The stories and photos coming out of Colorado are horrific: Eleven wildfires. Thousands forced to flee. Hundreds of thousands of acres scorched. Millions of dollars of property damaged. The most destructive of the 11, the worst in Colorado’s history, is the Waldo Canyon Fire that charred 18,000 acres around Colorado Springs, destroying 346 homes and killing two. Can it happen in Oregon? This summer marks the 10th anniversary of the Biscuit Fire, which consumed a half-million acres in southwest Oregon. In the summer of 2002, major fires were already burning across Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico, and these drew firefighting resources away from the Pacific Northwest...

The pall of smoke yellowed the sky along the Front Range of the Rockies. We could see it from our west-facing windows as our jet approached Denver from the north. It was the last week of June, and my wife and I were flying to Colorado for vacation. We’d heard about the fires, but their reality hit much closer to home as our plane descended. The High Park fire, as it was known, west of Fort Collins, eventually would destroy 259 homes and consume more than 87,000 acres of forest. At the time, it was already the most destructive forest fire in the state’s history in terms of property damage....

Thank you for your support and feedback about OFRI’s new website. It’s certainly come a long way, thanks in large part to our development partner, DHX Advertising. Together we’ve worked to create a site that is both visually interesting and informative about Oregon’s abundant forestlands. There is a lot to learn and play with on the site, so if you haven’t taken the time to explore, by all means do so. There’s more to come, too. Our ongoing mission for OregonForests.org is to make it more interactive, more interesting and, above all, more significant for Oregonians. We have a number of features we are planning to expand. And, what better way to accomplish that than to involve you in the process...

Snuggled up among the roots of a 200-year-old oak tree last week, my kids and I tapped our toes along with the film “Happy Feet” at The Oregon Garden’s outdoor amphitheater. The film’s main characters are penguins and, of course, are not native to Oregon, but the state’s forests were also part of the evening’s entertainment. Before the movie began, we were treated to a spectacular preview: The summer sun set over the garden’s grove of majestic Oregon white oak trees. This grove began growing before Lewis and Clark first explored Oregon. In the trees we could see holes drilled by busy acorn woodpeckers storing nuts for a winter meal. When I pointed them out to the 8-year-old next to me, his comment was, “Winter! But I thought the summer just started?” I couldn’t argue....

It may come as a surprise to new residents that Oregon has a long tradition of citizen governance. As a result, there are more than 200 citizen boards and commissions that oversee various aspects of the state’s business. Most of these positions are volunteer. One we follow closely is the Oregon Board of Forestry. The board is made up of seven individuals appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate. They meet about eight times a year, at locations throughout the state. Several times a year they go on “forest field tours” to become better informed about a particular issue. Meetings and tours are open to the public...

I recently toured two Oregon sawmills and came away impressed with their innovation, technology and high degree of utilization. Today’s mills use every part of the tree except the shade. Efficient utilization of the wood resource is one of the keys to their staying in business. At Seneca Sawmill in Eugene, long, debarked logs move along a conveyor into the “merchandiser,” where they are lifted and scanned in a process reminiscent of a full-body MRI. Based on current market prices, a computer calculates how the log should be cut...

10-year, $1 million study shows no threat to human health

“Hello? This is an owl calling. Anyone home?” No, it’s not the script for an annoying marketing call. Instead, it’s what I was doing on a recent perfect summer evening in the Douglas-fir forest of Oregon’s Silver Falls State Park, southeast of Salem. Yes, making owl calls. “Owling,” in the vernacular. I was teamed with Fran Cafferata Coe, a wildlife biologist hired by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department to research whether any northern spotted owls still occupy this territory. Fran is also documenting all owl species within the park.

Owning family forestland is worth the hard work.But believe me, it’s no picnic. I’ve gained new respect for tree-planting crews. I discovered this while replanting a section of our 89-acre woodland this past winter. My husband, Rex, plus my father and I, spent two weekends planting 1,600 Douglas-fir seedlings on about six acres.

I was deeply saddened by the recent announcement of the impending closure of Ochoco Lumber Company’s sawmill in John Day. Following last month’s announcement, I saw an editorial in the Blue Mountain Eagle newspaper, which serves Grant County. The writer struggled to make sense of the loss felt in John Day, a community surrounded by national forests. That struggling sawmill has been a steady supplier of lumber for decades. The writer noted that if the pending loss of 75-80 jobs were in Portland, it would be a Big Deal. The writer went on to note that the consequence of the loss is exponentially larger to John Day...

Flying back from family visits in Sacramento last week I could see from the airplane a substantial portion of Oregon’s 30.5 million acres of forestland. Not all of it, but quite a lot. As we flew up I-5, I couldn’t see the invisible borders for timber-based counties, but from my perch I could see some of their cities and towns. As bad as the Great Recession has been for Oregon’s urban areas, smaller communities were hit sooner, harder and with longer lasting effects...

I moved to Portland in the late 1970s and went straight to work in a downtown office building. The Bus Mall, as it was known then, was fairly new. Red brick sidewalks lined the streets where public transportation was routed to give downtown a new focus. I’m told that in the 1960s, downtown Portland was much like other cities’ downtowns: dying from neglect and lack of interest. But business and civic leaders here had already laid the foundation for transformation, and planting trees was part of it...

As fall colors blaze, it's a good time to plant trees. That's right. Though spring brings new growth, October and November are optimal months for planting in Oregon. The heat of summer has faded, but the cold of winter is still a month or two away. The soil is still warm enough and moist but not soggy. Ready to plant? It's time to select a tree...

Forest products have long been an economic engine for the state. As a state agency charged with public education about the forest sector, it’s one of OFRI’s core competencies to lead a deep dive into the sector’s strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. In October, OFRI published its assessment of the economic impact of Oregon’s forest sector. Titled “The 2012 Forest Report,” the 200-page study is the most comprehensive look at sector employment and economic impact in nearly a decade. The findings may surprise you...

Well, I wouldn’t recommend it, but there are a lot more products from forests and trees than just wood. Wild forest goods – also known as non-timber forest products – are booming in Oregon forests, thanks to the work of several groups. I had the pleasure of attending a Forest Learning Fair sponsored by the Oregon Woodland Cooperative in September near Brownsville. I was surprised by the number of products: basketry materials, berries, boughs, cones, dyes, essential oils, firewood, floral products, wild honey, moss, mushrooms, nuts, resins, seeds and syrups are all being harvested and marketed by Oregon family woodland owners...

It’s not unusual to see film crews on the street below the OFRI office in downtown Portland. They often use the Historic U.S. Bank Building as a backdrop. But it was a first for us last week when a crew from the TV series “Grimm” came inside our office to shoot a scene taking place across the street. Inspired by the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tales, the show “Grimm” is set in Portland because the area reminded the creators of Germany's Black Forest, where many of the original tales take place. “Grimm” tells the story of a Portland homicide detective who discovers that fairy-tale creatures are real – and that he has the power to see them when others usually can't. These creatures include the beaver-like Eisbiber, the wolf-like Blutbaden and the bear-like Jägerbären...

Thanksgiving is this week. Our family, like most families, has plenty of traditions surrounding Thanksgiving. Many of them are food-related – the brining of the turkey, the mashed-potato volcanoes, and the little oddly shaped dish whose only job, it seems, is to hold the green olives. But we’ve created other traditions over the years. One of our most recent is a post-Thanksgiving trip to the Tillamook Forest Center to create our annual holiday wreath...

The other day I was browsing the Oregon “Agripedia” – it’s 90 pages of agricultural statistics. It’s more interesting than it sounds, really. I learned that Oregon is the No. 1 U.S. producer of peppermint, grass seed, blackberries, hazelnuts, Dungeness crab and potted azaleas. And also Christmas trees. Oregon growers sold 6.4 million Christmas trees last year, more than any other state...

Image The rewards – and the work – of being a family forest landowner continue.

Image What is damaging or killing trees on private forest landowners’ properties?