What is the Oregon Forest Resources Institute?

06/01/23 • 55 min

This episode with Jim Paul, the newly appointed Executive Director of the Oregon Forest Resources Institute, discusses the institute’s three primary program areas (public education, K-12 education, and landowner education), as well as how OFRI is funded, the institute’s response to former Governor Kate Brown's request for a 2021 audit by Oregon Secretary of State Shamia Fagan, and implications of a bill in the 2023 Oregon legislative session.

Previous Episode

Are We Putting the Forest to Sleep? An update: Coho lawsuit and a minor correction

As a follow-up to our two previous episodes that focused on the history of state forest lands in Oregon and the state’s pursuit of a Habitat Conservation Plan, this episode discusses the recent terms agreed to by the state to settle a lawsuit filed by environmental organizations over alleged impact the state’s forest management activities have to coho salmon habitat. The episode also includes a minor correction to statements made in the first episode on this topic (Are we putting the forest to sleep? Part 1: History of State Forests) that clarifies when former Governor Kitzhaber challenged the Oregon Department of Forestry to achieve twin goals of increased revenue and increased conservation.

Next Episode

It all starts in the soil

This episode with Dr. Tom DeLuca, dean of the Oregon State University College of Forestry, focuses primarily on carbon sequestration and storage in forestry and forest soils. We also discuss a whole range of topics surrounding carbon, including the history of forestry as a practice, the carbon cycle of forests, how long carbon is stored in wood products, the carbon benefits of mass timber like cross laminated timber and mass plywood panels, the human connection to trees and wood products, the impact of active management on carbon stored in soil, the symbiotic relationship between soil and trees, and the impact of different land uses on carbon in soil.