This 24-page booklet offers forest landowners and managers an introduction to the vast variety of native bees that are found in Oregon’s forests. This booklet provides a background and context for better understanding of the role managed forests play in providing habitat for native bees. The reader will learn about the threats to native bees, current research and will learn techniques to provide habitat for native bees.
This booklet includes a set of diagrams intended to help forest landowners planning a timber harvest to interpret current riparian management area prescriptions required under the Oregon Forest Practices Act. The new forest practice rules for expanded riparian protections for forest landowners who own 5,000 or more acres went into effect on July 1, 2023. All private forest landowners will be required to follow the new rules starting January 1, 2024.
Winter is a crucial time for Oregon’s forests. The season’s cloudy, wet and cold days foster the explosion of new growth we see in spring forests by invigorating trees and plants with plenty of moisture. Winter is also the height of tree-planting season in Oregon’s forests.
PORTLAND, Ore. – An upcoming webinar series for foresters, forest landowners and managers, and others with an interest in forestry, will focus on the health of Oregon’s forests, including the current condition of Oregon’s forests, forest health trends, challenges, current research findings and possible solutions.
Oregon is home to many different types of forests, with varying species of trees, plants and wildlife. The forest type that dominates a region depends on climate, elevation, wind and rainfall, temperature and soil conditions.
Forest Fact Break: Forest Ty
Wood is the only major building material that stores carbon, which is removed from the atmosphere during a tree’s growth. CLT and other advanced wood products make it possible to construct mid-rise and even high-rise structures almost entirely with wood, with less environmental impact than traditional building methods. Recent and future mass timber buildings are putting Oregon at the forefront of this architectural evolution.
It is a cornerstone of Oregon’s forest practices rules. Requiring landowners to promptly replant trees after a timber harvest means future Oregonians will enjoy the same forest resources we do today, including wood products, healthy watersheds, recreational opportunities, and thriving fish and wildlife habitat.In a typical year, Oregon forest landowners plant about 40 million seedlings every year. And far more trees are planted each year than are harvested.
Tree Planting in FebruaryOregon tree planting crews
Seedlings, seedlings and more seedlingsPlanting.Landowners must complete replanting of harvested ground within two years.Ensuring success.Within six years of harvest, the young trees must be “free-to-grow.” That means they are vigorous and tall enough to out-compete grass and brush, and will grow into a new forest.Trees per acre.Depending on the site, the rules require that at least 100 to 200 trees per acre survive during reforestation, but landowners typically plant about 400 seedlings per acre.
PORTLAND, Ore. – A new three-part educational video series produced by the Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI) explores what it takes to reforest Oregon’s timber-producing forests.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Nine years ago, the Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI) installed timelapse cameras in a reforested area on private timberland in Oregon’s Coast Range to capture the growth of 4-year-old and 9-year-old trees that were planted in a clearcut. Footage from the solar-powered cameras, which filmed the fast-growing young trees for seven years, shows how a new forest has filled in the timber harvest within 15 years of planting seedlings.
Every year, forest landowners plant millions of trees across Oregon. Most are planted to replace trees harvested to make wood products. Others are planted to help restore forestland burned in wildfires.
Revised Fourth Edition. Published in 2025. Includes Private Forest Accord updates.Since it was first published in 2002, Oregon’s Forest Protection Laws: An Illustrated Manual has become a standard reference for those planning and executing timber harvests. The publication fosters easy understanding of the Oregon Forest Practices Act and Rules, and the other best management practices, laws and rules that apply to Oregon’s forest landowners.
PORTLAND, Ore. – Since it was first published two decades ago, Oregon’s Forest Protection Laws: An Illustrated Manual has become standard reference for private forest landowners and forestry workers seeking to learn about state forest practice rules and regulations. The updated fourth edition of the colorfully illustrated manual, developed by the Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI), now includes information about a new set of rules created during the most significant revision to Oregon’s forest practice laws in 50 years.
PORTLAND, Ore. – A team of students calling themselves “The Rogue Pack” from Logos Public Charter School in Medford won the Oregon Envirothon for the third year in a row at the 2024 statewide competition on May 3 at The Oregon Garden in Silverton. The win earned the students a spot at this year’s national NCF-Envirothon, planned for July 28-Aug. 30 in Geneva, New York.
The much-anticipated fourth edition of Oregon’s Forest Protection Laws: An Illustrated Manual, which includes information about recent updates to state forest practice regulations, is finally here!
As my time working for OFRI sets like the summer sun, I am reminded of the incredible opportunities the agency provided me with through its social media and outreach internship. I started the internship in February 2023 during my junior year as an undergrad at the University of Oregon. Now, with my bachelor’s degree in hand I am heading to the big city of Chicago. Before I leave, I’d like to share my favorite adventures and some of what I’ve learned during my time at OFRI.
Advances in wood technology are allowing us to build bigger and taller wooden structures. But seeing wood being used more frequently can bring up questions and concerns about sustainable forest management and sourcing. This 36-page special report explores current forest practices in Oregon, and the tenets of forest sustainability.
You've read Sourcing from Sustainable Forests, but still have more questions about forest sustainability? This FAQ document includes many more commonly asked questions and answers about sustainable forest management in Oregon. This document is only available online, and is not available as a printed version.
OFRI annual report for fiscal year 2023-2024.
Hello! My name is Henry Thomas, and I am the new social media intern for the Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI).
Portland, Ore. – The Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI) has promoted Rikki Heath to director of K-12 education programs following the retirement of the former director of K-12 education, Norie Dimeo-Ediger, earlier this year.
