April 2016



Spring events point to wood's bright future

Between last month's Mass Timber Conference, ongoing tours of tall wood buildings for elected officials, and this month's Northwest Wood Solutions Fair, it's fair to say that wood has come of age.
 
This is a rousing time to represent the forestry and forest products sector. When OFRI won a USDA Wood Innovation Grant over a year ago, which resulted in our hiring of Timm Locke as director of forest products, little did we know there would be such huge local interest in all things wood.
 
OFRI's heightened focus on wood products does not diminish in any way our love of and focus on forest management. For only when the public knows that Oregon's forests are being managed responsibly and sustainably can they feel comfortable using wood, whether for homes or tall commercial wood buildings such as we are now seeing built. Every use of wood is an economic "vote" for sustainable forest management. Demand for wood products creates demand for timber. And here in the Pacific Northwest, our forest protection laws ensure timber and forest-based natural resources in perpetuity.
 
Picking which topic we like best to talk about - wood products or forest management - is like trying to choose which kid you want to brag about. They're both doing great. We can't stop talking about either one!

For the forest,
 
Paul Barnum
Executive Director



OFRI honored as 'Partner in Education'


The Northwest Regional Education Service District last month recognized OFRI with a Partner in Education award.
 
The award honors OFRI's partnership with the Northwest Regional ESD's Northwest Outdoor Science School, a field program that teaches elementary and middle-school students about the natural world. The school's coordinator, John Jackson, nominated OFRI for the award. He says he especially appreciated a free training on forestry that OFRI hosted last fall for Outdoor School staff.
 
"The partnership between OFRI and Outdoor School has helped us improve the experiences we provide to students around forest literacy," Jackson says. "Outdoor School staff were able to increase their understanding of Oregon's forest practices, and take part in hands-on professional development that resulted in increased student learning about our forests."
 
OFRI Director of K-12 Education Programs Norie Dimeo-Ediger and Executive Director Paul Barnum accepted the award at the Northwest Regional ESD board meeting March 8 in Hillsboro.
 
The Northwest Regional ESD provides educational support services to school districts in Clatsop, Columbia, Tillamook and Washington counties.



Mass Timber Conference huge success

 
More than 500 people attended the Mass Timber Conference last month at the Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront hotel.
 
The event, held March 23-24, featured a lineup of expert speakers from around the world discussing how to increase the use of wood for structures ranging from low-rises to skyscrapers. Among the more than 40 presenters were Canadian architect Michael Green, owner of Michael Green Architecture; Thomas Maness, dean of the Oregon State University College of Forestry; U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer; and Portland architect Thomas Robinson, a principal with LEVER Architecture.
 
Forest Business Network and WoodWorks jointly produced the conference, which attracted attendees from 11 countries who represented all facets of the mass timber supply chain. They included construction product suppliers, building owners and developers, along with elected officials, researchers and representatives of government agencies. OFRI's booth in the conference exhibit hall had steady traffic both days.
 
OFRI Director of Forest Products Timm Locke served on the conference steering committee and played a large role in organizing a pre-conference tour of Portland-area mass timber buildings on March 22.
 
"As the momentum around mass timber continues to gather steam here in the Northwest, the timing and location for this deep dive into the topic could not have been better," Locke says. 



Tour spotlights mass timber projects

 
A recent tour for building and design industry professionals highlighted Portland-area projects at the forefront of the mass timber movement.
 
OFRI Director of Forest Products Timm Locke helped organize the day-long tour of mass timber buildings in Portland and Vancouver, Wash., as a precursor to last month's Mass Timber Conference.
 
"The tour was a great way to kick off the conference," he says. "It gave attendees the opportunity to dive into the details of existing buildings, and hear from people who have already been through the process of designing, building and gaining code approval for these mass timber structures."
 
More than 100 conference attendees who went on the tour had the chance to walk through six different mass timber buildings. They also heard from building owners, developers, architects and engineers who discussed how code requirements were met and design challenges overcome for each project.
 
Buildings included on the tour were The Hudson in Vancouver, Clay Creative in southeast Portland, The Radiator and One North complex in north Portland, Framework in northwest Portland and Albina Yard in north Portland. Both Framework and The Radiator are winners of the Wood Products Council's 2016 Wood Design Awards.
 
The tour made a lunch stop at the World Forestry Center in southwest Portland, where participants had time to visit the museum. They then heard a presentation by Kathryn Fernholz, executive director of the nonprofit organization Dovetail Partners which educates about and promotes sustainable forestry practices. Fernholz discussed connections between forestry, wood products, carbon and people.




Congressman backs mass timber


U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer is seeking ways Congress can help spur greater advancements in mass timber.
 
Blumenauer, whose congressional district takes in most of Portland and eastern Multnomah County, brought together a group of mass timber advocates last month for a roundtable discussion in Portland about the positive attributes of tall wood buildings.
 
OFRI Director of Forest Products Timm Locke was among those who attended the March 18 meeting at Clay Creative, a 60,000-square-foot, wood-structure office building under construction in southeast Portland. Attendees included Valerie Johnson, president of D.R. Johnson Lumber Co., an Oregon-based company that produces cross-laminated timber. Also attending were the architect and developer for Framework, a 12-story timber high-rise planned for Portland's Pearl District.
 
Blumenauer consistently heard during the discussion that there are many advantages to mass timber buildings. Roundtable attendees told him these buildings are environmentally superior and desirable to tenants, and can be built safely and cost-effectively. During the meeting Blumenauer commented that he'd like to see the public sector "lead by example" with more government projects using mass timber, including potentially a new courthouse planned for downtown Portland.
 
While meeting with the congressman, Locke handed him policy issue briefs prepared by the Oregon Business Council and the American Wood Council that outline specific steps Congress can take to support the cause. The following week, when Blumenauer presented at the Mass Timber Conference, he held those issue briefs up and said he planned to use them in formulating his legislative agenda. 



Forest birds focus of new publication

A new OFRI publication serves as a reference guide for forest managers on state protections for forest-dwelling birds such as the bald eagle, marbled murrelet and northern spotted owl.
 
The Wildlife in Managed Forests: Oregon Forest Practices Act Reference Series compiles information on OFPA protections for nine bird species that are considered sensitive, threatened or endangered. The booklet includes a chart of the birds' critical nesting and breeding periods - when logging, road building and other forest activities are restricted - and fact sheets with information on specific protections for each species.
 
Forest landowners, managers and loggers will find the chart showing the nesting periods for all nine species particularly useful when planning timber harvests or other activities that could impact forest-dwelling birds, says Julie Woodward, OFRI senior manager of forestry education. The chart will be a helpful tool for forest managers to use in conjunction with OFRI's Oregon's Forest Protection Laws: An Illustrated Manual, she says.
 
"The really useful part is that information about the critical nesting periods is all in one place," Woodward says. "It's a great companion to the illustrated manual."
 
The new fact-sheet booklet can be ordered for free through OFRI's Learning Library. It's part of the Wildlife in Managed Forests series of OFRI publications developed for forest landowners and managers to learn about habitat requirements and ecological roles of various wildlife species found in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. 

Oregon Forest Resources Institute �  OregonForests.org 
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 dedicated forest products harvest tax.
   
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Copyright � 2016, Oregon Forest Resources Institute. All Rights Reserved.

Recently on the blog 

Wood fair planned in Portland

Registration is now
open for the 2016 Northwest Wood Solutions Fair April 26 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland.

The fair will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and feature educational seminars on the use of wood in non-residential and multifamily buildings. The event is organized by WoodWorks, an initiative of the Wood Products Council that provides education and resources to make it easier to design, engineer and construct wood buildings.

The event is free, but registration is required. 


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OSU hosts leadership academy
 
Oregon State University is now taking registrations for this summer's

The continuing education program for graduate students and natural resources professionals is scheduled to take place this year June 12-17 and June 20-24 at Kearney Hall on the OSU campus. The academy will offer the opportunity for students and professionals to learn side-by-side about natural resources topics, as well as to network and find opportunities to collaborate.

Planned session topics include natural resources and community values, collaborative governance, water conflict management, and resilient and robust resource management.  
 
 

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OSWA plans annual meeting

The Oregon Small Woodlands Association is gearing up for its 2016 annual meeting this summer in Baker City.
 
This year's meeting is scheduled for June 9-11, with the theme of "Sustaining Family Forests - Celebrating 75 Years." The event will be hosted by OSWA's Baker County chapter in partnership with OFRI, the Oregon Tree Farm System and the Oregon Department of Forestry.
 
The program includes a Howdy Neighbor Woods Tour on June 9 that will focus on dealing with fire, an awards banquet and silent auction on June 10, and the 2015 Oregon Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year Woods Tour on June 11.
 
American Forest Foundation President Tom Martin is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the June 10 meeting, and OFRI Director of Forestry Mike Cloughesy will serve as the master of ceremonies.


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Pesticide collection event planned
Owners of unwanted commercial, forestry or agricultural pesticides can safely and anonymously dispose of them for free this month at a pesticide collection event co-hosted by the Oregon Department of Forestry. 
 
Unwanted pesticides and used pesticide containers can be dropped off from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 28 at the Philomath ODF office, 24533 Alsea Highway. Empty plastic pesticide containers dropped off for recycling must be cleaned using triple-rinse procedures, hold 55 gallons or less and be made from high-density polyethylene.

To ensure there is enough space, those planning to drop off pesticides or containers must pre-register by April 16 using a confidential system provided by the third-party disposal service collecting the pesticides. To register, call Clean Harbors Environmental Services at 360-607-5434 or 503-953-6461.
 
The pesticide collection event is among others the Water Quality Management Team sponsors throughout the year across the state. 

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Get Outside:
Tillamook Forest Center

The Tillamook Forest Center reopened last month following its winter closure, and is once again providing a jumping-off point to explore the Tillamook State Forest.
 
Spring hours for the interpretive center are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. Admission is free, and the center features a variety of exhibits on the history of the state forest, wildlife and sustainable forest management. It is located at 45500 Wilson River Highway in Tillamook and can be accessed from the Wilson River Trail