Stay up to date with the latest OFRI happenings in our news releases, including updates on new publications, programs, conferences, events and board activities.
PORTLAND, Ore. – The newest edition of Oregon Forest Facts, a pocket-size booklet packed with the latest statistics and information about Oregon’s forests and the state’s timber and forest products industries, is now available for download and order.
The Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI) publishes a new edition of Oregon Forest Facts biennially. The publication serves as a detailed reference guide to Oregon’s forests and forest-based industries, including information, maps, graphs and statistics about forestland ownership, timber harvest, forest-related employment and wood products production. The 2023-24 edition also includes new information about the economic impacts of the 2020 Labor Day Fires and updates to Oregon’s forest practice regulations resulting from the Private Forest Accord agreement between the timber industry and conservation groups.
“This newly updated Oregon Forest Facts continues OFRI’s tradition of providing the latest statistics and information about the forests that cover nearly half our state, and a forest sector that continues to lead the country in softwood lumber and plywood production, all while employing more than 61,000 Oregonians and managing forests for sustainable timber harvests that help preserve our forest land base,” says OFRI Director of Forestry Julie Woodward.
Data from the Oregon Forest Facts 2023-24 Edition can be accessed online at OregonForestFacts.org. The site includes the option to easily share charts and graphs containing information about Oregon’s forests, via email or social media. Individual maps, charts and graphics from the publication can also be downloaded from the Oregon Forest Facts image gallery on OFRI’s OregonForests.org website.
About the Oregon Forest Resources Institute:
The Oregon Legislature created the Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI) in 1991 to support and enhance Oregon’s forest products industry by advancing public understanding of forests, forest management and forest products, and encouraging sustainable forestry through landowner education. OFRI is governed by a board of directors made up of 11 voting members appointed by the state forester, plus two non-voting members. It is funded by a portion of the forest products harvest tax.
PORTLAND, Ore. – A new, colorfully illustrated pamphlet from the Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI), designed specifically for recreational visitors to Oregon’s forests, explores the many environmental, social and economic benefits forests provide to all Oregonians.
The brochure-size pamphlet, called Adventure Awaits, also serves as a primer for visitors to Oregon’s wood-producing forests, where they’re likely to encounter a recent timber harvest or other forestry activities. It explains modern forest management and logging practices, as well as laws and regulations that are in place to protect wildlife habitat, drinking water sources and other vital natural resources.
Adventure Awaits has five tabbed sections, each offering a basic overview of forest ownership in Oregon: wildlife; water; logging and replanting; carbon; and wood products. It helps Oregonians and visitors understand how – beyond being great places to camp, hike, bike, hunt or fish – many forests in Oregon are managed for multiple uses, including growing timber to make wood products, storing carbon, and providing fish and wildlife habitat.
Free copies of Adventure Awaits are available to download or order through OFRI’s website, OregonForests.org. The pamphlet fits in a brochure rack or a standard letter-size envelope, easy to make available in forest visitor centers and recreation-district or timber-company offices, or to distribute with permits allowing recreational access to private forestlands.
About the Oregon Forest Resources Institute:
The Oregon Legislature created the Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI) in 1991 to support and enhance Oregon’s forest products industry by advancing public understanding of forests, forest management and forest products, and encouraging sustainable forestry through landowner education. OFRI is governed by a board of directors made up of 11 voting members appointed by the state forester, plus two non-voting members. It is funded by a portion of the forest products harvest tax.
PORTLAND, Ore. – The Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI) board of directors has named Jim Paul, a former Oregon Department of State Lands director who also spent more than a decade working for the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), to serve as the Institute’s new executive director.
Paul, who was most recently the assistant director of the Administrative Services Division at the Oregon Department of Corrections, will join OFRI on Sept.15. He began his public service career at ODF in 1996 and would go on to become the agency’s hydrologist and later serve as the chief of two of its three operational divisions. He then worked at the Department of State Lands, where he rose to the position of director before joining the Department of Corrections.
The OFRI board voted to hire Paul on Aug. 25 after an extensive search for a new executive director to lead the Institute and replace Acting Executive Director Mike Cloughesy, who is returning to retirement this month.
“Over the course of his career, Jim Paul has gained extensive forestry and natural resources leadership experience in the public sector,” says Jerry Anderson, OFRI board chair. “The board believes his forestry knowledge combined with experience working for other state agencies makes him uniquely qualified to lead OFRI’s forest and forestry education programs for the public, landowners, and K-12 teachers and students.”
Paul earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Whitman College, attended Duke University’s College of Forestry, and received a master’s degree in forest hydrology from the College of Forest Resources at the University of Washington.
About the Oregon Forest Resources Institute:
The Oregon Legislature created the Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI) in 1991 to support and enhance Oregon’s forest products industry by advancing public understanding of forests, forest management and forest products, and encouraging sustainable forestry through landowner education. A 13-member board of directors governs OFRI. The state agency is funded by a portion of the forest products harvest tax.
PORTLAND, Ore. – Oregon’s forest protection laws are changing. To help Oregonians learn about recent changes to the Oregon Forest Practices Act, the Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI) has updated its OregonForestLaws.org website detailing the state’s forest-related laws and regulations.
OregonForestLaws.org provides an overview of current state laws governing forestry practices on private and state forestlands that aim to protect clean water, fish and wildlife habitat, and other forest resources. The newly updated site is part of OFRI’s latest educational media campaign to inform the public about how Oregonians recently came together to create new forest rules that expand habitat protections around streams for salmon and other aquatic wildlife. An OFRI-produced video airing on digital and social media directs viewers to the site.
The updated site includes a page about the Private Forest Accord, a cooperative agreement to make changes to the Oregon Forest Practices Act. Other new additions to the site include a section on public notification detailing new state-run notification systems for forest management activities such as helicopter pesticide application.
The site also includes pages explaining forest laws related to protecting water and fish, requirements to replant trees after logging, wildlife habitat protections, limits on clearcutting and chemical use in forests, forest road regulations, and special rules for logging trees along scenic highways.
Hyperlinks and resources throughout the site allow users to dig deeper into many topics. A new questions and answers page includes a list of answers to frequently asked questions regarding Oregon’s forestry regulations, as well as the option for site visitors to “ask a forester” and submit their own questions to be answered by professional foresters.
About the Oregon Forest Resources Institute:
The Oregon Legislature created the Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI) in 1991 to support and enhance Oregon’s forest products industry by advancing public understanding of forests, forest management and forest products, and encouraging sustainable forestry through landowner education. A 13-member board of directors governs OFRI. It is funded by a portion of the forest products harvest tax.