KnowYourForest.org is new and improved

Spring is a time for rebirth and rejuvenation, so it is fitting that KnowYourForest.org, an educational website for Oregon forest landowners, has a new look and some new content.

KnowYourForest.org was created in 2012 by the Partnership for Forestry Education, a group of Oregon-based organizations that have come together to help educate the state’s forest landowners. Managed by OFRI, the site provides information from a variety of public agencies and nonprofits, including the Oregon State University Extension Service, Oregon Department of Forestry, Oregon Small Woodlands Association and Oregon Tree Farm System.

This is the first significant update of KnowYourForest.org since it was unveiled. It now includes new and updated content and some new features. Among the new content is a page in the “Learning Library” on forestry business and taxes, curated by Tammy Cushing, forest business and tax extension specialist with OSU Extension. This page includes a new video in which I interview Tammy about forest business issues.

Updated content includes a redesign of the “Forest Management Planning” page in the Learning Library, curated by Lauren Grand of OSU Extension and ODF’s Thomas Whittington. This page features an updated version of the Oregon management planning template and a link to the new “Oregon Forest Management Planning” website that is also curated by Lauren and Thomas.

The site also now features a series of new videos. In addition to Tammy’s forest business and tax video, we have two new videos on OSU Silviculture Extension Specialist Steve Fitzgerald’s wildfire page in the Learning Library. The “Making Your Forestland Fire-Safe” video features Alicia Jones of OSU Extension and Kyle Reed of the Douglas Forest Protection Association. The second video, “How to make your Home and Property Fire-Safe,” features Tom Fields of ODF and Kris Babbs of Keep Oregon Green.

We also have a series of new videos on the “Forest Protection Laws” page that were developed by ODF and feature Ryan Gordon from the agency’s Private Forests Program. These shorter videos cover the Oregon Forest Practices Act’s new Salmon, Steelhead and Bull Trout (SSBT) stream buffer requirements in short, easy-to-use segments.

Finally, the opening page of KnowYourForest.org features the new third edition of Oregon's Forest Protection Laws: An Illustrated Manual and the latest update to Family Forests, a resource guide for Oregon family forest landowners. These new publications can be downloaded from the site and hard copies are available to order.

So, before you head out to work on your spring tree farm chores, check out the updated KnowYourForest.org website.

For the forest,

Mike Cloughesy

Director of Forestry