The 2025-26 OFRI Annual Report summarizing the Institute’s work over the past year is now available to download from OFRI’s website.

The report highlights accomplishments from fiscal year 2025-26 across OFRI’s forest education programs for the public, landowners, and K-12 teachers and students. These include publishing a research report detailing the economic contributions of Oregon’s forest sector, helping provide field forestry education to more than 100,000 students, and organizing the inaugural Forest Wildlife Research Summit to help forest managers and woodland owners further improve their management practices to benefit wildlife.

Read the report, which can be accessed through OFRI’s online publication library, to learn more. 

Portland’s Forest Park Neighborhood Association, representing those who live near one of the United States’ largest urban forests, celebrated its 50th anniversary on Aug. 22, and OFRI was part of the festivities.

The anniversary celebration at the Skyline Tavern featured booths hosted by OFRI and more than a dozen other conservation, civic and public safety organizations, including the World Forestry Center, Society of American Foresters and Multnomah County Soil and Water Conservation District.

In August, the Oregon Small Woodlands Association, in partnership with OFRI and the Oregon Natural Resources Education Program, hosted a one-day professional development workshop for teachers focused on the many ways small woodlands can provide value.

Fourteen educators spent the day learning from small woodland owners, as well as Oregon State University Extension and University of Oregon faculty, while exploring the many ways forests can provide timber, non-timber forest products and meaningful learning opportunities for students.

The workshop was highly hands-on, with teachers trying shiitake mushroom cultivation, nature journaling, taking tree measurements and learning how to tap maple trees for syrup. These activities gave participants practical experiences and ideas they can bring back to their classrooms, helping students make connections between forests, natural resources, and the many ways people interact with and benefit from them. 

OFRI and The Oregon Garden in Silverton collaborate every year to host homeschoolers of all ages as they learn about Oregon’s natural resources at the annual Home School Day.

During this year’s Home School Day on Sept. 9, almost 300 students visited learning stations throughout the garden hosted by OFRI and partner organizations that included Talk About Trees, the Oregon Department of Forestry, Marion Soil and Water Conservation District and Oregon Aglink, among others. At those stations, students identified animal tracks, made living necklaces, learned about fire prevention and soil filtration, and walked through a giant blow-up orca to learn more about the species’ anatomy, migration patterns and favorite foods.

Save the date for next year’s Home School Day: Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2027.

A group of small woodland owners visited The Oregon Garden last month to learn about upcoming timber harvest and restoration work that OFRI is leading in the garden’s Rediscovery Forest.

OFRI’s landowner education program provided an educational tour of the 15-acre demonstration forest on Sept. 22 to members of the Marion-Polk chapter of the Oregon Small Woodlands Association. The tour highlighted plans to transform portions of a 58-year-old Douglas-fir stand into oak woodlands while showcasing reforestation and sustainable forest management practices.

OFRI Landowner Education Manager Margaret Miller led the tour together with Ken Goode of Goode Logging, who will harvest the timber, and Chris Woodward, a consulting forester who is assisting with the project. The tour discussion provided valuable insights into timber cruising, harvest planning, road access, and the considerations that go into preparing a small woodland harvest for success.

Stay tuned for updates on future landowner tours and workshops related to OFRI’s harvest and restoration work in the Rediscovery Forest.

The OFRI K-12 education program and the Oregon Natural Resources Education Program (ONREP) will host a conference for natural resources educators on Dec. 15 at The Oregon Garden.

The OFRI-ONREP Natural Resources Educators Conference will provide attendees with a hands-on professional development experience exploring the social, economic and ecological aspects of Oregon’s soil, water, forests, plants and wildlife. Highlights will include a keynote address by Jeff Hatten, a professor with Oregon State University’s College of Forestry, focused on Oregon’s soils; classroom-ready lessons led by community college professionals; and networking with natural resources educators and partners.

There is no registration fee to attend the conference, and substitute and lodging reimbursement may be available through OFRI for eligible teachers.

Teachers preparing their students for the 2027 Oregon Envirothon can stay for an additional day of training on Dec. 16 that will focus on next year’s current issue topic: Soil Health Management: Agricultural Principles and Stewardship.

More details and registration information are available on ONREP’s website.