With the summer behind us and the arrival of fall, things are as busy as ever at OFRI.

This month’s eNews highlights multiple education and outreach events for teachers, students and landowners alike, with a broad range of amazing events and offerings from OFRI and our incredible partners. And looking ahead into October and November, there’s a full list of events you can learn more about in our “Upcoming Events” section below.

You’ll also hear about our latest updates to the Partnership for Forestry Education’s KnowYourForest.org website, which OFRI maintains. Hosting this website has proved to be a significant collaborative effort over the years to provide important information, tools and educational opportunities to Oregon’s forest landowners.

So remember, if you’re looking for information on Oregon’s forests, there’s a little something for everyone thanks to OFRI — an invaluable resource for forestry education and information for the state of Oregon since 1991. 

For the forest,

Jim Paul

Executive Director

OFRI and partners are hosting the inaugural Forest Wildlife Research Summit Oct. 30 at Oregon State University in Corvallis to highlight scientific research on the habitat needs of forest-reliant wildlife and their response to forest management actions.

Oregon’s forests provide habitat for a wide range of wildlife species, and forest managers play a key role in supporting them. Ongoing research offers crucial insights on the needs of individual species, as well as the effects of various management strategies.

The Forest Wildlife Research Summit, scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at OSU’s CH2M HILL Alumni Center, will provide the opportunity for scientists, forest managers, woodland owners, students and others with an interest in forest wildlife to discuss current research on the diverse array of wildlife species that depend on forests. Summit sessions will cover a variety of topics related to wildlife research in Oregon, including disturbance and early seral ecosystems, late seral ecosystem management and conservation, and the role of fire and fire-associated species. The summit will also feature a panel discussing how research translates to on-the-ground habitat management.

OFRI is organizing and sponsoring the event, which is free to attend, in partnership with the OSU College of Forestry, OSU Extension Service, and National Council for Air and Stream Improvement Inc.

For more information and to register for the summit, go to forestwildlifesummit.eventbrite.com. 

OFRI partnered with the Oregon Natural Resources Education Program last month to provide a free two-day professional development workshop and field tour for high school teachers that visited a landscape impacted by wildfire.

The workshop, titled “Forest Resiliency in a Changing Climate,” featured a tour of the Santiam Canyon to learn about post-fire salvage logging and reforestation efforts, five years after the Labor Day fires reshaped this mostly forested landscape. Along with touring burned areas, participants visited a forest with a diversity of ages, including patches of old growth, that was spared by the fires. There, they learned how forest managers are adapting their forestry practices in response to climate change and increasingly destructive fire seasons.

Other stops on the workshop tour included Freres Engineered Wood in Lyons and a wood research facility at Oregon State University in Corvallis to demonstrate how efforts to make Oregon’s forests more resilient to wildfire tie into creating innovative wood products.

To learn more about upcoming teacher professional development workshops and other resources related to forest education for K-12 students, subscribe to “Forestry for the Classroom,” OFRI’s quarterly newsletter for educators. 

The Partnership for Forestry Education has updated its KnowYourForest.org website, which serves as a gateway to the information, tools and educational opportunities available to Oregon’s forest landowners.

OFRI, a founding member of the Partnership for Forestry Education, worked in close collaboration with partnership members, which include government, nonprofit and private organizations, to update the website and ensure it provides the most current information and educational resources available to forest landowners. Visitors to the site can find information on topics such as forest management planning, forest health, wildlife and forest habitat, timber harvest and sale, and forest protection laws.

The updated website also includes an assistance map aimed at helping landowners across Oregon easily access information about agencies, organizations and other groups offering forestry assistance in their local areas, along with a calendar of upcoming forestry education events offered by partnership members. If you have an upcoming forestry event, be sure to submit it to the calendar.

OFRI led this most recent update to the site, which went live in late August. Additional funding for the project was provided in part by a U.S. Forest Service grant for small forest landowner education administered through the Oregon Department of Forestry.



Nearly 350 people participated in this year’s Home School Day, a self-paced outdoor learning event for homeschool students that OFRI hosted earlier this month at The Oregon Garden in Silverton.

The annual event features a variety of environmental education organizations offering hands-on science and art activities designed to help students learn about the natural world at learning stations throughout the 80-acre botanical garden. Educational topics covered at the stations this year included the forest as habitat, fire prevention, birds, the world of insects, and plant adaptations, among others.

Along with OFRI, organizations that participated in the 2025 Home School Day included the Marion County Master Gardeners, Marion Soil and Water Conservation District, Talk About Trees, Salem Environmental Education, 4-H Oregon State University Extension Service, Oregon Dairy Princess Ambassador Program, City of Salem, Salem Audubon Society, and Oregon Aglink. 

In other news...



OFRI board meeting and work session scheduled for Oct. 6-7

The OFRI board of directors will hold a meeting, reception and work session Oct. 6-7 in Salem and Independence. The board meeting will take place Oct. 6 from 1 to 3:45 p.m. at the Chemeketa Eola Event Center in Salem. Later that day, the board will host a reception, keynote address and dinner from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Independence Hotel in Independence. The following day, Oct. 7, the board will hold a work session from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Chemeketa Eola Event Center. An agenda for all three events, which are open to the public, will be available on the OFRI website. 

Fall registration open for Oregon Garden Natural Resources Education Program  

Registration is open for students in fourth through sixth grades to participate in fall field trips to The Oregon Garden in Silverton offered through the Oregon Garden Natural Resources Education Program. OFRI provides this program in partnership with The Oregon Garden for students in the Willamette Valley to learn about forests and natural resources while participating in hands-on activities throughout the botanical garden and its Rediscovery Forest. Registration for the program is available through OFRI’s K-12 website. 

World Forestry Center offering free admission Oct. 26 and Nov. 30

Admission will be free to visit the World Forestry Center’s Discovery Museum in Portland’s Washington Park from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 26 and Nov. 30. The free admission days are being offered as part of the Free Day Series at the Discovery Museum, sponsored by the Ben B. Cheney Foundation. Learn more on the World Forestry Center website. 

Natural resources education program celebrates 50th anniversary

The Oregon Natural Resources Education Program (ONREP) will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year with a family-friendly event Oct. 4 on the Oregon State University campus in Corvallis. The celebration, scheduled for 1-4 p.m., will feature a keynote address by the tribal storyteller and basket maker Brenda Brainard, nature crafts, activities and games, a silent auction, cake, and giveaways. OFRI is a major funder of ONREP, which provides teacher professional development workshops on natural resources education-related topics. Learn more about the 50th anniversary celebration on ONREP’s website.

Tree School Field Day

Sept. 27, Oregon City

Oregon Natural Resources Education Program 50th Anniversary Celebration

Oct. 4, Corvallis

Neighbor to Neighbor: Fall Woodland Weeds Workshop

Oct. 4, Corvallis

OFRI Board of Directors Meeting and Work Session

Oct. 6-7, Salem

Northwest Innovative Forestry Summit

Oct. 9-11, Cloverdale

Forest Pub: Spooky Forest Tree Lore

Oct. 13, Portland 

Clackamas Woodland Farmer of the Year Recognition Banquet

Oct. 23, Oregon City

Ties to the Land: Succession Planning for Forestland Owners

Oct. 24, Corvallis

Tree School Lane

Oct. 25, Eugene

Free Day at the World Forestry Center’s Discovery Museum

Oct. 26, Portland

Forest Wildlife Research Summit

Oct. 30, Corvallis

Have Fun Drawing Fungi!

Nov. 1, Tillamook Forest Center

Ties to the Land: Succession Planning for Rural Landowners

Nov. 6-Dec. 4, Oregon City

Bigleaf Maple Sugaring for Hobbyists

Nov. 8, Oregon City 

Rain Festival

Nov. 15-16 Tillamook Forest Center

Holiday Wreath Making

Nov. 28-30, Tillamook Forest Center

Free Day at the World Forestry Center’s Discovery Museum

Nov. 30, Portland