herbicides and Forestry
topic sheet, part of a new series OFRI is developing for legislators and policymakers that focuses on controversial topics in forestry.
|
|
Logging show seeks volunteers
|
Volunteers are needed to help with the
Pacific Logging Congress 8th Live In-Woods Show
, an educational event for Oregon high school students that includes a visit to the Oregon State University Research Forest and an active timber harvest operation.
The theme of this year’s Live In-Woods Show, scheduled for Sept. 13-14 in Corvallis, is “Reaching Out to the Next Generation.” The event will offer students a firsthand look at Oregon’s forest industry and potential career paths. This includes opportunities to learn about the latest high-tech equipment used to harvest trees for making wood products, the protection of forest wildlife habitat and the importance of forests to Oregon’s economy.
Volunteers will serve as tour guides to safely lead groups of students and their teachers through the show site. In return for helping with the event, volunteers will receive a free pass to the show, a T-shirt, talking points and interpretation materials.
Those with questions about the event or volunteering should contact OFRI Senior Manager of Forestry Education Julie Woodward at
woodward@ofri.org
or 503-807-1614.
|
|
Golf event supports students
|
OFRI partners with
The Oregon Garden
to offer the educational program, which annually serves 5,000 Oregon students in fourth through sixth grades. The program provides field trips to The Oregon Garden and
Rediscovery Forest
in Silverton, where students participate in hands-on activities that teach about Oregon’s forests and natural resources.
The Golf for Education fundraiser is open to both individual participants and teams. Event sponsorship opportunities are also available.
|
|
Celebrate Christmas in July
|
Emeralds players will wear ugly sweater jerseys and Smokey Bear will throw the first pitch at a July 25 home game. While at the game, fans can help make an ornament for the Capitol Tree, which will be displayed in front of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. during the holidays. Organizers of the 2018 U.S. Capitol Tree festivities are working to collect 10,000 handmade ornaments from Oregonians to adorn the large tree and smaller companion trees that will travel with it to Washington.
Willamette National Forest staff will also be hosting Capitol Tree ornament making at a
Corvallis Knights
baseball game the same night.
|
|
Blog: Scientists draw wrong policy conclusions from fire severity study
In his most recent blog post, OFRI Director of Forestry Mike Cloughesy cautions against using the findings of one university-led fire severity study to make broad policy conclusions about how to manage our forests.
Read the blog
.
Tillamook Forest Center opens pavillion
The Tillamook Forest Center can now welcome more school groups and visitors, following the recent grand opening of a new outdoor education pavilion. Funded in part by a $20,000 OFRI grant, the pavilion will provide a dry space to host education programs for the more than 6,000 K-12 students who visit the center each year.
Learn more
.
Wood Design Awards nominations sought
WoodWorks, an initiative of the Wood Products Council, is now accepting nominations for its 2019 Wood Design Awards. The awards celebrate excellence in wood design, engineering and construction across the U.S.
Learn more
.
Ornaments hidden in Willamette NF
Hikers visiting the Willamette National Forest can still find one of the glass ornaments the Willamette Valley Visitors Association has hidden along its trails. Those who find an ornament can enter to win a paid trip for two to Washington, D.C. to see the lighting of the 2018 Capitol Christmas Tree, which will come from the Willamette National Forest.
Learn more.
eNews taking a break
Next month, OFRI eNews will be taking its annual summer break. There will be no August edition of the e-newsletter and it will resume publication in September. In the meantime, newsletter readers can stay updated on the latest happenings related to forestry and forest education in Oregon by following OFRI on
Facebook
,
Twitter
and
Instagram
.
|
|
Oregon Forest Resources Institute
|
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 © 2018, Oregon Forest Resources Institute. All Rights Reserved.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
