OFRI eNews: August/September 2026 | | Only you can prevent wildfires | |
Fire prevention is something everyone can help with, and in Oregon that effort matters now more than ever. As the state faces another historic wildfire year with more than 2.3 million acres burned statewide as of mid-August, small actions can have a big impact. Being aware of wildfire risk helps people make safer choices, protect their families and reduce the chance of avoidable fires.
To help stay safe and informed, you can sign up for local emergency alerts that come directly to your smartphone, follow trusted sources for statewide wildfire information, and stay updated on current fire activity and related news. Simple steps — such as checking fire restrictions, fully putting out campfires, and avoiding equipment that throws sparks — can help prevent dangerous situations before they start. Raising awareness also helps communities prepare by encouraging emergency planning, defensible space around homes and attention to changing weather conditions.
The positive effects of fire prevention reach far beyond one property or one town. Preventing fires helps protect homes, forests, wildlife, air quality and the people who work tirelessly to respond to emergencies. In a difficult wildfire season, staying alert and acting responsibly is one of the most effective ways the public can make a real difference.
For the forest,
Jim Paul
Executive Director
| | Report details forest sector's economic impact | | |
A new OFRI-commissioned report synthesizes and interprets the most recent data and research related to Oregon’s forest resources and the economic contributions of the state’s forest sector, revealing that it not only remains a source of jobs for tens of thousands of Oregonians, accounting for about 4% of state employment, but also makes up 4% of Oregon’s gross domestic product.
Compiled by researchers from Oregon State University and the University of Idaho, The 2026 Forest Report is an update to a similar study OFRI published in 2019. The 2026 report acknowledges that much has changed in Oregon and the world since then, examining how events such as the global COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 Labor Day Fires have impacted Oregon’s forest sector. The sector also continues to be affected by growing threats to forests and timber supply, including wildfires, insect outbreaks and tree diseases.
Despite these challenges, the report points out that forestry has remained a critical part of Oregon’s economy for more than a century. Consumer demand remains high for the softwood lumber and other renewable wood products that are made right here in Oregon, including innovative mass timber products that make it possible to build bigger and taller structures with wood.
In addition to the 85-page 2026 Forest Report, OFRI has published Oregon’s Forest Economy, a 16-page booklet that summarizes key points from the longer report and features a series of interviews with the lead report author, the president of an Oregon-based mass timber company, and an economist from the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis.
Data and information from the full and summary reports can be found online at TheForestReport.org, along with the option to download digital versions of the reports. Free printed copies of both reports are also available to order from the publication library on OFRI’s main website, OregonForests.org.
| | Institute hires new director of business opertions | |
OFRI has hired a new director of business operations: Angela Handran.
Handran, who officially joined the Institute’s staff on July 15, brings more than 12 years of public sector leadership experience in business operations, policy implementation and organizational management to the position. As director of business operations, she will direct OFRI’s office administration and support its executive director, staff and board of directors in the development of programs and projects to carry out the Institute’s mission and objectives.
Before joining OFRI, Handran served as director of business operations for Home Study and Post-Release Services, a federally funded program at Portland-based Morrison Child and Family Services. Earlier in her career, she worked as operations manager for the Clackamas County Behavioral Health Division, director of operations for the National Policy Consensus Center at Portland State University’s Hatfield School of Government, and assistant to the city manager for the city of Wilsonville.
Handran holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Marylhurst University and a bachelor’s degree in management and organizational communication from Montana State University, Billings. She is also a Senior Certified Professional through the Public Sector Human Resources Association.
Raised in Coos Bay and a fourth-generation Oregonian, Handran has a lifelong appreciation for Oregon’s forests and outdoor spaces and is excited to support OFRI’s mission. She is filling a position left vacant following the retirement of the former director of business operations, Kathy Storm, who worked for more than 20 years at the Institute.
| | Celebrating The Oregon Garden's 25th anniversary | |
As The Oregon Garden marked its 25th anniversary this summer, OFRI celebrated its more than two-decade partnership with the Silverton attraction that provides forest education to Oregonians of all ages.
The garden held a weeklong anniversary celebration in June that included a dinner where OFRI’s deputy director, Julie Woodward, was one of the speakers. On June 30, OFRI and The Oregon Garden held a joint anniversary celebration that included family-friendly hands-on activities, guided forest tours, refreshments in the Rediscovery Forest’s Discovery Pavilion, and recognition of the two organizations’ longstanding partnership.
To mark the anniversary, OFRI developed a pair of interpretive signs highlighting its partnership with The Oregon Garden. The signs were temporarily displayed in the Discovery Pavilion during the anniversary celebrations in June but have since been moved to their permanent home in the garden’s Natural Resources Education Center, adjacent to OFRI’s Silverton office.
| | Social media intern joins the team | |
University of Oregon student Ashlee Porteous recently joined the OFRI staff as the Institute’s newest social media intern.
Porteous, a junior majoring in journalism and minoring in climate studies, will assist with planning and developing content for OFRI’s social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Threads, as well as other communications projects.
As an Oregon native who is no stranger to the Pacific Northwest and all the beauty it has to offer, Porteous says she is excited about the opportunity to intern for OFRI and looks forward to helping educate fellow Oregonians about our forests.
| | Upcoming forest landowner trainings | | |
OFRI is sponsoring two upcoming trainings for forest landowners, which the Western Forestry and Conservation Association (WFCA) is offering next month in Springfield and Salem.
The Forest Communications Training will be held on Sept. 24 in Springfield, with the option to attend virtually. The one-day training aims to help landowners sharpen their voices, no matter the venue or the audience, and give them the storytelling skills to share what they do with impact, credibility and purpose. It will be led by a group of professional communicators: Nick Smith with Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities and the American Forest Resource Council; Sara Duncan with the Oregon Forest Industries Council; and Jason Davenport with JDavenport Photography.
The second training, Access, Easements, Rights-of-Way, and Timber Trespass: What Every Forest Manager and Landowner Needs to Know, will take place on Sept. 30 in Salem. The training will help landowners understand the basic issues governing permits, easements and rights of way, as well as identify pitfalls in negotiating agreements. It will also focus on timber trespass and ways for landowners to reduce their chances of being victims of or committing timber trespass, along with permitting and access issues for dwellings in the forest. It will be led by the shareholders of the law firm Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt.
The first 15 registrants for the Access, Easements, Rights-of-Way, and Timber Trespass training can attend it for free with the following code: ORSmallLandowner26.
More information and registration for both trainings can be found on WFCA’s website.
| | Youth crew helps with Rediscovery Forest maintenance | | |
An eight-member Oregon Youth Corps crew from the Boys & Girls Club of Salem, Marion and Polk Counties spent several days this summer helping with maintenance of the Rediscovery Forest, a 15-acre demonstration forest OFRI manages at The Oregon Garden in Silverton.
The crew, who were joined by two team leaders, helped complete multiple stewardship projects, including improving the forest’s Oak/Pine Trail by covering it with fresh mulch, removing invasive species throughout the oak grove, and cleaning interpretive and directional signs.
OFRI and The Oregon Garden are grateful for their service, teamwork and commitment to caring for our community’s outdoor spaces.
| | New outdoor learning pavilion completed | | |
A new outdoor learning pavilion at the Oregon Department of Forestry’s (ODF) Astoria District Office that OFRI helped fund has been completed. The 16-by-24-foot timber structure is now open for community use as part of the adjacent demonstration forest managed by ODF.
Although originally conceived as a covered space for students to use during the Clatsop County Sixth Grade Forestry Days, which are held at the district office each September, the pavilion will be available for other educational and community events the rest of the year.
In early 2025, a local chapter of the Oregon Women in Timber (OWIT) approached ODF with interest in reviving plans to build the pavilion after earlier fundraising efforts had stalled. Their goal was to build the structure to commemorate the 65th anniversary of Clatsop County Forestry Day, established in 1960, serving every sixth-grade student in the county through an annual forestry field tour. That day is now a two-day event that has been hosted by ODF for the last several years.
Working with ODF, OWIT led a successful fundraising campaign that propelled the project forward, including significant support from OFRI and other donors.
Each year during Clatsop County Sixth Grade Forestry Days, more than 400 students receive hands-on experience and get a firsthand look at possible career opportunities in natural resources as they rotate through 10 outdoor stations. Those stations are either out in the open or have temporary tents. The new pavilion will be the first permanent structure for the event.
More information about visiting the pavilion and the Astoria District Office’s demonstration forest can be found in this trail guide.
| | |
In other news...
Workforce Summit report now available
A report summarizing the two-day statewide forest sector workforce summit that OFRI, in partnership with the Western Forestry and Conservation Association, convened last May in Bend is now available to download from OFRI’s website. The report summarizes what the presentations and breakout discussions covered during the OFRI Workforce Summit, which brought together about 50 leaders from state and federal agencies, the forest industry, contractor associations, education providers, workforce development boards, and nonprofits to examine what it will take to build and sustain a workforce adequate to meet Oregon’s forest sector needs.
OFRI projects win awards
Two OFRI projects won awards from the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE) in its 2026 Critique and Awards Program. The poster OFRI developed to distribute at the 2025 Hood to Coast relay finish line festival won a gold award in the graphic design posters category and Oregon’s Forest Protection Laws: An Illustrated Manual won a silver award in the technical publications category. OFRI Director of Communications Jordan Benner accepted the awards at ACE’s annual conference this June in Billings, Montana.
Forest Park Neighborhood Association celebrates anniversary
Portland’s Forest Park Neighborhood Association is celebrating its 50th anniversary on Aug. 22, and OFRI will be a part of the festivities. The anniversary celebration will be held at the Skyline Tavern, 8031 NW Skyline Blvd., and feature booths from OFRI and other organizations, including the World Forestry Center and Society of American Foresters. The event will also include music, kids’ activities, free light bites, beverages and ice cream, conservation tours hosted by the Multnomah County Soil and Water Conservation District, and fire safety and preparedness information. Learn more about the event and RSVP on the Forest Park Neighborhood Association website.
OSU Extension Clackamas moving its office
The Oregon State University Extension Service office in Clackamas County will be moving to an interim location at 1021 Courthouse Road in Oregon City effective Aug. 24. The phone numbers for all programs and the front office will remain the same. The office at 200 Warner Milne Road will be closed for public access Aug. 14-21 during the move to the new location. Staff will still be working and will check for voice messages daily and refer customers to the appropriate faculty member or program representative for assistance during that time.
2026 Home School Day to be held Sept. 9
This year’s Home School Day at The Oregon Garden in Silverton is scheduled for Sept. 9. Each September, OFRI invites home school students ages 5 to 12 to join us for a fun-filled day of outdoor learning at The Oregon Garden. The event offers hands-on, self-paced learning stations throughout the garden on topics that include pollinators, forest wildlife, bug anatomy, fun with trees and more. Homeschool materials are included free with general admission to the garden. No pre-registration required. Learn more about the event on The Oregon Garden website.
Tree School Field Day scheduled for Oct. 3
The 2026 Tree School Field Day, hosted by the Oregon State University (OSU) Extension Service at Hopkins Demonstration Forest in Oregon City, will take place Oct. 3. The hands-on training for woodland caretakers and tree enthusiasts will include a schedule of field classes and learning opportunities throughout the forest for attendees to choose from. More information and registration for the event can be found on OSU Extension’s website.
Webinar focuses on promoting salmon habitat
The Oregon State University Extension Service’s Master Woodland Manager program will host a free webinar on Oct. 20 highlighting one woodland owner’s journey to restore salmon habitat on his property. The Promoting Salmon Habitat: A Small Woodland Owner’s Journey webinar will feature Dave Bugni, small woodland owner and Master Woodland Manager, as he shares his 13-year journey toward transforming his Clackamas County forest riparian area and stream into improved habitat for salmon and steelhead. Register to attend the webinar on the Master Woodland Manager website.
| | |
Small Woodlands, Big Ideas: Exploring Forest Products in Oregon (Teacher Workshop)
Aug. 19, Buxton
Tree School Umpqua
Aug. 21, Roseburg
Forest Park Neighborhood Association 50th Anniversary Celebration
Aug. 22, Portland
Home School Day at The Oregon Garden
Sep. 9, Silverton
Clackamas Woodland Farmer of the Year Summer Tour and Picnic
Sept. 12, Estacada
Douglas Small Woodlands Association Tree Farmer of the Year Tour
Sept. 12, Elkton
Forest Communications Training
Sept. 24, Springfield
Planning for Planting: Practical Guidance for Successful Reforestation
Sept. 25, Umpqua
Access, Easements, Rights-of-Way, and Timber Trespass: What Every Forest Manager or Landowner Needs to Know
Sept. 30, Salem
Tree School Field Day
Oct. 3, Oregon City
Women Owning Woodlands Network Women’s Chainsaw Training
Oct 17-18, Oregon City
Promoting Salmon Habitat: A Small Woodland Owner’s Journey Webinar
Oct. 20, Online
OFRI Board Meeting
Oct. 22, Salem
| | |
Oregon Forest Resources Institute | |
The Oregon Forest Resources Institute supports the forest sector and the stewardship of natural resources by advancing Oregonians’ understanding of the social, environmental and economic benefits of our forests.
OregonForests.org
Click here to add or remove an email address.
Copyright © 2026, Oregon Forest Resources Institute. All Rights Reserved.
| | | | |
