Tree Schools offer “tree-mendous” educational opportunities

I often tell people that Oregon has the strongest forestry extension program in the country. One of the examples I use to illustrate this is Tree School.

Tree School is a festival of learning for people who love forests. Each year, Oregon State University's Forestry & Natural Resources Extension Program hosts regional Tree Schools in various counties around Oregon.  

At Tree School, OSU faculty and other experts teach dozens of classes, covering everything from chainsaw safety to mushroom identification to wood product marketing. These courses complement the year-round educational programs offered by OSU Extension and its partners.

This spring, there are three separate Tree Schools being held in western Oregon:

- Tree School Clackamas, March 23 at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City
- Tree School Umpqua, March 29 at Phoenix Charter School in Roseburg
- Tree School Rogue, April 27 at Rogue Community College in Grants Pass

Registration is now open for Tree School Clackamas, Tree School Umpqua and Tree School Rogue, although some classes are full at Clackamas. 

Information on all three of these Tree Schools, plus Tree School Klamath, which is scheduled for summer 2019, is available here. 

OFRI is a proud sponsor of Tree Schools each year, and we will have displays set up at each of the three upcoming ones with our educational publications for forest landowners. It’s a great chance to stock up. There will be plenty of excellent displays from our partner organizations as well.

In addition to helping coordinate our display at Tree School, I also generally teach a class or two, and this year I’m teaching three different courses:

- “Oregon Forest Protection Laws” (with Joe Goldsby of the Oregon Department of Forestry) at Tree School Clackamas
- “Oregon Forest Protection Laws” and “Forest Certification Systems: Improving Management, Adding Value” at Tree School Umpqua
- “Paired Watershed Studies: A New Look at Contemporary Forest Practices” at Tree School Rogue

I encourage all Oregon forest landowners, and anyone else who has an interest in forests and trees, to join us at a Tree School this spring if you have the chance. You’ll be rewarded for your investment of time. I hope to see you in one of my classes.

For the forest,

Mike Cloughesy
Director of Forestry