The forecast call for trees
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January in western Oregon is known for its cold temperatures, rainfall and short days. Sometimes we even see snow on the valley floor. While the kids look forward to a potential “snow day” in January, in the forest sector January is known as the start of replanting season.
Seedlings are typically planted from winter into early spring by crews of reforestation workers who plant each new tree by hand. Seedlings are planted while they’re dormant, to take advantage of cool, wet weather conditions that promote good root development.
With the help of
training
offered by
Oregon State University Extension
, many small woodland owners do the hard work of replanting on their own. The process starts with
sourcing seedlings
from nurseries, and includes site preparation, seedling care and handling, planting and maintenance after planting.
Oregon law requires that forest landowners
successfully reforest
land after harvest. The
Oregon Forest Practices Act
requires that landowners start preparing the site within a year of harvest and finish replanting within two years. Depending on the site, anywhere from 100 to 200 seedlings must be planted per acre, but foresters typically plant 400 seedlings per acre. In fact, more than 40 million seedlings are planted annually in Oregon.
Reforestation is the cornerstone of Oregon’s forest practices rules. Requiring landowners to promptly replant trees after a timber harvest means future Oregonians will enjoy the same forest resources we do today, including wood products, healthy watersheds, recreational opportunities, and thriving fish and wildlife habitat.
So while cold and rainy conditions may not inspire you to think of Oregon’s forests, these conditions are crucial to the success of the cycle of sustainable forestry, from harvest through reforestation.
For the forest,
Erin Isselmann
Executive Director
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Oregon Logging Conference slated for Feb. 20-22
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Conference seminars for forestry professionals and other interested attendees will feature panels of expert
speakers
discussing topics that include log scaling and optimal bucking, the Oregon Forest Practices Act, effective communication and new technology in logging.
Patrick Moore, a founding member, former president and international director of
Greenpeace
, will be the conference’s
keynote speaker
. In his speech, Moore will talk about forestry and how the way it is practiced in North America, Europe, Japan and many other countries is the most sustainable of all industries that provide energy and materials for our civilization.
Pre-conference festivities include the Oregon Women in Timber dinner and
auction
on Feb. 19 at the Graduate Eugene hotel. A portion of the proceeds from the event support the OFRI-funded classroom forestry education program
Talk About Trees
.
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County Economic Fact Sheets updated
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OFRI’s County Economic Fact Sheets, which offer a snapshot of how the forest products industry impacts each of Oregon’s 36 counties, have been updated with the latest data and are now available to
download
.
The fact sheets contain county-level information regarding topics such as forest sector employment, timber harvest levels and forest ownership. The information that appears on the fact sheets is excerpted from OFRI’s
Oregon Forest Facts 2019-20
booklet. County-specific forest-ownership and timber-harvest data was provided by the Oregon Department of Forestry, and employment figures came from the Oregon Employment Department.
A State of Oregon Economic Fact Sheet showing the overall economic impact of Oregon’s forest sector is also available. It’s the first page of the 37-page PDF containing all 36 of the County Economic Fact Sheets, downloadable from the
publications page
on OFRI’s
OregonForests.org
website.
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"Fire Stories" exhibit debuts
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A new traveling exhibit opening this month at
Whitman College’s
Sheehan Gallery
in Walla Walla, Wash. features Depression-era panoramic photographs taken from fire lookouts in Oregon and Washington, displayed alongside contemporary versions showing the same forested landscapes.
OFRI is co-sponsoring the “Fire Stories: The Photography of John Marshall and the Osborne Panoramas” exhibit, which is scheduled to make several stops in Oregon, together with the Oregon Community Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, Georgia Leupold Marshall, the TJ Education Fund and others.
Opening Jan. 31, “Fire Stories” combines art, history and science to illustrate dramatic changes in Pacific Northwest forests, with an emphasis on the Blue and Wallowa mountains regions. The display provides an overview of the critical historical role of fire, and the profound effects of fire exclusion in the modern era. It also provides insights into how land managers can mitigate risks and adapt modern-era forests to climate change and wildfires.
The exhibit features historical photographs taken with a unique camera called the Osborne Photo Recording Transit. Only 10 of these cameras were ever made, one of which will be on view. The cameras were used by the U.S. Forest Service in the 1930s to capture large-format panoramic images, known as the “Osborne Panoramas,” from hundreds of fire lookout sites throughout the Pacific Northwest.
In the exhibit, selected Osborne Panoramas are juxtaposed with contemporary photographs of the same vistas taken by photographer John Marshall. Marshall has worked with Paul Hessburg, a landscape ecologist with the Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station, to illustrate the positive roles of historical fires on Pacific Northwest landscapes, document changes in the role of fire in the modern era, and bring “good fire” back to forests.
Marshall and Hessburg will speak about the project during a public lecture on Jan. 31 at Whitman College. A reception will follow in the Sheehan Gallery.
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Mass Timber Conference returning to Portland
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The
International Mass Timber Conference
, the largest gathering of cross-laminated timber (CLT) and mass timber experts in the world, will once again return to the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, on March 24-26.
The conference, which attracts professionals from across the forest, manufacturing, design, development and construction industries, was attended by over 1,500 experts from 28 countries last year. This year it will feature more than 70 speakers and 90-plus exhibitors. Expert speakers will give presentations on a number of topics related to mass timber manufacturing, design and construction, in four focused tracks as well as general sessions. The conference will also include ample networking meals, breaks and receptions.
OFRI is sponsoring one of the conference
tours
. The March 24 tour will visit the
TallWood Design Institute’s
new, state-of-the-art
A.A. “Red” Emmerson Advanced Wood Products Laboratory
at Oregon State University in Corvallis. Tour participants will learn more about cutting-edge mass timber research and workforce development, including rotating through eight stations hosted by researchers and wood products industry partners, focusing on mass timber research and fabrication as well as construction techniques.
Other conference tours will visit Portland buildings featuring mass timber construction, and a plant in Woodland, Wash. that supplies equipment for the wood products industry, including CLT presses and other machines for manufacturing mass timber products.
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Blog: Upside down logging
When OFRI Director of K-12 Education Programs Norie Dimeo-Ediger visited Tasmania recently, she was amazed to learn about a logging technique practiced there that involves harvesting trees that have been submerged underwater. She describes her experience observing this type of logging operation in a new post on the OFRI blog.
Read the blog
.
Blog: OFRI's year in review
OFRI had a busy 2019. In her latest blog post, OFRI Executive Director Erin Isselmann shares the highlights.
Read the blog
.
Blog: Thirty-two years of telling the forestry story
In a new blog post, OFRI Director of Forestry Mike Cloughesy shares his top 10 tips for telling the forestry story.
Read the blog
.
Cloughesy to speak at woodland owner meeting
OFRI Director of Forestry Mike Cloughesy will be the guest speaker at the Jan. 28 meeting of the Washington County Small Woodlands Association. At the meeting, which takes place at 7 p.m. at the North Plains Fire Hall in North Plains, Cloughesy will review the latest facts about Oregon’s forest sector and its economic impact on the state, from OFRI’s
Oregon Forest Facts 2019-20
and
The Forest Report
publications.
Learn more
.
Forest health conference planned
Oregon State University will host a conference co-sponsored by OFRI that focuses on forest health on Feb. 26-27 at the LaSells Stewart Center on the university’s Corvallis campus. Geared to foresters, forest managers, woodland owners and students, the Forest Health in Oregon: State of the State 2020 conference will provide a blend of current information and practical applications for how to manage a healthy forest.
Learn more
.
Order your "Planted" signs today
Winter and early spring is tree planting season in Oregon, which means it’s a great time to order a “Planted” sign through OFRI’s landowner signage program. The program provides free signs to forest landowners identifying the year seedlings were planted, to display in replanted areas that lie along heavily traveled highways and roads throughout the state. Learn more about the program and order a planted sign
here
.
Public comment sought on state forest plan
The Oregon Department of Forestry is seeking public comment on its draft Western Oregon State Forest Management Plan. The plan revision is intended to increase financial and conservation outcomes on approximately 613,000 acres of land, including the Tillamook, Clatsop and Santiam state forests. Public comment on the plan will be accepted until Jan. 31.
Learn more
.
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Jan. 24, Salem
Jan. 25, Corvallis
Jan. 28, North Plains
Feb. 5, Oregon City
Feb. 15, Oregon City
Feb. 20-22, Eugene
Feb. 26-27, Corvallis
March 4, Salem
March 11, Sandy
March 21, Oregon City
March 24-26, Portland
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Oregon Forest Resources Institute
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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 © 2020, Oregon Forest Resources Institute. All Rights Reserved.
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