Oregon forestland owners and the forestry community applauded a synthesis study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service that ties together important themes about wood and active forest management, including the environmental benefits of wood in green building, carbon and climate change, and forest-sector employment.
“Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s announcement is very welcome news,” said Paul Barnum, OFRI executive director. “Despite the down economy, Oregon has a natural competitive advantage in wood products. Oregon already leads the nation in softwood and wood panel manufacturing.”
Ray Wilkeson, president of the Oregon Forest Industries Council, said that by acknowledging wood as a green building material, government agencies like the U.S. Forest Service can positively impact rural employment in Oregon. “Recognizing wood as a green building material can promote investment in sustainably managed forestland, mills and secondary manufacturing. These all have a multiplier effect on employment in small Oregon cities and towns.” OFIC’s members include large forestland owners and wood products manufacturers.
Jim James, president of the Oregon Small Woodlands Association, said, “Our members are contributors to Oregon’s forest-sector economy. Keeping our members’ family forestlands economically viable is not only important to our economy; those forestlands are important to all Oregonians as sources of high-quality water as well as fish and wildlife habitat.” OSWA represents members whose woodlands range up to 5,000 acres. Some 62,500 family forestland owners throughout Oregon care for and manage about 15 percent of Oregon’s forests.
The USDA’s press release recognizes many themes on which OFRI has worked over the years, including federal forestlands in Oregon, water in Oregon’s forests, family forestlands, the role of wood in green building, carbon and climate change, and wood’s role in employment for mill workers and those working in forests.*
Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell noted in the government’s press release the deplorable condition of many publicly owned forestlands in the West, which include millions of acres in Oregon. Tidwell said, “…we have hundreds of thousands of dead trees killed by bark beetles that could find their way into the building-supply chain for all types of building. Taking a harder look at wood as a green building source could reduce the damages posed by future fires, maintain overall forest health and provide much-needed jobs in local communities.”
OFRI was created in 1991 by the Oregon legislature to improve public understanding of the state’s forest resources and to encourage environmentally sound forest management through education. To learn more about the Oregon Forest Resources Institute and its work, visit OFRI online at Oregonforests.org.
