OFRI eNews: November 2021 |
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You last heard from me in June, when the Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI) eNews announced my upcoming retirement and move to Nebraska. Well, I’m back.
On Nov. 2, the OFRI board voted to appoint me as the Institute’s acting executive director, to lead the agency while we search for a new permanent executive director. Since I now live in Nebraska, I’ll be taking on this role remotely and working part-time.
My goals in this interim position are to:
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support our great OFRI staff and board in continuing our forest education programs
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help implement OFRI’s response to the Secretary of State’s performance audit
- help develop a budget for next fiscal year
- assist in recruiting the next OFRI executive director
Thank you for your continued support of OFRI. I’m excited to once again be a part of OFRI’s work to support Oregon’s forest products industry and provide forest education to all Oregonians. We plan to do everything we can to continue to earn your trust and respect.
For the forest,
Mike Cloughesy
Acting Executive Director
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It's slash burning season |
Along with being a good time to dust off your boots and rain jacket, the wet season in western Oregon is also when the conditions are safest for forest landowners to burn the woody debris generated by logging, commonly known as “slash.”
As part of the timber harvest planning process, it’s important for forest landowners to consider how to manage the tree limbs and other woody debris that have been left behind after an area on their property has been logged. To aid landowners with this process, OFRI, with the help of other forestry education organizations, published an informative pamphlet called Managing Logging Slash Piles in Northwest Oregon that outlines best management practices for piling and burning slash.
The pamphlet and an accompanying “how to” video available on OFRI’s landowner education YouTube channel give an overview of the practices for piling and burning any woody material that’s not left in the forest to provide nutrients and wildlife habitat, or used as firewood.
Both the pamphlet and the video focus on the Douglas-fir forests of northwest Oregon, where dry summers are followed by fall rainstorms and east-wind events, although the information included may apply across the state.
Additional information on how to safely burn slash is covered in a webinar titled “Best Practices of Managing Logging Slash Piles and Burning” that was hosted by Tree School Online last spring. A recording of the webinar can be found in the archives of Tree School Online classes under the date it was originally hosted, May 4, 2021.
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Report summarizes Labor Day Fires impact study |
A newly published OFRI report summarizes the findings of an Institute-commissioned study examining the economic impacts of the 2020 Labor Day wildfires on Oregon’s forest-related businesses and industries.
Using maps, graphics and charts, the summary report offers an overview of how Oregon’s forest sector – the portion of the state economy that’s reliant on forests – was affected by the Labor Day wildfires, and how the fires’ impacts on the sector will ripple into the future. In addition to providing stats and information from the 2020 Labor Day Fires study, the report puts the study’s findings into context with a series of short features, including profiles of Oregonians whose forestland and businesses were affected by the historic fires.
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Forest Literacy Plan getting update |
The Oregon Forest Literacy Plan, an OFRI-developed publication that provides K-12 educators with a conceptual framework for teaching about Oregon’s forests, is getting an update.
Earlier this month, OFRI hosted a virtual meeting with a diverse advisory committee made up of 20+ forestry, natural resources and education stakeholders to discuss potential revisions and updates to the plan, which was last updated in 2016. The new publication will include grade-level-specific activities aligned to the latest state curriculum standards, and a “hot topics” section providing teachers with information on current issues, including wildfire and climate change.
Among the advisory committee members were representatives from Oregon community colleges, universities and public schools, as well as forest and environmental education organizations, timber companies, and associations for small woodland owners and forest workers. The Oregon departments of Education and Forestry were also represented.
Each committee member will help update educational guidelines for one of the four conceptual themes outlined in the Oregon Forest Literacy Plan:
- What is a forest?
- Why are forests important?
- How do we sustain our forests?
- What is our responsibility to forests?
OFRI plans to use the advisory committee feedback, as well as public input, to develop and publish an updated plan early next year.
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Forest panorama exhibit finds success |
A traveling exhibit featuring panoramic photos taken from every fire lookout in Oregon and Washington in the 1930s, juxtaposed with modern panoramas taken from the same vantage points, was displayed at two eastern Oregon galleries this year with the support of an OFRI grant.
Organized by the nonprofit organization Wallowa Resources, the Osborne Panorama Fire Stories Exhibit shows the effects of land management on ecosystems across the Pacific Northwest. It explores fire’s role today, and the land management practices needed to rebuild forest and community resiliency.
The exhibit was most recently displayed at the Art Center East in La Grande, and before that at the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture in Joseph. It debuted last year at the Sheehan Gallery in Walla Walla, Wash.
The exhibit continues to receive requests for it to be displayed in other parts of the state, including at the High Desert Museum in Bend, the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, the Douglas County Museum in Roseburg and the World Forestry Center in Portland. Organizers are seeking additional support for tasks such as coordinating events, capturing new photos and designing new layouts for upcoming exhibits.
Along with OFRI, other sponsors of the exhibit included The Nature Conservancy, TJ Education Fund and the Oregon Community Foundation.
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OFRI publishes 2020-21 Annual Report
OFRI has released its 2020-21 Annual Report summarizing the Institute’s accomplishments over the past year. The report touches on key achievements in 2020-21 across OFRI’s forest education programs for forest landowners, the public, and K-12 teachers and students. Download or order a copy of the report here.
Webinar focuses on "home hardening"
Oregon State University Extension’s Fire Program will host a webinar Nov. 17 on how to prioritize actions that reduce a home’s risk of damage from a wildfire. The “Prioritizing your home hardening approach” webinar, part of the “Fire Aware. Fire Prepared.” webinar series, will take place from noon to 1 p.m. More information and registration for the webinar are available here.
Entries sought for high school video contest
Oregon high school students have a chance to win cash prizes, including a grand prize of $1,000, by creating a video highlighting the diverse employment opportunities in the forest sector for the Thru the Trees contest. Now in its second year, the Forest Resources Association contest is open to students ages 14 to 18 from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Contest entries are due April 15, 2022. More information about the contest and how to enter is available here.
Timber company offering scholarship, internship opportunities
Green Diamond Resource Company is now accepting applications for its 2022 Opportunity Internship and Scholarship program. The paid internship program is geared toward students pursuing academic degrees in forestry and other natural resources programs. Details about the program and how to apply are available in the employment section of Green Diamond’s website.
Oregon Logging Conference set for Feb. 24-26
The Oregon Logging Conference is set to return to a full in-person program Feb. 24-26, 2022, split between the Graduate Eugene hotel and Lane County Fairgrounds in Eugene. The 2022 conference will include an auction benefitting OFRI forest education partner Talk About Trees, as well as elementary school education tours, a mill tour and an array of other forestry- and logging-related seminars and activities. Learn more.
Salem woman honored for urban forestry work
Salem resident Kristin Ramstad has been honored by Oregon Community Trees for her many contributions to urban forestry in Oregon. Ramstad, who manages the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Urban and Community Forestry Assistance Program, received the nonprofit organization’s President’s Award for her work over the course of a 30-year career with ODF to promote and improve urban forestry across the state. Learn more.
Mass Timber Conference taking hybrid approach
Registration is now open for the 2022 International Mass Timber Conference, scheduled for April 12-14 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. Conference organizers plan to hold a hybrid in-person/virtual event, highlighting technological advances that allow for building bigger and taller structures with wood. Learn more and register for the conference here.
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Oregon Forest Resources Institute |
The Oregon Forest Resources Institute supports and enhances Oregon’s forest products industry
by advancing public understanding of forests, forest management and forest products.
A 13-member board of directors governs OFRI. It is funded by a portion of the forest products harvest tax.
Copyright © 2021, Oregon Forest Resources Institute. All Rights Reserved.
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