OFRI eNews: April 2023

April proclaimed Oregon Arbor Month

It’s said that April showers bring May flowers, but April also brings National Arbor Day! It’s a great time for Oregonians to celebrate all the wonderful benefits of trees.


Arbor Day was first celebrated in Nebraska in 1872. Today all 50 states celebrate Arbor Day, although the dates may vary in keeping with the local climate. At the federal level, in 1970 President Richard Nixon proclaimed the last Friday in April as National Arbor Day.


In Oregon, State Forester Calvin Mukumoto has proclaimed all of April as Oregon Arbor Month, allowing lots of time for commemorative plantings and other tree-related activities. And Oregon Community Trees has awarded grants to six communities across the state to help boost their Oregon Arbor Month events. Trees are important to provide shade and cooling in communities, as well as opportunities to connect with nature right in our own neighborhoods. This proclamation highlights these and the many other benefits that both rural and urban forests provide to Oregonians.


So take some time this month to plan an outing with friends or to participate in a fun family activity to celebrate Oregon’s trees. Here’s a listing where you can find Arbor Day activities happening across Oregon.

 

For the forest,

 

Jim Paul

Executive Director

Media spots highlight new forest laws

OFRI’s spring educational media campaign kicked off last month with two spots appearing on social media, streaming services and broadcast television that highlight a collaborative agreement that led to new forest protection laws in Oregon.


The campaign, which will run through May, features a new spot called “Get to Know the Coho” about expanded stream habitat protections aimed to help the threatened coho salmon and other aquatic wildlife. A second spot called “Love this Place,” which talks about how representatives from Oregon’s timber industry and prominent conservation groups came together to help guide the creation of new forestry regulations, is also airing on digital and traditional media across the state.


Both educational media spots inform Oregonians about how a historic agreement, called the Private Forest Accord, led to changes in Oregon’s forest practices regulations that increase protection of fish and amphibian habitat. Viewers are encouraged to check out OFRI’s OregonForestLaws.org website to learn more about the state’s new and existing forest protection laws. 

WATCH OFRI'S EDUCATIONAL MEDIA SPOTS

Training preps landowners for changing laws

Several recent trainings hosted by the Oregon Forest Industries Council (OFIC) and sponsored by OFRI helped prepare industrial forest landowners and managers for a set of new state forestry regulations that expand habitat protections for fish and amphibians, going into effect for large private forest landowners this summer.


About 250 natural resource professionals attended the three trainings, held Feb. 15 and 21. The trainings focused on upcoming changes to the Oregon Forest Practices Act resulting from the Private Forest Accord agreement between the timber industry and conservation groups.


This included sessions on new regulations related to forest road-building, stream habitat protection and logging on steep slopes. Among the speakers were representatives from the Oregon Department of Forestry, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and Oregon timber companies. OFIC and OFRI also provided supplemental materials for participants to learn more about the changes to Oregon’s forestry regulations


OFRI is working with its partner organizations to host more trainings in the future where forest landowners, loggers and other forestry professionals can learn about the changing forest laws. 

Updated pamphlet outlines bird species protections

A new pamphlet produced by OFRI’s Wildlife in Managed Forests program helps forest landowners, managers and other natural resource professionals understand the varied habitat protections for forest-reliant bird species required under the Oregon Forest Practices Act.


Oregon’s privately managed forests provide valuable habitat for wildlife no matter the age of the trees. Some wildlife, including sensitive, threatened and endangered species, have special protections under the Oregon Forest Practices Act and/or the state and federal Endangered Species Acts. OFRI’s new Wildlife in Managed Forests: Forest Practices Act Reference Series outlines these protections for a variety of bird species of interest, such as the bald eagle, great blue heron, marbled murrelet and northern spotted owl. This includes specific requirements for each of the nine species featured in the pamphlet, and a chart that outlines their critical nesting periods, when extra protections are required under the Forest Practices Act.


OFRI’s Wildlife in Managed Forests series includes publications focused on habitat and different kinds of forest wildlife such as deer and elk, beaver, songbirds, amphibians and fish. The educational booklets, pamphlets and fact sheets inform forest landowners, managers and others about managing for wildlife living in Oregon’s forests.


Print and electronic versions of the Forest Practices Act Reference Series are available to order or download for free through OFRI’s website, OregonForests.org, on the publications page

DOWNLOAD / ORDER THE NEW FPA REFERENCE SERIES

OFRI participates in Tree School

Family forest landowners and other tree enthusiasts gathered last month at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City for the Oregon State University Extension Service’s Tree School Clackamas.


About 850 people participated in the day-long mini-college, held March 25. It featured 68 classes on a wide variety of forest-related topics, including a course taught by OFRI’s contract wildlife biologist, Fran Cafferata. The class covered how all ages of forests provide habitat and management actions that can benefit wildlife across the landscape.


OFRI’s involvement included co-sponsoring the event, providing some of the Institute’s publications for the packets given out to Tree School participants, and hosting a display booth with a selection of additional educational materials for forest landowners to take home. 

Woodward graduates from REAL Oregon

OFRI Director of Forestry Julie Woodward graduated last month from REAL Oregon, an agricultural leadership program for professionals working in Oregon’s farming, ranching, forestry and commercial fishing industries, and received an award recognizing her for service and leadership.


REAL Oregon, a program of the Oregon Agricultural Education Foundation, exposes a cross-section of individuals from Oregon’s agriculture and natural resource industries to the diversity of the state’s geography, economy and cultures. From November through March, members of each REAL Oregon class participate in one session per month at five different locations across the state, learning important leadership skills such as board governance, public speaking, conflict resolution and media relations.


When Woodward graduated from the program in March, she was awarded the program’s Kirk Burkholder Service Leadership Award. 

Survey to aid OFRI's strategic plan

OFRI is inviting Oregonians to take an online survey where they can offer feedback on the agency’s forest education programs; the responses will aid in updating its strategic plan.


All responses to the survey are confidential and will be sent directly to Coraggio Group, a consulting firm hired by OFRI to develop a new strategic plan for the Institute. Coraggio Group will use this information to create a report that will be shared with OFRI to inform its strategic direction.


The survey will take approximately 10 to 15 minutes to complete, and can be accessed here. The deadline to complete the survey is May 1. 

TAKE THE SURVEY

We're gearing up for Oregon Envirothon

This year’s Oregon Envirothon, a hands-on environmental problem-solving competition for high school students, is set to take place May 5 at The Oregon Garden in Silverton.


As the sponsor and organizer of the event, OFRI has been providing professional development for instructors, student field trips, training sessions and study equipment to prepare high school students from across the state for the competition, where they compete in teams of five.


Registration is now open for this year’s Oregon Envirothon, and the Institute is providing reimbursement for overnight accommodations for teams traveling farther than 50 miles each way to participate in the competition. Substitute and bus transportation cost reimbursements are also available to participating schools. The registration deadline is April 21.


During the May 5 competition, students will complete a series of tests at stations throughout The Oregon Garden to demonstrate their skills in natural resource disciplines that include aquatic, forest and wildlife ecology, and soils and land use. Students will also give oral presentations and be tested on their knowledge of this year’s current issue: “Adapting to a Changing Climate."


Winning teams may advance to the National Envirothon event and compete for recognition, scholarships and prizes.


For updates on the 2023 Oregon Envirothon, check out the competition website, and its Facebook and Instagram accounts. 

REGISTER FOR OREGON ENVIROTHON 2023

Starker Lectures focus on forestry innovation

The Oregon State University College of Forestry’s 2023 Starker Lecture Series, featuring a series of talks focused on innovation in forestry, continues with two more lectures this spring.


This year’s lectures look at historical changes in forestry, as well as new innovations and technologies in collaborative work. All lectures are free and open to the public, and take place on the OSU campus in Corvallis. The lectures are also available via streaming video.


This month’s lecture on “Innovations in Silviculture and Forest Management in a Changing World” by Tom Fox, vice president, research, productivity, sustainability with Rayonier Inc., will take place April 19. The lecture will be held from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the Starker Forests Classroom, Room 117 at the Peavy Forest Science Center.


The Starker Lecture Series concludes with a final lecture on May 31. More information about the scheduled speakers and lecture topics is available on the lecture series webpage.


OFRI is a co-sponsor of the lecture series, along with the OSU College of Forestry and the Starker family, in honor of TJ and Bruce Starker. 

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE STARKER LECTURE SERIES

Public hearing planned for proposed OFRI budget

The OFRI Board of Directors will hold a public hearing for the Institute’s proposed 2023-24 fiscal year budget at its April 20 meeting in Salem.


The public hearing for the proposed budget will start at 9 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Salem, 3301 Market St. NE, and be followed by a regular board meeting. The meeting agenda and materials will be available on OFRI’s board meetings and materials webpage.


All OFRI board meetings are open to the public and include the opportunity for public comment. 

In other news...

Blog: “Exploring Oregon’s forests: A wintry waterfall hike”

OFRI’s social media and outreach intern, Trey Pokorney, has been busy exploring Oregon’s forests and sharing photos and videos of his travels with the Institute’s social media followers. He recently went on a waterfall hike in the Willamette National Forest and shared his experience in a post on the OFRI blog. Read all about his adventures here


Tillamook Forest Center reopens

After a three-year closure, the Tillamook Forest Center reopened last month. Located in the heart of the Tillamook State Forest along Highway 6, the Tillamook Forest Center offers opportunities for visitors to connect with and learn about Oregon’s state forests. Initial limited hours for the center will be Friday-Sunday, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m., then expand to a five-day-a-week summer schedule starting May 3. Learn more about the center and plan your visit here. 


Grants support Arbor Month events

Oregon Community Trees, a nonprofit organization that promotes healthy urban and community forests, has awarded a total of almost $3,000 in grants to six Oregon communities to support their local events marking Oregon Arbor Month, when Oregonians across the state celebrate their community trees and the many benefits they bring. The six grant recipients are Umatilla, Klamath Falls, Lincoln City, La Grande, Newport and Sweet Home. Learn more about how each community will use its grants here


Talent is Oregon’s Tree City of the Year 

After being devastated by a wildfire in 2020, the southern Oregon town of Talent’s commitment to restoring its lost tree cover has earned it the title of the 2023 Oregon Tree City of the Year. Talent has been a Tree City USA for 23 years, a designation the city gained by meeting the Arbor Day Foundation requirements for having basic urban tree care and management policies in place. Learn more about Talent’s efforts to retore its urban forest after a wildfire destroyed about 40% of the city here


Upcoming events

Starker Lecture: Innovations in Silviculture and Forest Management in a Changing World

April 19, Corvallis


OFRI Board Meeting and Budget Hearing

April 20, Salem


Earth Day at The Oregon Garden

April 22, Silverton


Oregon Envirothon

May 5, Silverton


Oregon Bigleaf Maple Festival

May 13, Salem


Starker Lecture: Social Innovations to Meet Societal Challenges

May 31, Corvallis

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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.


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