OFRI transitions to new leadership |
It has been my great honor to serve as acting executive director of OFRI for the past 10 months. This has been a great way for me to cap off my 40-year career in forestry and education in Oregon, and the past nearly 20 years at OFRI.
I am happy to report that the search for a new executive director is going very well. We had 23 excellent applicants for the position; six folks were given initial interviews and three are being called back for final interviews this month. Hopefully, the new executive director will be introduced in the September issue of the OFRI eNews.
I have truly enjoyed working as acting executive director. The OFRI staff is incredible. They are talented, motivated, hard-working and a joy to work with. The OFRI board is also incredible. These thirteen Oregonians serve voluntarily to guide our agency. It is humbling to see their level of service to OFRI and the Oregon forest sector. It has been especially great to work with Jerry Anderson, OFRI Board Chair. Jerry’s leadership through this transition has been incredibly valuable.
Once again, thank you to all in the Oregon forest sector who I have worked with the past 40 years. It has been a blessing.
For the forest,
Mike Cloughesy
Acting Executive Director
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Family forestland owner resource guide updated |
The Partnership for Forestry Education has released a newly updated guidebook with information about technical, financial and educational resources for Oregon’s family forestland owners.
The guidebook organizes forestland owner resources for easy reference based on the types of organizations offering forestry and forest management assistance and education to Oregon landowners. This includes a chart providing a general guide to resources and the types of assistance available, as well as more detailed descriptions and contact information for each program or organization. The guide also includes useful resources for three common areas where forestland owners seek assistance: mapping, planning and reforestation.
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Video series explores diversity of forest management styles |
Oregon has more than 70,000 forestland owners, each managing their forest in different ways to achieve unique goals for their property. OFRI has produced a new seven-part educational video series that explores this diversity of forest management styles.
The Different Forests. Different Goals. video series highlights varied forms of forest management found across Oregon, as well as partnerships and collaborations that make forest management work. The aim is to help Oregonians understand that there are many different ways to manage a forest besides for timber production or as a nature preserve, and that forestland owners often manage their forests for multiple uses, including recreation, wildlife habitat and carbon storage.
Each installment of the video series visits a different part of the state to profile forestland owners and discuss how they manage their forests differently from their neighbors. The series includes videos with landowners discussing how they manage forests for:
The series was created by OFRI over a 12-month period with the help of partners from the forest products industry, forestry education organizations, government agencies and conservation groups. The full series can be watched on OFRI’s YouTube channel.
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OFRI hosts teacher workshop on wildfire |
OFRI’s K-12 education program hosted a workshop for high school teachers June 21-22 in southern Oregon that focused on ways to teach their students about wildfire.
There were 16 participants in the workshop, which OFRI organized in partnership with the Oregon Natural Resources Education Program, Oregon State University Extension, Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) and the Southern Oregon Forest Restoration Collaborative (SOFRC). The workshop centered around introducing participants to a high school curriculum about wildfire developed by OSU Extension, ODF and SOFRC called FireBright. The aim was to help teachers incorporate lessons about wildfire into their science curriculum.
Workshop participants tested out the five modules of the FireBright curriculum such as a lesson where students design a forest out of matches and then light it on fire to see how it burns or doesn’t burn depending on different variables. The teachers also learned about fire ecology, tools of the firefighting trade, incident command systems and creating fire-resilient forests through management. While exploring the curriculum, the teachers were taught trauma-informed practices because many of their students have been personally affected by wildfire.
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Rediscovery Forest gets new entryway |
Monroe-based Hull-Oakes Lumber Co. donated Douglas-fir beams to build a new entryway for the forest to replace one that was damaged by a falling tree during an ice storm last year.
In addition to the new entryway, which was installed in late June, the forest benefitted from the work of a Salem-based Oregon Youth Conservation Corps crew of 10 students and three leaders who came out to help pull weeds, stain benches and signs, maintain trails and pathways and remove invasive plants over the course of several days earlier this month.
These improvements mean the Rediscovery Forest will be ready to host school groups visiting to learn about Oregon’s forests and natural resources when OFRI and The Oregon Garden's Oregon Garden Natural Resources Education Program starts up again in the fall.
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Oregon team competes at Envirothon nationals |
The winners of this year’s Oregon Envirothon competition, Logos Public Charter School’s “The Rogue Pack,” traveled to Ohio last month to compete in the national Envirothon.
The team of students from Medford, who were accompanied by their teachers and OFRI Environmental Educator Rikki Heath, competed against their peers from across the U.S. and Canada, placing 27th out 40 teams that participated in the environmental and natural resources education competition for high school students.
The National Conservation Foundation and Ohio’s conservation districts hosted the 2022 competition July 24-29 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. A team from Lexington, Mass. took first place, earning them, along with the other high-scoring teams, scholarships and prizes.
Throughout the weeks-long competition, students demonstrated their knowledge on soils and land use, aquatic ecology, and forestry and wildlife management through written tests and interactive stations featuring Ohio’s natural resources. The teams were also tested on and then prepared oral presentations on this year’s current issue, “Waste to Resources,” which focused on waste management.
OFRI sponsors and organizes the annual Oregon Envirothon competition, a statewide qualifier for the national Envirothon. The 2022 Oregon Envirothon was held in May at The Oregon Garden in Silverton.
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Clackamas County couple named Oregon Tree Farmer of the Year |
The Oregon Tree Farm System has named Clackamas County couple David and Mary Ann Bugni as the 2022 Oregon Tree Farmer of the Year, in honor of how they’ve carefully stewarded their forested property near Estacada.
For more than a decade, the Bugnis have planted about 500 native tree seedlings each year on their property. In 2014, they thinned a 20-acre parcel of 60-year-old Douglas-fir. They followed up by planting 2,000 Douglas-fir seedlings to replace those harvested, along with 1,000 western redcedar in shadier areas. They also work to protect the native ecosystem by keeping out invasive plants.
To benefit wildlife, each year they girdle seven trees to create snags. Many birds and mammals build nests in these standing dead trees or use them as hunting perches. Improving fish habitat is also important to the Bugnis. This includes planting over 6,000 native deciduous and conifer trees and shrubs along Suter Creek, which runs through their land, to help shade the water and keep it cool for fish. In 2015, David Bugni received a grant to replace two fish-blocking culverts with a new precast concrete bridge.
“The Bugnis model a responsible, sustainable approach to forest management,” says Oregon State Forester Cal Mukumoto. “Their work provides great examples for other landowners who want to manage for both wood products and the environmental benefits forests provide.”
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Blog: “Supporting outdoor learning”
In Oregon, forests are the setting and the backdrop for many of the state’s outdoor school programs, which give fifth- and sixth-grade students the opportunity to move outside their classrooms to learn while immersed in nature. Knowing that forests feature prominently in many students’ outdoor school experience, OFRI supports outdoor school in a variety of ways. Learn more on the OFRI blog.
OFRI hosts Homeschool Day
OFRI is inviting home school students ages 5 to 12 to join us for a fun-filled day of outdoor learning on Sept. 7 at The Oregon Garden in Silverton. The event will feature hands-on, self-paced learning stations throughout the botanical garden on topics such as forest habitats and wildlife, seed germination and the world of insects. Learn more about Homeschool Day on The Oregon Garden website.
Invasive insect found in Oregon
The emerald ash borer, an invasive insect whose larvae kill ash trees, has arrived in Oregon. Forestry experts are concerned that within a decade of the insect’s arrival in the state, most native ash trees, which play an important ecological role along streams and in wetlands, will be dead or dying. For more information about the impacts of the emerald ash borer, visit the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Forest Health webpage.
World Forestry Center museum now open
After a lengthy closure due to the pandemic, the World Forestry Center’s Discovery Museum in Portland’s Washington Park is now open. The museum is open Wednesdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and features a variety of exhibits examining forests and all the ways they impact our lives. For ticketing information and a list of current exhibits, check out the World Forestry Center’s website.
OSU Extension launches podcast
The Oregon State University Forestry & Natural Resources Extension Program has launched a new monthly podcast called “In the Woods.” The podcast brings the forest to listeners by sharing stories and interviews with forest scientists, land managers and enthusiastic members of the public. Check out the latest episodes and give it a listen on the OSU Extension website.
Volunteers sought to teach about forestry
The Eugene-based forest education organization Forests Today & Forever is seeking volunteers to help teach students about forest resources during its Forest Field Days, a forestry education program for middle school students taking place this September and October. For more information about Forest Field Days and how to sign up to volunteer, visit Forest Today & Forever’s website.
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Sept. 7, Silverton
Sept. 20, Portland
Sept. 20-22, Portland
Oct. 8, Oregon City
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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 © 2022, Oregon Forest Resources Institute. All Rights Reserved.
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